Word: score Part of Speech: verb Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- Proto-Germanic *skurō Old Norse skorder. Old English scoru Middle English score English score 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. Pronunciation: /skɔː/, /skoɹ/, /sko(ː)ɹ/, /skoə/ 1. To cut a notch or a groove in a surface. Labels: transitive Example: A very neat old woman, still in her good outdoor coat and best beehive hat, was sitting at a polished mahogany table on whose surface there were several scored scratches so deep that a triangular piece of the veneer had come cleanly away,[…]. Example: The baker scored the cake so that the servers would know where to slice it. 2. To record the tally of points for a game, a match, or an examination. Labels: intransitive 3. To obtain something desired. Labels: ambitransitive Example: "Of course it would be hypocritical for me to pretend that I regret what Abraham did. After all, I've scored by it." Example: In the past decade gay people have scored a number of significant advances. 4. To obtain something desired. Labels: ambitransitive Example: It is unusual for a team to score a hundred goals in one game. Example: Pelé scores again! 5. To obtain something desired. Labels: ambitransitive Example: No, Butthead, that's my point. You didn't score. You got a zero. Example: At the end of first grade, the children scored 80 percent correct on this test, a value that remained unchanged through third grade. 6. To obtain something desired. Labels: ambitransitive Example: […] he scored big by hitting the jack pot at the Bellagio (he won $7,000). The next day, he won $15,000 on the nickel machines at the Palm Casino! 7. To obtain something desired. Labels: ambitransitive, slang Example: I scored some drugs last night. Example: Did you score tickets for the concert? 8. To obtain something desired. Labels: US, ambitransitive, slang 9. To obtain something desired. Labels: ambitransitive, slang, vulgar Example: Chris finally scored with Pat last week. Example: Gotta find a chick who'll give you more / Well, there's a spot that I've discovered / Where a guy's guaranteed to score 10. To rate; to evaluate the quality of. Labels: transitive Example: Critics scored the game 92%. Example: […] this was the case for most students, who scored it highly (medians of 4 with many scores of 5) […] 11. To provide (a film, etc.) with a musical score. Labels: transitive Example: Godfather II is nothing like ready. It is not yet scored, and thus not mixed. There remain additional shooting, looping, editing. Example: Robertson scored several of Scorsese’s films, including Raging Bull, Casino, The Wolf of Wall Street and The Irishman. 12. To return (a horse and rider) to the starting-point repeatedly, until a fair start is achieved. Labels: ambitransitive Example: […] and the scoring for a start by these "inferior" horses would kill a thoroughbred. As an instance, in the 2:27 race at Cleveland, last summer, twelve horses scored seventeen times before they got a fair start.