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scan

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noun

Synonym Chooser

How is the word scan different from other verbs like it?

Some common synonyms of scan are examine, inspect, and scrutinize. While all these words mean "to look at or over," scan implies a surveying from point to point often suggesting a cursory overall observation.

scanned the wine list

When is it sensible to use examine instead of scan?

The words examine and scan can be used in similar contexts, but examine suggests a scrutiny in order to determine the nature, condition, or quality of a thing.

examined the specimens

When would inspect be a good substitute for scan?

The meanings of inspect and scan largely overlap; however, inspect implies scrutinizing for errors or defects.

inspected my credentials

When could scrutinize be used to replace scan?

In some situations, the words scrutinize and scan are roughly equivalent. However, scrutinize stresses close attention to minute detail.

scrutinized the hospital bill

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of scan
Verb
There, guests spend their days scanning the dizzying cliff sides for puffins, guillemots, and razorbills, and their nights scanning the sky for signs of the aurora. Bailey Berg, AFAR Media, 15 Apr. 2025 The Israeli soldiers detaining them later questioned the paramedics, asking them for their names, ages and ID card numbers, and appeared to scan their faces with a device Mr. Abed did not recognize, Mr. Abed said. Vivian Yee, New York Times, 13 Apr. 2025
Noun
This image provided by the U.S. National Archives shows a scan of a photo of a Japanese Zero fighter plane hitting the USS Missouri in waters off Okinawa, Japan on April 11, 1945. CBS News, 11 Apr. 2025 The scan shows there is a broken porthole that could account for those reports. ArsTechnica, 10 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for scan
Recent Examples of Synonyms for scan
Verb
  • One significant section of the Lower Mississippi River Comprehensive Management Study will examine the best long-term solutions to the saltwater intrusion phenomenon.
    Kati Weis, CBS News, 28 Apr. 2025
  • With information about each respondent, researchers can examine in more detail the sources and causes of these changes.
    William Dunkelberg, Forbes.com, 28 Apr. 2025
Noun
  • Since then, Kluge has failed a subsequent inspection and faces two additional citations for his dogs escaping and inciting fear in neighbors.
    Noelle Alviz-Gransee, Kansas City Star, 23 Apr. 2025
  • However, those areas were closed again on April 7 after failing another inspection.
    Stephanie Lam, Mercury News, 23 Apr. 2025
Verb
  • But internal correspondence reviewed by The News indicates that an MTA engineer raised concerns in early March — even before the water was turned off at the facility — that sewage was leaking into the soil around the depot.
    Evan Simko-Bednarski, New York Daily News, 27 Apr. 2025
  • Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.
    Shayna Goldman, New York Times, 27 Apr. 2025
Noun
  • Indeed, the true subject of the film’s examination turns out to be Nina herself, a doctor whose steady, unfailingly professional surface barely conceals self-lacerating anguish.
    Justin Chang, New Yorker, 25 Apr. 2025
  • That account, however, could open him up for the first time to cross examination on the witness stand.
    Julia Prodis Sulek, Mercury News, 25 Apr. 2025
Verb
  • In South Africa, an overwhelming majority of executives surveyed want their country to phase out coal from electricity generation in the next decade.
    María Mendiluce, Forbes.com, 23 Apr. 2025
  • The firms surveyed 1,480 workers who were unemployed at some point from 2019 to 2024 and the results were provided exclusively to USA TODAY. Need a break?
    Paul Davidson, USA Today, 23 Apr. 2025
Noun
  • The audit determined approximately $12,600 was stolen or missing from multiple fundraisers during the Borghesi’s employment, the probable cause statement said.
    Kate Linderman, Kansas City Star, 17 Apr. 2025
  • Of the $16,000, Burns reimbursed the school for more than $7,000 and provided documentation for the rest after school officials met with Burns in late January about the audit’s findings.
    Chris Vannini, New York Times, 17 Apr. 2025
Verb
  • Image While inspecting a villa in Rome, an electrician opened a trap door, and then another.
    Justin Porter, New York Times, 22 Apr. 2025
  • According to the report compiled by the Star-Telegram, 387 restaurants were inspected between March 30 and April 12.
    Shambhavi Rimal, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 22 Apr. 2025
Noun
  • Hegseth faces scrutiny after reports of second Signal chat with sensitive information Hegseth shared Yemen attack plans with wife, brother and lawyer: Reports 'Bombs started falling': Why is the 'SignalGate' controversy exploding?
    Bart Jansen, USA Today, 23 Apr. 2025
  • The business Leicester did in that window would be a major cause of scrutiny during the season and could be held up as a major factor in their struggles after the managerial change.
    Rob Tanner, New York Times, 21 Apr. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Scan.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scan. Accessed 1 May. 2025.

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