WordNet Dictionary- [n] the act of scanning; systematic examination of a prescribed region; "he made a thorough scan of the beach with his binoculars"
- [v] obtain data from magnetic tapes; "This dictionary can be read by the computer"
- [v] glance over or read superficially
- [v] read metrically; "scan verses"
- [v] make a wide, sweeping search of; "The beams scanned the night sky"
- [v] move a light beam over; in electronics, to reproduce an image
- [v] examine hastily
- [v] examine minutely or intensely
- [v] conform to a metrical pattern; of poetic verse
Webster's 1913 Dictionary\Scan\ (sk[a^]n), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Scanned} (sk[a^]nd); p. pr. & vb. n. {Scanning}.] [L. scandere, scansum, to climb, to scan, akin to Skr. skand to spring, leap: cf. F. scander. Cf. {Ascend}, {Descend}, {Scale} a ladder.] 1. To mount by steps; to go through with step by step. [Obs.] Nor stayed till she the highest stage had scand. --Spenser. 2. Specifically (Pros.), to go through with, as a verse, marking and distinguishing the feet of which it is composed; to show, in reading, the metrical structure of; to recite metrically. 3. To go over and examine point by point; to examine with care; to look closely at or into; to scrutinize. The actions of men in high stations are all conspicuous, and liable to be scanned and sifted. --Atterbury.
Computing Dictionary1. ["A Parallel Implementation of the SCAN Language", N.G. Bourbakis, Comp Langs 14(4):239-254 (1989)].
1. (computer peripheral) See scanner.
2. (circuit design) See scan design.
3. (functional programming) See scanl, scanr.
4. An algorithm for scheduling multiple accesses to a disk. A number of requests are ordered according to the data's position on the storage device. This reduces the disk arm movement to one "scan" or sweep across the whole disk in the worst case. The serivce time can be estimated from the disk's track-to-track seek time, maximum seek time (one scan), and maximum rotational latency.
scan-edf is a variation on this.
Medical Dictionary