mass noun
1
- the extent of the area or subject matter that something deals with or to which it is relevant范围; 领域：
we widened the scope of our investigation
我们拓宽了调查范围
such questions go well beyond the scope of this book.
此类问题大大超出本书的范围。
2
- the opportunity or possibility to do or deal with something机会; 可能：
the scope for major change is always limited by political realities.
重大改革的机会总是受到政治现实的限制。
2.1
- archaic a purpose, end, or intention〈古〉目的; 意图：
Plato even maintains religion to be the chief aim and scope of human life.
柏拉图甚至强调宗教是人生的主要目的和意图。
3
- informal 〈非正式〉a telescope, microscope, or other device having a name ending in -scope（望远镜、显微镜等的）观测仪器：
infrared night scopes
红外夜视镜。
4
- Nautical the length of cable extended when a ship rides at anchor【航海】（船抛锚时的）缆绳长度。
5
- Linguistics & Logic the number of terms or arguments affected by an operator such as a quantifier or conjunction【语言学, 逻】特定论点的数量。
with obj.
1
- (scope something out) assess or investigate something评估; 调查：
they'd scoped out their market.
他们已对自己的市场进行了调查。
1.1
- set the scope of (a projected undertaking)确定（规划项目）的范围：
it is important that a project is scoped correctly to ensure the budget can be accurately defined.
确定项目的范围很重要, 这样可以确保能准确地作出预算。
2
- N. Amer. informal look at carefully; scan〈北美, 非正式〉细看; 审视：
they watched him scoping the room, looking for Michael.
他们看着他搜索房间, 寻找迈克尔。
词源
mid 16th cent. （in the sense 'target for shooting at'）： from Italian scopo 'aim', from Greek skopos 'target', from skeptesthai 'look out'. Sense 3 of the noun is derived from -SCOPE.