lexicow

scope

/skoʊp//skəʊp/·noun
I watch a lighthouse turn its beam out over a dark sea, and one by one the boats it falls on flare up out of the black, then sink back as it sweeps past. There's one little boat sitting just past where the light can stretch, and turn as the lamp might, it never quite catches it — it stays a shadow on the water. I keep hoping the beam will swing wide enough to find that last one, just to see it lit.
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Definition

The scope of something is how far it reaches — the range of subjects, cases, or activities it takes in. A study with a wide scope covers much ground; a narrow scope deliberately leaves most of it out. The word also means room to act ('scope for improvement') and gives us 'telescope' and 'microscope', instruments that set how much you can see. From the Greek skopos, 'target' or 'watcher', scope is always about the limits of what falls within view.

Examples

  • The investigation widened until it spilled well beyond its original boundary.
  • A tight budget constraint forced the team to narrow the scope of the project.
  • Some questions simply lie outside the scope of this essay.

Collocations

the scope of the study·beyond the scope of·broaden the scope·scope for improvement·a narrow scope

Synonyms

range·extent·reach·breadth·ambit

Antonyms

narrowness·limitation

Word family

scoping (noun)·scoped (adjective)

In TOEFL & IELTS

One of the most useful framing words in academic English: 'within / beyond the scope of', 'broaden / narrow the scope', and 'scope for improvement' are ready-made for essay introductions and limitations sections. In the 'room to act' sense it is uncountable ('there is scope for change'). Reading passages use it to mark what an argument does and does not cover.