scout
noun
a soldier, warship, airplane, etc., employed in reconnoitering.
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scout
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Scout
Scoutnoun(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 Air Scout Girl Scout Guide Sea Scout Venture Scout
scout
1 American
[skout]
/ skaĘt /
noun
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scouts
plural
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a soldier, warship, airplane, etc., employed in reconnoitering.
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a person sent out to obtain information.
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Sports.
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a person who observes and reports on the techniques, players, etc., of opposing teams.
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a person sent out by a team to observe and recommend new talent for recruitment.
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a talent scout, as in the entertainment field.
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an act or instance of reconnoitering, inspecting, observing, etc.
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Sometimes Scout a Boy Scout or Girl Scout.
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Informal. a person.
He's a good scout.
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a man acting as servant to a student at Oxford University.
verb (used without object)
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to act as a scout; reconnoiter.
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to make a search; hunt.
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to work as a talent scout.
verb (used with object)
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to examine, inspect, or observe for the purpose of obtaining information; reconnoiter.
to scout the enemy's defenses.
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to seek; search for (usually followed by out orup ).
to scout up a date for Friday night.
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to find by seeking, searching, or looking (usually followed by out orup ).
Scout out a good book for me to read.
scout
1
British
/ skaĘt /
noun
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a person, ship, or aircraft sent out to gain information
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military a person or unit despatched to reconnoitre the position of the enemy
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sport a person employed by a club to seek new players
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the act or an instance of scouting
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(esp at Oxford University) a college servant Compare gyp 3
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obsolete (in Britain) a patrolman of a motoring organization
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informal a fellow or companion
verb
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to examine or observe (anything) in order to obtain information
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(tr; sometimes foll by out or up) to seek
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(intr) to act as a scout for a sports club
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(intr; foll by about or around) to go in search (for)
Scout
2
British
/ skaĘt /
noun
scout
3
British
/ skaĘt /
verb
scout
Idioms
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of scout1
First recorded in 1350â1400; Middle English verb scouten. skowten, from Old French escouter, escolter, ascolter ( French ÃĐcouter âto listenâ) from Late Latin ascultÄre, Latin auscultÄre âto listen, listen toâ; Middle English noun scoute-, from Old French escoute, derivative of escouter; see origin at auscultation
Origin of scout2
First recorded in 1595â1605; perhaps from Old Norse skÅŦta, skÅŦti âabuse, tauntingâ; see also shout
Explanation
When you explore or investigate an area, you scout. If your cat is missing, you might send your friends out to scout around the neighborhood. When you scout, you're searching for information; the word comes from the Old French escouter, "to listen for," and its Latin source, auscultare, "to listen attentively." And when you're searching under porches and in trees for your missing cat â also listening for his meows â you're acting as a scout, someone tasked with looking out for or finding something.
Vocabulary lists containing scout
Vocabulary from Readings 2, Unit 1
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Girl Scouts Lingo
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
You could fly into a major metropolitan area like Miami to scout places and easily plunk down your entire $2 million nest egg in one day.
From MarketWatch â Aug. 19, 2026
Holbeche said enthusiasts should scout out a location beforehand using an outstretched hand.
From BBC â Jul. 31, 2026
Red Bull have confirmed the appointment of the Mercedes driver scout involved in discovering Kimi Antonelli to head up their young driver programme.
From BBC â Jul. 27, 2026
PARIS—French prosecutors are probing the death of a French modeling scout with ties to Jeffrey Epstein after he was found dead at his home outside the French capital this week.
From The Wall Street Journal â Jul. 22, 2026
Now he used those skills to secretly scout out the countryside for his mother.
From "The Wild Robot Escapes" by Peter Brown
Girl Scouts does offer its own national “My Promise, My Faith” pin, which asks girls to explore the relationship between the Girl Scout Law and their own beliefs.
From Salon â Aug. 28, 2026
I was both watching and reading about all these groups imploding; it was companies, friend groups, church groups, Boy Scout troops.
From The Wall Street Journal â Aug. 25, 2026
The K3 Scout sea drones can remotely carry out surveillance, and according to their supplier, "support a wide range of mission profiles including maritime awareness, force protection, logistics and precision strike".
From BBC â Aug. 10, 2026
The journey may not have been as long as it seemed because Infantino may never have been the Boy Scout he was initially perceived to be.
From Los Angeles Times â Aug. 4, 2026
Like when she ate all the Lorna Doones that Mom had set aside for the Girl Scout meeting.
From "The Lemonade War" by Jacqueline Davies
Then in 2025, he began to catch the eye of NFL scouts.
From BBC â Jul. 30, 2026
He recorded a 7-foot wingspan and 8-8 standing reach at the NBA combine, where he also impressed scouts during the five-on-five scrimmage with 30 points and seven rebounds on six-for-12 shooting from three-point range.
From Los Angeles Times â Jul. 3, 2026
BBC Sport has been speaking to the coaches and scouts who played a part in the footballing journeys of the England stars.
From BBC â Jun. 21, 2026
The Lakers spent time in Spain looking at 20-year-old guard Sergio de Larrea, but many NBA scouts see him going later in the first round or even in the second.
From Los Angeles Times â Jun. 21, 2026
At that end were many of the Shoshone, Crow, and Ankara scouts.
From "In the Footsteps of Crazy Horse" by Joseph Marshall III
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, ÂĐ Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American HeritageÂŪ Idioms Dictionary copyright ÂĐ 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
