score
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: skôr
ipa: /skɔː/
enpr: skôrʹ
ipa: /skoɹ/
note: rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger
enpr: skōrʹ
ipa: /sko(ː)ɹ/
note: rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger
note: non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger
ipa: /skoə/
rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)
Forms: form: scores
form: score
Etymology: From Middle English score, skore, schore, from Old English scoru (“notch; tally; score”), from Old Norse skor, from Proto-Germanic *skurō (“incision; tear; rift”), which is related to *skeraną (“to cut”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“cut”). Cognate with Icelandic skora, Swedish skåra, Danish skår. Related to shear.
For the sense “twenty”: The mark on a tally made by drovers for every twenty beasts passing through a tollgate.
Senses: examples: text: The player with the highest score is the winner.
glosses: The total number of goals, points, runs, etc. earned by a participant in a game.
examples: text: The score is 8-1 even though it's not even half-time!
glosses: The number of points accrued by each of the participants in a game, expressed as a ratio or a series of numbers.
examples: text: The test scores for this class were high.
text: The study not only showed IQ variance between children the same parents, but because the authors had the IQ scores of various parents, it demonstrated that parents with higher IQs tended to have more kids, ruling out the dysgenic fertility theory as a driver of falling IQ scores and highlighting the role of environmental factors instead.
ref: 2018 June 13, Rory Smith, “IQ scores are falling and have been for decades, new study finds”, in CNN:
glosses: The performance of an individual or group on an examination or test, expressed by a number, letter, or other symbol; a grade.
examples: text: Some words have scores of meanings.
text: Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
ref: 1863 November 19, Abraham Lincoln, Dedicatory Remarks (Gettysburg Address)^(https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Gettysburg_Address_(Bliss_copy)), near Soldiers' National Cemetery, →LCCN, Bliss copy, page 1:
text: I went on trying for fish along the western bank down the river, but only small trout rose at my flies, and a score was the total catch.
ref: 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 152:
glosses: Twenty (20).
examples: text: At Markes full fortie score they vs'd to Prick and Roue.
ref: 1612, Michael Drayton, chapter 26, in [John Selden], editor, Poly-Olbion. Or A Chorographicall Description of Tracts, Riuers, Mountaines, Forests, and Other Parts of this Renowned Isle of Great Britaine, […], London: […] [Humphrey Lownes] for M[athew] Lownes; I[ohn] Browne; I[ohn] Helme; I[ohn] Busbie, →OCLC:
glosses: Twenty (20).
A distance of twenty yards, in ancient archery and gunnery.
glosses: Twenty (20).
A weight of twenty pounds.
glosses: Twenty (20).
A period of twenty years.
examples: text: DEVLIN:You know the apple and core. Head might cost you a score, or more if you want a meat show on all fours.
ref: 2012 September 9, “Deepest Shame (New Machine Remix)”, performed by Plan B,Chip,Devlin:
glosses: Twenty (20).
Twenty pounds sterling.
glosses: A great deal; many, several.
examples: text: Use a few “introductory plays” to become known to a casino before you go for a big score.
ref: 2013, Arnold Snyder, Big Book of Blackjack:
topics: gambling
games
glosses: An amount of money won in gambling; winnings.
topics: entertainment
lifestyle
music
glosses: The written form of a musical composition showing all instrumental and vocal parts.
examples: text: Even without hovering drones, a lurking assassin, a thumping score and a denouement, the real-life story of Edward Snowden, a rogue spy on the run, could be straight out of the cinema. But, as with Hollywood, the subplots and exotic locations may distract from the real message: America’s discomfort and its foes’ glee.
ref: 2013 June 29, “Travels and travails”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 55:
topics: entertainment
lifestyle
music
glosses: The music of a movie or play.
examples: text: Well, although we haven't discussed the views of all those who make precise reckonings of being and not [being], we've done enough on that score.
ref: 2005, Plato, translated by Lesley Brown, Sophist, page 245e:
glosses: A subject.
examples: text: But left the trade, as many more / Have lately done on the same score.
ref: 1662 (indicated as 1663), [Samuel Butler], “[The First Part of Hudibras]”, in Hudibras. The First and Second Parts. […], London: […] John Martyn and Henry Herringman, […], published 1678; republished in A[lfred] R[ayney] Waller, editor, Hudibras: Written in the Time of the Late Wars, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: University Press, 1905, →OCLC:
text: You act your kindneſs on Cydaria’s ſcore.
ref: 1665 (first performance), John Dryden, The Indian Emperour, or, The Conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards. […], London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for H[enry] Herringman […], published 1667, →OCLC, Act V, scene ii, page 65:
text: The local village priest is expected to pass through the Holi bonfire, which, in the opinion of the faithful, cannot burn him. Indeed he holds his land rent-free simply on the score of his being fire-proof.
ref: 1900, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, volume 3, page 306:
glosses: An account; a reason; a motive; a sake; a behalf.
examples: text: Whereas, before, our forefathers had no other books but the score and the tally, thou hast caused printing to be used.
ref: 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene vii]:
glosses: A notch or incision; especially, one that is made as a tally mark; hence, a mark, or line, made for the purpose of account.
examples: text: He parted well, and paid his score.
ref: c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene viii]:
glosses: An account or reckoning; account of dues; bill; debt.
examples: text: Let's pull a score!
text: Batman: Dangerous crowd you're stealing from.
Catwoman: Jesus. Is this how you get your kicks, hon? Sneaking up on girls in the dark?
Batman: Is that why you work in the club? It was all just a score?
ref: 2022, Matt Reeves, Peter Craig, The Batman:
qualifier: crime
glosses: A criminal act, especially:
A robbery.
qualifier: crime
glosses: A criminal act, especially:
A bribe paid to a police officer.
examples: text: He made a big score.
qualifier: crime
glosses: A criminal act, especially:
An illegal sale, especially of drugs.
qualifier: crime
glosses: A criminal act, especially:
A prostitute's client.
examples: text: Ah, who gives a shit? The only score I'm interested in is the one I might make if some foxy chicks start pilin' outta there.
ref: 1976, William C. Thomas, Cat Murkil and the Silks, spoken by Punch:
glosses: A sexual conquest.
examples: text: Above the harbour, steeply up the hill, run The Bolts, narrow stepped passages, equivalent of The Scores of Lowestoft and The Rows of Great Yarmouth.
ref: 1975, John Seymour, The Companion Guide to the Coast of North-east England, page 206:
glosses: In the Lowestoft area, a narrow pathway running down a cliff to the beach.
examples: text: Robson counted 92 exemplars of Gilgamesh and Huwawa A and 59 of Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Netherworld (“Tablet House,” 54). Since that time, several joins have reduced the number of distinct copies, so that Delnero’s score for Gilgamesh and Huwawa A now includes 85 total, mostly of the Type III extract category (Variation in Sumerian Literary Compositions: A Case Study Based on the Decad, University of Pennsylvania Ph.D., 2006).
ref: 2010, Daniel E. Fleming and Sara J. Milstein, The Buried Foundation of the Gilgamesh Epic, page 8:
glosses: A document which systematically lists differences among compiled manuscripts of a source text.
Synonyms: sense: prostitute's client
word: prostitute's client
Derived terms: sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: Apgar score
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: Baux score
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: box score
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: buzz score
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: by the score
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: credit score
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: cricket score
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: even the score
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: film score
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: fourscore
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: four score and seven years ago
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: four score and ten
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: four score seven years ago
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: full score
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: game score
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: GERP score
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: Gleason score
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: go off at score
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: ground score
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: high score
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: high-score table
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: high score table
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: hi-score
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: keep score
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: know the score
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: major score
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: no score
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: no-score draw
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: on that score
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: on this score
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: on what score
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: outscore
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: overscore
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: pain score
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: pay off old scores
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: Q score
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: quit scores
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: run up the score
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: score attack
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: score bug
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: scorecard
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: score draw
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: score-draw
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: scoreless
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: scores
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: score-settling
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: score sheet
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: score-sheet
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: score string
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: settle a score
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: settle the score
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: threescore
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: three score and fifth
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: three score and ten
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: underscore
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: Wilson score interval
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: z-score
sense: Terms derived from score (noun)
word: Z score