scale

 Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English 5++朗文当代英语 5++LDOCE 5++朗文 5++

Related topics: Measurement, Music, Biology, Maths

scale1 /skeɪl/ ●●● S2 W2 noun  1  size/level 大小/程度 [singular, uncountable]SIZELEVEL the size or level of something, or the amount that something is happening 规模，范围，程度scale of We had underestimated the scale of the problem. 我们低估了问题的严重性。on a large/small/grand etc scale There has been housing development on a massive scale since 1980. 自1980年以来一直在大规模地进行住宅开发。 Most alternative technologies work best on a small scale. 大多数替代性技术小规模使用效果最佳。 A structural survey revealed the full scale of the damage. 结构检验揭示了实际受损程度。 I was shocked by the sheer scale (=very big scale) of the destruction. 破坏程度之大让我大为震惊。on a global/international/world scale Pollution could cause changes to weather patterns on a global scale. 污染会引起全球气候模式的改变。 Large firms benefit from economies of scale (=ways of saving money because they are big). 大公司从规模经济中得益。2  range 范围 [countable usually singular]POSITION/RANK a whole range of different types of people or things, from the lowest level to the highest 等级，级别 Some rural schools have 50 pupils, while at the other end of the scale are city schools with nearly 5,000 pupils. 某些农村学校只有50名学生，而规模大的城市学校却有近5,000名学生。up/down the scale She gradually made her way up the social scale. 她的社会地位逐渐提升。 animals which are lower down the evolutionary scale (=the range of animals that have developed gradually over a long time) 进化级别中较低等的动物3  FOR WEIGHING 用于称重scales [plural] British English, scale [countable] American EnglishDH a machine for weighing people or objects 秤；磅秤 a set of kitchen scales 一套厨房用秤 some new bathroom scales (=scales that you use to weigh yourself) 一些新的浴室秤 → tip the balance/scales at tip2(6) →4  See picture of 见图 MEASUREMENT →5 see picture at 见图 measure24  measuring system 计量制 [countable]TM a system of numbers that is used for measuring the amount, speed, quality etc of something 〔用于计量数量、速度、质量等的〕标准，级别on a scale The earthquakes measured 7 on the Richter scale. 这次地震经测定为里氏7级。 changes to the company’s pay scale 该公司工资等级的变动 Your performance will be judged on a scale of 1 to 10. 你的表现将按1到10的标准来评定。 We use a sliding scale (=in which prices are not firmly fixed) for charges. 我们采用浮动收费。5  measuring marks 计量刻度 [countable]TM a set of marks with regular spaces between them on a tool that is used for measuring, or on the side of a mathematical drawing 刻度，标度 a ruler with a metric scale 有公制刻度的尺子6  map/model 地图/模型 [countable, uncountable]SIZE the relationship between the size of a map, drawing, or model and the actual size of the place or thing that it represents 〔实物与图表、模型之间的〕比例（尺），比率 a map with a scale of 1:250,000 比例尺为1比250,000的地图to scale All our models are made to scale. 我们所有的模型都是按比例制作的。scale model/drawing etc (=one done using a strict scale) 按比例缩放的模型/绘画等 a scale drawing of the Eiffel Tower 埃菲尔铁塔的一幅缩尺图7  music 音乐 [countable]APM a series of musical notes that become higher or lower, with fixed distances between each note 音阶 the scale of G major G大调音阶8. fish 鱼 [countable usually plural]HB one of the small flat pieces of skin that cover the bodies of fish, snakes etc 〔鱼、蛇等的〕鳞9. teeth 牙齿 [uncountable] British EnglishHB a white substance that forms on your teeth 牙垢10. water pipes 水管 [uncountable]HCC a white substance that forms around the inside of hot water pipes or containers in which water is boiled 〔热水管、容器内的〕水垢，水锈11. the scales fell from somebody’s eyes literaryREALIZE used to say that someone suddenly realized something important 恍然大悟，幡然醒悟 → full-scalen COLLOCATIONS – Meaning 1: the size or level of something, or the amount that something is happeningphraseson a large scaleThis technology has been developed on a large scale in the US.on a massive/huge scaleThe drug is produced on a massive scale.on a grand scale (=very large and impressive)The Romans built on a grand scale.on a small scaleThey started by producing and selling on a small scale.on a human scale (=one that is small enough for people to understand and be happy with)Architects have been asked to redesign some of the buildings on a more human scale.on a national scale (=involving the whole country)The survey was carried out on a national scale.on an international scale (=involving more than one country)Preparations to deal with an outbreak of the disease are being made on an international scale.on a global/world scale (=involving the whole world)This is a product that can be sold in high volumes on a global scale.on an unprecedented scale (=more than ever before)Propaganda techniques were used on an unprecedented scale.economies of scale (=ways of saving money that are available to large organizations)Merging these departments will create economies of scale.adjectivesthe full scale of somethingHe acknowledged that the full scale of the problem was not known.the sheer scale of something (=used for emphasis)He was shocked by the sheer scale of the suffering he witnessed.n COLLOCATIONS – Meanings 2 & 4phrasesthe top of a scaleAt the top of the scale come the predators.the bottom of a scaleHe started at the bottom of the pay scale.the end of a scale (=the top or bottom)At the other end of the scale, the youngest competitor was just sixteen years old.further/higher up a scalePeasants managed their land as skilfully as some people higher up the social scale.further/lower down a scaleBonuses are not paid to people lower down the salary scale.ADJECTIVES/NOUN + scale the social scaleAt the other end of the social scale, life is a constant struggle to get enough to eat.the evolutionary scale (=the way in which animals have developed over time from simple ones to more complicated and more intelligent ones)Birds are much lower on the evolutionary scale than dogs.a pay/salary scaleAs a senior teacher, she has reached the top of her pay scale.verbsmove up/down a scaleSome farmers prospered and moved up the social scale.

Examples from the Corpus

scale• Seven of their 1:20 scale models have been chosen for exhibition and two have been combined to provide the full-scale installation.• The researchers devised a scale to measure people's attitudes toward certain types of behavior.• Hurricanes are graded on a scale from one to five, with five the strongest.• On a scale of one to ten, ten being best, his new movie is a two.• We were not expecting a public response on such a scale.• The map was drawn to a scale of one inch to the mile.• Greg stood on the bathroom scale and looked in the mirror.• How might we apply the lesson that these organizers learned on the much greater scale of an entire nation?• the F major scale• Economies of scale and the use of computers were expected to reduce administrative costs.• The salary scale goes from $60,000 to $175,000.• There is one large pointed slightly rugose tentacle scale on each pore.• Rescue workers are trying to assess the scale of the disaster.• At the other end of the scale, good advice in these shops is sometimes very expensive.• At the upper end of the scale is the Parker School, with tuition of over $9,000 a year.• Scientists are only just beginning to realize the scale of the problem.• This guy tips the scale at 400 pounds.• the scale on a thermometer• In order to ingratiate himself with the populace, he rebuilt the Temple of Jerusalem on a hitherto unprecedented scale.• The association between echographic measurement and visual scales is a simple method of evaluating the relationship between the stomach and appetite.economies of scale• Analogously, large loans attract a lower interest rate than small loans because of the administrative economies of scale.• World trade, then, allows what economists call economies of scale.• Each has been trying to outbid the rest in an attempt to gain market share and so exploit economies of scale.• However, just to confuse matters, economies of scale plus economies of scope do not imply subadditivity.• There are a number of qualifications to this prediction, apart from the possibility of economies of scale discussed above.• Yet it is clear that transport costs can have important consequences in the presence of economies of scale.• The benefits of reaping economies of scale depend upon how far costs fall as output levels are increased.• This is not to say that mass markets have disintegrated or that economies of scale are irrelevant to competitive performance.the evolutionary scale• This sub-order, which is further down the evolutionary scale. includes the Tarsiidae, or tarsiers.• Birds are much lower on the evolutionary scale, which is another criterion in determining what we consider cruelty to animals.• How coral colonies grow Tearing itself apart Only slightly further up the evolutionary scale in terms of reproduction are the Echinoderms.sliding scale• The Trotskyist movement has long advocated a sliding scale of wages to meet the rising cost of living.• Its correlative, a sliding scale of hours to meet unemployment, is now becoming timely.• The disparity between solar noon and mean noon widens and narrows as the seasons change, on a sliding scale.• The rest of the kitty will be divided among the other 21 clubs on a sliding scale in units of £35,000.• The fee is on a sliding scale according to value, and nobody who appraises for us is paid for it.• What was the going rate, his professional self asked, and was it adjusted to a sliding scale?• So it was that the trade emulated this sliding scale system for the populace at large.scale model/drawing etc• Seven of their 1:20 scale models have been chosen for exhibition and two have been combined to provide the full-scale installation.• A section on the skyscraper with amazing scale models shows the growth and diversity in this monumental building style.• It is a one-fifth scale model of Endeavour, built using traditional methods, but also allowing for modern safety requirements.• And yet, that lifetime was a kind of scale model for what followed.• Use should be made of such things as plans of models, dress patterns, scale drawings, photographs, maps.• The show features original architectural drawings, photos, scale models and videos.• A method of reconstruction which incorporates some of the advantages of both physical reconstruction and reconstruction drawings is the scale model.• This was approximately one fifth full size, but was a working mock-up rather than a true scale model.scale2 verb  1  [transitive]CLIMB to climb to the top of something that is high and difficult to climb 攀登 Rescuers had to scale a 300-metre cliff to reach the injured climber. 救援人员要登上300公尺的悬崖才能到达受伤的登山者所在地点。2  scale the heights to be extremely successful 登上事业的顶峰 By the age of 21, he had already scaled the heights in the academic world. 他在21岁时就已登上学术界的高峰。3  [transitive] technical to make writing or a picture the right size for a particular purpose 改变〔文字、图片〕的尺寸大小，缩放scale something to something The writing can be scaled to any size, depending on the paper. 文字可缩放到任何尺寸，视纸张的大小而定。n4  [intransitive] if something will scale, it will continue to work well even if it is made bigger or comes to include more things Will this way of networking scale?5 scale something ↔ down/back phrasal verb REDUCEto reduce the amount or size of something 缩减，缩小 → decrease The emergency aid programme has now been scaled down. 紧急救援计划现在已经缩减了规模。6 scale something ↔ up phrasal verb to increase the amount or size of something 增加，扩大 Production at the factory is being scaled up. 这家工厂的生产规模在扩大。→ See Verb table

Examples from the Corpus

scale• Paramount released 14 films in 1995 and some reports say Redstone has asked that number be scaled back.• Sainty, like many others, had scaled down this year, leaving the million dollar plus pictures at home.• The output reading obtained with the enlarged input is then correspondingly scaled down.• Corbett has scaled El Capitan in Yosemite a record 46 times.• Chapters 9 and 10 deal with issues directly linked to scaling laws in chemistry and analytical devices.• Underneath, I have I copied the graphic into a Draw 98 frame and scaled that instead.• Marsalis scales the stratospheric extreme of the piccolo trumpet without a single bobble.• Somehow the men had scaled the twenty foot wall without setting off the alarm.• Some banks try to scale their prices down for small-business customers to entice them to use electronic services.From Longman Business Dictionaryscalescale /skeɪl/ noun1[singular, uncountable] the size or level of something, especially when this is largescale ofNo-one had anticipated the scale of the redundancies (=that there would be so many).We need to recycle plastics on a much bigger scale.2diseconomies of scale [plural]ECONOMICS the disadvantages that a big factory, shop etc has compared with a smaller one, for example because it is more difficult to run a larger production unitOver a period of decades, output becomes less profitable as diseconomies of scale arise.3economies of scale [plural]ECONOMICS the advantages that a big factory, shop etc has over a smaller one because it can spread its FIXED COSTs over a larger number of units and therefore produce or sell things more cheaplyJoint production ventures allow for greater economies of scale.4[countable] a list of figures used for measuring and comparing amountsscale ofa progressive scale of tax ratesManagers gave their opinion of the bond markets, ranked on a scale of one to ten.the company pay scale → salary scale → sliding scale

scale1 noun →n COLLOCATIONS1 →n COLLOCATIONS2scale2 verbLDOCE OnlineChinese  

or Business level of something, or Corpus size the

scale

I

scale¹ S2 W2 /skeɪl/ noun
1.  SIZE/LEVEL  [singular, uncountable] the size or level of something, or the amount that something is happening
    scale of
    We had underestimated the scale of the problem.
    on a large/small/grand etc scale
    There has been housing development on a massive scale since 1980.
    Most alternative technologies work best on a small scale.
    A structural survey revealed the full scale of the damage.
    I was shocked by the sheer scale (=very big scale) of the destruction.
    on a global/international/world scale
    Pollution could cause changes to weather patterns on a global scale.
    Large firms benefit from economies of scale (=ways of saving money because they are big).
2.  RANGE  [countable usually singular] a whole range of different types of people or things, from the lowest level to the highest:
    Some rural schools have 50 pupils, while at the other end of the scale are city schools with nearly 5,000 pupils.
    up/down the scale
    She gradually made her way up the social scale.
    animals which are lower down the evolutionary scale (=the range of animals that have developed gradually over a long time)
3.
   FOR WEIGHING .scales [plural] British English, scale [countable] American English a machine for weighing people or objects:
    a set of kitchen scales
    some new bathroom scales (=scales that you use to weigh yourself) ⇨ tip the balance/scales at tip²(6)
4.  MEASURING SYSTEM  [countable] a system of numbers that is used for measuring the amount, speed, quality etc of something
    on a scale
    The earthquakes measured 7 on the Richter scale.
    changes to the company’s pay scale
    Your performance will be judged on a scale of 1 to 10.
    We use a sliding scale (=in which prices are not firmly fixed) for charges.
5.  MEASURING MARKS  [countable] a set of marks with regular spaces between them on a tool that is used for measuring, or on the side of a mathematical drawing:
    a ruler with a metric scale
6.  MAP/MODEL  [uncountable and countable] the relationship between the size of a map, drawing, or model and the actual size of the place or thing that it represents:
    a map with a scale of 1:250,000
    to scale
    All our models are made to scale.
    scale model/drawing etc (=one done using a strict scale)
    a scale drawing of the Eiffel Tower
7.  MUSIC  [countable] a series of musical notes that become higher or lower, with fixed distances between each note:
    the scale of G major
8.  FISH  [countable usually plural] one of the small flat pieces of skin that cover the bodies of fish, snakes etc
9.  TEETH  [uncountable] British English a white substance that forms on your teeth
10.  WATER PIPES  [uncountable] a white substance that forms around the inside of hot water pipes or containers in which water is boiled
11. the scales fell from sb’s eyes literary used to say that someone suddenly realized something important
⇨ full-scale
     

COLLOCATIONS

(for Meaning 1)

■ phrases
   ▪ on a large scale This technology has been developed on a large scale in the US.
   ▪ on a massive/huge scale The drug is produced on a massive scale.
   ▪ on a grand scale (=very large and impressive) The Romans built on a grand scale.
   ▪ on a small scale They started by producing and selling on a small scale.
   ▪ on a human scale (=one that is small enough for people to understand and be happy with) Architects have been asked to redesign some of the buildings on a more human scale.
   ▪ on a national scale (=involving the whole country) The survey was carried out on a national scale.
   ▪ on an international scale (=involving more than one country) Preparations to deal with an outbreak of the disease are being made on an international scale.
   ▪ on a global/world scale (=involving the whole world) This is a product that can be sold in high volumes on a global scale.
   ▪ on an unprecedented scale (=more than ever before) Propaganda techniques were used on an unprecedented scale.
   ▪ economies of scale (=ways of saving money that are available to large organizations) Merging these departments will create economies of scale.
■ adjectives
   ▪ the full scale of something He acknowledged that the full scale of the problem was not known.
   ▪ the sheer scale of something (=used for emphasis) He was shocked by the sheer scale of the suffering he witnessed.
     

COLLOCATIONS

(for Meanings 2 & 4)

■ phrases
   ▪ the top of a scale At the top of the scale come the predators.
   ▪ the bottom of a scale He started at the bottom of the pay scale.
   ▪ the end of a scale (=the top or bottom) At the other end of the scale, the youngest competitor was just sixteen years old.
   ▪ further/higher up a scale Peasants managed their land as skilfully as some people higher up the social scale.
   ▪ further/lower down a scale Bonuses are not paid to people lower down the salary scale.
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + scale
   ▪ the social scale At the other end of the social scale, life is a constant struggle to get enough to eat.
   ▪ the evolutionary scale (=the way in which animals have developed over time from simple ones to more complicated and more intelligent ones) Birds are much lower on the evolutionary scale than dogs.
   ▪ a pay/salary scale As a senior teacher, she has reached the top of her pay scale.
■ verbs
   ▪ move up/down a scale Some farmers prospered and moved up the social scale.

II

scale² verb [transitive]
1. to climb to the top of something that is high and difficult to climb:
    Rescuers had to scale a 300-metre cliff to reach the injured climber.
2. technical to make writing or a picture the right size for a particular purpose
    scale something to something
    The writing can be scaled to any size, depending on the paper.
3. scale the heights to be extremely successful:
    By the age of 21, he had already scaled the heights in the academic world.
     
scale something ↔ down/back phrasal verb
  to reduce the amount or size of something ⇨ decrease:
    The emergency aid programme has now been scaled down.
scale something ↔ up phrasal verb
  to increase the amount or size of something:
    Production at the factory is being scaled up.
     

THESAURUS

   ▪ climb to move up, down, or across something using your hands and feet: Most kids love climbing trees. | Several fans climbed onto the roof of the arena to get a better view. | She climbed down the ladder.
   ▪ ascend formal to climb up something: He began to ascend the narrow winding staircase. | the first man to ascend Mount Everest
   ▪ go up to climb up something such as a slope or stairs: He went up the steps to the platform. | Sonia was quiet as they went up the hill.
   ▪ scale formal to climb to the top of something such as a high wall or fence: Somehow the men had scaled the twenty-foot wall without setting off the alarm. | Protestors scaled the walls of the building and hung banners. | Rescuers had to scale a one-thousand-foot cliff before they could reach the injured climber.
   ▪ clamber to climb somewhere with difficulty, using your hands to help you: At last we saw the two girls clambering down the slope to safety. | Everyone clambered onto the back of the truck.
   ▪ scramble to climb somewhere quickly and with difficulty, using your hands to help you, especially when you are walking: They scrambled up the steep rocky bank.