Antonyms for scale

Grammar : Noun, verb

Spell : skeyl

Phonetic Transcription : skeɪl

Definition of scale

Origin : "skin plates on fish or snakes," c.1300, from Old French escale "cup, scale, shell pod, husk" (12c., Modern French écale) "scale, husk," from Frankish *skala or some other Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *skælo "split, divide" (cf. Dutch schaal "a scale, husk," Old High German scala "shell," Gothic skalja "tile," Old English scealu "shell, husk"), from PIE root *(s)kel- (1) "to cut, cleave, split" (cf. Latin culter "knife," scalpere "to cut, scrape;" Old Church Slavonic skolika "mussel, shell," Russian skala "rind, bark," Lithuanian skelti "split," Old English scell "shell," scalu "drinking cup, bowl, scale of a balance").
In reference to humans, as a condition of certain skin diseases, it is attested from c.1400. As what falls from one's eye when blindness ends (usually figurative), it echoes Acts ix:18 (Latin tanquam squamæ, Greek hosei lepides).

noun graduated system
noun thin covering, skin
verb ascend, climb
verb measure

Example sentences :

To prepare it in this way, secure a perch and scale and clean it.
Extract from : « Woman's Institute Library of Cookery, Vol. 3 » by Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences

That mountain wall, impracticable as it seems, we have to scale.
Extract from : « The Roof of France » by Matilda Betham-Edwards

Throughout he must remember, how small is the scale of operations.
Extract from : « The Story of the Malakand Field Force » by Sir Winston S. Churchill

Weighed in this scale, what a profanation is this man guilty of!
Extract from : « Clarissa, Volume 2 (of 9) » by Samuel Richardson

It was not fitted out upon the scale which Nelson had proposed.
Extract from : « The Life of Horatio Lord Nelson » by Robert Southey

It seems that—shooting—was the last little weight that tilted the scale against me.
Extract from : « Good Indian » by B. M. Bower

That is probably the mildest degree in the scale of unpleasantness.
Extract from : « The Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 10, No. 58, August, 1862 » by Various

Well, then, the scale of good wifeship I divide into ten parts.
Extract from : « The Letters of Robert Burns » by Robert Burns

"Too risky to scale that," Frank mused, as he noted the sharp-pointed palings.
Extract from : « Frank Roscoe's Secret » by Allen Chapman

Remained only the probability of our being able, encumbered by a pack, to scale the mountains.
Extract from : « The Forest » by Stewart Edward White

Synonyms for scale

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019