Library / English Dictionary

SCOUT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A person employed to keep watch for some anticipated event

Synonyms:

lookout; lookout man; picket; scout; sentinel; sentry; spotter; watch

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("scout" is a kind of...):

security guard; watcher; watchman (a guard who keeps watch)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Someone who can find paths through unexplored territory

Synonyms:

guide; pathfinder; scout

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("scout" is a kind of...):

expert (a person with special knowledge or ability who performs skillfully)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "scout"):

hunting guide (guide to people hunting in unfamiliar territory)

trailblazer (someone who marks a trail by leaving blazes on trees)

Instance hyponyms:

Sacagawea; Sacajawea (the Shoshone guide and interpreter who guided the Lewis and Clark expedition part of the way)

Derivation:

scout (explore, often with the goal of finding something or somebody)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Someone employed to discover and recruit talented persons (especially in the worlds of entertainment or sports)

Synonyms:

scout; talent scout

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("scout" is a kind of...):

recruiter (someone who supplies members or employees)

Domain category:

athletics; sport (an active diversion requiring physical exertion and competition)

Derivation:

scout (explore, often with the goal of finding something or somebody)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A Boy Scout or Girl Scout

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("Scout" is a kind of...):

female child; girl; little girl (a youthful female person)

boy; male child (a youthful male person)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "Scout"):

Boy Scout (a boy who is a member of the Boy Scouts)

Girl Scout (a girl who is a member of the Girl Scouts)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Explore, often with the goal of finding something or somebody

Synonyms:

reconnoiter; reconnoitre; scout

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Hypernyms (to "scout" is one way to...):

observe (watch attentively)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

Sentence examples:

The men scout the area for animals

The men scout for animals in the area

Derivation:

scout (someone who can find paths through unexplored territory)

scout (someone employed to discover and recruit talented persons (especially in the worlds of entertainment or sports))

scouter (an adult member of the Boy Scouts movement)

scouting (exploring in order to gain information)

Credits

 Context examples: 

I communicated to his majesty a project I had formed of seizing the enemy’s whole fleet; which, as our scouts assured us, lay at anchor in the harbour, ready to sail with the first fair wind.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

A fringe of scouts was thrown out in front, and behind them the whole force in a solid column made their way up the long slope of the bush country until we were near the edge of the forest.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Any one of these scouts used to think nothing of politely assisting an old lady in black out of a vehicle, killing any proctor whom she inquired for, representing his employer as the lawful successor and representative of that proctor, and bearing the old lady off (sometimes greatly affected) to his employer's office.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)