scan

To look over something quickly to find information or notice something.

• I scanned the page quickly.
• She scans the headlines every morning.
• He scanned the crowd for a familiar face.

How to use it: scan something for something (She scanned the list for her name.); scan through something (I scanned through the report before lunch.)

Similar words: look over, skim

Common phrases: scan a page, scan the crowd, scan through something

To use a machine to make a digital picture of a document, object, or body part.

• Please scan this document.
• The doctor scanned her knee yesterday.
• Can this printer scan old photographs?

How to use it: scan something into something (I scanned the photograph into my computer.)

Similar words: digitize

Common phrases: scan a document, scan a photograph, scan someone’s brain

To check something carefully, often using a machine, to find a problem or particular thing.

• Scan your computer for viruses.
• The software scanned every file on the drive.
• We scan these records regularly for errors.

How to use it: scan something for something (The program scans each file for viruses.)

Similar words: check, inspect, examine

Common phrases: scan for viruses, scan a drive, scan the system

A check using a machine that examines something or makes a picture of its inside.

• I need a brain scan.
• The scan took twenty minutes.
• She has two scans scheduled next week.

Similar words: examination, screening

Common phrases: have a scan, brain scan, during the scan

A picture or digital copy produced by a machine that examines a body part or copies something.

• The scan showed a broken bone.
• I attached a scan of my passport.
• The doctor compared the latest scans.

How to use it: a scan of something (This is a scan of the original letter.)

Similar words: image, digital copy

Common phrases: a clear scan, scan of something, a scan image