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Synonyms

score

American  
[skawr, skohr] / skɔr, skoʊr /

noun

scores, plural score plural
  1. the record of points or strokes made by the competitors in a game or match.

  2. the total points or strokes made by one side, individual, play, game, etc.

  3. an act or instance of making or earning a point or points.

  4. Education, Psychology. the performance of an individual or sometimes of a group on an examination or test, expressed by a number, letter, or other symbol.

  5. a notch, scratch, or incision; a stroke or line.

  6. a notch or mark for keeping an account or record.

  7. a reckoning or account so kept; tally.

  8. any account showing indebtedness.

  9. an amount recorded as due.

  10. a line drawn as a boundary, the starting point of a race, a goal line, etc.

  11. a group or set of 20.

    about a score of years ago.

  12. scores, a great many.

    Scores of people were at the dance.

  13. a reason, ground, or cause.

    to complain on the score of low pay.

  14. Informal.

    1. the basic facts, point of progress, etc., regarding a situation.

      What's the score on Saturday's picnic?

    2. a successful move, remark, etc.

  15. Music.

    1. a written or printed piece of music with all the vocal and instrumental parts arranged on staves, one under the other.

    2. the music itself.

    3. the music played as background to or part of a movie, play, or television presentation.

  16. Slang.

    1. a success in finding a willing sexual partner; sexual conquest.

    2. a purchase or acquisition of illicit drugs, as heroin or cocaine.

    3. a single payoff obtained through graft by a police officer, especially from a narcotics violator.

    4. a successful robbery; theft.

    5. any success, triumph, happy acquisition, gift, or win.

    6. the victim of a robbery or swindle.


verb (used with object)

scores, present (3rd person singular) scored, past participle, past scoring present participle
  1. to gain for addition to one's score in a game or match.

  2. to make a score of.

    He scored 98 on the test.

  3. to have as a specified value in points.

    Four aces score 100.

  4. Education, Psychology. to evaluate the responses a person has made on (a test or an examination).

  5. Music.

    1. to orchestrate.

    2. to write out in score.

    3. to compose the music for (a movie, play, television show, etc.)

  6. Cooking. to cut ridges or lines into (meat, fish, etc.) with shallow slashes, usually in a diamond pattern, before cooking.

  7. to make notches, cuts, marks, or lines in or on.

  8. to record or keep a record of (points, items, etc.), by or as if by notches, marks, etc.; tally; reckon (often followed byup ).

  9. to write down as a debt.

  10. to record as a debtor.

  11. to gain, achieve, or win.

    The play scored a great success.

  12. Slang.

    1. to obtain (a drug) illicitly.

    2. to steal.

    3. to acquire; be given.

  13. to berate or censure.

    The newspapers scored the mayor severely for the announcement.

  14. to crease (paper or cardboard) so that it can be folded easily and without damage.

verb (used without object)

scores, present (3rd person singular) scored, past participle, past scoring present participle
  1. to make a point or points in a game or contest.

  2. to keep score, as of a game.

  3. to achieve an advantage or a success.

    The new product scored with the public.

  4. to make notches, cuts, lines, etc.

  5. to run up a score or debt.

  6. Slang.

    1. to succeed in finding a willing sexual partner; have sexual intercourse.

    2. to purchase or obtain drugs illicitly.

    3. to elicit and accept a bribe.

idioms

  1. pay off / settle a score, to avenge a wrong; retaliate.

    In the Old West they paid off a score with bullets.

score British  
/ skɔː /

noun

  1. an evaluative, usually numerical, record of a competitive game or match

  2. the total number of points made by a side or individual in a game or match

  3. the act of scoring, esp a point or points

  4. informal the actual situation; the true facts

    to know the score

  5. the result of a test or exam

  6. a group or set of twenty

    three score years and ten

  7. a great number; lots

    I have scores of things to do

  8. music

    1. the written or printed form of a composition in which the instrumental or vocal parts appear on separate staves vertically arranged on large pages ( full score ) or in a condensed version, usually for piano ( short score ) or voices and piano ( vocal score )

    2. the incidental music for a film or play

    3. the songs, music, etc, for a stage or film musical

  9. a mark or notch, esp one made in keeping a tally

  10. an account of amounts due

  11. an amount recorded as due

  12. a reason or account

    the book was rejected on the score of length

  13. a grievance

    1. a line marking a division or boundary

    2. ( as modifier )

      score line

  14. informal the victim of a theft or swindle

  15. dancing notation indicating a dancer's moves

  16. informal excessive; unfair

    1. to avenge a wrong

    2. to repay a debt

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. to gain (a point or points) in a game or contest

  2. (tr) to make a total score of

    to score twelve

  3. to keep a record of the score (of)

  4. (tr) to be worth (a certain amount) in a game

  5. (tr) to evaluate (a test or exam) numerically; mark

  6. (tr) to record by making notches in

  7. to make (cuts, lines, etc) in or on

  8. slang (intr) to obtain something desired, esp to purchase an illegal drug

  9. slang (intr) (of a man) to be successful in seducing a person

  10. (tr)

    1. to set or arrange (a piece of music) for specific instruments or voices

    2. to write the music for (a film, play, etc)

  11. to achieve (success or an advantage)

    your idea really scored with the boss

  12. (tr) to criticize harshly; berate

  13. to accumulate or keep a record of (a debt)

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
score More Idioms  
  1. see box score; know the score; pay off (an old score); settle a score.


Usage

What is a basic definition of score? A score is the tally of points that have been earned by competitors in a game. To score is to add points to this tally during a game. Score also refers to a set of 20 items. Score has many other senses, both as a noun and a verb. The score of a game or competition is the record of how many points have been earned during the game. A game in which no points are gained at all is referred to as scoreless. Real-life examples: France won the final match of the 2018 FIFA World Cup against Croatia with a score of 4-2. In 2020, the final score of Super Bowl LIV between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers was 31-20. Used in a sentence: I volunteered to keep track of the score of the children’s baseball game. Related to this sense, score means to gain points or otherwise add to a person’s or team’s score during a game. A player that gains points is called a scorer. The person who keeps track of the score is also called a scorer, or more frequently a scorekeeper. A player, team, or maneuver that doesn’t gain any points is referred to as nonscoring. Real-life examples: Soccer players score goals. Basketball players score baskets. Football players score touchdowns. Used in a sentence: She scored 50 points by hitting the bullseye. Score is also a group or set of 20 items. Real-life examples: Abraham Lincoln famously said that America was founded “four score and seven years ago” during his Gettysburg Address in 1863. Lincoln was referring to the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, which occurred 87 (four score plus seven) years prior to Lincoln’s speech. Used in a sentence: He bought a score of donuts from the bakery.

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Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of score

First recorded before 1100; Middle English; late Old English noun scora, score (plural; unattested singular scoru ) “group of twenty” (apparently originally “notch”), from Old Norse skor “notch”; Middle English verb scoren “to incise, mark with lines, tally debts,” from Old Norse skora “to notch, count by tallies”; later verb senses derivative of the noun; akin to shear

Explanation

When you're playing a game, your score is the number of points you have. If the score of a basketball game is 34 to 34, it means both teams have 34 points — the score is tied. To score in a game is to achieve points or goals. In school, you get a score, or a grade, on your tests and papers. Another kind of score is the written part of a musical composition. And when someone asks, "What's the score?" they might also mean "What's going on?" The Gettysburg Address famously begins, "Four score and seven years ago..." In this case, a score is "twenty," from the Old English scoru, also "twenty."

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

Vocabulary lists containing score

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:

The AI learned it could maximize its score by spinning in circles in one spot, even though it never completed the race.

From The Wall Street Journal Jul. 24, 2026

"I'm always hungry to score or to give the final pass to my team-mates. And I can say I work hard for the team, also in the defensive part."

From BBC Jul. 23, 2026

The pastiche score, indebted to the pop charts of the 1950s, isn’t allowed to dominate.

From Los Angeles Times Jul. 23, 2026

"We are delighted with this result, because achieving a perfect score at the IMO is extremely challenging," Xiaohongshu said in a statement this week.

From Barron's Jul. 23, 2026

She smiled and waved, just waiting for her chance to score another run for the Bandits.

From "The Missing Mitt (The Hardy Boys: Secret Files, #2)" by Franklin W. Dixon

Students applying by Dec. 1, 2026, for fall 2027 admission will not have to submit SAT or ACT scores, and the university has not decided whether requirements will change for fall 2028 or later.

From Los Angeles Times Jul. 23, 2026

In 2025, models made by the likes of Google and OpenAI reached gold-level scores for the first time -- but could not match the abilities of five human contestants who got 100 percent.

From Barron's Jul. 23, 2026

Lloyd’s, which connects thousands of insurance buyers and sellers in scores of countries, says it wants to set the highest standards of corporate governance.

From The Wall Street Journal Jul. 22, 2026

Images from the scene hours after the crash showed scores of emergency service workers sorting through charred rubble in an attempt to find survivors.

From BBC Jul. 22, 2026

I want to be average, but I also want an A. I have to think about colleges for next year, and they will want to see more than my SAT scores.

From "The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl" by Stacy McAnulty

All four -- from leading US labs OpenAI and Anthropic, the startup Axiom Math and "Kimi K3" from China's Moonshot AI -- scored 42 points out of 42, he said on LinkedIn.

From Barron's Jul. 23, 2026

After impressing on loan at Fortuna Dusseldorf, where he scored 24 goals in Germany's second tier, he joined Club Brugge in 2024 and quickly established himself as one of Belgium's most productive attacking players.

From BBC Jul. 23, 2026

Keegan scored 21 goals in 63 games for England between 1972 and 1982, and went on to manage them from February 1999 until October 2000.

From BBC Jul. 21, 2026

The Dodgers scored in the fourth when Mookie Betts came home from third as Teoscar Hernández hit into a double play.

From Los Angeles Times Jul. 21, 2026

The local papers don’t run any information about Boy21 except the number of points he scored in the game, and his assists and rebounds.

From "Boy21" by Matthew Quick

After throwing 17 180s with a scoring average of 109.57, Littler said: "At the minute, everything's going to plan."

From BBC Jul. 23, 2026

Njoku was a gifted receiver and blocker in Cleveland, catching 81 balls and scoring six touchdowns in 2023.

From Los Angeles Times Jul. 23, 2026

He also proved he could deliver against Europe's leading clubs, scoring against Atalanta and Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, while registering an assist against Barcelona.

From BBC Jul. 23, 2026

He played a starring role in two of the team’s extraordinary late comebacks, scoring the stoppage-time winner in the 3-2 victory over Egypt and tied the game against with a screamer from 20 yards.

From The Wall Street Journal Jul. 21, 2026

He shelved his newly completed fourth symphony, sensing that its dark modernity might make matters worse, and for a while retreated to the relative safety of film scoring.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall

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