- scrutinize
- scrutinize, scan, inspect, examine, audit can all mean to look at or over critically and searchingly. The same distinctions in implications and connotations are observable in their corresponding nouns scrutiny, scanning, inspection, examination, and audit.Scrutinize and scrutiny imply close observation and attention to minute detail{
scores of plain-dress detectives closely scrutinized the bidden guests as they arrived— Lucius Bee be
}{living among the absurd magpie scrutinies of wife, children, colleagues, patients . . . most analysts are obliged to be more proper than proper— Mailer
}Scan and scanning are usually employed in reference to something that is surveyed from point to point; the terms may imply careful observation or study but sometimes imply the opposite and suggest a cursory glancing from one point to another; thus, to scan the newspaper each morning may admit of either interpretation. Only a context can make the impli-cation clear{the more one scans the later pages of Mark Twain's history the more one is forced to the conclusion that there was something gravely amiss with his inner life— Brooks
}{scanned, with raised brows, yesterday's Jewish paper that he had already thoroughly read— Malamud
}{a quick scanning of the items will help you—5. L. Payne
}Inspect and inspection in general use often imply little more than a careful observation{he had perched himself upon the edge of the desk . . . and was absorbed in an unabashed inspection of her— Hervey
}but in legal, military, governmental, and industrial use they imply a searching scrutiny for possible errors, defects, flaws, or shortcomings{every length of cloth is inspected before it leaves the factory
}{the troops prepared for the daily inspection
}{this report will not pass inspection
}{freshly picked grapes are inspected and cleansed before delivery— Amer. Guide Series: Pa.
}Examine (see also ASK 1) and examination imply a close scrutiny or investigation to determine the facts about a thing or the real nature, character, or condition of a thing or to test a thing's quality, validity, truth, or functioning{the critic refused to give an opinion before he had examined the painting closely
}{the doctor sent him to the hospital for a thorough exam-ination
}{they examined the house from cellar to attic before deciding to purchase it
}{could it be the intention of those who gave this power, to say that... a case arising under the constitution should be decided without examining the instrument under which it arises?— John Marshall
}{he began to . . . examine the speeches of its leaders, study its organization, reflect on its psychology and political techniques— Shirer
}{examination of the bedroom has convinced me that it was possible for them to have escaped ... as they said they did— Prewett
}Audit, as verb or noun, implies a searching examination of accounts in order to determine their correctness{an annual audit of the tax books
}{each bank is audited annually by a certified public accountant— Safety for Your Savings
}In its extended sense audit often carries a suggestion of a final accounting{the general day of account and audit to be made at the throne of God— Udall
}{when it comes to the audit before high heaven— Lowes
}
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.
