scout Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a person employed to keep watch for some anticipated event
    lookout; picket; sentry; watch; lookout man; spotter; sentinel.
  2. noun a Boy Scout or Girl Scout
  3. noun someone employed to discover and recruit talented persons (especially in the worlds of entertainment or sports)
    talent scout.
  4. noun someone who can find paths through unexplored territory
    pathfinder; guide.
  5. verb explore, often with the goal of finding something or somebody
    reconnoiter; reconnoitre.

WordNet

Scout noun
Etymology
Icel. skta a small craft or cutter.
Definitions
  1. A swift sailing boat. Obs.
    So we took a scout, very much pleased with the manner and conversation of the passengers. Pepys.
Scout noun
Etymology
Icel. sk&umac;ta to jut out. Cf. Scout to reject.
Definitions
  1. A projecting rock. Prov. Eng. Wright.
Scout transitive verb
Etymology
Icel. skta a taunt; cf. Icel. skuta to jut out, skota to shove, skjta to shoot, to shove. See Shoot.
Definitions
  1. To reject with contempt, as something absurd; to treat with ridicule; to flout; as, to scout an idea or an apology. "Flout 'em and scout 'em." Shak.
Scout noun
Etymology
OF. escaute scout, spy, fr. escouter, escolter, to listen, to hear, F. écouter, fr. L. auscultare, to hear with attention, to listen to. See Auscultation.
Definitions
  1. A person sent out to gain and bring in tidings; especially, one employed in war to gain information of the movements and condition of an enemy.
    Scouts each coast light-armèd scour, Each quarter, to descry the distant foe. Milton.
  2. A college student's or undergraduate's servant; -- so called in Oxford, England; at Cambridge called a gyp; and at Dublin, a skip. Cant
  3. (Criket) A fielder in a game for practice.
  4. The act of scouting or reconnoitering. Colloq.
    While the rat is on the scout. Cowper.
    Syn. -- Scout, Spy. -- In a military sense a scout is a soldier who does duty in his proper uniform, however hazardous his adventure. A spy is one who in disguise penetrates the enemies' lines, or lurks near them, to obtain information.
Scout transitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Scouted; present participle & verbal noun Scouting
Definitions
  1. To observe, watch, or look for, as a scout; to follow for the purpose of observation, as a scout.
    Take more men, And scout him round. Beau. & Fl.
  2. To pass over or through, as a scout; to reconnoiter; as, to scout a country.
Scout intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To go on the business of scouting, or watching the motions of an enemy; to act as a scout.
    With obscure wing Scout far and wide into the realm of night. Milton.

Webster 1913