Definition of "scrutiny"

Thenceforth I thought thee worth my nearer view / And narrower scrutiny.

1671, John Milton, “The First Book”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J. M[acock] for John Starkey […], page 4

So much for the occupant of the britscha, who waits, as all the horses are out at a ball or a scrutiny.

1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XVII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), page 189

Certainly, upon closer scrutiny, it becomes apparent that current usage rather than eighteenth-century usage is the basis of the interpretation of fanny as a sexual term.

2011, Patrick Spedding, James Lambert, “Fanny Hill, Lord Fanny, and the Myth of Metonymy”, in Studies in Philology, volume 108, number 1, page 109

A number of other mergers of U.S. railroads are mooted, but the I.C.C. [Interstate Commerce Commission] has made it clear that its assent to the N.& W.-Virginian proposal, which was unopposed by competitors or stockholders, should not be taken as an indication that others will swiftly pass its scrutiny.

1960 January, “Talking of Trains: N.& W.-Virginian merger”, in Trains Illustrated, page 9

The Returning Officer on the day appointed to make a scrutiny of the poll

1872, William Dougal Christie, The Ballot, and Corruption and Expenditure at Elections