scan definition

1. the act of scanning; systematic examination of a prescribed region
• examples: he made a thorough scan of the beach with his binoculars
2. an image produced by scanning
• examples: he analyzed the brain scan
• examples: you could see the tumor in the CAT scan
3. examine minutely or intensely
• examples: the surgeon scanned the X-ray
4. examine hastily
• examples: She scanned the newspaper headlines while waiting for the taxi
5. make a wide, sweeping search of
• examples: The beams scanned the night sky
6. conform to a metrical pattern
7. move a light beam over; in electronics, to reproduce an image
8. read metrically
• examples: scan verses