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   scope

   /skəʊp/

   noun

   • 1. the extent of the area or subject matter that something deals with or to which it is relevant: "we widened the scope of our investigation" Similar extentrangebreadthwidthreachsweeppurviewspanstretchspreadhorizonareaspherefieldrealmcompassorbitambitterms of referencefield of referencejurisdictionremitconfinelimitgamutcompetence
   • 2. the opportunity or possibility to do or deal with something: "the scope for major change is always limited by political realities" Similar opportunityfreedomlatitudeleewaycapacitylibertyroomroom to manoeuvreelbow roomplaypossibilitychanceinformal:wriggle roomwiggle room
   • ▪ a purpose, end, or intention: archaic "Plato even maintains religion to be the chief aim and scope of human life"
   • 3. a telescope, microscope, or other device having a name ending in -scope: informal "infrared night scopes"
   • 4. the length of cable extended when a ship rides at anchor.
   • 5. the number of terms or arguments affected by an operator such as a quantifier or conjunction.

   verb

   • 1. assess or investigate something: "they'd scoped out their market"
   • ▪ set the scope of (a projected undertaking): "it is important that a project is scoped correctly to ensure the budget can be accurately defined"
   • 2. look at carefully; scan: informal North American "they watched him scoping the room, looking for Michael"

   Word Origin mid 16th century (in the sense ‘target for shooting at’): from Italian scopo ‘aim’, from Greek skopos ‘target’, from skeptesthai ‘look out’. scope (sense 3 of the noun) is derived from -scope.

   Scrabble Points: 9

   • S

     1

   • C

     3

   • O

     1

   • P

     3

   • E

     1

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