scale: significato e definizioni

A scale insect.

A plant disease or infestation caused by scale insects.

One of the many small platelike dermal or epidermal structures that characteristically form the external covering of fishes, reptiles, and certain mammals.

A similar part, such as one of the minute structures overlapping to form the covering on the wings of butterflies and moths.

Pathology A dry thin flake of epidermis shed from the skin.

A small thin piece.

Botany A small, thin, usually dry, often appressed plant structure, such as any of the protective leaves that cover a tree bud or the bract that subtends a flower in a sedge spikelet.

A flaky oxide film formed on a metal, as on iron, that has been heated to high temperatures.

A flake of rust.

A hard mineral coating that forms on the inside surface of boilers, kettles, and other containers in which water is repeatedly heated.

To clear or strip of scale or scales: Scale and clean the fish.

To remove in layers or scales: scaled off the old paint.

To cover with scales; encrust.

To throw (a thin flat object) so that it soars through the air or skips along the surface of water.

Dentistry To remove (tartar) from tooth surfaces with a pointed instrument.

Australian To cheat; swindle.

Australian To ride on (a tram or train, for example) without paying the fare.

To come off in scales or layers; flake.

To become encrusted.

A system of ordered marks at fixed intervals used as a reference standard in measurement: a ruler with scales in inches and centimeters.

An instrument or device bearing such marks.

A standard of measurement or judgment; a criterion.

A proportion used in determining the dimensional relationship of a representation to that which it represents: a world map with a scale of 1:4,560,000.

A calibrated line, as on a map or an architectural plan, indicating such a proportion.

Proper proportion: a house that seemed out of scale with its surroundings.