Dictionary entries for 'scan'

Synonyms

scan (skăn)

[Middle English scanden, scannen, to scan a verse, from Latin scandere, to climb, scan a verse.]

verb: scanned, scan·ning, scans.

To examine closely.
To look over quickly and systematically: scanning the horizon for signs of land.
To look over or leaf through hastily: scanned the newspaper while eating breakfast.
To analyze (verse) into metrical patterns.
Electronics
1. To move a finely focused beam of light or electrons in a systematic pattern over (a surface) in order to reproduce or sense and subsequently transmit an image.
2. To move a radar beam in a systematic pattern over (a sector of sky) in search of a target.
Computer Science To search (stored data) automatically for specific data.
Medicine To examine (a body or body part) with a CAT scanner or similar scanning apparatus.
To digitally encode (text, for example) with an optical scanner.

The act or an instance of scanning.
Scope or field of vision.
1. Examination of a body or body part by a CAT scanner or similar scanning apparatus.
2. A picture or image produced by this means.
A single sweep of the beam of electrons across a television screen.