1. The act of systematically moving a finely focused beam of light or electrons over a surface in order to produce an image of it for analysis or transmission
   "The MRI scanning revealed the extent of the patient's injury"
    
2. The process of translating photographs into a digital form that can be recognized by a computer
   "The old family photos required careful scanning to preserve their quality"

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"

Derived forms: scannings

Type of: conform, construe, declaim, displace, examine, interpret, move, photography, recite, replication, reproduction, search, see

Encyclopedia: Scanning, Analysis, Response, and Assessment