use-icon

HOW TO USE THE DICTIONARY

To look up an entry in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, use the search window above. For best results, after typing in the word, click on the “Search” button instead of using the “enter” key.

Some compound words (like bus rapid transit, dog whistle, or identity theft) don’t appear on the drop-down list when you type them in the search bar. For best results with compound words, place a quotation mark before the compound word in the search window.

guide to the dictionary

use-icon

THE USAGE PANEL

The Usage Panel is a group of nearly 200 prominent scholars, creative writers, journalists, diplomats, and others in occupations requiring mastery of language. Annual surveys have gauged the acceptability of particular usages and grammatical constructions.

The Panelists

open-icon

AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY APP

The new American Heritage Dictionary app is now available for iOS and Android.

scroll-icon

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY BLOG

The articles in our blog examine new words, revised definitions, interesting images from the fifth edition, discussions of usage, and more.

100-words-icon

See word lists from the best-selling 100 Words Series!

Find out more!

open-icon

INTERESTED IN DICTIONARIES?

Check out the Dictionary Society of North America at http://www.dictionarysociety.com

score (skôr)
Share:
n.
1. Sports & Games
a. A usually numerical record of a competitive event: keeping score.
b. The total number of points made by each competitor or side in a contest, either final or at a given stage: The score stood tied in the bottom of the ninth inning.
c. The number of points attributed to a competitor or team.
2. A result, usually expressed numerically, of a test or examination.
3.
a. An amount due; a debt.
b. A grievance that is harbored and requires satisfaction: settle an old score.
4. A ground; a reason: You have nothing to worry about on that score.
5. A group of 20 items.
6. scores Large numbers: Scores of people attended the rally.
7. Music
a. The notation of a musical work.
b. The written form of a composition for orchestral or vocal parts.
c. The music written for a film or a play.
8. Slang
a. The act of securing an advantage, especially a surprising or significant gain: "He had dropped out of school and gone for that quick dollar, that big score" (Peter Goldman).
b. The act or an instance of buying illicit drugs.
c. A successful robbery.
d. An instance of having sexual intercourse with a desired partner.
9. A notch or incision, especially one that is made to keep a tally.
v. scored, scor·ing, scores
v.tr.
1. To achieve or accomplish: scored a success in the play.
2. Sports & Games
a. To achieve or gain in a game or contest: score a touchdown.
b. To count or be worth as points: A basket scores two points.
c. To keep a written record of the score or events of (a game or contest).
d. Baseball To cause (a base runner) to cross home plate, especially by getting a hit: scored both runners with a double.
3. To evaluate and assign a grade to: score a test.
4. Music
a. To orchestrate (a piece of music).
b. To arrange for a specific instrument.
5. To criticize cuttingly; berate.
6. Slang
a. To succeed in acquiring: scored two tickets to the play.
b. To succeed in obtaining (an illicit drug): "Aging punks try to impress her with tales of ... the different drugs they've scored" (Art Jahnke).
7.
a. To mark (a piece of paper or wood, for example) with lines or notches, especially for the purpose of keeping a record.
b. To cancel or eliminate by superimposing lines.
c. To mark the surface of (meat, for example) with usually parallel cuts.
v.intr.
1. Sports & Games
a. To make a point or points in a game or contest.
b. To record the score or progress of a game or contest.
2. Slang
a. To achieve a purpose or advantage, especially to make a surprising gain or coup: "They ... score in places like the bond market" (Mike Barnicle).
b. To succeed in having sexual relations with a desired partner.
c. To succeed in buying or obtaining an illicit drug.

[Middle English, crack, scratch, tally stick, tally of twenty, from Old English scoru (attested only in the sense "twenty"), from Old Norse skor, notch, tally stick, tally of twenty; see sker-1 in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

scorer n.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.