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score

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To score means to earn points, especially in a game or sport, to have something be a success or to get something you've been hoping for or wishing for. (verb)

An example of score is when you get the ball through the hoop in a basketball game.
An example of score is when you do something to make your mother-in-law like you.
An example of score is when you get a great new job.

The score is the total number of points received by each team or player, the total amount of points you receive for something or the current or present status of a situation. (noun)

An example of score is when a hockey game is 2:2.
An example of score is when you earn a 100 percent on your test.
An example of score is when you understand who is in charge of a house.

See score in Webster's New World College Dictionary

noun

1. a scratch, mark, incision, etc.: scores made on ice by skates
2. a line drawn or scratched, often to mark a starting point, etc.
3. notches made in wood, marks made as with chalk, etc., to keep tally or account
an amount or sum due; account; debt
a grievance or wrong one seeks to settle or get even for
anything offered as a reason or motive; ground: on the score of poverty
the number of points made in a game or contest by a player or team, or the record of these points
1. a grade or rating, as on a test or examination
2. a number indicative of quality, usually based on an arbitrary scale in which 100 means perfection in certain specified characteristics: 92 score butter
1. twenty people or things; set of twenty
2. very many
Informal a successful move, stroke, remark, etc.
☆ Informal
1. the way that life or a certain situation really is; real facts
2. the pertinent facts; lowdown
Slang the victim of a swindle; mark
Slang the act of getting or stealing, as drugs
Dancing notation used to indicate dancers' movements, as in a ballet
Music
1. a written or printed copy of a composition, showing all the parts for the instruments or voices
2. the music for a stage production, film, etc., esp. as distinguished from the lyrics, dialogue, etc.

transitive verb scored, scoring

to mark with notches, scratches, cuts, lines, etc.
to crease or partly cut (cardboard, paper, etc.) for accurate folding or tearing
to cancel or mark out by lines drawn: with out
to mark with lines or notches in keeping account
to keep account of by or as by lines or notches; reckon; tally; mark
1. to make (runs, hits, goals, etc.) in a game and so add to one's number of points
2. to count toward the number of points: a touchdown scores 6
3. to record or enter the score of
4. to record or add (points) to one's score
5. ☆ Baseball to bring (a runner) home as by getting a hit
to get by effort or merit; gain: to score a resounding success
to grade (an examination, etc.); rate or evaluate, as in testing
to get (a specified grade) on a test
1. to raise welts on by lashing
2. ☆ to criticize severely; upbraid
Slang to get or steal (drugs, money, etc.)
Cooking to cut superficial gashes in (meat, etc.)
Music, Dancing to orchestrate, arrange, or write out in a score

intransitive verb

to make a point or points, as in a game
to keep the score, as of a game
to be rated by one's score on a test
1. to gain an advantage
2. to win or enjoy credit, popularity, success, etc.
to make notches, lines, gashes, etc.
Slang to have sexual intercourse

Related Forms:

scorer noun

See score in American Heritage Dictionary 4

(skôr, skōr)

noun

A notch or incision, especially one that is made to keep a tally.
Sports & Games
a. A usually numerical record of a competitive event: keeping score.
b. The total number of points made by each competitor or side in a contest, either final or at a given stage: The score stood tied in the bottom of the ninth inning.
c. The number of points attributed to a competitor or team.
A result, usually expressed numerically, of a test or examination.
a. An amount due; a debt.
b. A grievance that is harbored and requires satisfaction: settle an old score.
A ground; a reason.
A group of 20 items.
scores Large numbers: Scores of people attended the rally.
Music
a. The notation of a musical work.
b. The written form of a composition for orchestral or vocal parts.
c. The music written for a film or a play.
Slang
a. The act of securing an advantage, especially a surprising or significant gain: “He had dropped out of school and gone for that quick dollar, that big score” (Peter Goldman).
b. The act or an instance of buying illicit drugs.
c. A successful robbery.
d. A sexual conquest.

verb scored scored, scor·ing, scores

verb, transitive

To mark with lines or notches, especially for the purpose of keeping a record.
To cancel or eliminate by or as if by superimposing lines.
To mark the surface of (meat, for example) with usually parallel cuts.
Sports & Games
a. To gain (a point) in a game or contest.
b. To count or be worth as points: A basket scores two points.
c. To keep a written record of the score or events of (a game or contest).
d. Baseball To cause (a base runner) to cross home plate, especially by getting a hit: scored both runners with a double.
To achieve; win.
To evaluate and assign a grade to.
Music
a. To orchestrate.
b. To arrange for a specific instrument.
To criticize cuttingly; berate.
Slang
a. To succeed in acquiring: scored two tickets to the play.
b. To succeed in obtaining (an illicit drug): “Aging punks try to impress her with tales of . . . the different drugs they've scored” (Art Jahnke).

verb, intransitive

Sports & Games
a. To make a point in a game or contest.
b. To keep the score of a game or contest.
Slang
a. To achieve a purpose or advantage, especially to make a surprising gain or coup: “They . . . score in places like the bond market” (Mike Barnicle).
b. To succeed in seducing someone sexually.
c. To succeed in buying or obtaining an illicit drug.

Related Forms:

scorˈer noun

Learn more about score

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