Score facts for kids

The word score can have several meanings. Originally it meant: keeping count of something by making notches in a tally stick. This might be for keeping count of how much money they owed (e.g. how much tax or debt).

Sports

In sports

• The word score is now used for the number of points that people have got in a game or sport, e.g.:

The football match ended with a score of 3-2.

• A footballer who kicks the ball into the goal scores a goal.
• A person who helps to count the points during a game is “keeping score”.

Music

In Music:

• a score is the sheet music written for a group of players such as an orchestra.
• A score can mean a "soundtrack" in a movie.

Other uses

• Score is an old word for the number 20. It is used in the famous expression from the Gettysburg Address: "Four score and seven years ago..." = (4*20+7)years = 87 years. And in the Bible: “three score years and ten” meaning: “seventy years old” (3*20+10) (Psalm 90). This was thought to be a normal life span.
• a score is an American 20 dollar bill (banknote).