1. Examine minutely or intensely
   "the surgeon scanned the X-ray"
    
2. Examine hastily
   "She scanned the newspaper headlines while waiting for the taxi";
   - skim, rake, glance over, run down
    
3. Make a wide, sweeping search of
   "The beams scanned the night sky"
    
4. Move a light beam over; in electronics, to reproduce an image
   "The barcode reader scanned the product"; "The MRI machine scanned her brain"
    
5. Obtain data from disk or other digital sources
   "The computer scanned the barcode";
   - read
    
6. (poetry) conform to a metrical pattern
   "This line scans perfectly in iambic pentameter"
    
7. Read metrically
   "scan verses"

1. The act of scanning; systematic examination of a prescribed region
   "he made a thorough scan of the beach with his binoculars"
    
2. An image produced by scanning
   "he analysed the brain scan"; "you could see the tumour in the CAT scan"; "he analysed the brain CT scan";
   - CAT scan, CT scan

Derived forms: scanned, scans, scanning

Type of: conform, construe, declaim, displace, examination, examine, icon, image, interpret, move, picture, recite, scrutiny, search, see

Encyclopedia: Scan