# score

Pronunciation: US say "SKOR" /skoɹ/; UK say "SKAW" /skɔː/

## Verb

1. To gain a point, goal, or run in a game, or to get a particular mark or number of points in a test.
   - Simple: To get a point or goal in a game, or a certain mark on a test.
   - _The team failed to score in the opening period._
   - _He scored three times before the final whistle._
5. To succeed in getting something wanted, such as a prize, a deal, or money won by gambling.
   - Simple: To manage to get something you wanted, such as a deal or money won in a game.
   - _After months of trying, she scored a meeting with the director._
   - _Persistent applicants sometimes score the roles others overlook._
8. To rate or evaluate the quality of something.
   - Simple: To judge how good something is and give it a rating.
   - _The panel scored the performances on technical skill and artistry._
   - _Reviewers score new restaurants across several categories._
11. To compose the musical accompaniment for a film or similar production.
   - Simple: To write the music for a movie or show.
   - _The director hired a jazz pianist to score the documentary._
   - _She scored three feature films in a single year._
12. To cut into a surface so as to leave a notch or groove.
   - Simple: To cut a small line or groove into a surface.
   - _Score the dough across the top so steam can escape as it bakes._
   - _The glazier scored the glass before snapping it cleanly along the line._
13. To compose a piece of music, or arrange one, for a specific combination of instruments or voices.
   - Simple: To write or change a piece of music so that certain instruments or voices can play or sing it.
   - _The arranger agreed to score the carol for brass quintet and children's choir._
   - _Originally scored for string quartet, the piece is now more often heard in a version for full orchestra._
16. To record the running tally of points for a game, match, or exam.
   - Simple: To keep track of the points during a game or test.
   - _Grandpa no longer plays, but he still scores the club's home games, recording every run in a worn notebook._
   - _Volunteers take turns to score at the local tournaments._
19. To succeed in obtaining sex, especially with a person one has been pursuing. *(slang)*
   - Simple: To manage to have sex with someone you wanted.
   - _He spent the whole night trying to score and went home alone._
   - _She wasn't interested in someone whose only goal was to score._

## Noun

2. The number of points, goals, or runs gained by each player or team in a game, or the record of them.
   - Simple: The number of points each player or team has in a game.
   - _With ten minutes left to play, the score was still tied at two goals apiece._
   - _Each player's score is added up at the end of the round._
3. A figure assigned to rate or measure something, for instance how creditworthy someone is, how risky something is, or how good a product is.
   - Simple: A number that rates something, like how likely you are to pay back money, or how good a product is.
   - _Lenders check your credit score before approving a mortgage._
   - _Each patient is given a risk score that helps doctors decide who needs testing first._
4. A grade or number showing how well someone did on a test or exam.
   - Simple: The number or grade you get on a test or exam.
   - _His score on the entrance exam earned him a scholarship._
   - _Teachers posted the scores outside the classroom._
6. The music composed for a movie or play.
   - Simple: The music written for a movie or play.
   - _The film's score won an award for best original music._
   - _A haunting score accompanied the play's final act._
7. A great number; many or several of something.
   - Simple: A large number of people or things.
   - _Scores of volunteers arrived to help with the cleanup._
   - _The author received scores of letters from admiring readers._
9. The written form of a musical composition showing all instrumental and vocal parts.
   - Simple: The written music that shows every part for singers and instruments.
   - _The conductor marked the score with cues for the brass section._
   - _Each musician followed their own part while the conductor read the full score._
14. A prized thing someone succeeds in getting hold of, particularly something found by luck or bought cheaply. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Something good you manage to get, especially a lucky find or a cheap deal.
   - _That vintage record player was her best score at the flea market all year._
   - _Landing a rent-controlled apartment downtown is a huge score._
17. A group or set of twenty.
   - Simple: A group of twenty.
   - _The old farmer counted a score of sheep in the field._
   - _Nearly a score of reporters crowded into the small hallway, all waiting for the mayor to come out._
18. A matter or respect being considered, or the grounds for something, mainly in 'on that score' or 'on the score of'.
   - Simple: A subject or reason, as in 'don't worry on that score'.
   - _On the score of cost, the older design still wins._
   - _She was excused from the night shift on the score of her poor health._
20. A notch or incision cut into a surface, especially one used as a tally mark for keeping count.
   - Simple: A cut or notch in a surface, often one made to keep count.
   - _He cut a score into the post for every day they spent at sea._
   - _The old tally stick was covered in scores marking debts repaid._
21. A robbery, particularly one planned for a large or valuable haul. *(slang, US)*
   - Simple: A planned robbery or theft, especially a big one.
   - _Detectives suspected the same crew behind a string of high-end jewelry scores._
   - _He bragged that the warehouse score would set him up for years._
22. An illegal transaction, especially a drug sale. *(slang, US)*
   - Simple: An illegal sale of something, usually drugs.
   - _The dealer arranged a late-night score in the parking lot._
   - _Posing as a buyer, the undercover agent made a small heroin score to win the dealer's trust._
23. A person regarded as a sexual conquest; someone successfully pursued for sex. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A person someone has succeeded in having sex with, thought of as a win.
   - _To his friends he bragged about his latest score from the party._
   - _She hated being counted as just another score on his long list._
24. The amount of money won through gambling; one's winnings.
   - Simple: The money someone wins from gambling.
   - _He pocketed his score from the poker table and called it a night._
   - _After a lucky score at the blackjack table, she decided to cash out while she was still ahead._
25. Used with 'the': the real situation as it stands, especially the unpleasant facts a person has to face. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Used with 'the': the real facts of a situation, especially bad ones you have to accept.
   - _Every veteran in the newsroom knew the score: one more round of cuts and the paper would close._
   - _So what's the score with the landlord? Is he really selling the building?_
26. A sum of twenty pounds in British currency. *(slang, British)*
   - Simple: Twenty British pounds, as an amount of money.
   - _I'll give you a score for the bike, mate, and that's my final offer._
   - _The taxi driver wanted a score just to take us across town._
10. A wrong from the past that someone resents and still wants revenge for, used mostly in phrases like settle a score, a score to settle, and old scores.
   - Simple: Something bad done to you in the past that you still want revenge for, as in 'settle a score'.
   - _The new mayor insisted he was not using the investigation to settle old scores with his rivals._
   - _Twenty years later, she still had a score to settle with the coach who cut her from the team._

## Interjection

15. Used to express satisfaction at a success or a stroke of good fortune. *(slang, US)*
   - Simple: Said to celebrate a small win or piece of good luck.
   - _Score! The store had the last pair in my size._
   - _They upgraded our room for free. Score!_

## Other meanings

- (noun) A running account of money owed, especially a bill or debt.
- (verb) Of a police officer: to take a bribe from someone.
- (noun) An illicit payoff handed over to a police officer.
- (noun) A prostitute's paying customer.
- (noun) A document that systematically records the variant readings found among manuscript copies of a text.
- (noun) Twenty yards taken as a unit of range, once used by bowmen and gunners.
- (noun) A unit of weight equal to twenty pounds, used especially for livestock.
- (noun) A span of twenty years, as in "threescore and ten."
- (noun) Around the town of Lowestoft in Suffolk, a steep lane or alley leading from the clifftop to the shore.
- (verb) In racing, to bring horses and riders back to the start again and again until they can set off evenly.

## Origin

From Middle English "score," from Old English "scoru" (notch, tally, score), from Old Norse "skor," going back to Proto-Germanic "*skurō" (incision, tear) and ultimately Proto-Indo-European "*(s)ker-" (cut); it is related to "shear." The sense "twenty" arose from the mark drovers made on a tally for every twenty beasts passing through a tollgate.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/score (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).