scan

1. Singular

   a quick or cursory look through something

   • I quickly scanned through the book and decided not to purchase it.

   • He did a scan of the newspaper to see if there was any important news.

   • I did a quick scan of the room to check for any items left behind.

2. C2Countable

   a medical examination using special equipment to create an image of the inside of the body

   • She needs to have an MRI scan.

   • The doctor recommended he undergo a cardiac scan.

   • They used scans to monitor the size of the tumor.

look

1. C2Transitive

   to look at something carefully, either with the eyes or with a machine, in order to obtain information

   • The guard scanned the crowd, looking for any suspicious individuals.

   • She scanned the whole room quickly with her eyes.

   • The researchers carefully scanned the experimental data.

2. C1TransitiveIntransitiveVerb + adv/prep

   to look through a text quickly to find specific information or to get a general understanding of its content

   • I quickly scanned the agenda before the meeting started.

   • He scanned through the entire report to identify the main points.

   • The students were asked to scan the article for keywords.

process

1. C1TransitiveIntransitive

   to use a machine to input a picture of a document into a computer, or to take a picture of the inside of something

   • I will scan this contract into the computer.

   • All patient medical records are scanned into the database.

   • Airport security personnel will scan all luggage.

poetry

1. Intransitiveliteraturespecialized

   If a poem or part of a poem scans, it follows a pattern of regular beats.

   • The last line of this poem doesn't scan.

   • This passage scans with a smooth rhythm.

   • The poet adjusted a few words to ensure the line scans properly.