scout

Etymology 1

From Middle English scout, scoult, from Old French escoute (“action of listening”), verbal noun from escouter (“to listen, heed”), from Latin auscultō (“to listen”). The verb comes from the noun.

noun

1. A person sent out to gain and bring in tidings; especially, one employed in war to gain information about the enemy and ground.
2. An act of scouting or reconnoitering.
3. A member of any number of youth organizations belonging to the international scout movement, such as the Boy Scouts of America or Girl Scouts of the United States.
4. A person who assesses and/or recruits others; especially, one who identifies promising talent on behalf of a sports team.
   We have met twice this year and, during our first interview, Mata spoke evocatively when remembering how, having joined Real Oviedo aged 10 in 1998, he was given a previously unimaginable opportunity. Mata sat in a car park in 2003, when he was 14, and watched his father talking to a Real Madrid scout. January 1, 2018, Donald McRae, “The Guardian footballer of the year 2017: Juan Mata”, in the Guardian
5. A person employed to monitor rivals' activities in the petroleum industry.
6. (Oxford University, modern) A housekeeper or domestic cleaner, generally female, employed by one of the constituent colleges of Oxford University to clean rooms; generally equivalent to a modern bedder at Cambridge University.
7. (Oxford University, Harvard University, Yale University, historical) A domestic servant, generally male, who would attend (usually several) students in a variety of ways, including cleaning; generally equivalent to a gyp at Cambridge University or a skip at Trinity College, Dublin.
8. (UK, cricket) A fielder in a game for practice.
9. (historical, UK, up until 1920s) A fighter aircraft.
10. (radiography) A preliminary image that allows the technician to make adjustments before the actual diagnostic images.
    A scout topogram is initially performed during continuous table motion, generating an anatomic overview image similar to a conventional radiograph at the locked projection. 2012, Ella A. Kazerooni, Baskaran Sundaram, Imaging of Lung Cancer, page 937
    It consisted of injecting an iodinated contrast agent while a breast was compressed in one projection after a scout film, taking several sequential films, and subtracting them from the scout film. 2016, John L. Cameron, Andrew M. Cameron, Current Surgical Therapy, page 721
    Because of this FOV limitation, several institutions use a weight cutoff or a scout radiograph lateral diameter cutoff, though the exact cutoff threshold varies from institution to institution. 2018, Savvas Nicolaou, Mohammed F. Mohammed, Multi-Energy CT: The New Frontier in Imaging, page 643
11. (informal) Term of address for a man or boy.
    "Listen, old scout," Mr. Osborn said solemnly, "you think New York is heartless, but that's not what it is." 1983, Robley Wilson, Dancing for Men, page 124

verb

1. (transitive, intransitive) To explore a wide terrain, as if on a search.
2. (transitive) To observe, watch, or look for, as a scout; to follow for the purpose of observation, as a scout.

Etymology 2

Of North Germanic origin. Compare Old Norse skúta, skúti (“taunt”), Middle English scoute (“a wretch, rascal, rogue”); thus may be related to English shout.

verb

1. (transitive) To reject with contempt.
   to scout an idea or an apology
2. (intransitive) To scoff.

Etymology 3

From Middle English scoute, skoute (also schoute, shoute, schuyt), from Middle Low German schûte or Middle Dutch schute; or possibly from Old Norse skúta (“a small craft or cutter”).

noun

1. (dated) A swift sailing boat.
   So we took a scout, very much pleased with the manner and conversation of the passengers. 1660, Samuel Pepys, diary entry 18th May 1660

Etymology 4

verb

1. (Scotland) To pour forth a liquid forcibly, especially excrement.

noun

1. The guillemot.