/skɔː/, /skoɹ/, /sko(ː)ɹ/
OriginFrom Middle English score, skore, schore, from Old English scoru (“notch; tally; score”), from Old Norse skor, from Proto-Germanic *skurō (“incision; tear; rift”), which is related to *skeraną (“to cut”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“cut”). Cognate with Icelandic skora, Swedish skåra, Danish skår. Related to shear.
For the sense “twenty”: The mark on a tally made by drovers for every twenty beasts passing through a tollgate.
- The total number of goals, points, runs, etc. earned by a participant in a game.
“The player with the highest score is the winner.”
- The number of points accrued by each of the participants in a game, expressed as a ratio or a series of numbers.
“The score is 8-1 even though it's not even half-time!”
- The performance of an individual or group on an examination or test, expressed by a number, letter, or other symbol; a grade.
“The test scores for this class were high.”
“The study not only showed IQ variance between children the same parents, but because the authors had the IQ scores of various parents, it demonstrated that parents with higher IQs tended to have more ”
- Twenty (20).
“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”
“I went on trying for fish along the western bank down the river, but only small trout rose at my flies, and a score was the total catch.”
- A distance of twenty yards, in ancient archery and gunnery.
“At Markes full fortie score they vs'd to Prick and Roue.”
- A weight of twenty pounds.
- A period of twenty years.
- British, slangTwenty pounds sterling.
“DEVLIN:You know the apple and core. Head might cost you a score, or more if you want a meat show on all fours.”
- in-plural, oftenA great deal; many, several.
“Some words have scores of meanings.”
- An amount of money won in gambling; winnings.
“Use a few “introductory plays” to become known to a casino before you go for a big score.”
- The written form of a musical composition showing all instrumental and vocal parts.
- The music of a movie or play.
“Even without hovering drones, a lurking assassin, a thumping score and a denouement, the real-life story of Edward Snowden, a rogue spy on the run, could be straight out of the cinema. But, as with Ho”
- A subject.
“Well, although we haven't discussed the views of all those who make precise reckonings of being and not [being], we've done enough on that score.”
- An account; a reason; a motive; a sake; a behalf.
“But left the trade, as many more / Have lately done on the same score.”
“You act your kindneſs on Cydaria’s ſcore.”
“The local village priest is expected to pass through the Holi bonfire, which, in the opinion of the faithful, cannot burn him. Indeed he holds his land rent-free simply on the score of his being fire-”
- A notch or incision; especially, one that is made as a tally mark; hence, a mark, or line, made for the purpose of account.
“Whereas, before, our forefathers had no other books but the score and the tally, thou hast caused printing to be used.”
- An account or reckoning; account of dues; bill; debt.
“He parted well, and paid his score.”
- US, slangA robbery.
“Let's pull a score!”
“Batman: Dangerous crowd you're stealing from.
Catwoman: Jesus. Is this how you get your kicks, hon? Sneaking up on girls in the dark?
Batman: Is that why you work in the club? It was all just a score?”
- US, slangA bribe paid to a police officer.
- US, slangAn illegal sale, especially of drugs.
- US, slangA prostitute's client.
- UK, regionalIn the Lowestoft area, a narrow pathway running down a cliff to the beach.
“Above the harbour, steeply up the hill, run The Bolts, narrow stepped passages, equivalent of The Scores of Lowestoft and The Rows of Great Yarmouth.”
- A document which systematically lists differences among compiled manuscripts of a source text.
“Robson counted 92 exemplars of Gilgamesh and Huwawa A and 59 of Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Netherworld (“Tablet House,” 54). Since that time, several joins have reduced the number of distinct copies, ”
- transitiveTo cut a notch or a groove in a surface.
“A very neat old woman, still in her good outdoor coat and best beehive hat, was sitting at a polished mahogany table on whose surface there were several scored scratches so deep that a triangular piec”
“The baker scored the cake so that the servers would know where to slice it.”
- intransitiveTo record the tally of points for a game, a match, or an examination.
- ambitransitiveTo obtain something desired.
“"Of course it would be hypocritical for me to pretend that I regret what Abraham did. After all, I've scored by it."”
“In the past decade gay people have scored a number of significant advances.”
- ambitransitiveTo earn points in a game.
“It is unusual for a team to score a hundred goals in one game.”
“Pelé scores again!”
“And White Hart Lane was stunned when Rovers scored just five minutes after the restart in front of their away following.”
- ambitransitiveTo achieve academic credit on a test, quiz, homework, assignment, or course.
“No, Butthead, that's my point. You didn't score. You got a zero.”
“At the end of first grade, the children scored 80 percent correct on this test, a value that remained unchanged through third grade.”
“Intelligence is heritable, and for a long time, researchers assumed that people with high IQ scores would have kids who also scored above average.”
- ambitransitiveTo win money by gambling.
“[…] he scored big by hitting the jack pot at the Bellagio (he won $7,000). The next day, he won $15,000 on the nickel machines at the Palm Casino!”
- ambitransitive, slangTo acquire or gain.
“I scored some drugs last night.”
“Did you score tickets for the concert?”
“What am I doing in this place? / Why does the doctor have no face? / Oh, I can't crawl across the floor / Ah, can't you see, Sister Morphine, I'm trying to score”
- US, ambitransitive, slangTo extract a bribe.
- transitiveTo rate; to evaluate the quality of.
“Critics scored the game 92%.”
“[…] this was the case for most students, who scored it highly (medians of 4 with many scores of 5) […]”
- transitiveTo provide (a film, etc.) with a musical score.
“Godfather II is nothing like ready. It is not yet scored, and thus not mixed. There remain additional shooting, looping, editing.”
“Robertson scored several of Scorsese’s films, including Raging Bull, Casino, The Wolf of Wall Street and The Irishman.”
- ambitransitiveTo return (a horse and rider) to the starting-point repeatedly, until a fair start is achieved.
“[…] and the scoring for a start by these "inferior" horses would kill a thoroughbred. As an instance, in the 2:27 race at Cleveland, last summer, twelve horses scored seventeen times before they got a”
- US, slangAn acknowledgement of success.
Formsscores(plural) · score(plural) · scores(present, singular, third-person) · scoring(participle, present) · scored(participle, past) · scored(past) · score(infinitive) · score(first-person, present, singular) · scored(first-person, past, singular) · score(present, second-person, singular) · scorest(archaic, present, second-person, singular) · scored(past, second-person, singular) · scoredst(archaic, past, second-person, singular) · scoreth(archaic, present, singular, third-person) · scored(past, singular, third-person) · score(plural, present) · scored(past, plural) · score(present, subjunctive) · scored(past, subjunctive) · score(imperative, present)