Also found in: Scalloped oysters, Medical, Financial, Idioms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia. One of the many small hard dermal or epidermal structures that characteristically form the external covering of fishes and reptiles and certain mammals, such as pangolins.
A similar part in other animals, such as one of the thin flat overlapping structures that cover the wings of butterflies and moths. A small, thin, often flattened plant structure, such as one of the modified leaves that cover a tree bud or one of the structures that bear the reproductive organs on the cones of a conifer. A dry thin flake of epidermis shed from the skin. A skin lesion or lesions marked by such flakes.
A plant disease or infestation caused by scale insects. A flaky oxide film formed on a metal, as on iron, that has been heated to high temperatures. A hard mineral coating that forms on the inside surface of boilers, kettles, and other containers in which water is repeatedly heated. To clear or strip of scale or scales: Scale and clean the fish.