Score (noun) — the number of points achieved in a game, test, or competition; the written or printed notation of a piece of music; a notch or scratch cut into a surface.
Score (verb) — to gain points in a game or test; to mark a surface with a cut or line; to obtain something you wanted.
What Does Score Mean?
Score comes from Old Norse skor, meaning a notch or cut made into a stick. Medieval tradespeople kept accounts by cutting marks into wooden tally sticks — every twentieth notch was a distinct score. From this concrete act of cutting came the abstract meaning of a counted total, and from there the word spread into sport, music, and everyday English.
Today score is one of the most versatile words in English. In sport and testing, a score is the numerical result — how many points a player, team, or student has accumulated. In music, a score is the complete written-out notation of a composition, showing every instrument's part on a single page or set of pages. As a verb, to score most often means to achieve a goal, run, point, or percentage in a competitive or assessed context.
Note also the fixed phrase on that score (meaning "regarding that matter") and the old-fashioned sense of a score as the number twenty, still familiar from literary contexts such as "three score years and ten" (70 years old).
Example Sentences
| Sentence | Level & usage note |
|---|---|
| The final score was three goals to one. | A2 — score as a sports result (noun) |
| She scored eighty-seven per cent in the reading comprehension section of the exam. | B1 — score as verb with a test percentage |
| The conductor studied the score carefully before the first rehearsal. | B1 — score as written music (noun) |
| Lightly score the pastry surface with a sharp knife before placing it in the oven. | B2 — score as verb meaning to cut a shallow line |
| The candidate scored particularly highly on the analytical reasoning section, which put her well above the national average. | C1 — score in a formal academic or professional context |
Collocations
| Collocation | Example |
|---|---|
| high score | She achieved the highest score in the class. |
| low score | A low score on the first attempt is not unusual. |
| final score | The final score was 2–0 to the home team. |
| test score | His test score improved after a month of revision. |
| score a goal | She scored the winning goal in extra time. |
| score points | Each correct answer scores two points. |
| settle a score | He had no interest in settling old scores. |
| keep score | Can you keep score while we play? |
| film score | The film score was composed by Ennio Morricone. |
| credit score | A good credit score makes it easier to get a mortgage. |
Usage Notes
British vs American English
In British English, mark is the more common word for a result in school work: She got a good mark in her essay. Score is preferred for sport, standardised tests, and competitive contexts. In American English, score is used in both school and sport settings. Both varieties use score for sports results.
Score as a noun vs score as a verb
- Noun: What was the score at half time? (the numerical result)
- Verb + object: She scored 95 points. (achieved that number)
- Verb, no object: Neither team scored in the second half.
Fixed expressions
On that score = regarding that matter: You need not worry on that score.
Know the score = understand the real situation: She knows the score — it will not be easy.
Three score years and ten = 70 years (literary/archaic).
Common Mistakes
Watch Out For
He made a score of 90 in the test.
He scored 90 in the test. (use the verb directly, or: his score was 90)
The score of the match was very exciting.
The match was very exciting. (a score itself is a number, not an event — say the match was exciting, not the score)
She scored a very good mark in the exam.
She scored highly in the exam. / She got a very good mark in the exam. (score and mark are not normally used together)