Scout, n.
Etymology: [OF. escaute scout, spy, fr. escouter, escolter, to listen, to hear, F. écouter, fr. L. auscultare, to hear with attention, to listen to. See Auscultation.]
1. A person sent out to gain and bring in tidings; especially, one employed in war to gain information of the movements and condition of an enemy. Scouts each coast light-armèd scour, Each quarter, to descry the distant foe. Milton.
2. A college student's or undergraduate's servant; -- so called in Oxford, England; at Cambridge called a gyp; and at Dublin, a skip. [Cant]
3. (Criket)
A fielder in a game for practice.
2 more senses
4. The act of scouting or reconnoitering. [Colloq.] While the rat is on the scout. Cowper.
Syn. -- Scout, Spy. -- In a military sense a scout is a soldier who does duty in his proper uniform, however hazardous his adventure. A spy is one who in disguise penetrates the enemies' lines, or lurks near them, to obtain information.
5 other Webster entries under this spelling
Scout, n.
A swift sailing boat. [Obs.] So we took a scout, very much pleased with the manner and conversation of the passengers. Pepys.
Scout, n.
A projecting rock. [Prov. Eng.] Wright.
Scout, v. t.
To reject with contempt, as something absurd; to treat with ridicule; to flout; as, to scout an idea or an apology. "Flout 'em and scout 'em." Shak.
Scout, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Scouted; p. pr. & vb. n. Scouting.]
1. To observe, watch, or look for, as a scout; to follow for the purpose of observation, as a scout. Take more men, And scout him round. Beau. & Fl.
2. To pass over or through, as a scout; to reconnoiter; as, to scout a country.
Scout, v. i.
To go on the business of scouting, or watching the motions of an enemy; to act as a scout. With obscure wing Scout far and wide into the realm of night. Milton.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for scout; he lists it under spy.
Where he writes about it:
The scout and the spy are both employed to obtain information of the numbers, movements, etc., of an enemy. — from spy
The scout lurks on the outskirts of the hostile army with such concealment as the case admits of, but without disguise; a spy enters in disguise within the enemy's lines. — from spy
A scout, if captured, has the rights of a prisoner of war; a spy is held to have forfeited all rights, and is liable, in case of capture, to capital punishment. — from spy