n. A husk, shell, pod, or other thin covering of a seed or fruit, as of the bean.n. ln botany, a small rudimentary or thin scarious body, usually a metamorphosed leaf, scale-like in form and often in arrangement, constituting the covering of the leaf-buds of deciduous trees in cold climates, the involucre of the Compositæ, the bracts of the catkin, the imbricated and thickened leaves which constitute the bulb, and the like. Also applied in the Coniferæ to the leaves or bracts of the cone, and to the chaff on the stems of ferns. See also cuts under imbricate and rosin-plant.n. In zoology, an epidermal or exoskeletal structure that is thin, flat, hard or dry, and of some definite extent; a piece of cuticle that is squamous, scaly, or horny, and does not constitute a hair, a feather, or a horn, hoof, nail, or claw; a squama; a scute; a scutellum.n. Something like or likened to a scale; something desquamated or exfoliated; a flake; a shell; a scab.n. Specifically— A thin plate of bone; a scale-like or shell-like bone: as, the human lacrymal bone is a mere scale; the squamosal is a thin scale of bone.n. A part of the periostracum, or epidermal covering of the shell of a mollusk.n. One of the broad flat structures, or hemielytra, which cover some annelids, as the scalebacks, with a kind of defensive armor.n. In entomology: One of the minute structures which constitute the covering of the wings of lepidopterous insects, as the furriness of a butterfly or moth. These are modified hairs which when well developed are thin, fiat plates, pointed at the end where they are attached to the surface and generally divided into a number of long teeth at the other end; they are set in rows overlapping each other slightly, like tiles or shingles on a roof. These scales are ornamented with microscopic lines, and are of various and often very bright colors. By covering the transparent membrane of the wings they form the beautiful patterns much admired in these insects. See cut in next column, and cut under Lepidoptera. One of the plates, somewhat similar to those on a butterfly's wing, covering the bodies of most Thysanura (Lepismatidæ, Poduridæ). One of the little flakes which, scattered singly or close together, so as to cover the whole surface in a uniform manner, ornament the bodies and wing-covers of many beetles, especially species of Curculionidæ. These scales are frequently mingled with hairs; they are often metallic and very beautifully colored. One of the rndimentary wings of some insects, as fleas, or some similar process or formation on the thorax: as, the covering scale, the operculum or tegula of various insects. See tegula. The shield covering the body of most female scale-insects (Coccidæ), and subsequently, when the insect dies and shrivels up, serving to protect the eggs and young which are concealed beneath it. (See accompanying cut.) It is formed either by an exudation from the body of the female, or by her cast-off larva-skins cemented together. Hence— A coccid; a scale-insect: as, the barnacle scale, Ceroplastes cirripediformis, common in Florida. See cuts under coccus, cochineal, and scale-insect. A vertical dilatation of the petiole of the abdomen, found in some ants. Also called nodus or node.n. One of the large hard scabs which form in some diseases of the human skin.n. One of the metal plates which form the sides of the frame of a pocket-knife, and to which the outer part, of ivory or other material, is riveted.n. The crust of oxid formed on the surface of a metal heated with exposure to the air: used chiefly with reference to iron, as in the terms mill-scale, hammer-scale, etc.To deprive of scales, as a fish.To peel; husk; shell: as, to scale almonds.To pare down or off; shave or reduce, as a surface.In metallurgy, to get rid of the scale or film of oxid formed on the surface of (a metal), as of iron plates, in order to obtain a clean surface for tinning.To clean (the inside of a cannon) by firing off a small quantity of powder.To cause to separate; disperse; scatter: as, to scale a crowd.To spill: as, to scale salt; to scale water.To spread, as manure or some loose substance.To separate and come off in thin layers or laminæ; become reduced by the separation or loss of surface scales or flakes.To separate; break up; disperse; scatter.n. A bowl; a cup.n. The bowl or dish of a balance; hence, the balance itself, or the whole instrument: as, to turn the scale: generally used in the plural when applied to the whole instrument.n. plural [capitalized] The sign of the Balance, or Libra, in the zodiac.To weigh in or as in scales; measure; compare; estimate.To weigh; have a weight of: as, the fish scaled seven pounds.To make of the proper or exact weight: as, a scaled pottle of wine.n. A ladder; a flight of steps; anything by means of which one may ascend.n. A series of marks laid down at determinate distances along a line, for purposes of measurement and computation; also, the rule upon which one or more such series are laid down.n. In music: A definite and standard series of tones within some large limiting interval, like an octave, selected for artistic purposes.n. Any particular scale based upon a given key-note: as, the scale of G or of F.n. Of a voice or an instrument, same as compass, 5.n. In an organ-pipe, the ratio between its width and its length: a broad scale producing full, sonorous tones, as in the open diapason; and a narrow scale, thin, string-like tones, as in the dulciana.n. Succession of ascending or descending steps or degrees; progressive series; scheme of comparative rank or order; gradation.n. A system of proportion by which definite magnitudes represent definite magnitudes, in a sculpture, picture, map, and the like; also. a system of proportion for taxation or other purpose.n. A system of numeration or numerical notation.n. Any graded system of terms, shades, tints, sounds, etc., by reference to which the degree, intensity, or quality of a phenomenon or sense-perception may be estimated.n. The act of storming a place by mounting the walls on ladders; an escalade or scalade.To climb by or as by a ladder; ascend by steps; in general, to clamber up.To draw, project, or make according to scale; represent in true proportions.In lumbering, to measure (logs), or estimate the amount of (standing timber).To cut down or decrease proportionally in every part; decrease or reduce according to a fixed scale or proportion: sometimes with down: as, to scale wages; to scale a debt or an appropriation.To afford an ascent, as a ladder or stairs; lead up by steps or stairs.n. An incrustation on the inside of a boiler or other vessel in which water is evaporated which contains in solution salts which are precipitated by heat. These salts are usually present in solution as compounds rich in carbonic acid, such as the acid carbonates of lime and magnesia, or as sulphates or silicates. The carbonates lose one atom of CO2 on boiling and become insoluble protocarbonates, and the sulphates are less soluble in hot water than in cold. Such scale causes local overheating and injury to the metal of the vessel, retards the transfer of heat to the water to be evaporated, and clogs up waterways.To cover with a crust or deposit: as, this water scales the boiler or the kettle.To become crusted with a deposit from the feed-water: said of a boiler or other evaporating-vessel.n. Weight: an abbreviation of scale weight.n. A form of scales in which the usual knife-edge fulcrums are replaced by flat bands, the loads twisting these bands through a small angle, quite within their elastic limit of stress. Such fulcrums are frictionless, or the molecular distortion is not variable with applied load.n. In graphics, the ratio of the lines of the drawing to those of the object. Thus, if six inches on the drawing represent one foot on the object the scale is one half, variously indicated: as, Scale ½ Scale 1:2; Scale 6 in. = 1 ft.; Scale 6″ = 1′ .n. VALUES OF BAUMÉ DEGREESn. All the numbers but three in the table for heavy liquids contain errors of 1, 2, 3, or 5 units in the third decimal place, but since the table has been adopted by the chief users of this hydrometer it is given as so used; but the correct figures are added within brackets. Instruments, however, are likely to be graduated according to the correct figures.
