- (sometimes not capital) a boy or (in some countries) a girl who is a member of a worldwide movement (the Scout Association) founded as the Boy Scouts in England in 1908 by Lord Baden-Powell with the aim of developing character and responsibility
See also Girl Scout, Guide, Sea Scout, Venture Scout
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
Scout /skaʊt/ n
scout1 /skaʊt/USA pronunciation
n.
n. [countable]
v.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026n. [countable]
- a soldier, airplane, etc., sent out to get information about the enemy, such as troop numbers, etc.
- a person sent out to obtain information.
- a person sent out to discover new talent, as in sports or entertainment.
- [sometimes: Scout] a member of the Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts.
v.
- to act as a scout: [no object]The soldiers went out to scout around.[~ + object]The coach scouted the opposing team and noticed a weakness in their defense.
- to make a search;
hunt:[no object]scouting around for a good restaurant.
scout1
(skout),USA pronunciation n.
v.i.
v.t.
scout2 (skout),USA pronunciation v.t.
v.i.
- a soldier, warship, airplane, etc., employed in reconnoitering.
- a person sent out to obtain information.
- Sport
- a person who observes and reports on the techniques, players, etc., of opposing teams.
- a person sent out by a team to observe and recommend new talent for recruitment.
- a talent scout, as in the entertainment field.
- an act or instance of reconnoitering, inspecting, observing, etc.
- (sometimes cap.) a Boy Scout or Girl Scout.
- Informal Termsa person:He's a good scout.
- British Termsa man acting as servant to a student at Oxford University.
v.i.
- to act as a scout;
reconnoiter. - to make a search;
hunt. - to work as a talent scout.
v.t.
- to examine, inspect, or observe for the purpose of obtaining information;
reconnoiter:to scout the enemy's defenses. - to seek;
search for (usually fol. by out or up):to scout up a date for Friday night. - to find by seeking, searching, or looking (usually fol. by out or up):Scout out a good book for me to read.
- Middle French escoute, derivative of escouter
- Late Latin ascultāre, Latin auscultāre to listen; see auscultate; (noun, nominal)
- Old French escouter, escolter, ascolter (French écouter to listen)
- (verb, verbal) Middle English skowten 1300–50
scout2 (skout),USA pronunciation v.t.
- to treat with scorn;
dismiss. - to make fun of;
deride;
mock.
v.i.
- to scoff;
jeer.
- Old Norse skūta, skūt abuse, angry words. See shout
- perh. 1595–1605
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
scout /skaʊt/ n
- a person, ship, or aircraft sent out to gain information
- a person or unit despatched to reconnoitre the position of the enemy
- the act or an instance of scouting
- (esp at Oxford University) a college servant
Compare gyp3 - informal a fellow or companion
- to examine or observe (anything) in order to obtain information
- (transitive; sometimes followed by out or up) to seek
- (intransitive; followed by about or around) to go in search (for)
scout /skaʊt/ vb
- archaic to reject (a person or thing) with contempt
'Scout' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
boy scout
- Carson
- Cub Scout
- Cub
- Girl Scout
- Guide
- gyp
- King's Scout
- outrider
- Queen's Scout
- Rover
- Scouting
- Sea Scout
- six
- sixer
- talent scout
- Venture Scout
- woggle
- Wolf Cub
- alert
- bird dog
- boondoggle
- bush
- cadette
- Chisholm Trail
- Cody
- court of honor
- den
- den chief
- den father
- den mother
- eagle scout
- explorer
- fly-up
- pickeer
- pull
- tubman
- scout car
- scoutcraft
- scouter
- scouthood
- scoutmaster
- scut