Antonyms for scores

Grammar : Noun, verb

Spell : skawr, skohr

Phonetic Transcription : skɔr, skoʊr

Definition of scores

Origin : late Old English scoru "twenty," from Old Norse skor "mark, notch, incision; a rift in rock," also, in Icelandic, "twenty," from Proto-Germanic *skura-, from PIE root *(s)ker- "to cut" (see shear).
The connecting notion probably is counting large numbers (of sheep, etc.) with a notch in a stick for each 20. That way of counting, called vigesimalism, also exists in French: In Old French, "twenty" (vint) or a multiple of it could be used as a base, e.g. vint et doze ("32"), dous vinz et diz ("50"). Vigesimalism was or is a feature of Welsh, Irish, Gaelic and Breton (as well as non-IE Basque), and it is speculated that the English and the French picked it up from the Celts. Cf. tally (n.).
The prehistoric sense of the Germanic word, then, likely was "straight mark like a scratch, line drawn by a sharp instrument," but in English this is attested only from c.1400, along with the sense "mark made (on a chalkboard, etc.) to keep count of a customer's drinks in a tavern." This sense was extended by 1670s to "mark made for purpose of recording a point in a game or match," and thus "aggregate of points made by contestants in certain games and matches" (1742, originally in whist).
From the tavern-keeping sense comes the meaning "amount on an innkeeper's bill" (c.1600) and thus the figurative verbal expression settle scores (1775). Meaning "printed piece of music" first recorded 1701, said to be from the practice of connecting related staves by scores of lines. Especially "music composed for a film" (1927). Meaning "act of obtaining narcotic drugs" is by 1951.
Scoreboard is from 1826; score-keeping- from 1905; newspaper sports section score line is from 1965; baseball score-card is from 1877.

noun total, points
noun musical arrangement
noun obligation; account payable
verb keep count
verb achieve, succeed
verb cut, nick
verb write a musical arrangement

Example sentences :

In a similar way I am, or I have been, trustee of one kind or other for scores of our customers.
Extract from : « A Tale of Two Cities » by Charles Dickens

There were scores entered in the race, and that insured a good attendance at the event.
Extract from : « Frank Roscoe's Secret » by Allen Chapman

I have scores of your letters, my dear mother, to that effect.
Extract from : « The Coryston Family » by Mrs. Humphry Ward

It will all be remembered to him when we come to settle our scores.
Extract from : « A Hero of Our Time » by M. Y. Lermontov

I have told you scores of times you are the cleverest woman in the kingdom.
Extract from : « Cleo The Magnificent » by Louis Zangwill

The Germans were caught in this tide and scores of them were drowned.
Extract from : « The Story of the Great War, Volume II (of VIII) » by Various

Scores of times did I visit the cottage where the world-famous poet was born.
Extract from : « Adventures and Recollections » by Bill o'th' Hoylus End

"'Tis a pity, on some scores, to dispose so utterly of this Caryll," she said.
Extract from : « The Lion's Skin » by Rafael Sabatini

Scores of them were succumbing to hunger and cold every day.
Extract from : « England and Germany » by Emile Joseph Dillon

Scores of examples of similar nature to these might easily be collected.
Extract from : « Clairvoyance » by Charles Webster Leadbeater

Synonyms for scores

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