survey : Idioms & Phrases

• a survey, map, or plan on a large scale (Usually scale 1x2500 of the linear measure of the ground, or twenty-five inches to the mile or about an inch to the acre) so as to represent the relative positions and dimensions of objects and estates exactly; distinguished from a topographical map, which exaggerates the dimensions of houses and the breadth of roads and streams, for the sake of distinctness.

Webster 1913

• noun exploring in order to gain information
  reconnoitring; scouting; reconnoitering.
  
  • scouting in enemy territory is very dangerous

WordNet

• geodesy.

Webster 1913

• that branch of surveying which determines the forms of coasts and harbors, the entrances of rivers, with the position of islands, rocks, and shoals, the depth of water, etc.

Webster 1913

• noun the official cartography agency of the British government
  

WordNet

• the official survey of Great Britain and Ireland, conducted by the ordnance department.

Webster 1913

• surveying in which the curvature of the earth is disregarded; ordinary field and topographical surveying of tracts of moderate extent.

Webster 1913

• noun a U.S. unit of measure equal to 1609.347 meters; derived from the use of 39.37 inches as the conversion for one meter
  

WordNet

• . See Court of regard, under Regard.

Webster 1913

• noun an instrument used by surveyors
  surveyor's instrument.
  

WordNet

• that branch of surveying which involves the process of ascertaining and representing upon a plane surface the contour, physical features, etc., of any portion of the surface of the earth.

Webster 1913

• a survey of a portion of country by measuring a single base, and connecting it with various points in the tract surveyed by a series of triangles, the angles of which are carefully measured, the relative positions and distances of all parts being computed from these data.

Webster 1913