also to scale of a balance; but perhaps rather fr. OF. escale, escaile, F. écaille scale of a fish, and écale
shell of beans, pease, eggs, nuts, of German origin, and akin to Goth. skalja, G. schale. See
Shale.]
1. (Anat.) One of the small, thin, membranous, bony or horny pieces which form the covering of many
fishes and reptiles, and some mammals, belonging to the dermal part of the skeleton, or dermoskeleton.
See Cycloid, Ctenoid, and Ganoid.
Fish that, with their fins and shining scales,
Glide under the green wave.
Milton. 2. Hence, any layer or leaf of metal or other material, resembling in size and thinness the scale of a
fish; as, a scale of iron, of bone, etc.
3. (Zoöl.) One of the small scalelike structures covering parts of some invertebrates, as those on the
wings of Lepidoptera and on the body of Thysanura; the elytra of certain annelids. See Lepidoptera.
4. (Zoöl.) A scale insect. (See below.)
5. (Bot.) A small appendage like a rudimentary leaf, resembling the scales of a fish in form, and often
in arrangement; as, the scale of a bud, of a pine cone, and the like. The name is also given to the chaff
on the stems of ferns.
6. The thin metallic side plate of the handle of a pocketknife. See Illust. of Pocketknife.
7. An incrustation deposit on the inside of a vessel in which water is heated, as a steam boiler.
8. (Metal.) The thin oxide which forms on the surface of iron forgings. It consists essentially of the
magnetic oxide, Fe3O4. Also, a similar coating upon other metals.
Covering scale (Zoöl.), a hydrophyllium. — Ganoid scale. (Zoöl.) See under Ganoid. — Scale
armor (Mil.), armor made of small metallic scales overlapping, and fastened upon leather or cloth. —
Scale beetle (Zoöl.), the tiger beetle. — Scale carp (Zoöl.), a carp having normal scales. — Scale
insect (Zoöl.), any one of numerous species of small hemipterous insects belonging to the family Coccidæ,
in which the females, when adult, become more or less scalelike in form. They are found upon the leaves
and twigs of various trees and shrubs, and often do great damage to fruit trees. See Orange scale,under
Orange. — Scale moss (Bot.), any leafy-stemmed moss of the order Hepaticæ; — so called from the
small imbricated scalelike leaves of most of the species. See Hepatica, 2, and Jungermannia.
Scale
(Scale) v. t.
1. To strip or clear of scale or scales; as, to scale a fish; to scale the inside of a boiler.
2. To take off in thin layers or scales, as tartar from the teeth; to pare off, as a surface. "If all the mountains
were scaled, and the earth made even." T. Burnet.
3. To scatter; to spread. [Scot. & Prov. Eng.]
4. (Gun.) To clean, as the inside of a cannon, by the explosion of a small quantity of powder. Totten.
Scale
(Scale), v. i.
1. To separate and come off in thin layers or laminæ; as, some sandstone scales by exposure.
Those that cast their shell are the lobster and crab; the old skins are found, but the old shells never; so it
is likely that they scale off.
Bacon.
