scale3
• noun 1 a graduated range of values forming a standard system for measuring or grading something: a pay scale. 2 a measuring instrument based on such a system. 3 relative size or extent: he operated on a grand scale. 4 a ratio of size in a map, model, drawing, or plan. 5 Music an arrangement of the notes in any system of music in ascending or descending order of pitch. • verb 1 climb up or over (something high and steep). 2 represent or draw according to a common scale. 3 (of a quantity or property) be variable according to a particular scale. 4 (scale back/down or up) reduce (or increase) in size, number, or extent. — PHRASES to scale with a uniform reduction or enlargement. in scale in proportion to the surroundings. — ORIGIN Latin scala ‘ladder’.
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