scale (v.) Copy link Outline I. To take off the scalesII. To climb by ladders • scale (v.): I. To take off the scales: desquāmo, 1: to s. fish, d. pisces, Pl. Aul. 2, 9, 1. II. To climb by ladders: expr. by phr. with scālae, arum: to s. a rampart, vallum scalis ascendere, Caes. B. G. 5, 43: to s. the walls, s. positis muros ascendere, id. B. C. 1, 48: scalis scandere muros, in muros evadere, Liv. 29, 7: to take a town by s.ing the walls, oppidum scalis capere, id. 8, 29, ad fin.: v. escalade: a machine for s.ing the walls, ascendens machina, Vitr. 10, 13 (19), 3.