Scaling, British English

I was reading this article on a plane yesterday. In the first paragraph there is a reference to "scaling mock-Tudor mansions in darkest Surrey."

What does "scaling" mean there?

It may mean "climbing." I suspect the writer likens mock-Tudor mansions, with their steep roofing, to mountains.

Isn't it used in this sense in the US?

No, in context I think it's a participle not a gerund, i.e. an adjective. The houses are scaling; no one is scaling them.

"...picture him swinging...not scaling..."

I think in that context it does means "climbing." When we think of Spiderman, we imagine him swinging through the skyscrapers of New York; we don't picture him climbing the steep roof of some mansion in Surrey.

Ah, got it. Thanks both.

Climbing, either with or without rope(s).

Think #5(Nutrex) is probably right as "scaling up the wall" is not an unusual expression among the Brits to express frustration in not being able to solve very difficult problems.

tribolite, "scaling up the wall" is a very unusual expression, at least among the Brits I grew up with. In fact I've never met it before.

Nor me. Scaling down the wall now .....

I, too, wouldn't say "scaling up the wall," just "scaling the wall."

I'd also say "scaling the fish," but that's a whole nother, uh, kettle of fish.

Yeah - correct grammar would be scaling the building. Not scaling up or down.

Now I understand why this place is so argumentative.

The grammar mavens here can never climb down.

This is starting to scale down a bit.

Reminds me of that English professor who died stranded on top of Mount Everest.