scale

scale is on the Basic English 850 List.

say - scale - school

Pronunciation

• (UK) (US) IPA ^(key): /skeɪl/ or [skeɪ̯(ə)ɫ]
• (AU) IPA ^(key): /skæɪl/ or [skæɪ̯(ə)ɫ]

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: sc‧ale

Noun

Singular scale

Plural scales

Scale is on the Academic Vocabulary List.

1. (countable & uncountable) The scale of something is its size or level.

   It's hard to understand the scale of the change.

2. (countable) A scale is a small machine for measuring (finding out) how much something weighs (how heavy the thing is.)

   She stood on the scale and found out she weighed 150 pounds.

3. (countable) (music) A series of eight notes.

• 
  A scale for weighing small things
• 
  A balance is a kind of scale
• 
  A musical scale
• 
  scale to measure it

Verb

Plain form scale

Third-person singular scales

Past tense scaled

Past participle scaled

Present participle scaling

1. If you scale something, then you climb up it.