to scale
- verb
- /skeɪl/
- Bones tried to scale the cliff, but the lower reaches were climbed over.
One that you have to literally scale like Spider Man to get on.
- One that you have to literally scale like Spider Man to get on.
- It's like, OK, where's a mountain I haven't scaled yet?
- You, you're scaling a rock and there's a chain and you have to hold on to the chain because if you slip, you're dead.
- So I've scaled it fast as I can and adjoined to the left hand side of the wall is a cold bunker.
- And I had gone into the table and then I had scaled beyond the table to all these tears until I was right next to Ruckus.
Examples
-
197 REVERSE ANGLE 197 The Graysons scale the scaffolding, heading for the bomb.
Fiction book (1995) -
Without hesitation, the four terrorists hit the fence, scale it, and clamber down to the other side.
Fiction book (1992) -
By the time they get up here, we can scale down from the window.
-
I, myself, will scale the wall to the south.
-
A couple of them are trying to scale the stone walls of the park.
Fiction book (1992) -
But I can't scale buildings in a single bound like you can.
-
Gere then scales Roberts' fire escape to "rescue" her through her bedroom window.
Academic text (2004) -
When Randi and Dr. Lotati scale the other wall, they will fire a rope across.
Fiction book (1997) -
Camera cranes up with him as he scales the ladder to the lookout tower.
Fiction book (1992) -
One day, she hopes to scale mountain peaks in remote areas of the world.
Synonyms
To move up using hands and feet, often with effort
To reach the top of a hill or mountain after climbing it
Antonyms
Idioms
Phrasal Verbs
Compounds
- Archaic
A scale that measures how strong an earthquake is from the waves recorded by machines
A schedule that shows how much people are paid for different jobs or experience levels
- Specialized
A set of seven notes with whole steps except half steps between the third and fourth and seventh and eighth
- Specialized
A set of notes ordered from low to high that form a basic pattern for melodies
- Specialized
A balance with a long bar that turns and uses a sliding weight to measure how heavy something is
- Specialized
A pattern of seven notes that makes the familiar major and minor sounds
- Specialized
A musical scale that sounds sad because some notes are lower than in a major scale
- Specialized
A system for measuring how hot something is using units like Celsius and Fahrenheit
- Specialized
A small brown insect that lives on plants, drinks their juice and weakens them
A temperature scale where 0 degrees is water's freezing and 100 degrees its boiling
- Archaic
A way to measure temperature where water freezes at 0 degrees and boils at 100 degrees
- Specialized
A scale that measures how high sea waves are, from 0 calm to 9 very large
- Specialized
A scale of numbers that shows wave height at sea from 0 calm to 9 very high
- Specialized
A temperature scale that starts at absolute zero, with zero as the lowest possible temperature
- Specialized
A small insect with a hard wax covering that sticks to leaves and stems
- Specialized
A way of showing time in a simulation so events take longer than in real life
A scale for measuring temperature where water freezes at 32 degrees and boils at 212 degrees
- Specialized
A way of running a simulation where time moves faster than real life
- Specialized
A common eight-note pattern in Western music with small steps between third and fourth and seventh and eighth
- Specialized
A scale that measures how strong an earthquake feels and how much damage it causes
- Specialized
A set of notes used in Western music that makes a piece sound sad
- Specialized
A scale that compares how easily minerals scratch each other, from soft talc to hard diamond
- Specialized
A musical scale with fewer than seven notes that leaves out some notes from the usual scale
- Specialized
A scale that shows how high sea waves and long smooth waves are
- Specialized
A temperature scale that starts at absolute zero and uses the same size degree as Celsius
- Specialized
A musical scale of eight notes that uses whole and half steps one after the other
- Specialized
A temperature scale that starts at absolute zero and uses degrees the same size as Fahrenheit
- Archaic
A temperature scale where water freezes at 0 degrees and boils at 80 degrees
- Specialized
A number from 0 to 14 that shows how acidic or basic a liquid is, with 7 neutral
- Specialized
Partly refined paraffin wax made when oil is processed and used in industry
- Specialized
A system that gives numbers or levels to show how much of something there is
- Specialized
A way used in models to stretch time so events look slower than real life
- Specialized
A small insect with a soft, waxy covering that lives on plant stems and leaves
- Specialized
A small tool that measures weight or force by how much a metal coil stretches
- Specialized
A small extra ruler that slides along a larger ruler to measure very small lengths
- Specialized
A number scale from zero to twelve used worldwide to show how strong the wind is
How Hard
Surface Forms
Etymology
Scale (to climb) comes from the same 'ladder' idea, so to scale a wall is to climb up it as if using steps or a ladder.