【Scrutinize】 , 【scan】 ,  【inspect】 ,  【examine】 ,  【audit】  can all mean to look at or over critically and searchingly. The same distinctions in implications and connotations are observable in their corresponding nouns scrutiny, scanning, inspection, examination, and 【audit】 .

【Scrutinize】  and scrutiny imply close observation and attention to minute detail.

【Scan】  and scanning are usually employed in reference to something that is surveyed from point to point; the terms may imply careful observation or study but sometimes imply the opposite and suggest a cursory glancing from one point to another; thus, to  【scan】 the newspaper each morning may admit of either interpretation.

Only a context can make the implication clear.

【Inspect】  and inspection in general use often imply little more than a careful observation, but in legal, military, governmental, and industrial use they imply a searching scrutiny for possible errors, defects, flaws, or shortcomings.

【Examine】  (see also ASK 1 ) and examination imply a close scrutiny or investigation to determine the facts about a thing or the real nature, character, or condition of a thing or to test a thing′s quality, validity, truth, or functioning.

【Audit】 , as verb or noun, implies a searching examination of accounts in order to determine their correctness. In its extended sense  【audit】 often carries a suggestion of a final accounting.