Scout Meaning
/ˈskaʊ̯t/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounA person sent out to gather and bring back information; especially, one employed in war to gain information about the enemy and ground.
nounAn act of scouting or reconnoitering.
Sentence Examples
The membership of the Boy Scout troop swelled.
The Boy Scout has been directing old ladies across streets since 2004.
The captain decided to send out a scout.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The team leader will ____ the route before the hikers begin their journey.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ____ troop camped in the forest and learned how to navigate using a compass.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English scout, scoult, from Old French escoute (“action of listening”), verbal noun from escouter (“to listen, heed”), from Latin auscultō (“to listen”). The verb comes from the noun.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"while the rat is on the scout"
— 1782, William Cowper, “The Cricket”, in Poems, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], →OCLC:
"May 6, 1883 […] This camp, the finest on this scout, has not so much running water as some of the others; […] May 7, 1883 […] Colonel Aguerre was going today or tomorrow with four hundred regular troops for a scout in the Sierra Madre […]"
— 2001, Peter Cozzens, Eyewitnesses to the Indian Wars, 1865-1890: The Struggle for Apacheria. volume one, Stackpole Books, →ISBN, page 356:
"At the crack of dawn on Wednesday four different groups of scouts will climb the highest peaks in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales to light flames and officially mark the start of the Paralympic torch relay."
— 2012 August 21, Alexandra Topping, “Paralympic flames light up countdown to biggest Games in history”, in The Guardian:
"We have met twice this year and, during our first interview, Mata spoke evocatively when remembering how, having joined Real Oviedo aged 10 in 1998, he was given a previously unimaginable opportunity. Mata sat in a car park in 2003, when he was 14, and watched his father talking to a Real Madrid scout."
— 2018 January 1, Donald McRae, “The Guardian footballer of the year 2017: Juan Mata”, in The Guardian:
"He has also been good enough to recommend to me many tradesmen who are ready to supply these articles in any quantities; each of whom has been here already a dozen times, cap in hand, and vowing that it is quite immaterial when I pay—which is very kind of them; but, with the highest respect for friend Perkins (my scout) and his obliging friends, I shall make some enquiries before "letting in" with any of them."
— 1859–1861, [Thomas Hughes], chapter I, in Tom Brown at Oxford: […], (please specify |part=1 or 2), Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, published 1861, →OCLC:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The team leader will ____ the route before the hikers begin their journey.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ____ troop camped in the forest and learned how to navigate using a compass.