one of a group of insects that attach themselves to plant parts. Most scale insects are parasites of plants. feeding on sap drawn directly from the plant’s vascular system.
Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
scale (noun)1.
a) either pan or tray of a balance
b) a beam that is supported freely in the center and has two pans of equal weight suspended from its ends - usually used in plural
2.
an instrument or machine for weighing
transitive verb
intransitive verb
to weigh in - scales to have a specified weight on scales
1.
a) a small, flattened, rigid, and definitely circumscribed plate forming part of the external body covering especially of a fish
b) a small thin plate suggesting a fish scale - scales of mica the scales on a moth's wing
c) the covering of a animal - scaly scaled
2.
a small thin dry lamina shed (as in many skin diseases) from the skin
3.
a thin coating, layer, or incrustation as
a) a usually black scaly coating of oxide forming on the surface of a metal (as iron) when it is heated for processing
b) a hard incrustation usually rich in sulfate of calcium that is deposited on the inside of a vessel (as a boiler) in which water is heated
4.
a) a modified leaf protecting a seed plant bud before expansion
b) a thin, membranous, chaffy, or woody bract
5.
a) any of the small overlapping usually metal pieces forming the outer surface of scale armor
b) - scale armor
6.
a) - scale insect
b) infestation with or disease caused by scale insects
transitive verb
1.
to remove the scale or from (as by scraping) - scales scale a fish
2.
to take off in thin layers or scales - scale tartar from the teeth
3.
intransitive verb
to throw (as a thin flat stone) so that the edge cuts the air or so that it skips on water - skim
1.
to separate and come off in scales - flake
2.
to shed scales - scaling skin
transitive verb
1.
a) to attack with or take by means of ladders - scaling scale a castle wall
b) to climb up or reach by means of a ladder
c) to reach the highest point of - surmount scale a mountain
2.
a) to arrange in a graduated series
b) (1) to measure by or as if by a scale
(2) to measure or estimate the sound content of (as logs)
intransitive verb
c) to pattern, make, regulate, set, or estimate according to some rate or standard - adjust a production schedule scaled to actual need often used with back, down, or up scale down imports
1.
to climb by or as if by a ladder
2.
to rise in a graduated series
3.
- measure
1.
a) obsolete - ladder
b) archaic a means of ascent
2.
a graduated series of musical tones ascending or descending in order of pitch according to a specified scheme of their intervals
3.
something graduated especially when used as a measure or rule as
a) a series of marks or points at known intervals used to measure distances (as the height of the mercury in a thermometer)
b) an indication of the relationship between the distances on a map and the corresponding actual distances
c) - ruler
4.
a) a graduated series or scheme of rank or order - a scale of taxation
b) - minimum wage
5.
a) a proportion between two sets of dimensions (as between those of a drawing and its original)
b) a distinctive relative size, extent, or degree - projects done on a large scale
6.
a graded series of tests or of performances used in rating individual intelligence or achievement
1.
obsolete - escalade
2.
an estimate of the amount of sound lumber in logs or standing timber
scale (Wikipedia)