Score
/skɔːr/
Definitions
5 meaningsThe number of points, goals, runs, etc., achieved in a game or contest.
/skɔːr/
The number of points achieved in a game or contest.
The team needs to increase their score to win the game.
💡 Simply: Imagine you're playing a game, like basketball. The score is how many points each team has.
👶 For kids: The number you get when you play a game or do a test.
More Examples
His test score was excellent.
The final score was tied.
How It's Used
"The final score was 3-2."
"She received a high score on the exam."
A written or printed piece of music, showing the notes, and the lines for the instruments.
/skɔːr/
A written or printed version of a piece of music.
The composer meticulously wrote the score for the symphony.
💡 Simply: It's like the sheet music that musicians read when they play an orchestra or a band.
👶 For kids: It's the special paper with notes on it that musicians use to play music.
More Examples
The orchestra began rehearsing from the score.
She learned to read music scores in high school.
How It's Used
"The conductor studied the score carefully."
To gain a point or points in a game or contest. To achieve a particular result.
/skɔːr/
To gain a point or points in a game or contest.
The team needs to score a touchdown to win.
💡 Simply: Like when you finally get the ball into the basket in basketball, you 'score'!
👶 For kids: When you get a point in a game or test.
More Examples
She scored high on her English test.
The player scored 3 goals during the match.
How It's Used
"He scored a goal in the final minutes."
"The journalist scored a major interview with the president."
To make a scratch or cut into a surface.
/skɔːr/
To make a mark or incision on a surface.
Score the surface of the cake with a fork before baking.
💡 Simply: Like making little cuts on a piece of bread dough to make it cook better.
👶 For kids: To make a little cut or line on something.
More Examples
He scored the wood to create a pattern.
Score the surface of the meat before seasoning.
How It's Used
"Score the bread dough before baking."
"The carpenter scored the wood to make it easier to break."
A group or set of twenty; a unit of measurement.
/skɔːr/
A group or set of twenty; often used in combination.
Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address begins, "Four score and seven years ago..."
💡 Simply: An old-fashioned way of saying 'twenty'.
👶 For kids: An old word for twenty.
More Examples
The shipment contained a score of items.
He used four score of sheep to feed his village.
How It's Used
"Fourscore and seven years ago..."
Synonyms
Grade
Mark
Result
Achieve
Gain
Get
Obtain
Cut
Idioms & expressions
keep score
To record the points in a game or competition.
"During the basketball game, someone was responsible for keeping score."
settle a score
To take revenge or retaliate for a wrong that was done.
"He was determined to settle the score after his team lost the championship."
a score of
A group or set of twenty of something.
"The ship carried a score of crates."
know the score
To understand the real situation, or the way things are.
"He knew the score; that he wasn't going to get the promotion."
From Old Norse *skor*, meaning 'a notch, tally', related to Proto-Germanic *skeraną*, meaning 'to cut'. Originally referred to marks made for counting or keeping track of something.
Used extensively since the Middle Ages, initially as a method for marking or counting, later adopted for musical notation and games.
Memory tip
Think of the marks used to keep the count in a game.