{
    "term": "scale",
    "partOfSpeech": "noun",
    "ox3000": true,
    "cefr": "b2",
    "image": "data/images/ba/bathroom.png",
    "definitions": [
        {
            "senseNumber": 1,
            "definition": "the size or extent of something, especially when compared with something else",
            "sensetop": "on a … scalescale of something",
            "cefr": "b2",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "They entertain on a **large scale** *(= they hold expensive parties with a lot of guests)*.",
                    "contextForm": "on a … scale"
                },
                {
                    "text": "Here was corruption on a **grand scale**."
                },
                {
                    "text": "On a global scale, 77 per cent of energy is created from fossil fuels."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Corporations are borrowing on a massive scale."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Western-style consumerism is unsustainable on a **global scale**."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Manufacturing is done on a small scale."
                },
                {
                    "text": "His work as a portrait painter is small in scale."
                },
                {
                    "text": "to achieve **economies of scale** in production *(= to produce many items so the cost of producing each one is reduced)*"
                },
                {
                    "text": "It was impossible to comprehend **the full scale** of the disaster.",
                    "contextForm": "scale of something"
                },
                {
                    "text": "It was not until morning that **the sheer scale** of the damage could be seen *(= how great it was)*."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The **scale of the problem** is difficult to measure."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Do they always entertain on such a lavish scale?"
                },
                {
                    "text": "It is difficult to comprehend the sheer scale of the suffering caused by the war."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The dolls are now produced on a commercial scale."
                },
                {
                    "text": "They plan to expand the scale and scope of their operations."
                },
                {
                    "text": "We need to determine the scale of the problem."
                },
                {
                    "text": "a misuse of presidential power on an unprecedented scale"
                },
                {
                    "text": "pollution on a massive scale"
                },
                {
                    "text": "What if a global scale catastrophe happens?"
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Maths and measurement"],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["full", "big", "considerable"],
                "verb + scale": ["expand", "increase", "reduce"],
                "preposition": ["scale of", "in scale", "on a scale"],
                "phrases": ["an economy of scale", "given the scale of"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 2,
            "definition": "a range of levels or numbers used for measuring something",
            "cefr": "b2",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "a five-point pay scale"
                },
                {
                    "text": "to evaluate performance on a scale from 1 to 10"
                },
                {
                    "text": "The salary scale goes from £12 000 to £20 000."
                },
                {
                    "text": "a scale of charges"
                },
                {
                    "text": "Use the following scale to rate each item."
                },
                {
                    "text": "After ten years, she had worked her way to the top of the pay scale."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Please see the attached sheet for our scale of fees."
                },
                {
                    "text": "On a scale of 1 to 10, he scores 7."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Patients were asked to state their level of anxiety on a 10-point rating scale."
                },
                {
                    "text": "On the response sheet, the scale of answers ranged from ‘excellent’ to ‘extremely poor’."
                },
                {
                    "text": "There is an ascending scale of penalties for traffic offences."
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Maths and measurement"],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["fixed", "sliding", "five-point"],
                "verb + scale": ["use", "construct", "develop"],
                "scale + verb": ["go from… to…", "range from… to…", "be based on"],
                "preposition": ["on a/​the scale", "scale of… to…"],
                "phrases": [
                    "the bottom of the scale",
                    "the end of the scale",
                    "the top of the scale"
                ]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 3,
            "definition": "the set of all the different levels of something, from the lowest to the highest",
            "cefr": "b2",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "**At the other end of the scale**, life is a constant struggle to get enough to eat."
                },
                {
                    "text": "You're higher on the social scale than I am."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Farm workers were always considered to be low down on the social scale."
                },
                {
                    "text": "At what point on the evolutionary scale do birds come?"
                },
                {
                    "text": "At the bottom end of the scale, there are people living on under a dollar a day."
                },
                {
                    "text": "He has risen up the social scale from rather humble beginnings."
                }
            ],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["fixed", "sliding", "five-point"],
                "verb + scale": ["use", "construct", "develop"],
                "scale + verb": ["go from… to…", "range from… to…", "be based on"],
                "preposition": ["on a/​the scale", "scale of… to…"],
                "phrases": [
                    "the bottom of the scale",
                    "the end of the scale",
                    "the top of the scale"
                ]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 4,
            "definition": "a series of marks at regular points on an instrument that is used for measuring",
            "cefr": "b2",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "How much does it read on the scale?"
                },
                {
                    "text": "He read the altitude in degrees off the scale."
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Maths and measurement"]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 5,
            "definition": "an instrument for weighing people or things",
            "labels": "North American English also(figurative)",
            "cefr": "b2",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "**bathroom/kitchen/weighing scales**"
                },
                {
                    "text": "the **scales of justice** *(= represented as the two pans on a )"
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Maths and measurement", "Cooking and eating"]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 6,
            "definition": "the relation between the actual size of something and its size on a map, diagram or model that represents it",
            "sensetop": "to scale",
            "cefr": "b2",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "a scale of 1:25 000"
                },
                {
                    "text": "a **scale model/drawing**"
                },
                {
                    "text": "Both plans are drawn to the same scale."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Is this diagram to scale? *(= are all its parts the same size and shape in relation to each other as they are in the thing represented)*",
                    "contextForm": "to scale"
                },
                {
                    "text": "He's made a scale model of the Eiffel Tower."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The map has a scale of one centimetre to the kilometre."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The plan of the building is not drawn to scale."
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Maths and measurement"],
            "collocations": {
                "verb + scale": ["draw something to", "have"],
                "scale + noun": ["drawing", "model"],
                "preposition": ["to scale", "scale of… to…"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 7,
            "definition": "a series of musical notes moving upwards or downwards, with fixed intervals between each note, especially a series of eight starting on a particular note",
            "cefr": "c1",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "the scale of C major"
                },
                {
                    "text": "to practise scales on the piano"
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Music"],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["major", "minor"],
                "verb + scale": ["play", "sing", "practise/​practice"],
                "preposition": ["scale of"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 8,
            "definition": "any of the thin plates of hard material that cover the skin of many fish and reptiles",
            "cefr": "c1",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "The beast was a dragon, with great purple and green scales."
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Fish and shellfish", "Animals"],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["overlapping", "fine", "thin"],
                "verb + scale": ["be covered in", "be covered with"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 9,
            "definition": "a hard white substance that is sometimes left inside water pipes and containers for heating water",
            "labels": "British English also",
            "examples": []
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 10,
            "definition": "a hard substance that forms on teeth, especially when they are not cleaned regularly",
            "examples": []
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "to affect the result of something in one way rather than another",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "In an interview, smart presentation can tip the scales in your favour."
                },
                {
                    "text": "New evidence tipped the balance against the prosecution."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "to weigh a particular amount",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "He tipped the scales at just over 80 kilos."
                }
            ]
        }
    ],
    "pronunciations": {
        "uk": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/skeɪl/",
                "audio": "sc/scale/scale__gb_1.mp3"
            }
        ],
        "us": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/skeɪl/",
                "audio": "sc/scale/scale__us_1.mp3"
            }
        ]
    },
    "wordOrigin": "noun senses 1 to 4 and noun senses 6 to 7 late Middle English: from Latin scala ‘ladder’ (the verb via Old French escaler or medieval Latin scalare ‘climb’), from the base of Latin scandere ‘to climb’. noun sense 5 Middle English (in the sense ‘drinking cup’, surviving in South African English): from Old Norse skál ‘bowl’, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch schaal, German Schale ‘bowl’, also to English dialect shale ‘dish’. noun senses 8 to 10 Middle English: shortening of Old French escale, from the Germanic base of scale (noun - sense 5)."
}