Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Score

Score

(skōr)
,
Noun.
[AS.
scor
twenty, fr.
sceran
,
scieran
, to shear, cut, divide; or rather the kindred Icel.
skor
incision, twenty, akin to Dan.
skure
a notch, Sw.
skåra
. See
Shear
.]
1.
A notch or incision; especially, one that is made as a tally mark; hence, a mark, or line, made for the purpose of account.
Whereas, before, our forefathers had no other books but the
score
and the tally, thou hast caused printing to be used.
Shakespeare
2.
An account or reckoning; account of dues; bill; hence, indebtedness.
He parted well, and paid his
score
.
Shakespeare
3.
Account; reason; motive; sake; behalf.
But left the trade, as many more
Have lately done on the same
score
.
Hudibras.
You act your kindness in Cydaria’s
score
.
Dryden.
4.
The number twenty, as being marked off by a special score or tally; hence, in
pl.
, a large number.
Amongst three or four
score
hogsheads.
Shakespeare
At length the queen took upon herself to grant patents of monopoly by
scores
.
Macaulay.
5.
A distance of twenty yards; – a term used in ancient archery and gunnery.
Halliwell.
6.
A weight of twenty pounds.
[Prov. Eng.]
7.
The number of points gained by the contestants, or either of them, in any game, as in cards or cricket.
8.
A line drawn; a groove or furrow.
9.
(Mus.)
The original and entire draught, or its transcript, of a composition, with the parts for all the different instruments or voices written on staves one above another, so that they can be read at a glance; – so called from the bar, which, in its early use, was drawn through all the parts.
Moore (Encyc. of Music).
In score
(Mus.)
,
having all the parts arranged and placed in juxtaposition.
Smart.
–
To quit scores
,
to settle or balance accounts; to render an equivalent; to make compensation.

Does not the earth
quit scores
with all the elements in the noble fruits that issue from it?
South.

Score

(skōr)
,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Scored
(skōrd)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Scoring
.]
1.
To mark with lines, scratches, or notches; to cut notches or furrows in; to notch; to scratch; to furrow;
as, to
score
timber for hewing; to
score
the back with a lash
.
Let us
score
their backs.
Shakespeare
A briar in that tangled wilderness
Had
scored
her white right hand.
M. Arnold.
2.
Especially, to mark with significant lines or notches, for indicating or keeping account of something;
as, to
score
a tally
.
3.
To mark or signify by lines or notches; to keep record or account of; to set down; to record; to charge.
Madam, I know when,
Instead of five, you
scored
me ten.
Swift.
Nor need I tallies thy dear love to
score
.
Shakespeare
4.
To engrave, as upon a shield.
[R.]
Spenser.
5.
To make a score of, as points, runs, etc., in a game.
6.
(Mus.)
To write down in proper order and arrangement;
as, to
score
an overture for an orchestra
. See
Score
,
Noun.
, 9.
7.
(Geol.)
To mark with parallel lines or scratches;
as, the rocks of New England and the Western States were
scored
in the drift epoch
.

Webster 1828 Edition

Score

SCORE

, n.
1.
A notch or incision; hence, the number twenty. Our ancestors, before the knowledge of writing, numbered and kept accounts of numbers by cutting notches on a stick or tally, and making one notch the representative of twenty. A simple mark answered the same purpose.
2.
A line drawn.
3.
An account or reckoning; as, he paid his score.
4.
An account kept of something past; an epoch; an era.
5.
Debt, or account of debt.
6.
Account; reason; motive.
But left the trade, as many more have lately done on the same score.
7.
Account; sake.
You act your kindness of Cydaria's score.
8.
In music, the original and entire draught of any composition, or its transcript.
To quit scores, to pay fully; to make even by giving an equivalent.
A song in score, the words with the musical notes of a song annexed.

SCORE

, v.t.
1.
To notch; to cut and chip for the purpose of preparing for hewing; as, to score timber.
2.
To cut; to engrave.
3.
To mark by a line.
4.
To set down as a debt.
Madam, I know when, instead of five, you scored me ten.
5.
To set down or take as an account; to charge; as, to score follies.
6.
To form a score in music.

Definition 2024

score

score

See also: scoré

English

Noun

score ‎(plural scores)

  1. The total number of goals, points, runs, etc. earned by a participant in a game.
    The player with the highest score is the winner.‎
  2. The number of points accrued by each of the participants in a game, expressed as a ratio or a series of numbers.
    The score is 8-1 even though it's not even half-time!‎
  3. The performance of an individual or group on an examination or test, expressed by a number, letter, or other symbol; a grade.
    The test scores for this class were high.‎
  4. Twenty, 20 (number).
    • 1863 November 19, Abraham Lincoln, The Gettysburg Address, based on the signed "Bliss Copy"
      "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."
    Some words have scores of meanings.‎
  5. A distance of twenty yards, in ancient archery and gunnery.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Halliwell to this entry?)
  6. A weight of twenty pounds.
  7. (music) One or more parts of a musical composition in a format indicating how the composition is to be played.
    • 2013 June 29, “Travels and travails”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 55:
      Even without hovering drones, a lurking assassin, a thumping score and a denouement, the real-life story of Edward Snowden, a rogue spy on the run, could be straight out of the cinema. But, as with Hollywood, the subplots and exotic locations may distract from the real message: America’s discomfort and its foes’ glee.
  8. Subject.
    • 2005, Plato, Sophist. Translation by Lesley Brown. 245e.
      Well, although we haven't discussed the views of all those who make precise reckonings of being and not [being], we've done enough on that score.
  9. Account; reason; motive; sake; behalf.
    • Hudibras
      But left the trade, as many more / Have lately done on the same score.
    • Dryden
      You act your kindness in Cydria's score.
  10. A notch or incision; especially, one that is made as a tally mark; hence, a mark, or line, made for the purpose of account.
    • Shakespeare
      Whereas, before, our forefathers had no other books but the score and the tally, thou hast caused printing to be used.
  11. An account or reckoning; account of dues; bill; hence, indebtedness.
    • Shakespeare
      He parted well, and paid his score.
  12. (US, crime, slang) A robbery; a criminal act.
    Let's pull a score!‎
  13. (US, crime, slang) A bribe paid to a police officer.
  14. (US, crime, slang) An illegal sale, especially of drugs.
    He made a big score.‎
  15. (US, crime, slang) A prostitute's client.
  16. (US, slang) A sexual conquest.

Synonyms

  • (prostitute's client): see Wikisaurus:prostitute's client

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

score ‎(third-person singular simple present scores, present participle scoring, simple past and past participle scored)

  1. (transitive) To cut a notch or a groove in a surface.
    • 1963, Margery Allingham, “Foreword”, in The China Governess:
      A very neat old woman, still in her good outdoor coat and best beehive hat, was sitting at a polished mahogany table on whose surface there were several scored scratches so deep that a triangular piece of the veneer had come cleanly away, […].
    The baker scored the cake so that the servers would know where to slice it.
  2. (intransitive) To record the tally of points for a game, a match, or an examination.
  3. (transitive) To obtain something desired.
    1. To earn points in a game.
      It is unusual for a team to score a hundred goals in one game.
      Pelé scores again!
      • 2011 September 29, Jon Smith, “Tottenham 3 - 1 Shamrock Rovers”, in BBC Sport:
        And White Hart Lane was stunned when Rovers scored just five minutes after the restart in front of their away following.
    2. To achieve (a score) in e.g. a test.
      • 2004, Diane McGuinness, Early reading instruction: what science really tells us about how to teach reading
        At the end of first grade, the children scored 80 percent correct on this test, a value that remained unchanged through third grade.
    3. (slang) To acquire or gain.
      I scored some drugs last night.
      Did you score tickets for the concert?
    4. (US, crime, slang, of a police officer) To extract a bribe.
    5. (slang) To obtain a sexual favor.
      Chris finally scored with Pat last week.
  4. (transitive) To provide (a film, etc.) with a musical score.

Derived terms

Translations

Interjection

score!

  1. (US, slang) Acknowledgement of success

See also

References

  • Tom Dalzell, The Routledge Dictionary of Modern American Slang and Unconventional English, 2008, page 846

Anagrams

Danish

Etymology

Borrowing from English score.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /skoːrə/, [ˈsɡ̊oːɐ]

Noun

score c (singular definite scoren, plural indefinite scorer)

  1. A score, a number of points earned.

Declension

Verb

score

  1. score a goal/point
  2. land (to acquire; to secure)
  3. (slang) steal
  4. persuade (someone) to have sex with oneself [from 1959]

Conjugation

Derived terms

Dutch

Pronunciation

  • Hyphenation: sco‧re

Etymology

Borrowing from English score.

Noun

score m ‎(plural scores, diminutive scoretje n)

  1. score (number of points earned)

Derived terms

French

Etymology

Borrowing from English score.

Pronunciation

Noun

score m ‎(plural scores)

  1. score (in a sport, game)

Derived terms

Anagrams

Norwegian Bokmål

Alternative forms

Etymology

Via English score, from Old Norse skor. Related to skera (modern Norwegian Bokmål skjære).

Verb

score ‎(imperative scor, present tense scorer, passive scores, simple past and past participle scora or scoret, present participle scorende)

  1. to score (earn points in a game)

Derived terms

References

Etymology

From Middle English score, skore, schore, from Old English scoru ‎(“notch; tally; score”), from Old Norse skor, from Proto-Germanic *skurō ‎(“incision; tear; rift”). Cognate with Icelandic skora, Swedish skåra, Danish skår. Related to shear. (For twenty: The mark on a tally made by drovers for every twenty beasts passing through a tollgate.)

Pronunciation

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