# dict

Words: selective
Meaning:
se.lec.tive\n   selective\n1. A selective process applies only to a few things or people.\nSelective breeding may result in a greyhound running faster and seeing better than a wolf.\n  ADJ: ADJ n\n\n=>  se.lec.tive.ly\nWithin the project, trees are selectively cut on a 25-year rotation.\n  ADV: usu ADV with v\n\n=>  se.lec.tiv.ity\nThe soldiers specialized in going out in small groups, to kill with a very high degree of selectivity.\n  N-UNCOUNT: usu with supp\n\n2. When someone is selective, they choose things carefully, for example the things that they buy or do.\nSales still happen, but buyers are more selective...\n  ADJ: usu v-link ADJ\n\n=>  se.lec.tive.ly\n...people on small incomes who wanted to shop selectively.\n  ADV: ADV with v\n\n3. If you say that someone has a selective memory, you disapprove of the fact that they remember certain facts about something and deliberately forget others, often because it is convenient for them to do so.\nWe seem to have a selective memory for the best bits of the past...\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n  disapproval\n\n=>  se.lec.tive.ly\n...a tendency to selectively forget all the adverse effects of the drug.\n  ADV: ADV with v


Words: selective service
Meaning:
se.lec.tive ser.vice\n   selective service\n  In the United States, selective service is a system of selecting and ordering young men to serve in the armed forces for a limited period of time.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: selector
Meaning:
se.lec.tor\n   selector  selectors\n  A selector is someone whose job is to choose which people will be in a particular sports team or will take part in a particular sports contest.\n...the England cricket selectors.\n  N-COUNT: usu supp N


Words: self
Meaning:
self  selves\n1. Your self is your basic personality or nature, especially considered in terms of what you are really like as a person.\nYou’re looking more like your usual self...\nShe was back to her old self again.\n  N-COUNT: usu adj N\n\n2. A person’s self is the essential part of their nature which makes them different from everyone and everything else.\nI want to explore and get in touch with my inner self...\n  N-COUNT: usu adj N


Words: self-
Meaning:
self-\n1. Self- is used to form words which indicate that you do something to yourself or by yourself.\nHe is a self-proclaimed racist.\n...self-destructive behaviour...\n  COMB in ADJ and N\n\n2. Self- is used to form words which describe something such as a device that does something automatically by itself.\n...a self-loading pistol.\n  COMB in ADJ and N


Words: self-absorbed
Meaning:
self-absorbed\n  Someone who is self-absorbed thinks so much about things concerning themselves that they do not notice other people or the things around them.\n  ADJ


Words: self-access
Meaning:
self-access\n  In a school or college, a self-access centre is a place where students can choose and use books, tapes, or other materials. (BRIT)\n...a self-access study centre.\n  ADJ


Words: self-addressed
Meaning:
self-addressed\n  A self-addressed envelope is an envelope which you have written your address on and which you send to someone in another envelope so that they can send something back to you.\nPlease enclose a stamped self-addressed envelope.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n


Words: self-adhesive
Meaning:
self-adhesive\n  Something that is self-adhesive is covered on one side with a sticky substance like glue, so that it will stick to surfaces.\n...self-adhesive labels.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n


Words: self-aggrandizement
Meaning:
self-aggrandizement\nin BRIT, also use self-aggrandisement\n  If you say that someone is guilty of self-aggrandizement, you mean that they do certain things in order to make themselves more powerful, wealthy, or important.\nHe was interested in service, not self-aggrandisement.\n  N-UNCOUNT  disapproval


Words: self-appointed
Meaning:
self-appointed\n  A self-appointed leader or ruler has taken the position of leader or ruler without anyone else asking them or choosing them to have it.\n...the new self-appointed leaders of the movement.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n


Words: self-assembly
Meaning:
self-assembly\n  Self-assembly is used to refer to furniture and other goods that you buy in parts and that you have to put together yourself.\n...a range of self-assembly bedroom furniture.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n


Words: self-assertion
Meaning:
self-assertion\n  Self-assertion is confidence that you have in speaking firmly about your opinions and demanding the rights that you believe you should have.\n...her silence and lack of self-assertion...\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: self-assertive
Meaning:
self-assertive\n  Someone who is self-assertive acts in a confident way, speaking firmly about their opinions and demanding the rights that they believe they should have.\nIf you want good relationships, you must have the confidence to be self-assertive when required.\n  ADJ


Words: self-assessment
Meaning:
In Britain, self-assessment refers to a system for paying tax in which people have to fill in an official form giving details of how much money they have earned in the previous year. (BUSINESS)\n  N-SING


Words: self-assurance
Meaning:
self-assurance\n  Someone who has self-assurance shows confidence in the things that they say and do because they are sure of their abilities.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n  = self-confidence


Words: self-assured
Meaning:
self-assured\n  Someone who is self-assured shows confidence in what they say and do because they are sure of their own abilities.\nHe’s a self-assured, confident negotiator.\n  ADJ\n  = self-confident


Words: self-aware
Meaning:
self-aware\n  Someone who is self-aware knows and judges their own character well.\nDoing a degree has increased my confidence and I feel much more self-aware.\n  ADJ: usu v-link ADJ\n\n=>  self-awareness\nIt is assumed that you are interested in achieving greater self-awareness.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: self-belief
Meaning:
self-belief\n  Self-belief is confidence in your own abilities or judgment.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n  = self-confidence


Words: self-catering
Meaning:
self-catering\n  If you go on a self-catering holiday or you stay in self-catering accommodation, you stay in a place where you have to make your own meals. (BRIT)\nThe self-catering flats are usually reserved for postgraduate students.\n  N-UNCOUNT: usu N n


Words: self-centred
Meaning:
self-centred\nin AM, use self-centered\n  Someone who is self-centred is only concerned with their own wants and needs and never thinks about other people.\nHe was self-centred, but he wasn’t cruel.\n  ADJ  disapproval


Words: self-confessed
Meaning:
self-confessed\n  If you describe someone as a self-confessed murderer or a self-confessed romantic, for example, you mean that they admit openly that they are a murderer or a romantic.\nThe self-confessed drug addict was arrested 13 months ago...\n  ADJ: ADJ n


Words: self-confidence
Meaning:
self-confidence\n  If you have self-confidence, you behave confidently because you feel sure of your abilities or value.\nWith the end of my love affair, I lost all the self-confidence I once had...\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: self-confident
Meaning:
self-confident\n  Someone who is self-confident behaves confidently because they feel sure of their abilities or value.\nShe’d blossomed into a self-confident young woman.\n  ADJ\n  = self-assured


Words: self-congratulation
Meaning:
self-congratulation\n  If someone keeps emphasizing how well they have done or how good they are, you can refer to their behaviour as self-congratulation.\nThis is not a matter for self-congratulation.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: self-congratulatory
Meaning:
self-congratulatory\n  If you describe someone or their behaviour as self-congratulatory, you mean that they keep emphasizing how well they have done or how good they are.\nOfficials were self-congratulatory about how well the day had gone.\n  ADJ  disapproval


Words: self-conscious
Meaning:
self-conscious\n1. Someone who is self-conscious is easily embarrassed and nervous because they feel that everyone is looking at them and judging them.\nI felt a bit self-conscious in my swimming costume...\nBess was self-conscious about being shorter than her two friends.\n  ADJ: usu v-link ADJ, oft ADJ about n\n\n=>  self-consciously\nShe was fiddling self-consciously with her wedding ring.\n  ADV: ADV with v\n\n=>  self-consciousness\n...her painful self-consciousness.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n\n2. If you describe someone or something as self-conscious, you mean that they are strongly aware of who or what they are. (FORMAL)\nPutting the work together is a very self-conscious process.\n  ADJ\n\n=>  self-consciously\nThe world which the book inhabits seems too self-consciously literary, too introverted...\n  ADV: ADV adj


Words: self-contained
Meaning:
self-contained\n1. You can describe someone or something as self-contained when they are complete and separate and do not need help or resources from outside.\nHe seems completely self-contained and he doesn’t miss you when you’re not there...\n...self-contained economic blocs.\n  ADJ\n\n2. Self-contained accommodation such as a flat has all its own facilities, so that a person living there does not have to share rooms such as a kitchen or bathroom with other people.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n


Words: self-contradictory
Meaning:
self-contradictory\n  If you say or write something that is self-contradictory, you make two statements which cannot both be true.\nHe is notorious for making unexpected, often self-contradictory, comments.\n  ADJ


Words: self-control
Meaning:
self-control\n  Self-control is the ability to not show your feelings or not do the things that your feelings make you want to do.\nI began to wish I’d shown more self-control.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: self-controlled
Meaning:
self-controlled\n  Someone who is self-controlled is able to not show their feelings or not do the things that their feelings make them want to do.\nMy father, who had always been very self-controlled, became bad-tempered.\n  ADJ


Words: self-deception
Meaning:
self-deception\n  Self-deception involves allowing yourself to believe something about yourself that is not true, because the truth is more unpleasant.\nHuman beings have an infinite capacity for self-deception.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n  = self-delusion


Words: self-declared
Meaning:
self-declared\n  Self-declared means the same as self-proclaimed.\n...the self-declared interim president...\nHe is a self-declared populist.\n  ADJ: ADJ n


Words: self-defeating
Meaning:
self-defeating\n  A plan or action that is self-defeating is likely to cause problems or difficulties instead of producing useful results.\nDishonesty is ultimately self-defeating.\n  ADJ


Words: self-defence
Meaning:
self-defence\nin AM, use self-defense\n1. Self-defence is the use of force to protect yourself against someone who is attacking you.\nRichards claimed he acted in self-defence after Pagett opened fire on him during a siege.\n...courses in karate or some other means of self-defence.\n  N-UNCOUNT: usu with supp, oft in/of N\n\n2. Self-defence is the action of protecting yourself against something bad.\nJokes can be a form of self-defence.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: self-delusion
Meaning:
self-delusion\n  Self-delusion is the state of having a false idea about yourself or the situation you are in.\n...the grandiose self-delusion of the addict.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: self-denial
Meaning:
self-denial\n  Self-denial is the habit of refusing to do or have things that you would like, either because you cannot afford them, or because you believe it is morally good for you not to do them or have them.\nShould motherhood necessarily mean sacrifice and self-denial?\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: self-denying
Meaning:
self-denying\n  Someone who is self-denying refuses to do or have things that they would like, either because they cannot afford them, or because they believe it is morally good for them not to do them or have them.\nThey believed that good parents should be self-sacrificing and self-denying...\n  ADJ


Words: self-deprecating
Meaning:
self-deprecating\n  If you describe someone’s behaviour as self-deprecating, you mean that they criticize themselves or represent themselves as foolish in a light-hearted way.\nSharon tells the story of that night with self-deprecating humour.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n


Words: self-destruct
Meaning:
self-destruct  self-destructs  self-destructing  self-destructed\n  If someone self-destructs, they do something that seriously damages their chances of success.\nThey’re going to be famous, but unless something happens, they’re going to self-destruct...\n  VERB: V


Words: self-destructive
Meaning:
self-destructive\n  Self-destructive behaviour is harmful to the person who behaves in that way.\nHe had a reckless, self-destructive streak.\n  ADJ


Words: self-determination
Meaning:
self-determination\n  Self-determination is the right of a country to be independent, instead of being controlled by a foreign country, and to choose its own form of government.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n  = independence


Words: self-discipline
Meaning:
self-discipline\n  Self-discipline is the ability to control yourself and to make yourself work hard or behave in a particular way without needing anyone else to tell you what to do.\nExercising at home alone requires a tremendous amount of self-discipline.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: self-disciplined
Meaning:
self-disciplined\n  Someone who is self-disciplined has the ability to control themselves and to make themselves work hard or behave in a particular way without needing anyone else to tell them what to do.\nMost religions teach you to be truthful and self-disciplined.\n  ADJ


Words: self-doubt
Meaning:
self-doubt\n  Self-doubt is a lack of confidence in yourself and your abilities.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n  !=confidence


Words: self-drive
Meaning:
self-drive\n1. A self-drive car is one which you hire and drive yourself. (BRIT; in AM, use rental car)\nAny holiday in the USA and Canada is enhanced by renting a self-drive car.\n  ADJ: ADJ n\n\n2. A self-drive holiday is one where you drive yourself to the place where you are staying, rather than being taken there by plane or coach. (BRIT)\n...the growth in popularity of self-drive camping holidays.\n  ADJ: ADJ n


Words: self-educated
Meaning:
self-educated\n  People who are self-educated have acquired knowledge or a skill by themselves, rather than being taught it by someone else such as a teacher at school.\n...a self-educated man from a working class background.\n  ADJ


Words: self-effacement
Meaning:
self-effacement\n  Someone’s self-effacement is their unwillingness to talk about themselves or draw attention to themselves.\nHe was modest to the point of self-effacement.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: self-effacing
Meaning:
self-effacing\n  Someone who is self-effacing does not like talking about themselves or drawing attention to themselves.\nAs women we tend to be self-effacing and make light of what we have achieved.\n  ADJ


Words: self-employed
Meaning:
self-employed\n  If you are self-employed, you organize your own work and taxes and are paid by people for a service you provide, rather than being paid a regular salary by a person or a firm. (BUSINESS)\nThere are no paid holidays or sick leave if you are self-employed.\n...a self-employed builder.\n  ADJ\n\n  The self-employed are people who are self-employed.\nWe want more support for the self-employed.\n  N-PLURAL: the N


Words: self-esteem
Meaning:
self-esteem\n  Your self-esteem is how you feel about yourself. For example, if you have low self-esteem, you do not like yourself, you do not think that you are a valuable person, and therefore you do not behave confidently.\nPoor self-esteem is at the centre of many of the difficulties we experience in our relationships.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: self-evident
Meaning:
self-evident\n  A fact or situation that is self-evident is so obvious that there is no need for proof or explanation.\nIt is self-evident that we will never have enough resources to meet the demand...\n  ADJ: usu v-link ADJ\n  = obvious\n=>  self-evidently\nThe task was self-evidently impossible...\n  ADV: ADV adj, ADV with cl/group


Words: self-examination
Meaning:
self-examination\n1. Self-examination is thought that you give to your own character and actions, for example in order to judge whether you have been behaving in a way that is acceptable to your own set of values.\nThe events in Los Angeles have sparked a new national self-examination...\n  N-UNCOUNT: also a N\n\n2. Self-examination is the act of examining your own body to check whether or not you have any signs of a particular disease or illness.\nBreast self-examination is invaluable for detecting cancer in its very early stages.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: self-explanatory
Meaning:
self-explanatory\n  Something that is self-explanatory is clear and easy to understand without needing any extra information or explanation.\nI hope the graphs on the following pages are self-explanatory.\n  ADJ: usu v-link ADJ


Words: self-expression
Meaning:
self-expression\n  Self-expression is the expression of your personality, feelings, or opinions, for example through an artistic activity such as drawing or dancing.\nClothes are a fundamental form of self-expression.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: self-fulfilling
Meaning:
self-fulfilling\n  If you describe a statement or belief about the future as self-fulfilling, you mean that what is said or believed comes true because people expect it to come true.\nFear of failure can become a self-fulfilling prophecy.\n  ADJ


Words: self-governing
Meaning:
self-governing\n  A self-governing region or organization is governed or run by its own people rather than by the people of another region or organization.\n...a self-governing province...\n  ADJ


Words: self-government
Meaning:
self-government\n  Self-government is government of a country or region by its own people rather than by others.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: self-help
Meaning:
self-help\n1. Self-help consists of people providing support and help for each other in an informal way, rather than relying on the government, authorities, or other official organizations.\nShe helped her Mum set up a self-help group for parents with over-weight children.\n  N-UNCOUNT: oft N n\n\n2. Self-help consists of doing things yourself to try and solve your own problems without depending on other people.\n...a society that encourages competitiveness and self-help among the very young.\n...a self-help book.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: self-image
Meaning:
self-image  self-images\n  Your self-image is the set of ideas you have about your own qualities and abilities.\nChildren who have a positive self-image are less likely to present behaviour and discipline problems.\n  N-COUNT: usu sing


Words: self-important
Meaning:
self-important\n  If you say that someone is self-important, you disapprove of them because they behave as if they are more important than they really are.\nHe was self-important, vain and ignorant.\n  ADJ  disapproval\n  = pompous\n=>  self-importance\nMany visitors complained of his bad manners and self-importance.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: self-imposed
Meaning:
self-imposed\n  A self-imposed restriction, task, or situation is one that you have deliberately created or accepted for yourself.\nHe returned home in the summer of 1974 after eleven years of self-imposed exile...\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n


Words: self-indulgence
Meaning:
self-indulgence  self-indulgences\n  Self-indulgence is the act of allowing yourself to have or do the things that you enjoy very much.\nGoing to the movies in the afternoon is one of my big self-indulgences.\n  N-VAR


Words: self-indulgent
Meaning:
self-indulgent\n  If you say that someone is self-indulgent, you mean that they allow themselves to have or do the things that they enjoy very much.\nTo buy flowers for myself seems wildly self-indulgent.\n  ADJ


Words: self-inflicted
Meaning:
self-inflicted\n  A self-inflicted wound or injury is one that you do to yourself deliberately.\nHe is being treated for a self-inflicted gunshot wound.\n  ADJ


Words: self-interest
Meaning:
self-interest\n  If you accuse someone of self-interest, you disapprove of them because they always want to do what is best for themselves rather than for anyone else.\nTheir current protests are motivated purely by self-interest.\n  N-UNCOUNT  disapproval


Words: self-interested
Meaning:
self-interested\n  If you describe someone as self-interested, you disapprove of them because they always want to do what is best for themselves rather than for other people.\nNarrowly self-interested behaviour is ultimately self-defeating.\n  ADJ  disapproval


Words: self-knowledge
Meaning:
self-knowledge\n  Self-knowledge is knowledge that you have about your own character and nature.\nThe more self-knowledge we have, the more control we can exert over our feelings and behaviour.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: self-loathing
Meaning:
self-loathing\n  If someone feels self-loathing, they feel great dislike and disgust for themselves.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: self-made
Meaning:
self-made\n  Self-made is used to describe people who have become successful and rich through their own efforts, especially if they started life without money, education, or high social status.\nHe is a self-made man.\n...a self-made millionaire.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n


Words: self-obsessed
Meaning:
self-obsessed\n  If you describe someone as self-obsessed, you are criticizing them for spending too much time thinking about themselves or their own problems.\n  ADJ  disapproval


Words: self-parody
Meaning:
self-parody  self-parodies\n  Self-parody is a way of performing or behaving in which you exaggerate and make fun of the way you normally perform or behave.\nBy the end of his life, Presley’s vocals often descended close to self-parody.\n  N-VAR


Words: self-pity
Meaning:
self-pity\n  Self-pity is a feeling of unhappiness that you have about yourself and your problems, especially when this is unnecessary or greatly exaggerated.\nThroughout, he showed no trace of self-pity.\n  N-UNCOUNT  disapproval


Words: self-pitying
Meaning:
self-pitying\n  Someone who is self-pitying is full of self-pity.\nAt the risk of sounding self-pitying, I’d say it has been harder on me than it has on Joanne.\n  ADJ


Words: self-portrait
Meaning:
self-portrait  self-portraits\n  A self-portrait is a drawing, painting, or written description that you do of yourself.\n  N-COUNT


Words: self-possessed
Meaning:
self-possessed\n  Someone who is self-possessed is calm and confident and in control of their emotions.\nShe is clearly the most articulate and self-possessed member of her family.\n  ADJ\n  = self-assured


Words: self-possession
Meaning:
self-possession\n  Self-possession is the quality of being self-possessed.\nShe found her customary self-possession had deserted her.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n  = self-assurance


Words: self-preservation
Meaning:
self-preservation\n  Self-preservation is the action of keeping yourself safe or alive in a dangerous situation, often without thinking about what you are doing.\nThe police have the same human urge for self-preservation as the rest of us.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: self-proclaimed
Meaning:
self-proclaimed\n1. Self-proclaimed is used to show that someone has given themselves a particular title or status rather than being given it by other people.\n...a self-proclaimed expert...\nHe is President of his own self-proclaimed republic.\n  ADJ: ADJ n\n  = self-confessed\n2. Self-proclaimed is used to show that someone says themselves that they are a type of person which most people would be embarrassed or ashamed to be.\nOne of the prisoners is a self-proclaimed racist who opened fire on a crowd four years ago.\n  ADJ: ADJ n\n  = self-declared


Words: self-raising flour
Meaning:
self-raising flour\n  Self-raising flour is flour that makes cakes rise when they are cooked because it has chemicals added to it. (BRIT; in AM, use self-rising flour)\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: self-regulation
Meaning:
self-regulation\n  Self-regulation is the controlling of a process or activity by the people or organizations that are involved in it rather than by an outside organization such as the government.\nCompetition between companies is too fierce for self-regulation to work.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: self-regulatory
Meaning:
self-regulatory   also self-regulating\n  Self-regulatory systems, organizations, or activities are controlled by the people involved in them, rather than by outside organizations or rules.\nFor a self-regulatory system to work, the consent of all those involved is required.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n


Words: self-reliance
Meaning:
self-reliance\n  Self-reliance is the ability to do things and make decisions by yourself, without needing other people to help you.\nPeople learned self-reliance because they had to...\n  N-UNCOUNT\n  = independence


Words: self-reliant
Meaning:
self-reliant\n  If you are self-reliant, you are able to do things and make decisions by yourself, without needing other people to help you.\nShe is intelligent and self-reliant, speaking her mind and not suffering fools gladly.\n  ADJ\n  = independent


Words: self-respect
Meaning:
self-respect\n  Self-respect is a feeling of confidence and pride in your own ability and worth.\nThey have lost not only their jobs, but their homes, their self-respect and even their reason for living.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: self-respecting
Meaning:
self-respecting\n  You can use self-respecting with a noun describing a particular type of person to indicate that something is typical of, or necessary for, that type of person.\nHe died as any self-respecting gangster should.in a hail of bullets...\n  ADJ: ADJ n


Words: self-restraint
Meaning:
self-restraint\n  If you show self-restraint, you do not do something even though you would like to do it, because you think it would be better not to.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: self-righteous
Meaning:
self-righteous\n  If you describe someone as self-righteous, you disapprove of them because they are convinced that they are right in their beliefs, attitudes, and behaviour and that other people are wrong.\nHe is critical of the monks, whom he considers narrow-minded and self-righteous.\n  ADJ  disapproval\n\n=>  self-righteousness\n...her smug self-righteousness.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: self-rising flour
Meaning:
self-rising flour\n  Self-rising flour is flour that makes cakes rise when they are cooked because it has chemicals added to it. (AM; in BRIT, use self-raising flour)\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: self-rule
Meaning:
self-rule\n  Self-rule is the same as self-government.\nThe agreement gives the territory limited self-rule.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: self-sacrifice
Meaning:
self-sacrifice\n  Self-sacrifice is the giving up of what you want so that other people can have what they need or want.\nI thanked my parents for all their self-sacrifice on my behalf.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: self-sacrificing
Meaning:
self-sacrificing\n  Someone who is self-sacrificing gives up what they want so that other people can have what they need or want.\nHe was a generous self-sacrificing man.\n  ADJ


Words: self-same
Meaning:
self-same   also selfsame\n  You use self-same when you want to emphasize that the person or thing mentioned is exactly the same as the one mentioned previously.\nYou find yourself worshipped by the self-same people who beat you up at school.\n  ADJ: ADJ n  emphasis


Words: self-satisfaction
Meaning:
self-satisfaction\n  Self-satisfaction is the feeling you have when you are self-satisfied.\nHe tried hard not to smile in smug self-satisfaction.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n  = smugness


Words: self-satisfied
Meaning:
self-satisfied\n  If you describe someone as self-satisfied, you mean that they are too pleased with themselves about their achievements or their situation and they think that nothing better is possible.\nShe handed the cigar back to Jason with a self-satisfied smile.\n  ADJ  disapproval\n  = smug


Words: self-seeking
Meaning:
self-seeking\n  If you describe someone as self-seeking, you disapprove of them because they are interested only in doing things which give them an advantage over other people.\nHe said that democracy would open the way for self-seeking politicians to abuse the situation.\n  ADJ  disapproval


Words: self-service
Meaning:
self-service\n  A self-service shop, restaurant, or garage is one where you get things for yourself rather than being served by another person.\n  ADJ


Words: self-serving
Meaning:
self-serving\n  If you describe someone as self-serving, you are critical of them because they are only interested in what they can get for themselves.\n...corrupt, self-serving politicians.\n  ADJ  disapproval


Words: self-standing
Meaning:
1. An object or structure that is self-standing is not supported by other objects or structures.\n...self-standing plastic cases.\n  ADJ\n\n2. A company or organization that is self-standing is independent of other companies or organizations. (BUSINESS)\nFive separate companies, all operating as self-standing units, are now one.\n  ADJ


Words: self-study
Meaning:
Self-study is study that you do on your own, without a teacher.\nIndividuals can enrol on self-study courses in the university’s language institute.\n  N-UNCOUNT: oft N n


Words: self-styled
Meaning:
self-styled\n  If you describe someone as a self-styled leader or expert, you disapprove of them because they claim to be a leader or expert but they do not actually have the right to call themselves this.\nTwo of those arrested are said to be self-styled area commanders...\n  ADJ: ADJ n  disapproval


Words: self-sufficient
Meaning:
self-sufficient\n1. If a country or group is self-sufficient, it is able to produce or make everything that it needs.\nThis enabled the country to become self-sufficient in sugar...\nUsing traditional methods poor farmers can be virtually self-sufficient.\n  ADJ: usu v-link ADJ\n\n2. Someone who is self-sufficient is able to live happily without anyone else.\nAlthough she had various boyfriends, Madeleine was, and remains, fiercely self-sufficient...\n  ADJ


Words: self-supporting
Meaning:
self-supporting\n  Self-supporting is used to describe organizations, schemes, and people who earn enough money to not need financial help from anyone else.\nThe income from visitors makes the museum self-supporting...\n  ADJ


Words: self-sustaining
Meaning:
self-sustaining\n  A self-sustaining process or system is able to continue by itself without anyone or anything else becoming involved.\nAsia’s emerging economies will be on a self-sustaining cycle of growth...\n  ADJ


Words: self-taught
Meaning:
self-taught\n  If you are self-taught, you have learned a skill by yourself rather than being taught it by someone else such as a teacher at school.\n...a self-taught musician.\n  ADJ


Words: self-will
Meaning:
self-will\n  Someone’s self-will is their determination to do what they want without caring what other people think.\nShe had a little core of self-will.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: self-willed
Meaning:
self-willed\n  Someone who is self-willed is determined to do the things that they want to do and will not take advice from other people.\nHe was very independent and self-willed.\n  ADJ


Words: self-worth
Meaning:
self-worth\n  Self-worth is the feeling that you have good qualities and have achieved good things.\nTry not to link your sense of self-worth to the opinions of others.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: selfish
Meaning:
self.ish\n   selfish\n  If you say that someone is selfish, you mean that he or she cares only about himself or herself, and not about other people.\nI think I’ve been very selfish. I’ve been mainly concerned with myself.\n...the selfish interests of a few people.\n  ADJ  disapproval\n\n=>  self.ish.ly\nCabinet Ministers are selfishly pursuing their own vested interests.\n  ADV: usu ADV with v\n\n=>  self.ish.ness\nThe arrogance and selfishness of different interest groups never ceases to amaze me.\n  N-UNCOUNT: usu with supp


Words: selfless
Meaning:
self.less\n   selfless\n  If you say that someone is selfless, you approve of them because they care about other people more than themselves.\nPerhaps the only all-enduring and selfless love was that of a mother for her child.\n  ADJ  approval\n\n=>  self.less.ly\nI’ve never known anyone who cared so selflessly about children.\n  ADV\n\n=>  self.less.ness\nI have enormous regard for his selflessness on behalf of his fellow man.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: sell
Meaning:
sell  sells  selling  sold\n1. If you sell something that you own, you let someone have it in return for money.\nI sold everything I owned except for my car and my books...\nHis heir sold the painting to the London art dealer Agnews...\nThe directors sold the business for .14.8 million...\nIt’s not a very good time to sell at the moment.\n  VERB: V n, V n to n, V n for n, V\n\n2. If a shop sells a particular thing, it is available for people to buy there.\nIt sells everything from hair ribbons to oriental rugs...\nBean sprouts are also sold in cans.\n  VERB: V n, V n\n\n3. If something sells for a particular price, that price is paid for it.\nUnmodernised property can sell for up to 40 per cent of its modernised market value.\n  VERB: V for/at n\n\n4. If something sells, it is bought by the public, usually in fairly large quantities.\nEven if this album doesn’t sell and the critics don’t like it, we wouldn’t ever change...\nThe company believes the products will sell well in the run-up to Christmas.\n  VERB: V, V adv\n\n5. Something that sells a product makes people want to buy the product.\nIt is only the sensational that sells news magazines.\n...car manufacturers’ long-held maxim that safety doesn’t sell.\n  VERB: V n, V\n\n6. If you sell someone an idea or proposal, or sell someone on an idea, you convince them that it is a good one.\nShe tried to sell me the idea of buying my own paper shredder...\nShe is hoping she can sell the idea to clients...\nAn employee sold him on the notion that cable was the medium of the future...\nYou know, I wasn’t sold on this trip in the beginning.\n  VERB: V n n, V n to n, V n on n, V-ed\n\n7. If someone sells their body, they have sex for money.\n85 per cent said they would rather not sell their bodies for a living.\n  PHRASE: V and N inflect\n\n8. If someone sells you down the river, they betray you for some personal profit or advantage.\nHe has been sold down the river by the people who were supposed to protect him.\n  PHRASE: V inflects\n\n9. If you sell someone short, you do not point out their good qualities as much as you should or do as much for them as you should.\nThey need to improve their image.they are selling themselves short...\n  PHRASE: V inflects\n\n10. If you talk about someone selling their soul in order to get something, you are criticizing them for abandoning their principles.\n...a man who would sell his soul for political viability.\n  PHRASE: V and N inflect  disapproval


Words: sell off
Meaning:
sell off\n  If you sell something off, you sell it because you need the money.\nThe company is selling off some sites and concentrating on cutting debts...\nWe had to sell things off to pay the brewery bill.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), V n P\n\n  see also sell-off


Words: sell on
Meaning:
sell on\n  If you buy something and then sell it on, you sell it to someone else soon after buying it, usually in order to make a profit.\nMr Farrier bought cars at auctions and sold them on...\nThe arms had been sold to a businessman; he sold them on to paramilitary groups.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V n P, V n P to n


Words: sell out
Meaning:
sell out\n1. If a shop sells out of something, it sells all its stocks of it, so that there is no longer any left for people to buy.\nHardware stores have sold out of water pumps and tarpaulins...\nThe next day the bookshops sold out.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P of n, V P\n\n2. If a performance, sports event, or other entertainment sells out, all the tickets for it are sold.\nFootball games often sell out well in advance.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P\n\n3. When things sell out, all of them that are available are sold.\nTickets for the show sold out in 70 minutes.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P\n\n4. If you accuse someone of selling out, you disapprove of the fact that they do something which used to be against their principles, or give in to an opposing group.\nThe young in particular see him as a man who will not sell out or be debased by the compromises of politics...\nMany of his Greenwich Village associates thought Dylan had sold out to commercialism.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P, V P to n  disapproval\n\n5. Sell out means the same as sell up. (AM)\nI hear she’s going to sell out and move to the city.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P\n\n6.\n  see also sell-out, sold out


Words: sell up
Meaning:
sell up\n  If you sell up, you sell everything you have, such as your house or your business, because you need the money. (BRIT; in AM, use sell out)\n...all these farmers going out of business and having to sell up...\nHe advised Evans to sell up his flat and move away to the country.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P, V P n (not pron)


Words: sell-by date
Meaning:
sell-by date  sell-by dates\n1. The sell-by date on a food container is the date by which the food should be sold or eaten before it starts to decay. (BRIT; in AM, use expiration date)\n...a piece of cheese four weeks past its sell-by date.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. If you say that someone or something is past their sell-by date, you mean they are no longer effective, interesting, or useful. (BRIT)\nAs a sportsman, he is long past his sell-by date.\n  PHRASE: N inflects, v-link PHR  disapproval


Words: sell-off
Meaning:
sell-off  sell-offs   also selloff\n  The sell-off of something, for example an industry owned by the state or a company’s shares, is the selling of it. (BUSINESS)\nThe privatisation of the electricity industry.the biggest sell-off of them all...\n  N-COUNT: usu with supp


Words: sell-out
Meaning:
sell-out  sell-outs   also sellout\n1. If a play, sports event, or other entertainment is a sell-out, all the tickets for it are sold.\nTheir concert there was a sell-out.\n  N-COUNT: usu sing, oft N n\n\n2. If you describe someone’s behaviour as a sell-out, you disapprove of the fact that they have done something which used to be against their principles, or given in to an opposing group.\nFor some, his decision to become a Socialist candidate at Sunday’s election was simply a sell-out.\n  N-COUNT: usu sing, oft N to n  disapproval


Words: seller
Meaning:
sell.er\n   seller  sellers\n1. A seller of a type of thing is a person or company that sells that type of thing.\n...a flower seller.\n...Kraft, the largest seller of cheese in the United States.\n  N-COUNT: n N, N of n\n\n2. In a business deal, the seller is the person who is selling something to someone else.\nIn theory, the buyer could ask the seller to have a test carried out...\n  N-COUNT: usu the N\n  = vendor  !=buyer, purchaser\n3. If you describe a product as, for example, a big seller, you mean that large numbers of it are being sold.\nThe gift shop’s biggest seller is a photo of Nixon meeting Presley.\n  N-COUNT: adj N\n\n  see also best seller


Words: seller’s market
Meaning:
sel.ler’s mar.ket\n\n  When there is a seller’s market for a particular product, there are fewer of the products for sale than people who want to buy them, so buyers have little choice and prices go up. (BUSINESS)\n  N-SING


Words: selling point
Meaning:
sell.ing point\n   selling point  selling points\n  A selling point is a desirable quality or feature that something has which makes it likely that people will want to buy it. (BUSINESS)\n  N-COUNT


Words: selling price
Meaning:
sell.ing price\n   selling price  selling prices\n  The selling price of something is the price for which it is sold. (BUSINESS)\n  N-COUNT: usu sing


Words: Sellotape
Meaning:
Sel.lo.tape\n   Sellotape  Sellotapes  Sellotaping  Sellotaped\n1. Sellotape is a clear sticky tape that you use to stick paper or card together or onto a wall. (TRADEMARK) (BRIT; in AM, use Scotch tape)\n  N-UNCOUNT\n\n2. If you Sellotape one thing to another, you stick them together using Sellotape. (TRADEMARK) (BRIT; in AM, use tape)\nI sellotaped the note to his door.\n  VERB: V n adv/prep


Words: semantic
Meaning:
se.man.tic\n   semantic\n  Semantic is used to describe things that deal with the meanings of words and sentences.\nHe did not want to enter into a semantic debate.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n


Words: semantics
Meaning:
se.man.tics\n   semantics\n  Semantics is the branch of linguistics that deals with the meanings of words and sentences.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n  The form semantic is used as a modifier.


Words: semaphore
Meaning:
sema.phore\n   semaphore\n  Semaphore is a system of sending messages by using two flags. You hold a flag in each hand and move your arms to various positions representing different letters of the alphabet.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: semblance
Meaning:
sem.blance\n   semblance\n  If there is a semblance of a particular condition or quality, it appears to exist, even though this may be a false impression. (FORMAL)\nAt least a semblance of normality has been restored to parts of the country...\n  N-UNCOUNT: N of n


Words: semen
Meaning:
se.men\n   semen\n  Semen is the liquid containing sperm that is produced by the sex organs of men and male animals.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: semester
Meaning:
se.mes.ter\n   semester  semesters\n  In colleges and universities in some countries, a semester is one of the two main periods into which the year is divided.\n  N-COUNT


Words: semi
Meaning:
semi  semis\n1. A semi is a semi-detached house. (BRIT INFORMAL)\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. In a sporting competition, the semis are the semi-finals. (BRIT INFORMAL)\nHe reached the semis after beating Lendl in the quarterfinal.\n  N-COUNT: usu pl, usu the N


Words: semi-
Meaning:
semi-\n  Semi- combines with adjectives and nouns to form other adjectives and nouns that describe someone or something as being partly, but not completely, in a particular state.\nHe found Isabel’s room in semi-darkness.\n...semi-skilled workers.\n  PREFIX


Words: semi-annual
Meaning:
semi-annual\n  A semi-annual event happens twice a year. (AM; in BRIT, usually use biannual)\n...the semi-annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n


Words: semi-circle
Meaning:
semi-circle  semi-circles   also semicircle\n  A semi-circle is one half of a circle, or something having the shape of half a circle.\nThey stood in a semi-circle round the teacher’s chair and answered questions.\n  N-COUNT


Words: semi-circular
Meaning:
semi-circular   also semicircular\n  Something that is semi-circular has the shape of half a circle.\n...a semi-circular amphitheatre.\n  ADJ


Words: semi-colon
Meaning:
semi-colon  semi-colons\nin AM, usually use semicolon\n  A semi-colon is the punctuation mark ; which is used in writing to separate different parts of a sentence or list or to indicate a pause.\n  N-COUNT


Words: semi-detached
Meaning:
semi-detached\n  A semi-detached house is a house that is joined to another house on one side by a shared wall. (mainly BRIT)\n...a semi-detached house in Highgate.\n  ADJ\n\n  Semi-detached is also a noun.\nIt was an ordinary, post-war semi-detached.\n  N-SING


Words: semi-final
Meaning:
semi-final  semi-finals\nin AM, usually use semifinal\n  A semi-final is one of the two matches or races in a competition that are held to decide who will compete in the final.\nSteve Lewis won the first semi-final.\n  N-COUNT\n\n  The semi-finals is the round of a competition in which these two matches or races are held.\nHe was beaten in the semi-finals by Chris Dittmar.\n  N-PLURAL: usu the N


Words: semi-finalist
Meaning:
semi-finalist  semi-finalists\nin AM, usually use semifinalist\n  A semi-finalist is a player, athlete, or team that is competing in a semi-final.\n  N-COUNT


Words: semi-precious
Meaning:
semi-precious\nin AM, also use semiprecious\n  Semi-precious stones are stones such as turquoises and amethysts that are used in jewellery but are less valuable than precious stones such as diamonds and rubies.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n


Words: semi-professional
Meaning:
semi-professional\nin AM, also use semiprofessional\n  Semi-professional sports players, musicians, and singers receive some money for playing their sport or for performing but they also have an ordinary job as well.\n...a semi-professional country musician...\n  ADJ


Words: semi-skilled
Meaning:
semi-skilled   also semiskilled\n  A semi-skilled worker has some training and skills, but not enough to do specialized work. (BUSINESS)\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n


Words: semi-skimmed milk
Meaning:
semi-skimmed milk\n  Semi-skimmed milk or semi-skimmed is milk from which some of the cream has been removed. (BRIT; in AM, use one percent milk, two percent milk)\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: semi-trailer
Meaning:
semi-trailer  semi-trailers   also semitrailer\n  A semi-trailer is the long rear section of a truck or lorry that can bend when it turns. (AM; in BRIT, use trailer)\n  N-COUNT


Words: semi-tropical
Meaning:
semi-tropical   also semitropical\n1. Semi-tropical places have warm, wet air.\n...a semi-tropical island.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n\n\n2. Semi-tropical plants and trees grow in places where the air is warm and wet.\nThe inn has a garden of semi-tropical vegetation.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n


Words: semibreve
Meaning:
semi.breve\n   semibreve  semibreves\n  A semibreve is a musical note that has a time value equal to two half notes. (BRIT; in AM, use whole note)\n  N-COUNT


Words: semiconductor
Meaning:
semi.con.duc.tor\n   semiconductor  semiconductors   also semi-conductor\n  A semiconductor is a substance used in electronics whose ability to conduct electricity increases with greater heat.\n  N-COUNT


Words: seminal
Meaning:
semi.nal\n   seminal\n  Seminal is used to describe things such as books, works, events, and experiences that have a great influence in a particular field. (FORMAL)\n...author of the seminal book `Animal Liberation’...\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n


Words: seminar
Meaning:
semi.nar\n   seminar  seminars\n1. A seminar is a meeting where a group of people discuss a problem or topic.\n...a series of half-day seminars to help businessmen get the best value from investing in information technology.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. A seminar is a class at a college or university in which the teacher and a small group of students discuss a topic.\nStudents are asked to prepare material in advance of each weekly seminar.\n  N-COUNT


Words: seminary
Meaning:
semi.nary\n   seminary  seminaries\n  A seminary is a college where priests, ministers, or rabbis are trained.\n  N-COUNT


Words: semiotics
Meaning:
se.mi.ot.ics\n   semiotics\n  Semiotics is the academic study of the relationship of language and other signs to their meanings.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: Semitic
Meaning:
Se.mit.ic\n   Semitic\n1. Semitic languages are a group of languages that include Arabic and Hebrew.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n\n\n2. Semitic people belong to one of the groups of people who speak a Semitic language.\n...the Semitic races.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n\n\n3. Semitic is sometimes used to mean Jewish.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n\n\n  see also anti-Semitic


Words: semitone
Meaning:
semi.tone\n   semitone  semitones\n  In Western music, a semitone is the smallest interval between two musical notes. Two semitones are equal to one tone.\n  N-COUNT


Words: semolina
Meaning:
semo.li.na\n   semolina\n  Semolina consists of small hard grains of wheat that are used for making sweet puddings with milk and for making pasta.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: Senate
Meaning:
Sen.ate\n   Senate  Senates\n1. The Senate is the smaller and more important of the two parts of the parliament in some countries, for example the United States and Australia.\nThe Senate is expected to pass the bill shortly.\n...a Senate committee.\n  N-PROPER-COLL: usu the N\n\n2. Senate or the Senate is the governing council at some universities.\nThe new bill would remove student representation from the university Senate.\n  N-PROPER-COLL


Words: senator
Meaning:
sena.tor\n   senator  senators\n  A senator is a member of a political Senate, for example in the United States or Australia.\n  N-COUNT; N-TITLE


Words: senatorial
Meaning:
sena.to.rial\n   senatorial\n  Senatorial means belonging to or relating to a Senate. (FORMAL)\nHe has senatorial experience in defence and foreign policy.\n  ADJ: ADJ n


Words: send
Meaning:
send  sends  sending  sent\n1. When you send someone something, you arrange for it to be taken and delivered to them, for example by post.\nMyra Cunningham sent me a note thanking me for dinner...\nI sent a copy to the minister for transport...\nHe sent a basket of exotic fruit and a card...\nSir Denis took one look and sent it back...\nMore than half a million sheep are sent from Britain to Europe for slaughter every year.\n  VERB: V n n, V n to n, V n, V n with adv, be V-ed from n\n\n2. If you send someone somewhere, you tell them to go there.\nInspector Banbury came up to see her, but she sent him away...\n...the government’s decision to send troops to the region...\nI suggested that he rest, and sent him for an X-ray...\nReinforcements were being sent from the neighbouring region..\n  VERB: V n with adv, V n to n, V n for n, be V-ed from n\n\n3. If you send someone to an institution such as a school or a prison, you arrange for them to stay there for a period of time.\nIt’s his parents’ choice to send him to a boarding school, rather than a convenient day school...\n  VERB: V n to n\n\n4. To send a signal means to cause it to go to a place by means of radio waves or electricity.\nThe transmitters will send a signal automatically to a local base station...\n...in 1989, after a 12-year journey to Neptune, the space probe Voyager sent back pictures of Triton, its moon.\n  VERB: V n to n, V n with adv\n\n5. If something sends things or people in a particular direction, it causes them to move in that direction.\nThe explosion sent shrapnel flying through the sides of cars on the crowded highway...\nThe slight back and forth motion sent a pounding surge of pain into his skull.\n  VERB: V n -ing, V n prep\n\n6. To send someone or something into a particular state means to cause them to go into or be in that state.\nMy attempt to fix it sent Lawrence into fits of laughter.\n...before civil war and famine sent the country plunging into anarchy...\nAn obsessive search for our inner selves, far from saving the world, could send us all mad.\n  VERB: V n into n, V n -ing, V n adj\n\n7.\nto send someone to Coventry: see Coventry\nto send someone packing: see pack


Words: send down
Meaning:
send down\n1. If a student is sent down from their university or college, they are made to leave because they have behaved very badly. (BRIT; in AM, use be expelled)\nShe wondered if he had been sent down for gambling.\n  PHRASAL VERB: usu passive, be V-ed P\n\n2. If someone who is on trial is sent down, they are found guilty and sent to prison. (BRIT; in AM, use send up)\nThe two rapists were sent down for life in 1983.\n  PHRASAL VERB: usu passive, be V-ed P


Words: send for
Meaning:
send for\n1. If you send for someone, you send them a message asking them to come and see you.\nI’ve sent for the doctor.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n\n\n2. If you send for something, you write and ask for it to be sent to you.\nSend for your free catalogue today.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n


Words: send in
Meaning:
send in\n1. If you send in something such as a competition entry or a letter applying for a job, you post it to the organization concerned.\nApplicants are asked to send in a CV and a covering letter...\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), also V n P\n\n2. When a government sends in troops or police officers, it orders them to deal with a crisis or problem somewhere.\nHe has asked the government to send in troops to end the fighting.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), also V n P


Words: send off
Meaning:
send off\n1. When you send off a letter or package, you send it somewhere by post.\nHe sent off copies to various people for them to read and make comments.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), also V n P\n\n2. If a football player is sent off, the referee makes them leave the field during a game, as a punishment for seriously breaking the rules.\nThe 30-year-old Scottish international was sent off for arguing with a linesman.\n  PHRASAL VERB: usu passive, be V-ed P\n\n  see also sending-off


Words: send on
Meaning:
send on\n  If you send on something you have received, especially a document, you send it to another place or person.\nWe coordinate the reports from the overseas divisions, and send them on to headquarters in Athens.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V n P, also V P n (not pron)


Words: send out
Meaning:
send out\n1. If you send out things such as letters or bills, you send them to a large number of people at the same time.\nShe had sent out well over four hundred invitations that afternoon.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), also V n P\n\n2. To send out a signal, sound, light, or heat means to produce it.\nThe crew did not send out any distress signals...\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), also V n P\n\n3. When a plant sends out roots or shoots, they grow.\nIf you cut your rubber plant back, it should send out new side shoots.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), also V n P\n  = produce


Words: send out for
Meaning:
send out for\n  If you send out for food, for example pizzas or sandwiches, you phone and ask for it to be delivered to you.\nLet’s send out for a pizza and watch The Late Show.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P P n


Words: send up
Meaning:
send up\n1. If you send someone or something up, you imitate them in an amusing way that makes them appear foolish. (BRIT INFORMAL)\nYou sense he’s sending himself up as well as everything else.\n...a spoof that sends up the macho world of fighter pilots.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V n P, V P n (not pron)\n  = make fun of\n  see also send-up\n2. If someone who is on trial is sent up, they are found guilty and sent to prison. (AM; in BRIT, use send down)\nIf I’m going to be sent up for killing one guy, then I might as well kill three more.\n  PHRASAL VERB: usu passive, be V-ed P


Words: send-off
Meaning:
send-off  send-offs\n  If a group of people give someone who is going away a send-off, they come together to say goodbye to them. (INFORMAL)\nAll the people in the buildings came to give me a rousing send-off.\n  N-COUNT: usu adj N


Words: send-up
Meaning:
send-up  send-ups\n  A send-up is a piece of writing or acting in which someone or something is imitated in an amusing way that makes them appear foolish. (BRIT INFORMAL)\n...his classic send-up of sixties rock, `Get Crazy’.\n  N-COUNT: usu sing, oft N of n\n  = parody


Words: sender
Meaning:
send.er\n   sender  senders\n  The sender of a letter, package, or radio message is the person who sent it.\nThe sender of the best letter every week will win a cheque for .20.\n  N-COUNT: the N, oft N of n


Words: sending-off
Meaning:
sending-off  sendings-off\n  If there is a sending-off during a game of football, a player is told to leave the field by the referee, as a punishment for seriously breaking the rules.\nHe is about to begin a three-match ban after his third sending-off of the season.\n  N-COUNT: oft poss N


Words: Senegalese
Meaning:
Sen.ega.lese\n   Senegalese  Senegalese\n1. Senegalese means belonging or relating to Senegal, or to its people or culture.\n...the Senegalese navy.\n  ADJ\n\n2. A Senegalese is a Senegalese citizen, or a person of Senegalese origin.\n  N-COUNT


Words: senile
Meaning:
se.nile\n   senile\n  If old people become senile, they become confused, can no longer remember things, and are unable to look after themselves.\n  ADJ\n\n=>  se.nil.ity\nThe old man was showing unmistakable signs of senility.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: senile dementia
Meaning:
se.nile de.men.tia\n   senile dementia\n  Senile dementia is a mental illness that affects some old people and that causes them to become confused and to forget things.\nShe is suffering from senile dementia.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: senior
Meaning:
sen.ior\n   senior  seniors\n1. The senior people in an organization or profession have the highest and most important jobs.\n...senior officials in the Israeli government.\n...the company’s senior management...\nTelevision and radio needed many more women in senior jobs.\n  ADJ: ADJ n\n  !=junior\n2. If someone is senior to you in an organization or profession, they have a higher and more important job than you or they are considered to be superior to you because they have worked there for longer and have more experience.\nThe position had to be filled by an officer senior to Haig...\n  ADJ: usu v-link ADJ to n\n  !=junior\n  Your seniors are the people who are senior to you.\nHe was described by his seniors as a model officer.\n  N-PLURAL: poss N\n  !=junior\n3. Senior is used when indicating how much older one person is than another. For example, if someone is ten years your senior, they are ten years older than you.\nShe became involved with a married man many years her senior.\n  N-SING: poss N\n  !=junior\n4. Seniors are students in a high school, university, or college who are the oldest and who have reached an advanced level in their studies. (AM)\n  N-COUNT\n\n5. If you take part in a sport at senior level, you take part in competitions with adults and people who have reached a high degree of achievement in that sport.\nThis will be his fifth international championship and his third at senior level.\n  ADJ: ADJ n


Words: senior citizen
Meaning:
sen.ior citi.zen\n   senior citizen  senior citizens\n  A senior citizen is an older person who has retired or receives an old age pension.\n  N-COUNT\n  = pensioner


Words: seniority
Meaning:
sen.ior.ity\n   seniority\n  A person’s seniority in an organization is the importance and power that they have compared with others, or the fact that they have worked there for a long time.\nHe has said he will fire editorial employees without regard to seniority.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: sensation
Meaning:
sen.sa.tion\n   sensation  sensations\n1. A sensation is a physical feeling.\nFloating can be a very pleasant sensation...\nA sensation of burning or tingling may be experienced in the hands.\n  N-COUNT: with supp\n  = feeling\n2. Sensation is your ability to feel things physically, especially through your sense of touch.\nThe pain was so bad that she lost all sensation.\n  N-UNCOUNT: supp N\n  = feeling\n3. You can use sensation to refer to the general feeling or impression caused by a particular experience.\nIt’s a funny sensation to know someone’s talking about you in a language you don’t understand.\n  N-COUNT: usu adj N\n  = feeling\n4. If a person, event, or situation is a sensation, it causes great excitement or interest.\n...the film that turned her into an overnight sensation.\n  N-COUNT\n\n5. If a person, event, or situation causes a sensation, they cause great interest or excitement.\nShe was just 14 when she caused a sensation at the Montreal Olympics.\n  N-SING: a N


Words: sensational
Meaning:
sen.sa.tion.al\n   sensational\n1. A sensational result, event, or situation is so remarkable that it causes great excitement and interest.\nThe world champions suffered a sensational defeat.\n  ADJ\n  = dramatic\n=>  sen.sa.tion.al.ly\nThe rape trial was sensationally halted yesterday.\n  ADV: usu ADV with v\n\n2. You can describe stories or reports as sensational if you disapprove of them because they present facts in a way that is intended to cause feelings of shock, anger, or excitement.\n...sensational tabloid newspaper reports.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n  disapproval\n\n3. You can describe something as sensational when you think that it is extremely good.\nHer voice is sensational...\nExperts agreed that this was a truly sensational performance.\n  ADJ\n  = amazing\n=>  sen.sa.tion.al.ly\n...sensationally good food.\n  ADV


Words: sensationalism
Meaning:
sen.sa.tion.al.ism\n   sensationalism\n  Sensationalism is the presenting of facts or stories in a way that is intended to produce strong feelings of shock, anger, or excitement.\nThe report criticises the newspaper for sensationalism.\n  N-UNCOUNT  disapproval


Words: sensationalist
Meaning:
sen.sa.tion.al.ist\n   sensationalist\n  Sensationalist news reports and television and radio programmes present the facts in a way that makes them seem worse or more shocking than they really are.\n...sensationalist headlines...\n  ADJ  disapproval


Words: sensationalize
Meaning:
sen.sa.tion.al.ize\n   sensationalize  sensationalizes  sensationalizing  sensationalized\nin BRIT, also use sensationalise\n  If someone sensationalizes a situation or event, they make it seem worse or more shocking than it really is.\nLocal news organizations are being criticized for sensationalizing the story.\n  VERB: V n  disapproval


Words: sense
Meaning:
sense  senses  sensing  sensed\n1. Your senses are the physical abilities of sight, smell, hearing, touch, and taste.\nShe stared at him again, unable to believe the evidence of her senses.\n...a keen sense of smell.\n  N-COUNT\n\n  see also sixth sense\n2. If you sense something, you become aware of it or you realize it, although it is not very obvious.\nShe probably sensed that I wasn’t telling her the whole story...\nHe looks about him, sensing danger...\nProst had sensed what might happen.\n  VERB: V that, V n, V wh\n\n3. If you have a sense that something is the case, you think that it is the case, although you may not have firm, clear evidence for this belief.\nSuddenly you got this sense that people were drawing themselves away from each other...\nThere is no sense of urgency on either side.\n  N-SING: N that, N of n\n\n  see also sense of occasion\n4. If you have a sense of guilt or relief, for example, you feel guilty or relieved.\nWhen your child is struggling for life, you feel this overwhelming sense of guilt...\n  N-SING: N of n\n  = feeling\n5. If you have a sense of something such as duty or justice, you are aware of it and believe it is important.\nWe must keep a sense of proportion about all this...\nShe needs to regain a sense of her own worth.\n  N-SING: N of n\n\n6. Someone who has a sense of timing or style has a natural ability with regard to timing or style. You can also say that someone has a bad sense of timing or style.\nHe has an impeccable sense of timing...\nHer dress sense is appalling.\n  N-SING: N of n, also n N\n\n  see also sense of humour\n7. Sense is the ability to make good judgments and to behave sensibly.\n...when he was younger and had a bit more sense...\nWhen that doesn’t work they sometimes have the sense to seek help...\n  N-UNCOUNT\n\n  see also common sense\n8. If you say that there is no sense or little sense in doing something, you mean that it is not a sensible thing to do because nothing useful would be gained by doing it.\nThere’s no sense in pretending this doesn’t happen...\n  N-SING: with neg, N in -ing, N -ing\n  = point\n9. A sense of a word or expression is one of its possible meanings.\n...a noun which has two senses...\nThen she remembered that they had no mind in any real sense of that word.\n  N-COUNT\n  = meaning\n10. Sense is used in several expressions to indicate how true your statement is. For example, if you say that something is true in a sense, you mean that it is partly true, or true in one way. If you say that something is true in a general sense, you mean that it is true in a general way.\nIn a sense, both were right...\nIn one sense, the fact that few new commercial buildings can be financed does not matter...\nHe’s not the leader in a political sense...\nThough his background was modest, it was in no sense deprived.\n  PHRASE: PHR with cl\n\n11. If something makes sense, you can understand it.\nHe was sitting there saying, `Yes, the figures make sense.’\n  PHRASE: V inflects\n\n12. When you make sense of something, you succeed in understanding it.\nThis is to help her to come to terms with her early upbringing and make sense of past experiences.\n  PHRASE: V inflects\n\n13. If a course of action makes sense, it seems sensible.\nIt makes sense to look after yourself...\nThe project should be re-appraised to see whether it made sound economic sense...\n  PHRASE: V inflects, oft it PHR to-inf\n\n14. If you say that someone has come to their senses or has been brought to their senses, you mean that they have stopped being foolish and are being sensible again.\nEventually the world will come to its senses and get rid of them...\n  PHRASE: V inflects\n\n15. If you say that someone seems to have taken leave of their senses, you mean that they have done or said something very foolish. (OLD-FASHIONED)\nThey looked at me as if I had taken leave of my senses.\n  PHRASE: V inflects\n\n16. If you say that someone talks sense, you mean that what they say is sensible.\n  PHRASE: V inflects\n\n(next)


Words: sense .1
Meaning:
17. If you have a sense that something is true or get a sense that something is true, you think that it is true. (mainly SPOKEN)\nDo you have the sense that you are loved by the public?\n  PHRASE: V inflects\n\n18.\nto see sense: see see


Words: sense of direction
Meaning:
sense of di.rec.tion\n   sense of direction\n1. Your sense of direction is your ability to know roughly where you are, or which way to go, even when you are in an unfamiliar place.\nHe had a poor sense of direction and soon got lost.\n  N-SING\n\n2. If you say that someone has a sense of direction, you mean that they seem to have clear ideas about what they want to do or achieve.\nThe country now had a sense of direction again.\n  N-SING  approval


Words: sense of humour
Meaning:
sense of hu.mour\n   sense of humour\nin AM, use sense of humor\n  Someone who has a sense of humour often finds things amusing, rather than being serious all the time.\nHe had enormous charm and a great sense of humour.\n  N-SING


Words: sense of occasion
Meaning:
sense of oc.ca.sion\n   sense of occasion\n  If there is a sense of occasion when a planned event takes place, people feel that something special and important is happening.\nThere is a great sense of occasion and a terrific standard of musicianship.\n  N-SING


Words: sense organ
Meaning:
sense or.gan\n   sense organ  sense organs\n  Your sense organs are the parts of your body, for example your eyes and your ears, which enable you to be aware of things around you. (FORMAL)\n  N-COUNT: usu pl


Words: senseless
Meaning:
sense.less\n   senseless\n1. If you describe an action as senseless, you think it is wrong because it has no purpose and produces no benefit.\n...people whose lives have been destroyed by acts of senseless violence...\n  ADJ\n  = pointless\n2. If someone is senseless, they are unconscious.\nThey were knocked to the ground, beaten senseless and robbed of their wallets...\n  ADJ: ADJ after v, v-link ADJ


Words: sensibility
Meaning:
sen.sibil.ity\n   sensibility  sensibilities\n1. Sensibility is the ability to experience deep feelings.\nEverything he writes demonstrates the depth of his sensibility.\n  N-UNCOUNT: usu supp N\n\n2. Someone’s sensibility is their tendency to be influenced or offended by things.\nThe challenge offended their sensibilities.\n  N-VAR: usu poss N


Words: sensible
Meaning:
sen.sible\n   sensible\n1. Sensible actions or decisions are good because they are based on reasons rather than emotions.\nIt might be sensible to get a solicitor...\nThe sensible thing is to leave them alone.\n...sensible advice.\n  ADJ: oft it v-link ADJ to-inf\n\n=>  sen.sibly\nHe sensibly decided to lie low for a while...\n  ADV\n\n2. Sensible people behave in a sensible way.\nShe was a sensible girl and did not panic...\nOh come on, let’s be sensible about this...\n  ADJ: oft ADJ about n/-ing\n\n3. Sensible shoes or clothes are practical and strong rather than fashionable and attractive.\nWear loose clothing and sensible footwear.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n\n\n=>  sen.sibly\nThey were not sensibly dressed.\n  ADV: ADV after v, ADV -ed


Words: sensitive
Meaning:
sen.si.tive\n   sensitive\n1. If you are sensitive to other people’s needs, problems, or feelings, you show understanding and awareness of them.\nThe classroom teacher must be sensitive to a child’s needs...\nHe was always so sensitive and caring.\n  ADJ: oft ADJ to n  approval\n\n=>  sen.si.tive.ly\nThe abuse of women needs to be treated seriously and sensitively.\n  ADV: usu ADV with v\n\n=>  sen.si.tiv.ity\nA good relationship involves concern and sensitivity for each other’s feelings.\n  N-UNCOUNT: oft N for n\n\n2. If you are sensitive about something, you are easily worried and offended when people talk about it.\nYoung people are very sensitive about their appearance...\nTake it easy. Don’t be so sensitive.\n  ADJ: oft ADJ about n\n\n=>  sen.si.tiv.ity      sensitivities\n...people who suffer extreme sensitivity about what others think...\n  N-VAR: oft N about n\n\n3. A sensitive subject or issue needs to be dealt with carefully because it is likely to cause disagreement or make people angry or upset.\nEmployment is a very sensitive issue.\n...politically sensitive matters.\n  ADJ\n\n=>  sen.si.tiv.ity\nDue to the obvious sensitivity of the issue he would not divulge any details.\n  N-UNCOUNT: oft N of n\n\n4. Sensitive documents or reports contain information that needs to be kept secret and dealt with carefully.\nHe instructed staff to shred sensitive documents.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n\n\n5. Something that is sensitive to a physical force, substance, or treatment is easily affected by it and often harmed by it.\n...a chemical which is sensitive to light.\n...gentle cosmetics for sensitive skin.\n  ADJ: oft ADJ to n\n\n=>  sen.si.tiv.ity\n...the sensitivity of cells to damage by chemotherapy.\n  N-UNCOUNT: oft N of n\n\n6. A sensitive piece of scientific equipment is capable of measuring or recording very small changes.\n...an extremely sensitive microscope.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n\n\n=>  sen.si.tiv.ity\n...the sensitivity of the detector.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: sensitize
Meaning:
sen.si.tize\n   sensitize  sensitizes  sensitizing  sensitized\nin BRIT, also use sensitise\n1. If you sensitize people to a particular problem or situation, you make them aware of it. (FORMAL)\nIt seems important to sensitize people to the fact that depression is more than the blues...\nHow many judges in our male-dominated courts are sensitized to women’s issues?\n  VERB: V n to n, V-ed, also V n\n\n2. If a substance is sensitized to something such as light or touch, it is made sensitive to it.\nSkin is easily irritated, chapped, chafed, and sensitized.\n...sensitised nerve endings.\n  VERB: usu passive, be V-ed, V-ed


Words: sensor
Meaning:
sen.sor\n   sensor  sensors\n  A sensor is an instrument which reacts to certain physical conditions or impressions such as heat or light, and which is used to provide information.\nThe latest Japanese vacuum cleaners contain sensors that detect the amount of dust and type of floor.\n  N-COUNT


Words: sensory
Meaning:
sen.so.ry\n   sensory\n  Sensory means relating to the physical senses. (FORMAL)\n...sensory information passing through the spinal cord.\n  ADJ: ADJ n


Words: sensual
Meaning:
sen.sual\n   sensual\n1. Someone or something that is sensual shows or suggests a great liking for physical pleasures, especially sexual pleasures.\nHe was a very sensual person...\n...a wide, sensual mouth.\n  ADJ\n\n=>  sen.su.al.ity\nThe wave and curl of her blonde hair gave her sensuality and youth.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n\n2. Something that is sensual gives pleasure to your physical senses rather than to your mind.\n...sensual dance rhythms.\n  ADJ\n\n=>  sen.su.al.ity\nThese perfumes have warmth and sensuality.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: sensuous
Meaning:
sen.su.ous\n   sensuous\n1. Something that is sensuous gives pleasure to the mind or body through the senses.\nThe film is ravishing to look at and boasts a sensuous musical score...\n  ADJ\n\n=>  sen.su.ous.ly\nShe lay in the deep bath for a long time, enjoying its sensuously perfumed water.\n  ADV: ADV adj, ADV with v\n\n2. Someone or something that is sensuous shows or suggests a great liking for sexual pleasure.\n...his sensuous young mistress, Marie-Therese.\n  ADJ\n  = sensual\n=>  sen.su.ous.ly\nThe nose was straight, the mouth sensuously wide and full.\n  ADV: ADV adj, ADV with v


Words: sentence
Meaning:
sen.tence\n   sentence  sentences  sentencing  sentenced\n1. A sentence is a group of words which, when they are written down, begin with a capital letter and end with a full stop, question mark, or exclamation mark. Most sentences contain a subject and a verb.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. In a law court, a sentence is the punishment that a person receives after they have been found guilty of a crime.\nThey are already serving prison sentences for their part in the assassination...\nHe was given a four-year sentence...\nThe offences carry a maximum sentence of 10 years.\n...demands for tougher sentences...\nThe court is expected to pass sentence later today.\n  N-VAR\n\n  see also death sentence, life sentence, suspended sentence\n3. When a judge sentences someone, he or she states in court what their punishment will be.\nA military court sentenced him to death in his absence...\nHe has admitted the charge and will be sentenced later.\n  VERB: V n to n, be V-ed


Words: sentence adverb
Meaning:
sen.tence ad.verb\n   sentence adverb  sentence adverbs\n  Adverbs such as `fortunately’ and `perhaps’ which apply to the whole clause, rather than to part of it, are sometimes called sentence adverbs.\n  N-COUNT


Words: sentient
Meaning:
sen.ti.ent\n   sentient\n  A sentient being is capable of experiencing things through its senses. (FORMAL)\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n


Words: sentiment
Meaning:
sen.ti.ment\n   sentiment  sentiments\n1. A sentiment that people have is an attitude which is based on their thoughts and feelings.\nPublic sentiment rapidly turned anti-American...\n...nationalist sentiments that threaten to split the country.\n  N-VAR: supp N\n  = feeling\n2. A sentiment is an idea or feeling that someone expresses in words.\nI must agree with the sentiments expressed by John Prescott...\nThe Foreign Secretary echoed this sentiment.\n  N-COUNT: usu with supp\n\n3. Sentiment is feelings such as pity or love, especially for things in the past, and may be considered exaggerated and foolish.\nLaura kept that letter out of sentiment...\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: sentimental
Meaning:
sen.ti.ment.al\n   sentimental\n1. Someone or something that is sentimental feels or shows pity or love, sometimes to an extent that is considered exaggerated and foolish.\nI’m trying not to be sentimental about the past...\n  ADJ\n\n=>  sen.ti.men.tal.ly\nChildhood had less freedom and joy than we sentimentally attribute to it.\n  ADV: usu ADV with v\n\n=>  sen.ti.men.tal.ity\nIn this book there is no sentimentality.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n\n2. Sentimental means relating to or involving feelings such as pity or love, especially for things in the past.\nOur paintings and photographs are of sentimental value only...\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n


Words: sentimentalist
Meaning:
sen.ti.men.tal.ist\n   sentimentalist  sentimentalists\n  If you describe someone as a sentimentalist, you believe that they are sentimental about things.\n  N-COUNT


Words: sentimentalize
Meaning:
sen.ti.men.tal.ize\n   sentimentalize  sentimentalizes  sentimentalizing  sentimentalized\nin BRIT, also use sentimentalise\n  If you sentimentalize something, you make it seem sentimental or think about it in a sentimental way.\nHe seems either to fear women or to sentimentalize them...\nHe’s the kind of filmmaker who doesn’t hesitate to over-sentimentalize.\n...Rupert Brooke’s sentimentalised glorification of war.\n  VERB: V n, V, V-ed


Words: sentry
Meaning:
sen.try\n   sentry  sentries\n  A sentry is a soldier who guards a camp or a building.\nThe sentry would not let her enter...\n  N-COUNT


Words: sentry box
Meaning:
sen.try box\n   sentry box  sentry boxes   also sentry-box\n  A sentry box is a narrow shelter with an open front in which a sentry can stand while on duty.\n  N-COUNT


Words: Sep.
Meaning:
Sep. is a written abbreviation for September. The more usual abbreviation is Sept..\n...Friday Sep. 21, 1990.


Words: separable
Meaning:
sepa.rable\n   separable\n  If things are separable, they can be separated from each other.\nCharacter is not separable from physical form but is governed by it.\n  ADJ: usu v-link ADJ, oft ADJ from n


Words: separate
Meaning:
sepa.rate\n   separate separates separating  separated\nThe adjective and noun are pronounced   The verb is pronounced\n1. If one thing is separate from another, there is a barrier, space, or division between them, so that they are clearly two things.\nEach villa has a separate sitting-room...\nThey are now making plans to form their own separate party...\nBusiness bank accounts were kept separate from personal ones.\n  ADJ: oft ADJ from n\n\n=>  sepa.rate.ness\n...establishing Australia’s cultural separateness from Britain.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n\n2. If you refer to separate things, you mean several different things, rather than just one thing.\nUse separate chopping boards for raw meats, cooked meats, vegetables and salads...\nMen and women have separate exercise rooms...\nThe authorities say six civilians have been killed in two separate attacks.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n\n  = different\n3. If you separate people or things that are together, or if they separate, they move apart.\nPolice moved in to separate the two groups...\nThe pans were held in both hands and swirled around to separate gold particles from the dirt...\nThe front end of the car separated from the rest of the vehicle...\nThey separated. Stephen returned to the square...\nThey’re separated from the adult inmates.\n  V-RECIP: V pl-n, V n from n, V from n, pl-n V, V-ed\n\n4. If you separate people or things that have been connected, or if one separates from another, the connection between them is ended.\nThey want to separate teaching from research...\nIt’s very possible that we may see a movement to separate the two parts of the country...\nHe announced a new ministry to deal with Quebec’s threat to separate from Canada.\n  V-RECIP: V n from n, V pl-n, V from n\n\n5. If a couple who are married or living together separate, they decide to live apart.\nHer parents separated when she was very young...\nSince I separated from my husband I have gone a long way.\n  V-RECIP: pl-n V, V from n\n\n6. An object, obstacle, distance, or period of time which separates two people, groups, or things exists between them.\n...the white-railed fence that separated the yard from the paddock...\nThey had undoubtedly made progress in the six years that separated the two periods...\nBut a group of six women and 23 children got separated from the others.\n  VERB: V n from n, V pl-n, get V-ed\n\n7. If you separate one idea or fact from another, you clearly see or show the difference between them.\nIt is difficult to separate legend from truth...\nIt is difficult to separate the two aims.\n  VERB: V n from n, V pl-n\n  = distinguish\n  Separate out means the same as separate.\nHow can one ever separate out the act from the attitudes that surround it?\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n from n\n\n8. A quality or factor that separates one thing from another is the reason why the two things are different from each other.\nThe single most important factor that separates ordinary photographs from good photographs is the lighting...\n  VERB: V n from n\n  = distinguish\n9. If a particular number of points separate two teams or competitors, one of them is winning or has won by that number of points.\nIn the end only three points separated the two teams.\n  VERB: V pl-n\n\n10. If you separate a group of people or things into smaller elements, or if a group separates, it is divided into smaller elements.\nThe police wanted to separate them into smaller groups...\nLet’s separate into smaller groups...\nSo all the colours that make up white light are sent in different directions and they separate.\n  VERB: V n into n, V into n, V\n  = split\n  Separate out means the same as separate.\nIf prepared many hours ahead, the mixture may separate out.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P\n\n11. Separates are clothes such as skirts, trousers, and shirts which cover just the top half or the bottom half of your body.\n  N-PLURAL\n\n12.\n  see also separated\n13. When two or more people who have been together for some time go their separate ways, they go to different places or end their relationship.\n(next)


Words: separate out
Meaning:
separate out\n  If you separate out something from the other things it is with, you take it out.\nThe ability to separate out reusable elements from other waste is crucial.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n from n, also V P n (not pron)\n\n  see also separate 7, 10


Words: separated
Meaning:
sepa.rat.ed\n   separated\n1. Someone who is separated from their wife or husband lives apart from them, but is not divorced.\nMost single parents are either divorced or separated...\nTristan had been separated from his wife for two years.\n  ADJ: v-link ADJ, oft ADJ from n\n\n2. If you are separated from someone, for example your family, you are not able to be with them.\nThe idea of being separated from him, even for a few hours, was torture...\n  ADJ: oft ADJ from n


Words: separately
Meaning:
sepa.rate.ly\n   separately\n  If people or things are dealt with separately or do something separately, they are dealt with or do something at different times or places, rather than together.\nCook each vegetable separately until just tender...\n  ADV: ADV with v, oft ADV from n\n  !=together


Words: separation
Meaning:
sepa.ra.tion\n   separation  separations\n1. The separation of two or more things or groups is the fact that they are separate or become separate, and are not linked.\n...a `Christian republic’ in which there was a clear separation between church and state.\n  N-VAR: oft N of/from/between n\n\n2. During a separation, people who usually live together are not together.\nAll children will tend to suffer from separation from their parents and siblings.\n  N-VAR\n\n3. If a couple who are married or living together have a separation, they decide to live apart.\nThey agreed to a trial separation.\n  N-VAR


Words: separatism
Meaning:
sepa.ra.tism\n   separatism\n  Separatism is the beliefs and activities of separatists.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: separatist
Meaning:
sepa.ra.tist\n   separatist  separatists\n1. Separatist organizations and activities within a country involve members of a group of people who want to establish their own separate government or are trying to do so.\n...the Basque separatist movement...\n  ADJ: ADJ n\n\n2. Separatists are people who want their own separate government or are involved in separatist activities.\nThe army has come under attack by separatists.\n  N-COUNT


Words: sepia
Meaning:
se.pia\n   sepia\n  Something that is sepia is deep brown in colour, like the colour of very old photographs.\nThe walls are hung with sepia photographs of old school heroes.\n  COLOUR


Words: September
Meaning:
Sep.tem.ber\n   September  Septembers\n  September is the ninth month of the year in the Western calendar.\nHer son, Jerome, was born in September...\nThey returned to Moscow on 22 September 1930...\nThey spent a couple of nights here last September.\n  N-VAR


Words: septic
Meaning:
sep.tic\n   septic\n  If a wound or a part of your body becomes septic, it becomes infected.\n...a septic toe.\n  ADJ


Words: septic tank
Meaning:
sep.tic tank\n   septic tank  septic tanks\n  A septic tank is an underground tank where faeces, urine, and other waste matter is made harmless using bacteria.\n  N-COUNT


Words: septicaemia
Meaning:
sep.ti.cae.mia\n   septicaemia\nin AM, use septicemia\n  Septicaemia is blood poisoning. (MEDICAL)\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: septuagenarian
Meaning:
sep.tua.genar.ian\n   septuagenarian  septuagenarians\n  A septuagenarian is a person between 70 and 79 years old. (FORMAL)\n...septuagenarian author Mary Wesley.\n  N-COUNT: oft N n


Words: sepulchral
Meaning:
se.pul.chral\n   sepulchral\n1. Something that is sepulchral is serious or sad and rather frightening. (LITERARY)\n`He’s gone,’ Rory whispered in sepulchral tones.\n  ADJ\n\n2. A sepulchral place is dark, quiet, and empty. (LITERARY)\nHe made his way along the sepulchral corridors.\n  ADJ


Words: sepulchre
Meaning:
sep.ul.chre\n   sepulchre  sepulchres\nin AM, use sepulcher\n  A sepulchre is a building or room in which a dead person is buried. (LITERARY)\n  N-COUNT


Words: sequel
Meaning:
se.quel\n   sequel  sequels\n1. A book or film which is a sequel to an earlier one continues the story of the earlier one.\nShe is currently writing a sequel to Daphne du Maurier’s `Rebecca’...\n  N-COUNT: oft N to n\n\n2. The sequel to something that has happened is an event or situation that happens after it or as a result of it.\nThe police said the clash was a sequel to yesterday’s nationwide strike...\n  N-COUNT: usu sing


Words: sequence
Meaning:
se.quence\n   sequence  sequences\n1. A sequence of events or things is a number of events or things that come one after another in a particular order.\n...the sequence of events which led to the murder.\n...a dazzling sequence of novels by John Updike.\n  N-COUNT: oft N of n\n  = series\n2. A particular sequence is a particular order in which things happen or are arranged.\n...the colour sequence yellow, orange, purple, blue, green and white...\nThe chronological sequence gives the book an element of structure.\n  N-COUNT\n\n3. A film sequence is a part of a film that shows a single set of actions.\nThe best sequence in the film occurs when Roth stops at a house he used to live in.\n  N-COUNT\n\n4. A gene sequence or a DNA sequence is the order in which the elements making up a particular gene are combined.\nThe project is nothing less than mapping every gene sequence in the human body.\n...the complete DNA sequence of the human genome.\n  N-COUNT: supp N


Words: sequencer
Meaning:
se.quenc.er\n   sequencer  sequencers\n  A sequencer is an electronic instrument that can be used for recording and storing sounds so that they can be replayed as part of a new piece of music.\n  N-COUNT


Words: sequencing
Meaning:
se.quenc.ing\n\n  Gene sequencing or DNA sequencing involves identifying the order in which the elements making up a particular gene are combined.\n...the US government’s own gene sequencing programme.\n  N-UNCOUNT: supp N


Words: sequential
Meaning:
se.quen.tial\n   sequential\n  Something that is sequential follows a fixed order. (FORMAL)\n...the sequential story of the universe...\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n\n\n=>  se.quen.tial.ly\nThe pages are numbered sequentially.\n  ADV: ADV after v


Words: sequester
Meaning:
se.ques.ter\n   sequester  sequesters  sequestering  sequestered\n1. Sequester means the same as sequestrate. (LEGAL)\nEverything he owned was sequestered.\n  VERB: be V-ed, also V n\n\n2. If someone is sequestered somewhere, they are isolated from other people. (FORMAL)\nThis jury is expected to be sequestered for at least two months.\n  VERB: be V-ed


Words: sequestered
Meaning:
se.ques.tered\n   sequestered\n  A sequestered place is quiet and far away from busy places. (LITERARY)\n  ADJ\n  = secluded


Words: sequestrate
Meaning:
se.ques.trate\n   sequestrate  sequestrates  sequestrating  sequestrated\n  When property is sequestrated, it is taken officially from someone who has debts, usually after a decision in a court of law. If the debts are paid off, the property is returned to its owner. (LEGAL)\nHe tried to prevent union money from being sequestrated by the courts.\n  VERB: usu passive, be V-ed\n  = sequester\n=>  se.ques.tra.tion\n...the sequestration of large areas of land.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: sequin
Meaning:
se.quin\n   sequin  sequins\n  Sequins are small, shiny discs that are sewn on clothes to decorate them.\nThe frocks were covered in sequins, thousands of them.\n  N-COUNT: usu pl


Words: sequinned
Meaning:
se.quinned\n   sequinned   also sequined\n  A sequinned piece of clothing is decorated or covered with sequins.\n...a strapless sequinned evening gown.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n


Words: serenade
Meaning:
ser.enade\n   serenade  serenades  serenading  serenaded\n1. If one person serenades another, they sing or play a piece of music for them. Traditionally men did this outside the window of the woman they loved.\nIn the interval a blond boy dressed in white serenaded the company on the flute...\n  VERB: V n\n\n  Serenade is also a noun.\nPlacido Domingo sang his serenade of love.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. In classical music, a serenade is a piece in several parts written for a small orchestra.\n...Vaughan Williams’s Serenade to Music.\n  N-COUNT: oft in names


Words: serendipitous
Meaning:
ser.en.dipi.tous\n   serendipitous\n  A serendipitous event is one that is not planned but has a good result. (LITERARY)\n...a serendipitous discovery.\n  ADJ


Words: serendipity
Meaning:
ser.en.dip.ity\n   serendipity\n  Serendipity is the luck some people have in finding or creating interesting or valuable things by chance. (LITERARY)\nSome of the best effects in my garden have been the result of serendipity.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: serene
Meaning:
se.rene\n   serene\n  Someone or something that is serene is calm and quiet.\nShe looked as calm and serene as she always did...\n  ADJ\n\n=>  se.rene.ly\nWe sailed serenely down the river...\n  ADV: ADV with v, ADV adj\n\n=>  se.ren.ity\nI had a wonderful feeling of peace and serenity when I saw my husband.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: serf
Meaning:
serf  serfs\n  In former times, serfs were a class of people who had to work on a particular person’s land and could not leave without that person’s permission.\n  N-COUNT


Words: serfdom
Meaning:
serf.dom\n   serfdom\n1. The system of serfdom was the social and economic system by which the owners of land had serfs.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n\n2. If someone was in a state of serfdom, they were a serf.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: serge
Meaning:
serge\n  Serge is a type of strong woollen cloth used to make clothes such as skirts, coats, and trousers.\nHe wore a blue serge suit.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: sergeant
Meaning:
ser.geant\n   sergeant  sergeants\n1. A sergeant is a non-commissioned officer of middle rank in the army, marines, or air force.\nA sergeant with a detail of four men came into view.\n...Sergeant Black.\n  N-COUNT; N-TITLE; N-VOC\n\n2. In the British police force, a sergeant is an officer with the next to lowest rank. In American police forces, a sergeant is an officer with the rank immediately below a captain.\nThe unit headed by Sergeant Bell.\n  N-COUNT; N-TITLE; N-VOC


Words: sergeant major
Meaning:
ser.geant ma.jor\n   sergeant major  sergeant majors   also sergeant-major\n  A sergeant major is a non-commissioned army or marine officer of the highest rank.\n  N-COUNT; N-TITLE; N-VOC


Words: serial
Meaning:
se.rial\n   serial  serials\n1. A serial is a story which is broadcast on television or radio or is published in a magazine or newspaper in a number of parts over a period of time.\n...one of BBC television’s most popular serials, Eastenders...\nMaupin’s novels have all appeared originally as serials.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. Serial killings or attacks are a series of killings or attacks committed by the same person. This person is known as a serial killer or attacker.\nThe serial killer claimed to have killed 400 people.\n  ADJ: ADJ n


Words: serial number
Meaning:
se.rial num.ber\n   serial number  serial numbers\n1. The serial number of an object is a number on that object which identifies it.\n...the gun’s serial number.\n...your bike’s serial number...\n  N-COUNT: oft with poss\n\n2. The serial number of a member of the United States military forces is a number which identifies them.\n  N-COUNT


Words: serial port
Meaning:
se.rial port\n   serial port  serial ports\n  A serial port on a computer is a place where you can connect the computer to a device such as a modem or a mouse. (COMPUTING)\n  N-COUNT


Words: serialization
Meaning:
se.riali.za.tion\n   serialization  serializations\nin BRIT, also use serialisation\n1. Serialization is the act of serializing a book.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n\n2. A serialization is a story, originally written as a book, which is being published or broadcast in a number of parts.\n...in the serialisation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.\n  N-COUNT


Words: serialize
Meaning:
se.rial.ize\n   serialize  serializes  serializing  serialized\nin BRIT, also use serialise\n  If a book is serialized, it is broadcast on the radio or television or is published in a magazine or newspaper in a number of parts over a period of time.\nA few years ago Tom Brown’s Schooldays was serialised on television.\n  VERB: usu passive, be V-ed


Words: series
Meaning:
se.ries\n   series  series\n1. A series of things or events is a number of them that come one after the other.\n...a series of meetings with students and political leaders.\n...a series of explosions.\n  N-COUNT: usu sing: oft N of n\n  = succession\n2. A radio or television series is a set of programmes of a particular kind which have the same title.\n...the TV series `The Trials of Life’ presented by David Attenborough.\n  N-COUNT: usu sing


Words: serious
Meaning:
se.ri.ous\n   serious\n1. Serious problems or situations are very bad and cause people to be worried or afraid.\nCrime is an increasingly serious problem in Russian society...\nThe government still face very serious difficulties...\nDoctors said his condition was serious but stable.\n  ADJ\n\n=>  se.ri.ous.ly\nIf this ban was to come in it would seriously damage my business...\nThey are not thought to be seriously hurt.\n  ADV: ADV adj/adv, ADV with v\n\n=>  se.ri.ous.ness\n...the seriousness of the crisis.\n  N-UNCOUNT: oft N of n\n\n2. Serious matters are important and deserve careful and thoughtful consideration.\nI regard this as a serious matter...\nDon’t laugh boy. This is serious.\n  ADJ\n\n3. When important matters are dealt with in a serious way, they are given careful and thoughtful consideration.\nMy parents never really faced up to my drug use in any serious way...\nIt was a question which deserved serious consideration.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n\n\n=>  se.ri.ous.ly\nThe management will have to think seriously about their positions.\n  ADV: ADV with v\n\n4. Serious music or literature requires concentration to understand or appreciate it.\nThere is no point reviewing a blockbuster as you might review a serious novel.\n  ADJ: ADJ n\n\n5. If someone is serious about something, they are sincere about what they are saying, doing, or intending to do.\nYou really are serious about this, aren’t you?...\nI hope you’re not serious.\n  ADJ: oft ADJ about n\n\n=>  se.ri.ous.ly\nAre you seriously jealous of Erica?\n  ADV: ADV adj/adv, ADV with v\n\n=>  se.ri.ous.ness\nIn all seriousness, there is nothing else I can do...\n  N-UNCOUNT: oft N of n\n\n6. Serious people are thoughtful and quiet, and do not laugh very often.\nHe’s quite a serious person...\n  ADJ\n\n=>  se.ri.ous.ly\nThey spoke to me very seriously but politely.\n  ADV: ADV with v


Words: seriously
Meaning:
se.ri.ous.ly\n   seriously\n1. You use seriously to indicate that you are not joking and that you really mean what you say.\nSeriously, I only smoke in the evenings.\n  ADV: ADV with cl\n\n2. You say `seriously’ when you are surprised by what someone has said, as a way of asking them if they really mean it. (SPOKEN)\n`I tried to chat him up at the general store.’ He laughed. `Seriously?’\n  CONVENTION  feelings\n\n3.\n  see also serious\n4. If you take someone or something seriously, you believe that they are important and deserve attention.\nIt’s hard to take them seriously in their pretty grey uniforms...\n  PHRASE: V inflects


Words: sermon
Meaning:
ser.mon\n   sermon  sermons\n  A sermon is a talk on a religious or moral subject that is given by a member of the clergy as part of a church service.\n  N-COUNT


Words: serotonin
Meaning:
sero.to.nin\n   serotonin\n  Serotonin is a chemical produced naturally in your brain that affects the way you feel, for example making you feel happier, calmer, or less hungry.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: serpent
Meaning:
ser.pent\n   serpent  serpents\n  A serpent is a snake. (LITERARY)\n...the serpent in the Garden of Eden.\n  N-COUNT


Words: serpentine
Meaning:
ser.pen.tine\n   serpentine\n  Something that is serpentine is curving and winding in shape, like a snake when it moves. (LITERARY)\n...serpentine woodland pathways.\n  ADJ\n  = winding


Words: serrated
Meaning:
ser.rat.ed\n   serrated\n  A serrated object such as a knife or blade has a row of V-shaped points along the edge.\nBread knives should have a serrated edge.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n


Words: serried
Meaning:
ser.ried\n   serried\n  Serried things or people are closely crowded together in rows. (LITERARY)\n...serried rows of law books and law reports.\n...the serried ranks of fans.\n  ADJ: ADJ n


Words: serum
Meaning:
se.rum\n   serum  serums\n1. A serum is a liquid that is injected into someone’s blood to protect them against a poison or disease.\n  N-VAR\n\n2. Serum is the watery, pale yellow part of blood.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: servant
Meaning:
serv.ant\n   servant  servants\n1. A servant is someone who is employed to work at another person’s home, for example as a cleaner or a gardener.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. You can use servant to refer to someone or something that provides a service for people or can be used by them.\nThe question is whether technology is going to be our servant or our master.\n  N-COUNT\n\n  see also civil servant


Words: serve
Meaning:
serve  serves  serving  served\n1. If you serve your country, an organization, or a person, you do useful work for them.\nIt is unfair to soldiers who have served their country well for many years...\nI have always said that I would serve the Party in any way it felt appropriate.\n  VERB: V n, V n\n\n2. If you serve in a particular place or as a particular official, you perform official duties, especially in the armed forces, as a civil servant, or as a politician.\nDuring the second world war he served with RAF Coastal Command...\nFor seven years until 1991 he served as a district councillor in Solihull.\n  VERB: V prep/adv, V prep/adv\n\n3. If something serves as a particular thing or serves a particular purpose, it performs a particular function, which is often not its intended function.\nShe ushered me into the front room, which served as her office...\nI really do not think that an inquiry would serve any useful purpose...\nTheir brief visit has served to underline the deep differences between the two countries...\nThe old drawing room serves her as both sitting room and study.\n  VERB: V as/for n, V n, V to-inf, V n as/for n\n\n4. If something serves people or an area, it provides them with something that they need.\nThis could mean the closure of thousands of small businesses which serve the community...\nCuba is well served by motorways.\n  VERB: V n, V n\n\n5. Something that serves someone’s interests benefits them.\nThe economy should be organized to serve the interests of all the people...\n  VERB: V n\n\n6. When you serve food and drink, you give people food and drink.\nServe it with French bread...\nServe the cakes warm...\nPrepare the garnishes shortly before you are ready to serve the soup.\n...the pleasure of having someone serve you champagne and caviar in bed...\nThey are expected to baby-sit, run errands, and help serve at cocktail parties.\n  VERB: V n prep, V n adj, V n, V n n, V, also V n to n\n\n  Serve up means the same as serve.\nAfter all, it is no use serving up TV dinners if the kids won’t eat them...\nHe served it up on delicate white plates.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), V n P\n\n7. Serve is used to indicate how much food a recipe produces. For example, a recipe that serves six provides enough food for six people.\nGarnish with fresh herbs. Serves 4.\n  VERB: no cont, V n\n\n8. Someone who serves customers in a shop or a bar helps them and provides them with what they want to buy.\nThey wouldn’t serve me in any pubs ’cos I looked too young...\nAuntie and Uncle suggested she serve in the shop.\n  VERB: V n, V\n\n9. When the police or other officials serve someone with a legal order or serve an order on them, they give or send the legal order to them. (LEGAL)\nImmigration officers tried to serve her with a deportation order...\nPolice said they had been unable to serve a summons on 25-year-old Lee Jones.\n  VERB: V n with n, V n on n\n\n10. If you serve something such as a prison sentence or an apprenticeship, you spend a period of time doing it.\n...Leo, who is currently serving a life sentence for murder...\n  VERB: V n\n\n11. When you serve in games such as tennis and badminton, you throw up the ball or shuttlecock and hit it to start play.\nHe served 17 double faults...\nIf you serve like this nobody can beat you.\n  VERB: V n, V\n\n  Serve is also a noun.\nHis second serve clipped the net.\n  N-COUNT\n\n12. When you describe someone’s serve, you are indicating how well or how fast they serve a ball or shuttlecock.\nHis powerful serve was too much for the defending champion.\n  N-COUNT\n\n13.\n  see also serving\n14. If you say it serves someone right when something unpleasant happens to them, you mean that it is their own fault and you have no sympathy for them.\nServes her right for being so stubborn.\n  PHRASE: V inflects, oft PHR for -ing  feelings


Words: serve out
Meaning:
serve out\n  If someone serves out their term of office, contract, or prison sentence, they do not leave before the end of the agreed period of time.\nThe governor has declared his innocence and says he plans to serve out his term...\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), also V n P


Words: server
Meaning:
serv.er\n   server  servers\n1. In computing, a server is part of a computer network which does a particular task, for example storing or processing information, for all or part of the network. (COMPUTING)\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. In tennis and badminton, the server is the player whose turn it is to hit the ball or shuttlecock to start play.\n...a brilliant server and volleyer.\n  N-COUNT: oft adj N\n\n3. A server is something such as a fork or spoon that is used for serving food.\n...salad servers.\n  N-COUNT: oft n N


Words: service
Meaning:
ser.vice\n   service  services  servicing  serviced\n\n  For meaning 14, services is both the singular and the plural form.\n\n1. A service is something that the public needs, such as transport, communications facilities, hospitals, or energy supplies, which is provided in a planned and organized way by the government or an official body.\nBritain still boasts the cheapest postal service...\nWe have started a campaign for better nursery and school services...\nThe authorities have said they will attempt to maintain essential services.\n  N-COUNT: usu with supp\n\n2. You can sometimes refer to an organization or private company as a particular service when it provides something for the public or acts on behalf of the government.\n...the BBC World Service.\n...Careers Advisory Services.\n  N-COUNT: oft in names\n\n3. If an organization or company provides a particular service, they can do a particular job or a type of work for you.\nThe kitchen maintains a twenty-four hour service and can be contacted via Reception...\nThe larger firm was capable of providing a better range of services.\n  N-COUNT\n\n4. Services are activities such as tourism, banking, and selling things which are part of a country’s economy, but are not concerned with producing or manufacturing goods.\nMining rose by 9.1%, manufacturing by 9.4% and services by 4.3%.\n  N-PLURAL\n\n5. The level or standard of service provided by an organization or company is the amount or quality of the work it can do for you.\nTaking risks is the only way employees can provide effective and efficient customer service...\n  N-UNCOUNT\n\n6. A bus or train service is a route or regular journey that is part of a transport system.\nA bus service operates between Bolton and Salford.\n  N-COUNT: usu n N\n\n7. Your services are the things that you do or the skills that you use in your job, which other people find useful and are usually willing to pay you for.\nI have obtained the services of a top photographer to take our pictures...\n  N-PLURAL: with poss\n\n8. If you refer to someone’s service or services to a particular organization or activity, you mean that they have done a lot of work for it or spent a lot of their time on it.\nYou’ve given a lifetime of service to athletics...\n...the two policemen, who have a total of 31 years’ service between them...\n  N-UNCOUNT: also N in pl, oft N to n\n\n9. The Services are the army, the navy, and the air force.\nIn June 1945, Britain still had forty-five per cent of its workforce in the Services and munitions industries.\n  N-COUNT: usu pl\n\n10. Service is the work done by people or equipment in the army, navy, or air force, for example during a war.\nThe regiment was recruited from the Highlands specifically for service in India.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n\n11. When you receive service in a restaurant, hotel, or shop, an employee asks you what you want or gives you what you have ordered.\nA five-course meal including coffee, service and VAT is .30.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n\n12. A service is a religious ceremony that takes place in a church.\nAfter the hour-long service, his body was taken to a cemetery in the south of the city.\n  N-COUNT: also no det\n\n13. A dinner service or a tea service is a complete set of plates, cups, saucers, and other pieces of china.\n...a 60-piece dinner service.\n  N-COUNT: usu n N\n\n14. A services is a place beside a motorway where you can buy petrol and other things, or have a meal. (BRIT; in AM, use rest area)\nThey had to pull up, possibly go to a motorway services or somewhere like that...\n  N-COUNT\n  = service station\n15. In tennis, badminton, and some other sports, when it is your service, it is your turn to serve.\nShe conceded just three points on her service during the first set.\n  N-COUNT: oft with poss\n\n16. Service is used to describe the parts of a building or structure that are used by the staff who clean, repair, or look after it, and are not usually used by the public.\nHe wheeled the trolley down the corridor and disappeared with it into the service lift.\n(next)


Words: service .1
Meaning:
ADJ: ADJ n\n\n17. If you have a vehicle or machine serviced, you arrange for someone to examine, adjust, and clean it so that it will keep working efficiently and safely.\nI had had my car serviced at the local garage...\nMake sure that all gas fires and central heating boilers are serviced annually.\n  VERB: have n V-ed, be V-ed, also V n\n\n  Service is also a noun.\nThe car needs a service...\nThe company sends a service engineer to fix the disk drive before it fails.\n  N-COUNT: usu sing, oft N n\n\n18. If a country or organization services its debts, it pays the interest on them.\nAlmost a quarter of the country’s export earnings go to service a foreign debt of $29 billion.\n  VERB: V n\n\n19. If someone or something services an organization, a project, or a group of people, they provide it with the things that it needs in order to function properly or effectively.\nFossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas will service our needs for some considerable time to come.\n  VERB: V n\n\n20.\n  see also active service, Civil Service, community service, emergency services, in-service, National Health Service, national service, public service, room service\n21. To be at the service of a person or organization means to be available to help or be used by that person or organization.\nThe intellectual and moral potential of the world’s culture must be put at the service of politics.\n  PHRASE: PHR n, usu PHR after v\n\n22. You can use `at your service’ after your name as a formal way of introducing yourself to someone and saying that you are willing to help them in any way you can.\nShe bowed dramatically. `Anastasia Krupnik, at your service,’ she said.\n  CONVENTION  formulae\n\n23. If you do someone a service, you do something that helps or benefits them.\nYou are doing me a great service, and I’m very grateful to you...\n  PHRASE: V inflects\n\n24. If a piece of equipment or type of vehicle is in service, it is being used or is able to be used. If it is out of service, it is not being used, usually because it is not working properly.\nCuts in funding have meant that equipment has been kept in service long after it should have been replaced...\n  PHRASE: usu PHR after v, v-link PHR\n\n25. If someone or something is of service to you, they help you or are useful to you.\nThat is, after all, the primary reason we live.to be of service to others.\n  PHRASE: v-link PHR, oft PHR to n


Words: service area
Meaning:
ser.vice area\n   service area  service areas\n  A service area is a place beside a motorway where you can buy petrol and other things, or have a meal. (BRIT; in AM, use rest area)\n  N-COUNT\n  = service station


Words: service charge
Meaning:
ser.vice charge\n   service charge  service charges\n  A service charge is an amount that is added to your bill in a restaurant to pay for the work of the person who comes and serves you.\nMost restaurants add a 10 per cent service charge.\n  N-COUNT


Words: service industry
Meaning:
ser.vice in.dus.try\n   service industry  service industries\n  A service industry is an industry such as banking or insurance that provides a service but does not produce anything.\n  N-COUNT


Words: service provider
Meaning:
ser.vice pro.vid.er\n   service provider  service providers\n  A service provider is a company that provides a service, especially an Internet service. (COMPUTING)\n  N-COUNT


Words: service station
Meaning:
ser.vice sta.tion\n   service station  service stations\n1. A service station is a place that sells things such as petrol, oil, and spare parts. Service stations often sell food, drink, and other goods.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. A service station is a place beside a motorway where you can buy petrol and other things, or have a meal. (BRIT; in AM, use rest area)\n  N-COUNT


Words: serviceable
Meaning:
ser.vice.able\n   serviceable\n  If you describe something as serviceable, you mean that it is good enough to be used and to perform its function.\nHis Arabic was not as good as his English, but serviceable enough...\n  ADJ


Words: serviceman
Meaning:
ser.vice.man\n   serviceman  servicemen\n  A serviceman is a man who is in the army, navy, or air force.\n  N-COUNT


Words: servicewoman
Meaning:
ser.vice.woman\n   servicewoman  servicewomen\n  A servicewoman is a woman who is in the army, navy, or air force.\n  N-COUNT


Words: serviette
Meaning:
ser.vi.ette\n   serviette  serviettes\n  A serviette is a square of cloth or paper that you use to protect your clothes or to wipe your mouth when you are eating. (BRIT; in AM, use napkin)\n  N-COUNT\n  = napkin


Words: servile
Meaning:
ser.vile\n   servile\n  If you say that someone is servile, you disapprove of them because they are too eager to obey someone or do things for them. (FORMAL)\nHe was subservient and servile...\n  ADJ  disapproval\n  = obsequious\n=>  ser.vil.ity\nShe’s a curious mixture of stubbornness and servility.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: serving
Meaning:
serv.ing\n   serving  servings\n1. A serving is an amount of food that is given to one person at a meal.\nQuantities will vary according to how many servings of soup you want to prepare...\nEach serving contains 240 calories.\n  N-COUNT: oft N of n\n\n2. A serving spoon or dish is used for giving out food at a meal.\nPile the potatoes into a warm serving dish.\n  ADJ: ADJ n


Words: servitude
Meaning:
ser.vi.tude\n   servitude\n  Servitude is the condition of being a slave or of being completely under the control of someone else.\n...a life of servitude.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n\n  see also penal servitude


Words: sesame
Meaning:
sesa.me\n   sesame\n  Sesame is a plant grown for its seeds and oil, which are used in cooking.\n...sesame seeds...\n  N-UNCOUNT: usu N n


Words: session
Meaning:
ses.sion\n   session  sessions\n1. A session is a meeting of a court, parliament, or other official group.\n...an emergency session of parliament...\nAfter two late night sessions, the Security Council has failed to reach agreement...\nThe court was in session.\n  N-COUNT: also in N\n\n2. A session is a period during which the meetings of a court, parliament, or other official group are regularly held.\nThe parliamentary session ends on October 4th...\n  N-COUNT: also in N\n\n3. A session of a particular activity is a period of that activity.\nThe two leaders emerged for a photo session.\n...group therapy sessions.\n  N-COUNT: usu with supp\n\n4. Session musicians are employed to play backing music in recording studios.\nHe established himself as a session musician.\n  ADJ: ADJ n


Words: set
Meaning:
NOUN USES\n   set  sets\n1. A set of things is a number of things that belong together or that are thought of as a group.\nThere must be one set of laws for the whole of the country...\nI might need a spare set of clothes...\nThe computer repeats a set of calculations...\nOnly she and Mr Cohen had complete sets of keys to the shop...\nThe mattress and base are normally bought as a set.\n...a chess set.\n  N-COUNT: oft N of n\n\n2. In tennis, a set is one of the groups of six or more games that form part of a match.\nGraf was leading 5-1 in the first set.\n  N-COUNT: oft supp N\n\n3. In mathematics, a set is a group of mathematical quantities that have some characteristic in common.\n  N-COUNT\n\n4. A band’s or musician’s set is the group of songs or tunes that they perform at a concert.\nThe band continued with their set after a short break...\n  N-COUNT\n\n5. You can refer to a group of people as a set if they meet together socially or have the same interests and lifestyle.\nHe belonged to what the press called `The Chelsea Set’.\n  N-SING: supp N\n\n  see also jet set\n6. The set for a play, film, or television show is the furniture and scenery that is on the stage when the play is being performed or in the studio where filming takes place.\nFrom the first moment he got on the set, he wanted to be a director too...\n...his stage sets for the Folies Bergeres.\n  N-COUNT: also on/off N\n\n7. The set of someone’s face or part of their body is the way that it is fixed in a particular expression or position, especially one that shows determination.\nMatt looked at Hugh and saw the stubbornness in the set of his shoulders...\n  N-SING: usu the N of n\n\n8. A set is an appliance. For example, a television set is a television.\nChildren spend so much time in front of the television set...\n  N-COUNT: oft supp N\n\nVERB AND ADJECTIVE USES\n   set  sets  setting\n\n  The form set is used in the present tense and is the past tense and past participle of the verb.\n\nPlease look at category 25 to see if the expression you are looking for is shown under another headword.\n1. If you set something somewhere, you put it there, especially in a careful or deliberate way.\nHe took the case out of her hand and set it on the floor...\nWhen he set his glass down he spilled a little drink.\n  VERB: V n prep, V n with adv\n  = put, place\n2. If something is set in a particular place or position, it is in that place or position.\nThe castle is set in 25 acres of beautiful grounds...\n  ADJ: v-link ADJ prep/adv\n  = situated\n3. If something is set into a surface, it is fixed there and does not stick out.\nThe man unlocked a gate set in a high wall and let me through...\n  ADJ: v-link ADJ prep/adv\n\n4. You can use set to say that a person or thing causes another person or thing to be in a particular condition or situation. For example, to set someone free means to cause them to be free, and to set something going means to cause it to start working.\nSet the kitchen timer going...\nA phrase from the conference floor set my mind wandering...\nDozens of people have been injured and many vehicles set on fire...\nChurchill immediately set into motion a daring plan.\n  VERB: V n -ing, V n -ing, be V-ed adj/adv, V n with prep\n\n5. When you set a clock or control, you adjust it to a particular point or level.\nSet the volume as high as possible...\nI forgot to set my alarm and I overslept.\n  VERB: V n adv/prep, V n\n\n6. If you set a date, price, goal, or level, you decide what it will be.\nThe conference chairman has set a deadline of noon tomorrow...\nA date will be set for a future meeting...\n  VERB: V n, V n\n\n7. If you set a certain value on something, you think it has that value.\nShe sets a high value on autonomy...\n  VERB: V n on n/-ing\n\n8. If you set something such as a record, an example, or a precedent, you do something that people will want to copy or try to achieve.\nLegal experts said her case would not set a precedent because it was an out-of-court settlement...\nA new world marathon record of 2 hrs, 8 min, 5 sec, was set by Stephen Jones of Great Britain...\n  VERB: V n, V n\n\n9. If someone sets you a task or aim or if you set yourself a task or aim, you need to succeed in doing it.\nI have to plan my academic work very rigidly and set myself clear objectives...\n  VERB: V n n\n\n10. To set an examination or a question paper means to decide what questions will be asked in it. (BRIT; in AM, usually use make up)\nHe broke with the tradition of setting examinations in Latin.\n  VERB: V n\n\n11. You use set to describe something which is fixed and cannot be changed.\nInvestors can apply for a package of shares at a set price...\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n\n\n12. A set book must be studied by students taking a particular course. (BRIT; in AM, use required)\nOne of the set books is Jane Austen’s Emma.\n  ADJ: ADJ n\n\n13. If a play, film, or story is set in a particular place or period of time, the events in it take place in that place or period.\nThe play is set in a small Midwestern town.\n  ADJ: v-link ADJ prep/adv\n\n14. If you are set to do something, you are ready to do it or are likely to do it. If something is set to happen, it is about to happen or likely to happen.\nRoberto Baggio was set to become one of the greatest players of all time...\n  ADJ: v-link ADJ to-inf\n\n15. If you are set on something, you are strongly determined to do or have it. If you are set against something, you are strongly determined not to do or have it.\nShe was set on going to an all-girls school...\n  ADJ: v-link ADJ on/against n/-ing\n\n16. If you set your face or jaw, you put on a fixed expression of determination.\nInstead, she set her jaw grimly and waited in silence...\n  VERB: V n\n\n17. When something such as jelly, melted plastic, or cement sets, it becomes firm or hard.\n(next)


Words: set .1
Meaning:
You can add ingredients to these desserts as they begin to set...\n  VERB: V\n\n18. When the sun sets, it goes below the horizon.\nThey watched the sun set behind the distant dales.\n...the red glow of the setting sun.\n  VERB: V, V-ing\n\n19. To set a trap means to prepare it to catch someone or something.\nHe seemed to think I was setting some sort of trap for him...\n  VERB: V n for n\n\n20. When someone sets the table, they prepare it for a meal by putting plates and cutlery on it.\n  VERB\n  = lay\n21. If someone sets a poem or a piece of writing to music, they write music for the words to be sung to.\nHe has attracted much interest by setting ancient religious texts to music.\n  VERB: V n to n\n\n22.\n  see also setting, set-to\n23. If someone sets the scene or sets the stage for an event to take place, they make preparations so that it can take place.\nThe Democrat convention has set the scene for a ferocious election campaign this autumn...\n  PHRASE: V inflects\n\n24. If you say that someone is set in their ways, you are being critical of the fact that they have fixed habits and ideas which they will not easily change, even though they may be old-fashioned.\n  PHRASE: V inflects  disapproval\n\n25.\nto set eyes on something: see eye\nto set fire to something: see fire\nto set foot somewhere: see foot\nto set your heart on something: see heart\nto set sail: see sail\nto set great store by or on something: see store\nto set to work: see work


Words: set against
Meaning:
set against\n1. If one argument or fact is set against another, it is considered in relation to it.\nThese are relatively small points when set against her expertise on so many other issues...\n  PHRASAL VERB: be V-ed P n, also V n P n\n\n2. To set one person against another means to cause them to become enemies or rivals.\nThe case has set neighbour against neighbour in the village.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V n P n


Words: set apart
Meaning:
set apart\n  If a characteristic sets you apart from other people, it makes you different from the others in a noticeable way.\nWhat sets it apart from hundreds of similar small French towns is the huge factory...\nLi blends right into the crowd of teenagers. Only his accent sets him apart.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V n P from n, V n P


Words: set aside
Meaning:
set aside\n1. If you set something aside for a special use or purpose, you keep it available for that use or purpose.\nSome doctors advise setting aside a certain hour each day for worry...\n.130 million would be set aside for repairs to schools.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), V P n (not pron)\n\n2. If you set aside a belief, principle, or feeling, you decide that you will not be influenced by it.\nHe urged them to set aside minor differences for the sake of peace.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron)


Words: set back
Meaning:
set back\n1. If something sets you back or sets back a project or scheme, it causes a delay.\nIt has set us back in so many respects that I’m not sure how long it will take for us to catch up...\nThere will be a risk of public protest that could set back reforms.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V n P, V P n (not pron)\n\n2. If something sets you back a certain amount of money, it costs you that much money. (INFORMAL)\nIn 1981 dinner for two in New York would set you back .5.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V n P amount\n\n3.\n  see also setback


Words: set down
Meaning:
set down\n1. If a committee or organization sets down rules for doing something, it decides what they should be and officially records them.\nThe Convention set down rules for deciding which country should deal with an asylum request.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron)\n  = lay down\n2. If you set down your thoughts or experiences, you write them all down.\nOld Walter is setting down his memories of village life.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron)\n  = write down


Words: set forth
Meaning:
set forth\n  If you set forth a number of facts, beliefs, or arguments, you explain them in writing or speech in a clear, organized way. (FORMAL)\nDr. Mesibov set forth the basis of his approach to teaching students.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron)\n  = set out


Words: set in
Meaning:
set in\n  If something unpleasant sets in, it begins and seems likely to continue or develop.\nThen disappointment sets in as they see the magic is no longer there...\nWinter is setting in and the population is facing food and fuel shortages.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P, V P


Words: set off
Meaning:
set off\n1. When you set off, you start a journey.\nNichols set off for his remote farmhouse in Connecticut...\nI set off, full of optimism.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P prep/adv, V P\n  = set out\n2. If something sets off something such as an alarm or a bomb, it makes it start working so that, for example, the alarm rings or the bomb explodes.\nAny escape, once it’s detected, sets off the alarm...\nIt could take months before evidence emerges on how the bomb was made, and who set it off.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), V n P\n\n3. If something sets off an event or a series of events, it causes it to start happening.\nThe arrival of the charity van set off a minor riot as villagers scrambled for a share of the aid...\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron)


Words: set on
Meaning:
set on\n  To set animals on someone means to cause the animals to attack them.\nThey brought the young men in and set the dogs on them.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V n P n


Words: set out
Meaning:
set out\n1. When you set out, you start a journey.\nWhen setting out on a long walk, always wear suitable boots.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P prep/adv\n  = set off\n2. If you set out to do something, you start trying to do it.\nHe has achieved what he set out to do three years ago...\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P to-inf\n\n3. If you set things out, you arrange or display them somewhere.\nSet out the cakes attractively, using lacy doilies.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), also V n P\n  = arrange\n4. If you set out a number of facts, beliefs, or arguments, you explain them in writing or speech in a clear, organized way.\nHe has written a letter to The Times setting out his views...\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), also V n P


Words: set piece
Meaning:
set piece  set pieces   also set-piece\n1. A set piece is an occasion such as a battle or a move in a game of football that is planned and carried out in an ordered way.\nGuerrillas avoid fighting set-piece battles...\n  N-COUNT: oft N n\n\n2. A set piece is a part of a film, novel, or piece of music which has a strong dramatic effect and which is often not an essential part of the main story.\n...the film’s martial arts set pieces.\n  N-COUNT


Words: set up
Meaning:
set up\n1. If you set something up, you create or arrange it.\nThe two sides agreed to set up a commission to investigate claims...\nTell us when and why you started your business and how you went about setting it up.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), V n P\n\n=>  set.ting up\nThe British government announced the setting up of a special fund.\n  N-UNCOUNT: usu N of n\n\n2. If you set up a temporary structure, you place it or build it somewhere.\nThey took to the streets, setting up roadblocks of burning tyres...\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), also V n P\n\n3. If you set up a device or piece of machinery, you do the things that are necessary for it to be able to start working.\nI set up the computer so that they could work from home.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), also V n P\n\n4. If you set up somewhere or set yourself up somewhere, you establish yourself in a new business or new area.\n...the mayor’s scheme offers incentives to firms setting up in lower Manhattan...\nHe worked as a dance instructor in London before setting himself up in Bucharest...\nGrandfather set them up in a liquor business.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P prep/adv, V pron-refl P prep/adv, V n P prep/adv\n\n5. If you set up home or set up shop, you buy a house or business of your own and start living or working there.\nThey married, and set up home in Ramsgate.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n\n\n6. If something sets up something such as a process, it creates it or causes it to begin.\nThe secondary current sets up a magnetic field inside the tube...\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), also V n P\n\n7. If you are set up by someone, they make it seem that you have done something wrong when you have not. (INFORMAL)\nHe claimed he had been set up after drugs were discovered at his home...\nMaybe Angelo tried to set us up.\n  PHRASAL VERB: be V-ed P, V n P\n\n8.\n  see also set-up


Words: set upon
Meaning:
set upon\n  If you are set upon by people, they make a sudden and unexpected physical attack on you.\nWe were set upon by about twelve youths and I was kicked unconscious.\n  PHRASAL VERB: usu passive, be V-ed P


Words: set-aside
Meaning:
set-aside\n  In the European Union, set-aside is a scheme in which some areas of farmland are not used for a period of time, either because too much is being produced already, or so that a crop does not become too cheap.\nA Brockhampton farm is paid .87 per acre for the 1,700 acres it has in set-aside.\n  N-UNCOUNT: oft N n


Words: set-to
Meaning:
set-to  set-tos\n  A set-to is a dispute or fight. (INFORMAL)\nThis was the subject of a bit of a set-to between Smith and his record company.\n  N-COUNT


Words: set-top box
Meaning:
set-top box  set-top boxes\n  A set-top box is a piece of equipment that rests on top of your television and receives digital television signals.\n  N-COUNT


Words: set-up
Meaning:
set-up  set-ups   also setup\n1. A particular set-up is a particular system or way of organizing something. (INFORMAL)\nIt appears to be an idyllic domestic set-up...\nI gradually got rather disillusioned with the whole setup of the university.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. If you describe a situation as a set-up, you mean that people have planned it in order to deceive you or to make it look as if you have done something wrong. (INFORMAL)\nHe was asked to pick somebody up and bring them to a party, not realizing it was a setup.\n  N-COUNT\n\n3. The set-up of computer hardware or software is the process of installing it and making it ready to use. (COMPUTING)\nThe worst part of the set-up is the poor instruction manual...\n  N-SING


Words: setback
Meaning:
set.back\n   setback  setbacks   also set-back\n  A setback is an event that delays your progress or reverses some of the progress that you have made.\nThe move represents a setback for the Middle East peace process...\n  N-COUNT: oft N for/in/to n


Words: settee
Meaning:
set.tee\n   settee  settees\n  A settee is a long comfortable seat with a back and arms, which two or more people can sit on.\n  N-COUNT\n  = couch, sofa


Words: setter
Meaning:
set.ter\n   setter  setters\n  A setter is a long-haired dog that can be trained to show hunters where birds and animals are.\n  N-COUNT


Words: setting
Meaning:
set.ting\n   setting  settings\n1. A particular setting is a particular place or type of surroundings where something is or takes place.\nRome is the perfect setting for romance...\n  N-COUNT: usu with supp, oft N for n\n\n2. A setting is one of the positions to which the controls of a device such as a cooker, stove, or heater can be adjusted.\nYou can boil the fish fillets on a high setting.\n  N-COUNT\n\n3. A table setting is the complete set of equipment that one person needs to eat a meal, including knives, forks, spoons, and glasses.\n  N-COUNT


Words: settle
Meaning:
set.tle\n   settle  settles  settling  settled\n1. If people settle an argument or problem, or if something settles it, they solve it, for example by making a decision about who is right or about what to do.\nThey agreed to try to settle their dispute by negotiation...\nTomorrow’s vote is unlikely to settle the question of who will replace their leader.\n  VERB: V n, V n\n\n2. If people settle a legal dispute or if they settle, they agree to end the dispute without going to a court of law, for example by paying some money or by apologizing.\nIn an attempt to settle the case, Molken has agreed to pay restitution...\nShe got much less than she would have done if she had settled out of court...\nHis company settled with the American authorities by paying a $200 million fine.\n  VERB: V n, V, V with n\n\n3. If you settle a bill or debt, you pay the amount that you owe.\nI settled the bill for my coffee and his two glasses of wine...\nThey settled with Colin at the end of the evening.\n  VERB: V n, V with n\n\n4. If something is settled, it has all been decided and arranged.\nAs far as we’re concerned, the matter is settled...\n  VERB: usu passive, be V-ed\n\n5. When people settle a place or in a place, or when a government settles them there, they start living there permanently.\nRefugees settling in Britain suffer from a number of problems...\nThirty-thousand-million dollars is needed to settle the refugees.\n  VERB: V prep/adv, V n, also V n prep/adv, V\n\n6. If you settle yourself somewhere or settle somewhere, you sit down or make yourself comfortable.\nAlbert settled himself on the sofa...\nJessica settled into her chair with a small sigh of relief.\n  VERB: V pron-refl prep/adv, V prep/adv\n\n7. If something settles or if you settle it, it sinks slowly down and becomes still.\nA black dust settled on the walls...\nOnce its impurities had settled, the oil could be graded...\nTap each one firmly on your work surface to settle the mixture.\n  VERB: V prep/adv, V, V n\n\n8. If your eyes settle on or upon something, you stop looking around and look at that thing for some time.\nThe man let his eyes settle upon Cross’s face.\n  VERB: V on/upon n\n  = rest\n9. When birds or insects settle on something, they land on it from above.\nMoths flew in front of it, eventually settling on the rough painted metal.\n  VERB: V on n\n  = light\n10.\nwhen the dust settles: see dust\nto settle a score: see score\n  see also settled


Words: settle down
Meaning:
settle down\n1. When someone settles down, they start living a quiet life in one place, especially when they get married or buy a house.\nOne day I’ll want to settle down and have a family...\nBefore she settled down in Portugal, she had run her own antiques shop in London.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P, V P prep/adv\n\n2. If a situation or a person that has been going through a lot of problems or changes settles down, they become calm.\nIt’d be fun, after the situation in Europe settles down, to take a trip over to France...\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P\n\n3. If you settle down to do something or to something, you prepare to do it and concentrate on it.\nHe got his coffee, came back and settled down to listen...\nThey settled down to some serious work.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P to-inf, V P to n\n\n4. If you settle down for the night, you get ready to lie down and sleep.\nThey put up their tents and settled down for the night.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P


Words: settle for
Meaning:
settle for\n  If you settle for something, you choose or accept it, especially when it is not what you really want but there is nothing else available.\nVirginia was a perfectionist. She was just not prepared to settle for anything mediocre...\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n


Words: settle in
Meaning:
settle in\n  If you settle in, you become used to living in a new place, doing a new job, or going to a new school.\nI enjoyed King Edward’s School enormously once I’d settled in.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P


Words: settle on
Meaning:
settle on\n  If you settle on a particular thing, you choose it after considering other possible choices.\nI finally settled on a Mercedes estate.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n\n  = decide on


Words: settle up
Meaning:
settle up\n  When you settle up, you pay a bill or a debt.\nWhen we approached the till to settle up, he reduced our bill by 50 per cent.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P


Words: settled
Meaning:
set.tled\n   settled\n1. If you have a settled way of life, you stay in one place, in one job, or with one person, rather than moving around or changing.\nHe decided to lead a more settled life with his partner...\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n\n\n2. A settled situation or system stays the same all the time.\nThere has been a period of settled weather.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n


Words: settlement
Meaning:
set.tle.ment\n   settlement  settlements\n1. A settlement is an official agreement between two sides who were involved in a conflict or argument.\nOur objective must be to secure a peace settlement...\nThey are not optimistic about a settlement of the eleven year conflict.\n  N-COUNT: usu with supp\n\n2. A settlement is an agreement to end a disagreement or dispute without going to a court of law, for example by offering someone money.\nShe accepted an out-of-court settlement of .4,000.\n  N-COUNT: usu with supp\n\n3. The settlement of a debt is the act of paying back money that you owe.\n...ways to delay the settlement of debts.\n  N-UNCOUNT: usu N of n\n\n4. A settlement is a place where people have come to live and have built homes.\nThe village is a settlement of just fifty houses.\n  N-COUNT: usu with supp


Words: settler
Meaning:
set.tler\n   settler  settlers\n  Settlers are people who go to live in a new country.\nThe village was founded by settlers from the Volga region.\n  N-COUNT


Words: seven
Meaning:
sev.en\n   seven  sevens\n  Seven is the number 7.\nSarah and Ella have been friends for seven years.\n  NUM


Words: seventeen
Meaning:
sev.en.teen\n   seventeen  seventeens\n  Seventeen is the number 17.\nJenny is seventeen years old.\n  NUM


Words: seventeenth
Meaning:
sev.en.teenth\n   seventeenth  seventeenths\n1. The seventeenth item in a series is the one that you count as number seventeen.\nShe gave birth to Annabel just after her seventeenth birthday.\n  ORD\n\n2. A seventeenth is one of seventeen equal parts of something.\n  FRACTION


Words: seventh
Meaning:
sev.enth\n   seventh  sevenths\n1. The seventh item in a series is the one that you count as number seven.\nI was the seventh child in a family of 11.\n  ORD\n\n2. A seventh is one of seven equal parts of something.\nA million people died, a seventh of the population.\n  FRACTION


Words: Seventh Day Adventist
Meaning:
Sev.enth Day Ad.vent.ist\n   Seventh Day Adventist  Seventh Day Adventists\n1. Seventh Day Adventist churches are churches that believe that Jesus Christ will return very soon, and that have Saturday as their holy day.\n  ADJ: ADJ n\n\n2. A Seventh Day Adventist is a member of the Seventh Day Adventist church.\n  N-COUNT


Words: seventh heaven
Meaning:
sev.enth heav.en\n   seventh heaven\n  If you say that you are in seventh heaven, you mean that you are in a state of complete happiness. (INFORMAL)\n  N-UNCOUNT: in N


Words: seventieth
Meaning:
sev.en.ti.eth\n   seventieth  seventieths\n1. The seventieth item in a series is the one that you count as number seventy.\n...the seventieth anniversary of the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb.\n  ORD\n\n2. A seventieth is one of seventy equal parts of something.\n  FRACTION


Words: seventy
Meaning:
sev.en.ty\n   seventy  seventies\n1. Seventy is the number 70.\nSeventy people were killed.\n  NUM\n\n2. When you talk about the seventies, you are referring to numbers between 70 and 79. For example, if you are in your seventies, you are aged between 70 and 79. If the temperature is in the seventies, it is between 70 and 79.\nIt’s a long way to go for two people in their seventies.\n  N-PLURAL\n\n3. The seventies is the decade between 1970 and 1979.\nIn the late Seventies, things had to be new, modern, revolutionary.\n  N-PLURAL: the N


Words: sever
Meaning:
sev.er\n   sever  severs  severing  severed\n1. To sever something means to cut completely through it or to cut it completely off. (FORMAL)\nRichardson severed his right foot in a motorbike accident.\n...oil still gushing from a severed fuel line.\n  VERB: V n, V-ed\n\n2. If you sever a relationship or connection that you have with someone, you end it suddenly and completely. (FORMAL)\nShe severed her ties with England...\n  VERB: V n


Words: several
Meaning:
sev.er.al\n   several\n  Several is used to refer to an imprecise number of people or things that is not large but is greater than two.\nI had lived two doors away from this family for several years...\nSeveral blue plastic boxes under the window were filled with record albums...\nSeveral hundred students gathered on campus.\n  DET: DET pl-n\n\n  Several is also a quantifier.\nSeveral of the delays were caused by the new high-tech baggage system...\n  QUANT: QUANT of pl-n\n\n  Several is also a pronoun.\nNo one drug will suit or work for everyone and sometimes several may have to be tried...\n  PRON


Words: severance
Meaning:
sev.er.ance\n   severance\n1. Severance from a person or group, or the severance of a connection, involves the ending of a relationship or connection. (FORMAL)\n...his bitter sense of severance from his family.\n...the complete severance of diplomatic relations.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n\n2. Severance pay is a sum of money that a company gives to its employees when it has to stop employing them. (BUSINESS)\nWe were offered 13 weeks’ severance pay.\n  ADJ: ADJ n


Words: severe
Meaning:
se.vere\n   severe  severer  severest\n1. You use severe to indicate that something bad or undesirable is great or intense.\n...a business with severe cash flow problems...\nSteve passed out on the floor and woke up blinded and in severe pain...\nShortages of professional staff are very severe in some places.\n  ADJ\n\n=>  se.vere.ly\nThe UN wants to send food aid to 10 countries in Africa severely affected by the drought...\nAn aircraft overshot the runway and was severely damaged.\n  ADV: usu ADV with v, also ADV adj\n\n=>  se.ver.ity\nSeveral drugs are used to lessen the severity of the symptoms.\n  N-UNCOUNT: usu with supp\n\n2. Severe punishments or criticisms are very strong or harsh.\nThis was a dreadful crime and a severe sentence is necessary...\n  ADJ\n\n=>  se.vere.ly\n...a campaign to try to change the law to punish dangerous drivers more severely.\n  ADV: ADV with v\n\n=>  se.ver.ity\nThe Bishop said he was sickened by the severity of the sentence...\n  N-UNCOUNT: usu with supp


Words: sew
Meaning:
sew  sews  sewing  sewed  sewn\n1. When you sew something such as clothes, you make them or repair them by joining pieces of cloth together by passing thread through them with a needle.\nShe sewed the dresses on the sewing machine...\nAnyone can sew on a button, including you...\nMrs Roberts was a dressmaker, and she taught her daughter to sew.\n  VERB: V n, V n with on, V\n\n2. When something such as a hand or finger is sewn back by a doctor, it is joined with the patient’s body using a needle and thread.\nThe hand was preserved in ice by neighbours and sewn back on in hospital...\n  VERB: be V-ed adv\n\n  see also sewing


Words: sew up
Meaning:
sew up\n1. If you sew up pieces of cloth or tears in cloth or skin, you join them together using a needle and thread.\nNext day, Miss Stone decided to sew up the rip...\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), also V n P\n\n2. If someone sews up something such as a business deal, an election, or a game, they make sure that they will get the result they want. (INFORMAL)\nIf they didn’t move fast, Johnson could sew this deal up within days...\nThe Italians think they’ve got it all sewn up.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V n P, V n P, also V P n (not pron)


Words: sewage
Meaning:
sew.age\n   sewage\n  Sewage is waste matter such as faeces or dirty water from homes and factories, which flows away through sewers.\n...the MPs’ call for more treatment of raw sewage.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: sewer
Meaning:
sew.er\n   sewer  sewers\n  A sewer is a large underground channel that carries waste matter and rain water away, usually to a place where it is treated and made harmless.\n...the city’s sewer system.\n...open sewers.\n  N-COUNT


Words: sewerage
Meaning:
sew.er.age\n   sewerage\n  Sewerage is the system by which waste matter is carried away in sewers and made harmless.\n...without access to any services such as water or sewerage.\n  N-UNCOUNT: usu N n


Words: sewing
Meaning:
sew.ing\n   sewing\n1. Sewing is the activity of making or mending clothes or other things using a needle and thread.\nHer mother had always done all the sewing.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n\n2. Sewing is clothes or other things that are being sewn.\nWe all got out our own sewing and sat in front of the log fire.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: sewing machine
Meaning:
sew.ing ma.chine\n   sewing machine  sewing machines\n  A sewing machine is a machine that you use for sewing.\n  N-COUNT


Words: sex
Meaning:
sex  sexes  sexing  sexed\n1. The two sexes are the two groups, male and female, into which people and animals are divided according to the function they have in producing young.\n...an entertainment star who appeals to all ages and both sexes.\n...differences between the sexes.\n  N-COUNT: usu with supp\n\n  see also fair sex, opposite sex, same-sex, single-sex\n2. The sex of a person or animal is their characteristic of being either male or female.\nShe continually failed to gain promotion because of her sex...\nThe new technique has been used to identify the sex of foetuses.\n  N-COUNT: oft with poss\n  = gender\n3. Sex is the physical activity by which people can produce young.\nHe was very open in his attitudes about sex...\nWe have a very active sex life.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n\n4. If two people have sex, they perform the act of sex.\nHave you ever thought about having sex with someone other than your husband?\n  PHRASE: V inflects, pl-n PHR, PHR with n


Words: sex aid
Meaning:
sex aid  sex aids\n  A sex aid is an object or piece of equipment that is designed to make sex easier or more enjoyable.\n  N-COUNT


Words: sex appeal
Meaning:
sex ap.peal\n   sex appeal\n  Someone’s sex appeal is their sexual attractiveness.\nShe still has the energy and sex appeal of a woman less than half her age.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: sex education
Meaning:
sex edu.ca.tion\n   sex education\n  Sex education is education in schools on the subject of sexual activity and sexual relationships.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: sex goddess
Meaning:
sex god.dess\n   sex goddess  sex goddesses\n  If you refer to a woman, especially a film star, as a sex goddess, you mean that many people consider her to be sexually attractive. (JOURNALISM)\nRaquel Welch was at the height of her popularity as a sex goddess.\n  N-COUNT


Words: sex life
Meaning:
sex life  sex lives\n  If you refer to someone’s sex life, you are referring to their sexual relationships and sexual activity.\n  N-COUNT: oft with poss


Words: sex object
Meaning:
sex ob.ject\n   sex object  sex objects\n  If someone is described as a sex object, he or she is considered only in terms of their physical attractiveness and not their character or abilities.\nHe cared for her as a whole person rather than just a sex object.\n  N-COUNT


Words: sex shop
Meaning:
sex shop  sex shops\n  A sex shop is a shop that sells products that are associated with sexual pleasure, for example magazines, videos, and special clothing or equipment.\n  N-COUNT


Words: sex symbol
Meaning:
sex sym.bol\n   sex symbol  sex symbols\n  A sex symbol is a famous person, especially an actor or a singer, who is considered by many people to be sexually attractive.\n...Hollywood sex symbols of the Forties.\n  N-COUNT


Words: sex toy
Meaning:
sex toy  sex toys\n  A sex toy is an object that some people use to give themselves or other people sexual pleasure.\n  N-COUNT


Words: sexism
Meaning:
sex.ism\n   sexism\n  Sexism is the belief that the members of one sex, usually women, are less intelligent or less capable than those of the other sex and need not be treated equally. It is also the behaviour which is the result of this belief.\nGroups like ours are committed to eradicating homophobia, racism and sexism.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: sexist
Meaning:
sex.ist\n   sexist  sexists\n  If you describe people or their behaviour as sexist, you mean that they are influenced by the belief that the members of one sex, usually women, are less intelligent or less capable than those of the other sex and need not be treated equally.\nOld-fashioned sexist attitudes are still common...\n  ADJ  disapproval\n\n  A sexist is someone with sexist views or behaviour.\n  N-COUNT


Words: sexless
Meaning:
sex.less\n   sexless\n  If you describe a person as sexless, you mean that they have no sexual feelings or that they are not sexually active. A sexless relationship does not involve sex.\nMalcolm is a brilliant but frustrated surgeon who is married to a neurotic and sexless woman.\n  ADJ


Words: sexologist
Meaning:
sex.olo.gist\n   sexologist  sexologists\n  A sexologist is a person who studies sexual relationships and gives advice or makes reports.\n...Alfred Kinsey, the pioneering sexologist.\n  N-COUNT


Words: sexpot
Meaning:
sex.pot\n   sexpot  sexpots\n  If you describe someone as a sexpot, you mean that they are sexually very attractive. (INFORMAL)\n  N-COUNT


Words: sextant
Meaning:
sex.tant\n   sextant  sextants\n  A sextant is an instrument used for measuring angles, for example between the sun and the horizon, so that the position of a ship or aeroplane can be calculated.\n  N-COUNT


Words: sextet
Meaning:
sex.tet\n   sextet  sextets\n1. A sextet is a group of six musicians or singers who play or sing together.\n...the Paul Rogers Sextet.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. A sextet is a piece of music written for six performers.\n  N-COUNT


Words: sexual
Meaning:
sex.ual\n   sexual\n1. Sexual feelings or activities are connected with the act of sex or with people’s desire for sex.\nThis was the first sexual relationship I had had...\nMen’s sexual fantasies often have little to do with their sexual desire.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n\n\n=>  sex.ual.ly\n...sexually transmitted diseases...\nHow many kids in this school are sexually active?\n  ADV: ADV with v, ADV adj\n\n2. Sexual means relating to the differences between male and female people.\nWomen’s groups denounced sexual discrimination.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n\n\n=>  sex.ual.ly\nIf you’re sexually harassed, you ought to do something about it.\n  ADV: ADV with v\n\n3. Sexual means relating to the differences between heterosexuals and homosexuals.\n...couples of all sexual persuasions.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n\n\n4. Sexual means relating to the biological process by which people and animals produce young.\nGirls generally reach sexual maturity two years earlier than boys.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n\n\n=>  sex.ual.ly\nThe first organisms that reproduced sexually were free-floating plankton.\n  ADV: ADV with v, ADV adj


Words: sexual abuse
Meaning:
sex.ual abuse\n   sexual abuse\n  If a child or other person suffers sexual abuse, someone forces them to take part in sexual activity with them, often regularly over a period of time.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: sexual harassment
Meaning:
sex.ual har.ass.ment\n   sexual harassment\n  Sexual harassment is repeated and unwelcome sexual comments, looks, or physical contact at work, usually a man’s actions that offend a woman.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: sexual intercourse
Meaning:
sex.ual inter.course\n   sexual intercourse\n  Sexual intercourse is the physical act of sex between two people. (FORMAL)\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: sexual orientation
Meaning:
sex.ual ori.en.ta.tion\n   sexual orientation  sexual orientations\n  Someone’s sexual orientation is whether they are sexually attracted to people of the same sex, people of the opposite sex, or both.\n  N-VAR: oft poss N


Words: sexual preference
Meaning:
sex.ual pref.er.ence\n   sexual preference  sexual preferences\n  Someone’s sexual preference is the same as their sexual orientation.\n  N-VAR: oft poss N


Words: sexuality
Meaning:
sexu.al.ity\n   sexuality\n1. A person’s sexuality is their sexual feelings.\nIn Britain, the growing discussion of women’s sexuality raised its own disquiet.\n  N-UNCOUNT: oft poss N\n\n2. You can refer to a person’s sexuality when you are talking about whether they are sexually attracted to people of the same sex or a different sex.\nHe believes he has been discriminated against because of his sexuality.\n  N-UNCOUNT: oft poss N


Words: sexualize
Meaning:
sex.ual.ize\n   sexualize  sexualizes  sexualizing  sexualized\nin BRIT, also use sexualise\n  To sexualize something or someone means to make them sexual or consider them in a sexual way.\nReferring to children’s friends as girlfriends and boyfriends sexualizes them...\nRape is sexualised violence.\n  VERB: V n, V-ed


Words: sexy
Meaning:
sexy  sexier  sexiest\n  You can describe people and things as sexy if you think they are sexually exciting or sexually attractive.\nIt was a wonderful voice which women found incredibly sexy.\n  ADJ


Words: SF
Meaning:
SF\n  SF is the same as science fiction.\nArthur C Clarke likes to quote his friend and fellow SF writer Ray Bradbury.\n  N-UNCOUNT: usu N n


Words: SGML
Meaning:
SGML\n  SGML is a computer language for creating files using a system of codes. SGML is an abbreviation for `standard generalized mark-up language’.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: Sgt
Meaning:
in AM, use Sgt.\n  Sgt is the written abbreviation for Sergeant when it is used as a title.\n...Sgt Johnston.\n  N-TITLE


Words: shabby
Meaning:
shab.by\n   shabby  shabbier  shabbiest\n1. Shabby things or places look old and in bad condition.\nHis clothes were old and shabby...\nHe walked past her into a tiny, shabby room.\n  ADJ\n\n2. A person who is shabby is wearing old, worn clothes.\n...a shabby, tall man with dark eyes.\n  ADJ\n\n3. If you describe someone’s behaviour as shabby, you think they behave in an unfair or unacceptable way.\nIt was hard to say why the man deserved such shabby treatment...\nI knew it was shabby of me, but I couldn’t help feeling slightly disappointed.\n  ADJ  disapproval


Words: shack
Meaning:
shack  shacks  shacking  shacked\n  A shack is a simple hut built from tin, wood, or other materials.\n  N-COUNT


Words: shack up
Meaning:
shack up\n  If you say that someone has shacked up with someone else or that two people have shacked up together, you disapprove of the fact that they have started living together as lovers. (INFORMAL)\n...the deserters who had shacked up with local women...\nThe Government was keen for people to get married rather than shack up...\nIt turned out she was shacked up with a lawyer in New York.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P with n, pl-n V P, be V-ed P


Words: shackle
Meaning:
shack.le\n   shackle  shackles  shackling  shackled\n1. If you are shackled by something, it prevents you from doing what you want to do. (FORMAL)\nThe trade unions are shackled by the law.\n...people who find themselves shackled to a high-stress job.\n  VERB: usu passive, be V-ed by/to n, be V-ed by/to n\n\n2. If you throw off the shackles of something, you reject it or free yourself from it because it was preventing you from doing what you wanted to do. (LITERARY)\n...a country ready to throw off the shackles of its colonial past.\n  N-PLURAL: with supp\n\n3. Shackles are two metal rings joined by a chain which are fastened around someone’s wrists or ankles in order to prevent them from moving or escaping.\nHe unbolted the shackles on Billy’s hands.\n  N-PLURAL\n\n4. To shackle someone means to put shackles on them.\n...the chains that were shackling his legs...\n  VERB: V n


Words: shade
Meaning:
shade  shades  shading  shaded\n1. A shade of a particular colour is one of its different forms. For example, emerald green and olive green are shades of green.\nThe walls were painted in two shades of green.\n...new eyeshadows in a choice of 80 shades.\n  N-COUNT: oft N of n, in N\n\n2. Shade is an area of darkness under or next to an object such as a tree, where sunlight does not reach.\nTemperatures in the shade can reach forty-eight degrees celsius at this time of year...\n...exotic trees provide welcome shade.\n  N-UNCOUNT: oft in the N\n\n3. If you say that a place or person is shaded by objects such as trees, you mean that the place or person cannot be reached, harmed, or bothered by strong sunlight because those objects are in the way.\n...a health resort whose beaches are shaded by palm trees...\nUmbrellas shade outdoor cafes along winding cobblestone streets.\n  VERB: be V-ed, V n\n\n4. If you shade your eyes, you put your hand or an object partly in front of your face in order to prevent a bright light from shining into your eyes.\nYou can’t look directly into it; you’ve got to shade your eyes or close them altogether...\n  VERB: V n\n  = shield\n5. Shade is darkness or shadows as they are shown in a picture.\n...Rembrandt’s skilful use of light and shade to create the atmosphere of movement.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n  !=light\n6. The shades of something abstract are its many, slightly different forms.\n...the capacity to convey subtle shades of meaning.\n  N-COUNT: usu pl, N of n\n\n7. If something shades into something else, there is no clear division between the two things, so that you cannot tell where or when the first thing ends and the second thing begins.\nAs the dusk shaded into night, we drove slowly through narrow alleys...\n  VERB: V into n\n\n8. Shades are sunglasses. (INFORMAL)\n  N-PLURAL\n\n9. A shade is the same as a lampshade.\n  N-COUNT\n\n10. A shade is a piece of stiff cloth or heavy paper that you can pull down over a window as a covering. (AM; in BRIT, use blind)\nNancy left the shades down and the lights off.\n  N-COUNT\n  = blind\n11.\n  see also shaded, shading\n12. To put someone or something in the shade means to be so impressive that the person or thing seems unimportant by comparison.\n...a run that put every other hurdler’s performance in the shade.\n  PHRASE: V inflects


Words: shaded
Meaning:
shad.ed\n   shaded\n  A shaded area on something such as a map is one that is coloured darker than the surrounding areas, so that it can be distinguished from them.\n  ADJ


Words: shading
Meaning:
shad.ing\n   shading  shadings\n1. Shading is material such as nets or dark paint that provide shade, especially for plants.\nThe conservatory will get very hot in summer unless shading is used.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n\n2.\n  see also shade


Words: shadow
Meaning:
shad.ow\n   shadow  shadows  shadowing  shadowed\n1. A shadow is a dark shape on a surface that is made when something stands between a light and the surface.\nAn oak tree cast its shadow over a tiny round pool...\nNothing would grow in the shadow of the grey wall...\nAll he could see was his shadow.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. Shadow is darkness in a place caused by something preventing light from reaching it.\nMost of the lake was in shadow.\n  N-UNCOUNT: oft in N\n  = shade\n3. If something shadows a thing or place, it covers it with a shadow.\nThe hood shadowed her face.\n  VERB: V n\n\n4. If someone shadows you, they follow you very closely wherever you go.\nThe supporters are being shadowed by a large and highly visible body of police.\n  VERB: V n\n  = follow\n5. A British Member of Parliament who is a member of the shadow cabinet or who is a shadow cabinet minister belongs to the main opposition party and takes a special interest in matters which are the responsibility of a particular government minister.\n...the shadow chancellor.\n  ADJ: ADJ n\n\n  Shadow is also a noun.\nClarke swung at his shadow the accusation that he was `a tabloid politician’.\n  N-COUNT: poss N\n\n6. If you say that something is true without a shadow of a doubt or without a shadow of doubt, you are emphasizing that there is no doubt at all that it is true.\nIt was without a shadow of a doubt the best we’ve played.\n  PHRASE: usu with brd-neg  emphasis\n\n7. If you live in the shadow of someone or in their shadow, their achievements and abilities are so great that you are not noticed or valued.\nHe has always lived in the shadow of his brother.\n  PHRASE: N inflects\n\n8. If you say that someone is a shadow of their former self, you mean that they are much less strong or capable than they used to be.\nJohnson returned to the track after his ban but was a shadow of his former self.\n  PHRASE: Ns inflect


Words: shadow boxing
Meaning:
shad.ow box.ing\n   shadow boxing\n1. Shadow boxing is a form of physical exercise or training in which you move your hands and feet as if you are boxing someone.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n\n2. If you describe what two people or groups are doing as shadow boxing, you mean that they seem to be taking action against each other but in fact are not serious about the dispute.\n...the tedious shadow boxing that we normally see between bosses and unions in Britain.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: shadowy
Meaning:
shad.owy\n   shadowy\n1. A shadowy place is dark or full of shadows.\nI watched him from a shadowy corner.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n\n\n2. A shadowy figure or shape is someone or something that you can hardly see because they are in a dark place.\n...a tall, shadowy figure silhouetted against the pale wall.\n  ADJ: ADJ n\n\n3. You describe activities and people as shadowy when very little is known about them.\n...the shadowy world of spies.\n  ADJ\n  = mysterious


Words: shady
Meaning:
shady  shadier  shadiest\n1. You can describe a place as shady when you like the fact that it is sheltered from bright sunlight, for example by trees or buildings.\nAfter flowering, place the pot in a shady spot in the garden...\n  ADJ\n\n2. Shady trees provide a lot of shade.\nClara had been reading in a lounge chair under a shady tree.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n\n\n3. You can describe activities as shady when you think that they might be dishonest or illegal. You can also use shady to describe people who are involved in such activities.\nThe company was notorious for shady deals...\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n  disapproval


Words: shaft
Meaning:
shaft  shafts\n1. A shaft is a long vertical passage, for example for a lift.\nHe was found dead at the bottom of a lift shaft.\n...old mine shafts.\n  N-COUNT: oft n N\n\n2. In a machine, a shaft is a rod that turns round continually in order to transfer movement in the machine.\n...a drive shaft.\n...the propeller shaft.\n  N-COUNT: usu n N\n\n3. A shaft is a long thin piece of wood or metal that forms part of a spear, axe, golf club, or other object.\n...golf clubs with steel shafts.\n  N-COUNT\n\n4. A shaft of light is a beam of light, for example sunlight shining through an opening.\nA brilliant shaft of sunlight burst through the doorway.\n  N-COUNT: usu N of n


Words: shag
Meaning:
shag  shags  shagging  shagged\n  If someone shags another person, or if two people shag, they have sex together. (BRIT INFORMAL, RUDE)\n  V-RECIP\n\n  Shag is also a noun.\n...a spy movie with car chases, a murder, a shag and a happy ending.\n  N-COUNT: usu sing


Words: shaggy
Meaning:
shag.gy\n   shaggy  shaggier  shaggiest\n  Shaggy hair or fur is long and untidy.\nTim has longish, shaggy hair.\n  ADJ


Words: shake
Meaning:
shake  shakes  shaking  shook  shaken\n1. If you shake something, you hold it and move it quickly backwards and forwards or up and down. You can also shake a person, for example, because you are angry with them or because you want them to wake up.\nThe nurse shook the thermometer and put it under my armpit...\nShake the rugs well and hang them for a few hours before replacing on the floor...\n  VERB: V n, V n\n\n  Shake is also a noun.\nShe picked up the bag of salad and gave it a shake.\n  N-COUNT: usu sing\n\n2. If you shake yourself or your body, you make a lot of quick, small, repeated movements without moving from the place where you are.\nAs soon as he got inside, the dog shook himself...\nHe shook his hands to warm them up.\n  VERB: V pron-refl, V n\n\n  Shake is also a noun.\nTake some slow, deep breaths and give your body a bit of a shake.\n  N-COUNT\n\n3. If you shake your head, you turn it from side to side in order to say `no’ or to show disbelief or sadness.\n`Anything else?’ Colum asked. Kathryn shook her head wearily...\n  VERB: V n\n\n  Shake is also a noun.\nPalmer gave a sad shake of his head.\n  N-COUNT\n\n4. If you are shaking, or a part of your body is shaking, you are making quick, small movements that you cannot control, for example because you are cold or afraid.\nMy hand shook so much that I could hardly hold the microphone...\nI stood there, crying and shaking with fear.\n  VERB: V, V with n\n\n5. If you shake your fist or an object such as a stick at someone, you wave it in the air in front of them because you are angry with them.\nThe colonel rushed up to Earle, shaking his gun at him...\n  VERB: V n at n\n\n6. If a force shakes something, or if something shakes, it moves from side to side or up and down with quick, small, but sometimes violent movements.\n...an explosion that shook buildings several kilometers away...\nThe breeze grew in strength, the flags shook, plastic bunting creaked.\n  VERB: V n, V\n\n7. To shake something into a certain place or state means to bring it into that place or state by moving it quickly up and down or from side to side.\nSmall insects can be collected by shaking them into a jar...\nShake off any excess flour before putting livers in the pan...\n  VERB: V n prep, V n with adv\n\n8. If your voice is shaking, you cannot control it properly and it sounds very unsteady, for example because you are nervous or angry.\nHis voice shaking with rage, he asked how the committee could keep such a report from the public.\n  VERB: V with n, also V\n\n9. If an event or a piece of news shakes you, or shakes your confidence, it makes you feel upset and unable to think calmly.\nThe news of Tandy’s escape had shaken them all...\n  VERB: V n\n\n=>  shak.en\nUnhurt, but a bit shaken, she was trying not to cry.\n  ADJ: usu v-link ADJ\n\n10. If an event shakes a group of people or their beliefs, it causes great uncertainty and makes them question their beliefs.\nIt won’t shake the football world if we beat Torquay...\n  VERB: V n\n\n11. A shake is the same as a milkshake.\nHe sent his driver to fetch him a strawberry shake.\n  N-COUNT\n\n12. If you say that someone or something is no great shakes, you mean that they are not very skilful or effective. (INFORMAL)\nI’m no great shakes as a detective...\nThe protests have failed partly because the opposition politicians are no great shakes.\n  PHRASE: v-link PHR\n\n13. If you shake someone’s hand or shake someone by the hand, you shake hands with them.\nI said congratulations and walked over to him and shook his hand...\n  PHRASE: V inflects\n\n14. If you shake hands with someone, you take their right hand in your own for a few moments, often moving it up and down slightly, when you are saying hello or goodbye to them, congratulating them, or agreeing on something. You can also say that two people shake hands.\nHe nodded greetings to Mary Ann and Michael and shook hands with Burke...\n  PHRASE: V inflects, PHR with n, pl-n PHR\n\n15.\nto shake the foundations of something: see foundation


Words: shake down
Meaning:
shake down\n  If someone shakes you down, they use threats or search you physically in order to obtain something from you. (AM)\nHe ordered the dismantling of police checkpoints on highways, which were being used to shake down motorists for bribes...\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), also V n P


Words: shake off
Meaning:
shake off\n1. If you shake off something that you do not want such as an illness or a bad habit, you manage to recover from it or get rid of it.\nBusinessmen are trying to shake off habits learned under six decades of a protected economy...\nHe was generally feeling bad. He just couldn’t shake it off.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), V n P\n\n2. If you shake off someone who is following you, you manage to get away from them, for example by running faster than them.\nI caught him a lap later, and although I could pass him I could not shake him off...\nHe was unaware that they had shaken off their pursuers.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V n P, V P n (not pron)\n\n3. If you shake off someone who is touching you, you move your arm or body sharply so that they are no longer touching you.\nHe grabbed my arm. I shook him off...\nShe shook off his restraining hand.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V n P, V P n (not pron)


Words: shake out
Meaning:
shake out\n  If you shake out a cloth or a piece of clothing, you hold it by one of its edges and move it up and down one or more times, in order to open it out, make it flat, or remove dust.\nWhile the water was heating she decided to shake out the carpet...\nI took off my poncho, shook it out, and hung it on a peg by the door.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), V n P\n\n  see also shake-out


Words: shake up
Meaning:
shake up\n1. If someone shakes up something such as an organization, an institution, or a profession, they make major changes to it.\nThe government wanted to reform the institutions, to shake up the country...\nShareholders are preparing to shake things up in the boardrooms of America.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), V n P\n\n  see also shake-up\n2. If you are shaken up or shook up by an unpleasant experience, it makes you feel shocked and upset, and unable to think calmly or clearly.\nThe jockey was shaken up when he was thrown twice from his horse yesterday...\nHe was in the car when those people died. That really shook him up...\n  PHRASAL VERB: be V-ed P, V n P


Words: shake-out
Meaning:
shake-out  shake-outs\nin AM, use shakeout\n  A shake-out is a major set of changes in a system or an organization which results in a large number of companies closing or a large number of people losing their jobs. (JOURNALISM)\nThis should be the year of a big shake-out in Italian banking...\n  N-COUNT: usu sing


Words: shake-up
Meaning:
shake-up  shake-ups\nin AM, use shakeup\n  A shake-up is a major set of changes in an organization or a system. (JOURNALISM)\n...a radical shake-up of the secondary education system...\n  N-COUNT: usu with supp, oft N of/in n


Words: shakedown
Meaning:
shake.down\n   shakedown  shakedowns\n1. If an organization or system is given a shakedown, it is thoroughly reorganized in order to make it more efficient.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. A shakedown of a boat, plane, or car is its final test before it starts to be used.\n  N-COUNT


Words: Shaker
Meaning:
Shak.er\n   Shaker  Shakers\n1. A Shaker is a member of an American religious group whose members live in communities and have a very simple life.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. Shaker furniture is usually made of wood and has a very simple design.\n  ADJ: ADJ n


Words: shaky
Meaning:
shaky  shakier  shakiest\n1. If you describe a situation as shaky, you mean that it is weak or unstable, and seems unlikely to last long or be successful.\nA shaky ceasefire is holding after three days of fighting between rival groups...\nI’m afraid that this school year is off to a shaky start...\n  ADJ\n\n2. If your body or your voice is shaky, you cannot control it properly and it shakes, for example because you are ill or nervous.\nWe have all had a shaky hand and a dry mouth before speaking in public...\n  ADJ


Words: shall
Meaning:
shall  WEAK   STRONG\n\n  Shall is a modal verb. It is used with the base form of a verb.\n\n1. You use shall with `I’ and `we’ in questions in order to make offers or suggestions, or to ask for advice.\nShall I get the keys?...\nShall I telephone her and ask her to come here?...\nWell, shall we go?...\nLet’s have a nice little stroll, shall we?...\nWhat shall I do?\n  MODAL\n\n2. You use shall, usually with `I’ and `we’, when you are referring to something that you intend to do, or when you are referring to something that you are sure will happen to you in the future.\nWe shall be landing in Paris in sixteen minutes, exactly on time...\nI shall know more next month, I hope...\nI shall miss him terribly.\n  MODAL\n\n3. You use shall with `I’ or `we’ during a speech or piece of writing to say what you are going to discuss or explain later. (FORMAL)\nIn Chapter 3, I shall describe some of the documentation that I gathered...\n  MODAL\n\n4. You use shall to indicate that something must happen, usually because of a rule or law. You use shall not to indicate that something must not happen.\nThe president shall hold office for five years...\n  MODAL\n\n5. You use shall, usually with `you’, when you are telling someone that they will be able to do or have something they want.\n`I want to hear all the gossip, all the scandal.’.`You shall, dearie, you shall!’\n  MODAL\n\n6. You use shall with verbs such as `look forward to’ and `hope’ to say politely that you are looking forward to something or hoping to do something. (FORMAL)\nWell, we shall look forward to seeing him tomorrow...\n  MODAL  politeness\n\n7. You use shall when you are referring to the likely result or consequence of a particular action or situation.\nWhen big City firms cut down on their entertainments, we shall know that times really are hard...\n  MODAL


Words: shallot
Meaning:
shal.lot\n   shallot  shallots\n  Shallots are small round vegetables that are the roots of a crop and are similar to onions. They have a strong taste and are used for flavouring other food.\n  N-VAR: usu pl


Words: shallow
Meaning:
shal.low\n   shallow  shallower  shallowest\n1. A shallow container, hole, or area of water measures only a short distance from the top to the bottom.\nPut the milk in a shallow dish...\nThe water is quite shallow for some distance.\n  ADJ\n  !=deep\n2. If you describe a person, piece of work, or idea as shallow, you disapprove of them because they do not show or involve any serious or careful thought.\nI think he is shallow, vain and untrustworthy...\n  ADJ  disapproval\n\n3. If your breathing is shallow, you take only a very small amount of air into your lungs at each breath.\nShe began to hear her own taut, shallow breathing.\n  ADJ\n  !=deep


Words: shallows
Meaning:
shal.lows\n   shallows\n  The shallows are the shallow part of an area of water.\nAt dusk more fish come into the shallows.\n  N-PLURAL: the N


Words: sham
Meaning:
sham  shams\n  Something that is a sham is not real or is not really what it seems to be.\nThe government’s promises were exposed as a hollow sham...\n  N-COUNT: usu sing  disapproval


Words: shaman
Meaning:
sham.an\n   shaman  shamans\n1. A shaman is a priest or priestess in shamanism.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. Among some Native American peoples, a shaman is a person who is believed to have powers to heal sick people or to remove evil spirits from them.\n  N-COUNT


Words: shamanism
Meaning:
sham.an.ism\n   shamanism\n  Shamanism is a religion which is based on the belief that the world is controlled by good and evil spirits, and that these spirits can be directed by people with special powers.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: shambles
Meaning:
sham.bles\n   shambles\n  If a place, event, or situation is a shambles or is in a shambles, everything is in disorder.\nThe ship’s interior was an utter shambles...\nThe economy is in a shambles.\n  N-SING\n  = mess


Words: shambolic
Meaning:
sham.bo.lic\n   shambolic\n  If you describe a situation, person, or place as shambolic, you mean that they are very disorganized. (BRIT)\n...a shambolic public relations disaster...\n  ADJ


Words: shame
Meaning:
shame  shames  shaming  shamed\n1. Shame is an uncomfortable feeling that you get when you have done something wrong or embarrassing, or when someone close to you has.\nShe felt a deep sense of shame...\nI was, to my shame, a coward.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n\n2. If someone brings shame on you, they make other people lose their respect for you.\nI don’t want to bring shame on the family name...\n  N-UNCOUNT\n  = disgrace\n3. If something shames you, it causes you to feel shame.\nHer son’s affair had humiliated and shamed her.\n  VERB: V n\n\n4. If you shame someone into doing something, you force them to do it by making them feel ashamed not to.\nHe would not let neighbours shame him into silence...\n  VERB: V n into/out of n/-ing\n\n5. If you say that something is a shame, you are expressing your regret about it and indicating that you wish it had happened differently.\nIt’s a crying shame that police have to put up with these mindless attacks...\n  N-SING: a N, oft it v-link N that  feelings\n\n6. You can use shame in expressions such as shame on you and shame on him to indicate that someone ought to feel shame for something they have said or done.\nHe tried to deny it. Shame on him!\n  CONVENTION  feelings\n\n7. If someone puts you to shame, they make you feel ashamed because they do something much better than you do.\nHis playing really put me to shame.\n  PHRASE: V inflects


Words: shamefaced
Meaning:
shame.faced\n   shamefaced\n  If you are shamefaced, you feel embarrassed because you have done something that you know you should not have done. (FORMAL)\nThere was a long silence, and my father looked shamefaced.\n  ADJ


Words: shameful
Meaning:
shame.ful\n   shameful\n  If you describe a person’s action or attitude as shameful, you think that it is so bad that the person ought to be ashamed.\n...the most shameful episode in US naval history.\n  ADJ  disapproval\n\n=>  shame.ful.ly\nAt times they have been shamefully neglected.\n  ADV: ADV with v, ADV adj


Words: shameless
Meaning:
shame.less\n   shameless\n  If you describe someone as shameless, you mean that they should be ashamed of their behaviour, which is unacceptable to other people.\n...a shameless attempt to stifle democratic debate.\n  ADJ  disapproval\n\n=>  shame.less.ly\n...a shamelessly lazy week-long trip.\n  ADV: ADV with v, ADV adj


Words: shampoo
Meaning:
sham.poo\n   shampoo  shampoos  shampooing  shampooed\n1. Shampoo is a soapy liquid that you use for washing your hair.\n...a bottle of shampoo.\n...bubble baths, soaps and shampoos.\n  N-MASS\n\n2. When you shampoo your hair, you wash it using shampoo.\nShampoo your hair and dry it.\n  VERB: V n


Words: shamrock
Meaning:
sham.rock\n   shamrock  shamrocks\n  A shamrock is a small plant with three round leaves on each stem. The shamrock is the national symbol of Ireland.\n  N-COUNT


Words: shandy
Meaning:
shan.dy\n   shandy  shandies\n  Shandy is a drink which is made by mixing beer and lemonade. (BRIT)\n...half a pint of shandy.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n\n  A glass of shandy can be referred to as a shandy.\n  N-COUNT


Words: shank
Meaning:
shank  shanks\n1. The shank of an object is the long, thin, straight part of the object.\nThese hooks are sharp with long shanks.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. Shanks are the lower parts of the legs; used especially with reference to meat.\nTurn the shanks and baste them once or twice as they cook.\n  N-COUNT: usu pl


Words: shanty
Meaning:
shan.ty\n   shanty  shanties\n1. A shanty is a small rough hut which poor people live in, built from tin, cardboard, or other materials that are not very strong.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. A shanty is a song which sailors used to sing while they were doing work on a ship.\n  N-COUNT


Words: shanty town
Meaning:
shan.ty town\n   shanty town  shanty towns   also shantytown\n  A shanty town is a collection of rough huts which poor people live in, usually in or near a large city.\n  N-COUNT


Words: shape
Meaning:
shape  shapes  shaping  shaped\n1. The shape of an object, a person, or an area is the appearance of their outside edges or surfaces, for example whether they are round, square, curved, or fat.\nEach mirror is made to order and can be designed to almost any shape or size.\n...little pens in the shape of baseball bats...\n...sofas and chairs of contrasting shapes and colours...\nThe buds are conical or pyramidal in shape...\nThese bras should be handwashed to help them keep their shape...\n  N-COUNT: oft N of n, also in N\n\n2. You can refer to something that you can see as a shape if you cannot see it clearly, or if its outline is the clearest or most striking aspect of it.\nLying in bed we often see dark shapes of herons silhouetted against the moon.\n  N-COUNT\n\n3. A shape is a space enclosed by an outline, for example a circle, a square, or a triangle.\nHe suggested that the shapes represented a map of Britain and Ireland.\n  N-COUNT\n\n4. The shape of something that is planned or organized is its structure and character.\nThe last two weeks have seen a lot of talk about the future shape of Europe...\n  N-SING: usu N of n\n\n5. Someone or something that shapes a situation or an activity has a very great influence on the way it develops.\nLike it or not, our families shape our lives and make us what we are.\n  VERB: V n\n\n6. If you shape an object, you give it a particular shape, using your hands or a tool.\nCut the dough in half and shape each half into a loaf.\n  VERB: V n into n\n\n7.\n  see also shaped\n8. If you say that something is the shape of things to come, you mean that it is the start of a new trend or development, and in future things will be like this.\nBritish Rail says its new Liverpool Street station is the shape of things to come.\n  PHRASE: v-link PHR\n\n9. If you say, for example, that you will not accept something in any shape or form, or in any way, shape or form, you are emphasizing that you will not accept it in any circumstances.\nI don’t condone violence in any shape or form...\n  PHRASE: PHR after v  emphasis\n\n10. If someone or something is in shape, or in good shape, they are in a good state of health or in a good condition. If they are in bad shape, they are in a bad state of health or in a bad condition.\nHe was still in better shape than many young men...\nThe trees were in bad shape from dry rot.\n  PHRASE: PHR after v, v-link PHR\n\n11. You can use in the shape of to state exactly who or what you are referring to, immediately after referring to them in a general way.\nThe Prime Minister found a surprise ally today in the shape of Jacques Delors, the Commission President...\n  PHRASE: PHR n\n\n12. If you lick, knock, or whip someone or something into shape, you use whatever methods are necessary to change or improve them so that they are in the condition that you want them to be in.\nYou’ll have four months in which to lick the recruits into shape...\n  PHRASE: V inflects\n\n13. If something is out of shape, it is no longer in its proper or original shape, for example because it has been damaged or wrongly handled.\nOnce most wires are bent out of shape, they don’t return to the original position.\n  PHRASE: PHR after v\n\n14. If you are out of shape, you are unhealthy and unable to do a lot of physical activity without getting tired.\n  PHRASE: v-link PHR\n  = unfit  !=fit\n15. When something takes shape, it develops or starts to appear in such a way that it becomes fairly clear what its final form will be.\nIn 1912 women’s events were added, and the modern Olympic programme began to take shape.\n  PHRASE: V inflects


Words: shape up
Meaning:
shape up\n1. If something is shaping up, it is starting to develop or seems likely to happen.\nThere are also indications that a major tank battle may be shaping up for tonight...\nThe accident is already shaping up as a significant environmental disaster...\nIt’s shaping up to be a terrible winter.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P, V P as n, V P to-inf, also V P into n\n\n2. If you ask how someone or something is shaping up, you want to know how well they are doing in a particular situation or activity.\nI did have a few worries about how Hugh and I would shape up as parents...\nGirls are being recruited now. I heard they are shaping up very well.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P as n, V P adv\n\n3. If you tell someone to shape up, you are telling them to start behaving in a sensible and responsible way.\nIt is no use simply to tell adolescents to shape up and do something useful.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P


Words: shaped
Meaning:
shaped\n  Something that is shaped like a particular object or in a particular way has the shape of that object or a shape of that type.\nA new perfume from Russia came in a bottle shaped like a tank.\n...oddly shaped little packages.\n  ADJ: v-link ADJ like n, adv ADJ


Words: shapeless
Meaning:
shape.less\n   shapeless\n  Something that is shapeless does not have a distinct or attractive shape.\nAunt Mary wore shapeless black dresses.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n


Words: shapely
Meaning:
shape.ly\n   shapely\n  If you describe a woman as shapely, you mean that she has an attractive shape.\n...her shapely legs.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n  approval


Words: shard
Meaning:
shard  shards\n  Shards are pieces of broken glass, pottery, or metal.\nEyewitnesses spoke of rocks and shards of glass flying in the air.\n  N-COUNT: oft N of n


Words: share
Meaning:
share  shares  sharing  shared\n1. A company’s shares are the many equal parts into which its ownership is divided. Shares can be bought by people as an investment. (BUSINESS)\nThis is why Sir Colin Marshall, British Airways’ chairman, has been so keen to buy shares in US-AIR...\nFor some months the share price remained fairly static.\n  N-COUNT: oft N in n\n\n2. If you share something with another person, you both have it, use it, or occupy it. You can also say that two people share something.\n...the small income he had shared with his brother from his father’s estate...\nTwo Americans will share this year’s Nobel Prize for Medicine...\nScarce water resources are shared between states who cannot trust each other...\nMost hostel tenants would prefer single to shared rooms.\n  V-RECIP: V n with n, pl-n V n, be V-ed between pl-n, V-ed\n\n3. If you share a task, duty, or responsibility with someone, you each carry out or accept part of it. You can also say that two people share something.\nYou can find out whether they are prepared to share the cost of the flowers with you...\nThe republics have worked out a plan for sharing control of nuclear weapons.\n  V-RECIP: V n with n, pl-n V n\n\n4. If you share an experience with someone, you have the same experience, often because you are with them at the time. You can also say that two people share something.\nYes, I want to share my life with you...\nI felt we both shared the same sense of loss, felt the same pain.\n  V-RECIP: V n with n, pl-n V n\n\n5. If you share someone’s opinion, you agree with them.\nWe share his view that business can be a positive force for change...\nProsperity and economic success remain popular and broadly shared goals.\n  VERB: no cont, V n, V-ed\n\n6. If one person or thing shares a quality or characteristic with another, they have the same quality or characteristic. You can also say that two people or things share something.\n...newspapers which share similar characteristics with certain British newspapers.\n...two groups who share a common language.\n  V-RECIP: no cont, V n with n, pl-n V n\n\n7. If you share something that you have with someone, you give some of it to them or let them use it.\nThe village tribe is friendly and they share their water supply with you...\nScientists now have to compete for funding, and do not share information among themselves...\nToddlers are notoriously antisocial when it comes to sharing toys.\n  VERB: V n with n, V n among pl-n, V n, also V\n\n8. If you share something personal such as a thought or a piece of news with someone, you tell them about it.\nIt can be beneficial to share your feelings with someone you trust...\nFilm critic Bob Mondello shares his thoughts on the movie `City of Hope’.\n  VERB: V n with n, V n\n\n9. If something is divided or distributed among a number of different people or things, each of them has, or is responsible for, a share of it.\nSara also pays a share of the gas, electricity and phone bills...\n  N-COUNT: usu sing, oft N of/in n\n\n10. If you have or do your share of something, you have or do an amount that seems reasonable to you, or to other people.\nWomen must receive their fair share of training for good-paying jobs...\n  N-COUNT: usu sing with poss, N of n\n\n11.\n  see also lion’s share, market share, power-sharing


Words: share capital
Meaning:
share capi.tal\n\n  A company’s share capital is the money that shareholders invest in order to start or expand the business. (BUSINESS)\nThe bank has a share capital of almost 100 million dollars.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: share in
Meaning:
share in\n  If you share in something such as a success or a responsibility, you are one of a number of people who achieve or accept it.\nThe company is offering you the chance to share in its success...\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n


Words: share index
Meaning:
share in.dex\n   share index  share indices  or share indexes\n  A share index is a number that indicates the state of a stock market. It is based on the combined share prices of a set of companies. (BUSINESS)\nThe FT 30 share index was up 16.4 points to 1,599.6.\n  N-COUNT


Words: share issue
Meaning:
share is.sue\n   share issue  share issues\n  When there is a share issue, shares in a company are made available for people to buy. (BUSINESS)\n  N-COUNT


Words: share option
Meaning:
share op.tion\n   share option share options\n  A share option is an opportunity for the employees of a company to buy shares at a special price. (BRIT BUSINESS; in AM use stock option)\nOnly a handful of firms offer share option schemes to all their employees.\n  N-COUNT


Words: share out
Meaning:
share out\n  If you share out an amount of something, you give each person in a group an equal or fair part of it.\nI drain the pasta, then I share it out between two plates...\nThe company will share out $1.3 billion among 500,000 policyholders.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V n P, V P n (not pron)\n\n  see also share-out


Words: share shop
Meaning:
share shop  share shops\n  A share shop is a shop or Internet website where members of the public can buy shares in companies. (BUSINESS)\n  N-COUNT


Words: share-out
Meaning:
share-out  share-outs\n  If there is a share-out of something, several people are given equal or fair parts of it.\n...the share-out of seats in the transitional government.\n  N-COUNT: usu sing


Words: sharecropper
Meaning:
share.crop.per\n   sharecropper  sharecroppers\n  A sharecropper is a farmer who pays the rent for his land with some of the crops they produce.\n  N-COUNT


Words: shareholder
Meaning:
share.holder\n   shareholder  shareholders\n  A shareholder is a person who owns shares in a company. (BUSINESS)\n...a shareholders’ meeting.\n  N-COUNT


Words: shareholding
Meaning:
share.holding\n   shareholding  shareholdings\n  If you have a shareholding in a company, you own some of its shares. (BUSINESS)\n  N-COUNT


Words: shareware
Meaning:
share.ware\n   shareware\n  Shareware is computer software that you can try before deciding whether or not to buy the legal right to use it. (COMPUTING)\n...a shareware program.\n  N-UNCOUNT: oft N n


Words: shark
Meaning:
shark  sharks\n\n  The form shark can also be used as the plural form for meaning 1.\n\n1. A shark is a very large fish. Some sharks have very sharp teeth and may attack people.\n  N-VAR\n\n2. If you refer to a person as a shark, you disapprove of them because they trick people out of their money by giving bad advice about buying, selling, or investments. (INFORMAL)\nBeware the sharks when you are making up your mind how to invest.\n  N-COUNT  disapproval\n\n  see also loan shark


Words: sharp
Meaning:
sharp  sharps  sharper  sharpest\n1. A sharp point or edge is very thin and can cut through things very easily. A sharp knife, tool, or other object has a point or edge of this kind.\nThe other end of the twig is sharpened into a sharp point to use as a toothpick...\nUsing a sharp knife, cut away the pith and peel from both fruits...\n  ADJ\n  !=blunt\n2. You can describe a shape or an object as sharp if part of it or one end of it comes to a point or forms an angle.\nHis nose was thin and sharp.\n  ADJ\n\n3. A sharp bend or turn is one that changes direction suddenly.\nI was approaching a fairly sharp bend that swept downhill to the left.\n  ADJ\n  = tight\n  Sharp is also an adverb.\nDo not cross the bridge but turn sharp left to go down on to the towpath.\n  ADV: ADV adv\n\n=>  sharp.ly\nRoom number nine was at the far end of the corridor where it turned sharply to the right.\n  ADV: ADV after v\n\n4. If you describe someone as sharp, you are praising them because they are quick to notice, hear, understand, or react to things.\nHe is very sharp, a quick thinker and swift with repartee...\n  ADJ  approval\n\n5. If someone says something in a sharp way, they say it suddenly and rather firmly or angrily, for example because they are warning or criticizing you.\nThat ruling had drawn sharp criticism from civil rights groups.\n  ADJ\n\n=>  sharp.ly\n`You’ve known,’ she said sharply, `and you didn’t tell me?’\n  ADV: ADV with v, ADV adj\n\n6. A sharp change, movement, or feeling occurs suddenly, and is great in amount, force, or degree.\nThere’s been a sharp rise in the rate of inflation...\nHe felt a sharp pain in the abductor muscle in his right thigh.\n  ADJ\n\n=>  sharp.ly\nUnemployment among the over forties has risen sharply in recent years...\n  ADV: ADV with v, ADV adj\n\n7. A sharp difference, image, or sound is very easy to see, hear, or distinguish.\nMany people make a sharp distinction between humans and other animals...\nWe heard a voice sing out in a clear, sharp tone.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n\n\n=>  sharp.ly\nOpinions on this are sharply divided...\n  ADV: usu ADV with v, also ADV adj\n\n8. A sharp taste or smell is rather strong or bitter, but is often also clear and fresh.\n...a colourless, almost odourless liquid with a sharp, sweetish taste...\n  ADJ\n\n9. Sharp is used after stating a particular time to show that something happens at exactly the time stated.\nShe planned to unlock the store at 8.00 sharp this morning.\n  ADV: n ADV\n  = precisely\n10. Sharp is used after a letter representing a musical note to show that the note should be played or sung half a tone higher. Sharp is often represented by the symbol u_sharp..\nA solitary viola plucks a lonely, soft F sharp.\n  N-COUNT: usu n N\n  !=flat\n11.\n  see also razor-sharp


Words: sharp practice
Meaning:
sharp prac.tice\n   sharp practice\n  You can use sharp practice to refer to an action or a way of behaving, especially in business or professional matters, that you think is clever but dishonest.\nHe accused some solicitors of sharp practice.\n  N-UNCOUNT  disapproval


Words: sharp tongue
Meaning:
sharp tongue  sharp tongues\n  If you say that someone has a sharp tongue, you are critical of the fact that they say things which are unkind though often clever.\nDespite her sharp tongue, she inspires loyalty from her friends.\n  N-COUNT  disapproval


Words: sharp-eyed
Meaning:
sharp-eyed\n  A sharp-eyed person is good at noticing and observing things.\nA sharp-eyed shop assistant spotted the fake.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n


Words: sharp-tongued
Meaning:
sharp-tongued\n  If you describe someone as sharp-tongued, you being critical of them for speaking in a way which is unkind though often clever.\nJulia was a very tough, sharp-tongued woman.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n  disapproval


Words: sharpen
Meaning:
sharp.en\n   sharpen  sharpens  sharpening  sharpened\n1. If your senses, understanding, or skills sharpen or are sharpened, you become better at noticing things, thinking, or doing something.\nHer gaze sharpened, as if she had seen something unusual...\nYou can sharpen your skills with rehearsal.\n  VERB: V, V n\n\n2. If you sharpen an object, you make its edge very thin or you make its end pointed.\nHe started to sharpen his knife.\n...sharpened pencils.\n  VERB: V n, V-ed\n\n3. If disagreements or differences between people sharpen, or if they are sharpened, they become bigger or more important.\nWith urbanisation the antagonism between rich and poor sharpened...\nThe case of Harris has sharpened the debate over capital punishment.\n  VERB: V, V n


Words: sharpener
Meaning:
sharp.en.er\n   sharpener  sharpeners\n  A sharpener is a tool or machine used for sharpening pencils or knives.\n...a pencil sharpener.\n  N-COUNT: usu n N


Words: sharpish
Meaning:
sharp.ish\n   sharpish\n  If you do something sharpish, you do it quickly, without any delay. (BRIT INFORMAL)\nShe was asked to leave, sharpish.\n  ADV: ADV after v


Words: sharpshooter
Meaning:
sharp.shooter\n   sharpshooter  sharpshooters\n  A sharpshooter is a person who can fire a gun very accurately. (AM)\n  N-COUNT\n  = marksman


Words: shatter
Meaning:
shat.ter\n   shatter  shatters  shattering  shattered\n1. If something shatters or is shattered, it breaks into a lot of small pieces.\n...safety glass that won’t shatter if it’s broken...\nThe car shattered into a thousand burning pieces in a 200mph crash...\nOne bullet shattered his skull.\n  VERB: V, V into n, V n\n\n=>  shat.ter.ing\n...the shattering of glass.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n\n2. If something shatters your dreams, hopes, or beliefs, it completely destroys them.\nA failure would shatter the hopes of many people...\nSomething like that really shatters your confidence.\n  VERB: V n, V n\n\n3. If someone is shattered by an event, it shocks and upsets them very much.\nHe had been shattered by his son’s death.\n...the tragedy which had shattered his life.\n  VERB: be V-ed, V n\n\n4.\n  see also shattered, shattering


Words: shattered
Meaning:
shat.tered\n   shattered\n1. If you are shattered by something, you are extremely shocked and upset about it.\nIt is desperately sad news and I am absolutely shattered to hear it.\n  ADJ: usu v-link ADJ\n  = devastated\n2. If you say you are shattered, you mean you are extremely tired and have no energy left. (BRIT INFORMAL)\nHe was shattered and too tired to concentrate on schoolwork.\n  ADJ: usu v-link ADJ\n  = exhausted


Words: shattering
Meaning:
shat.ter.ing\n   shattering\n1. Something that is shattering shocks and upsets you very much.\nThe experience of their daughter’s death had been absolutely shattering...\n  ADJ\n  = devastating\n2.\n  see also shatter, earth-shattering


Words: shave
Meaning:
shave  shaves  shaving  shaved\n1. When a man shaves, he removes the hair from his face using a razor or shaver so that his face is smooth.\nHe took a bath and shaved before dinner...\nHe had shaved his face until it was smooth...\nIt’s a pity you shaved your moustache off.\n  VERB: V, V n, V n with off\n\n  Shave is also a noun.\nHe never seemed to need a shave.\n  N-COUNT\n\n=>  shav.ing\n...a range of shaving products.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n\n2. If someone shaves a part of their body, they remove the hair from it so that it is smooth.\nMany women shave their legs...\nIf you have long curly hair, don’t shave it off.\n  VERB: V n, V n with off\n\n3. If you shave someone, you remove the hair from their face or another part of their body so that it is smooth.\nThe doctors shaved his head...\nShe had to call a barber to shave him.\n  VERB: V n, V n\n\n4. If you shave off part of a piece of wood or other material, you cut very thin pieces from it.\nI set the log on the ground and shaved off the bark...\nShe was shaving thin slices off a courgette.\n  VERB: V n with off, V n off n\n\n5. If you shave a small amount off something such as a record, cost, or price, you reduce it by that amount.\nShe’s already shaved four seconds off the national record for the mile...\nSupermarket chains have shaved prices.\n  VERB: V n off/from n, V n\n\n6.\n  see also shaving\n7. If you describe a situation as a close shave, you mean that there was nearly an accident or a disaster but it was avoided.\nI can’t quite believe the close shaves I’ve had just recently.\n  PHRASE: N inflects


Words: shaven
Meaning:
shav.en\n   shaven\n  If a part of someone’s body is shaven, it has been shaved.\n...a small boy with a shaven head.\n  ADJ\n\n  see also clean-shaven


Words: shaver
Meaning:
shav.er\n   shaver  shavers\n  A shaver is an electric device, used for shaving hair from the face and body.\n...men’s electric shavers.\n  N-COUNT: oft adj N


Words: shaving
Meaning:
shav.ing\n   shaving  shavings\n  Shavings are small very thin pieces of wood or other material which have been cut from a larger piece.\nThe floor was covered with shavings from his wood carvings.\n...metal shavings.\n  N-COUNT: usu pl\n\n  see also shave


Words: shaving cream
Meaning:
shav.ing cream\n   shaving cream  shaving creams   also shaving foam\n  Shaving cream is a soft soapy substance which men put on their face before they shave.\n...a tube of shaving cream.\n  N-MASS


Words: shawl
Meaning:
shawl  shawls\n  A shawl is a large piece of woollen cloth which a woman wears over her shoulders or head, or which is wrapped around a baby to keep it warm.\n  N-COUNT


Words: she
Meaning:
she  WEAK   STRONG\n\n  She is a third person singular pronoun. She is used as the subject of a verb.\n\n1. You use she to refer to a woman, girl, or female animal who has already been mentioned or whose identity is clear.\nWhen Ann arrived home that night, she found Brian in the house watching TV...\nShe was seventeen and she had no education or employment...\n  PRON\n\n2. Some writers may use she to refer to a person who is not identified as either male or female. They do this because they wish to avoid using the pronoun `he’ all the time. Some people dislike this use and prefer to use `he or she’ or `they’.\nThe student may show signs of feeling the strain of responsibility and she may give up...\n  PRON\n\n3. She is sometimes used to refer to a country or nation.\nBritain needs new leadership if she is to help shape Europe’s future.\n  PRON\n\n4. Some people use she to refer to a car or a machine. People who sail often use she to refer to a ship or boat.\nHundreds of small boats clustered round the yacht as she sailed into Southampton docks.\n  PRON


Words: she’d
Meaning:
she’d\n1. She’d is the usual spoken form of `she had’, especially when `had’ is an auxiliary verb.\nShe’d rung up to discuss the divorce...\n\n2. She’d is a spoken form of `she would’.\nShe’d do anything for a bit of money...


Words: she’ll
Meaning:
she’ll\n  She’ll is the usual spoken form of `she will’.\nSharon was a wonderful lady and I know she’ll be greatly missed.


Words: she’s
Meaning:
she’s\n1. She’s is the usual spoken form of `she is’.\nShe’s an exceptionally good cook...\nShe’s having a baby in October.\n\n2. She’s is a spoken form of `she has’, especially when `has’ is an auxiliary verb.\nShe’s been married for seven years and has two daughters.


Words: sheaf
Meaning:
sheaf  sheaves\n1. A sheaf of papers is a number of them held or fastened together.\nHe took out a sheaf of papers and leafed through them.\n  N-COUNT: usu N of n\n\n2. A sheaf of corn or wheat is a number of corn or wheat plants that have been cut down and tied together.\n  N-COUNT


Words: shear
Meaning:
shear  shears  shearing  sheared  shorn\n1. To shear a sheep means to cut its wool off.\nIn the Hebrides they shear their sheep later than anywhere else.\n  VERB: V n\n\n=>  shear.ing\n...a display of sheep shearing.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n\n2. A pair of shears is a garden tool like a very large pair of scissors. Shears are used especially for cutting hedges.\nTrim the shrubs with shears.\n  N-PLURAL: also a pair of N


Words: sheath
Meaning:
sheath  sheaths\n1. A sheath is a covering for the blade of a knife.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. A sheath is a rubber covering for a man’s penis and is used during sex as a contraceptive or as a protection against disease. (BRIT)\n  N-COUNT\n  = condom


Words: sheathe
Meaning:
sheathe  sheathes  sheathing  sheathed\n1. If something is sheathed in a material or other covering, it is closely covered with it. (LITERARY)\nThe television was sheathed in a snug coverlet.\n...her long legs, sheathed in sheer black tights.\n  VERB: usu passive, be V-ed in n, V-ed\n\n2. When someone sheathes a knife, they put it in its sheath. (LITERARY)\nHe sheathed the knife and strapped it to his shin.\n  VERB: V n


Words: shebang
Meaning:
she.bang\n   shebang\n  The whole shebang is the whole situation or business that you are describing. (INFORMAL)\n  PHRASE


Words: shed
Meaning:
shed  sheds  shedding\n\n  The form shed is used in the present tense and in the past tense and past participle of the verb.\n\n1. A shed is a small building that is used for storing things such as garden tools.\n...a garden shed.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. A shed is a large shelter or building, for example at a railway station, port, or factory.\n...disused railway sheds.\n  N-COUNT: usu n N\n\n3. When a tree sheds its leaves, its leaves fall off in the autumn. When an animal sheds hair or skin, some of its hair or skin drops off.\nSome of the trees were already beginning to shed their leaves.\n  VERB: V n\n\n4. To shed something means to get rid of it. (FORMAL)\nThe firm is to shed 700 jobs...\n  VERB: V n\n\n5. If a lorry sheds its load, the goods that it is carrying accidentally fall onto the road. (mainly BRIT)\nA lorry piled with scrap metal had shed its load.\n  VERB: V n\n\n6. If you shed tears, you cry.\nThey will shed a few tears at their daughter’s wedding.\n  VERB: V n\n\n7. To shed blood means to kill people in a violent way. If someone sheds their blood, they are killed in a violent way, usually when they are fighting in a war. (FORMAL)\nGunmen in Ulster shed the first blood of the new year...\n  VERB: V n\n\n8.\nto shed light on something: see light


Words: sheen
Meaning:
sheen\n  If something has a sheen, it has a smooth and gentle brightness on its surface.\nThe carpet had a silvery sheen to it.\n  N-SING: oft adj N


Words: sheep
Meaning:
sheep  sheep\n1. A sheep is a farm animal which is covered with thick curly hair called wool. Sheep are kept for their wool or for their meat.\n...grassland on which a flock of sheep were grazing.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. If you say that a group of people are like sheep, you disapprove of them because if one person does something, all the others copy that person.\n  N-PLURAL: usu like N  disapproval\n\n3.\n  see also black sheep


Words: sheepdog
Meaning:
sheep.dog\n   sheepdog  sheepdogs\n  A sheepdog is a breed of dog. Some sheepdogs are used for controlling sheep.\n  N-COUNT


Words: sheepish
Meaning:
sheep.ish\n   sheepish\n  If you look sheepish, you look slightly embarrassed because you feel foolish or you have done something silly.\nThe couple leapt apart when she walked in on them and later came downstairs looking sheepish.\n  ADJ


Words: sheepskin
Meaning:
sheep.skin\n   sheepskin  sheepskins\n  Sheepskin is the skin of a sheep with the wool still attached to it, used especially for making coats and rugs.\n...a sheepskin coat.\n  N-VAR: oft N n


Words: sheer
Meaning:
sheer  sheerer  sheerest\n1. You can use sheer to emphasize that a state or situation is complete and does not involve or is not mixed with anything else.\nHis music is sheer delight...\nSheer chance quite often plays an important part in sparking off an idea.\n  ADJ: ADJ n  emphasis\n  = pure\n2. A sheer cliff or drop is extremely steep or completely vertical.\nThere was a sheer drop just outside my window...\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n\n\n3. Sheer material is very thin, light, and delicate.\n...sheer black tights.\n  ADJ


Words: sheet
Meaning:
sheet  sheets\n1. A sheet is a large rectangular piece of cotton or other cloth that you sleep on or cover yourself with in a bed.\nOnce a week, a maid changes the sheets.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. A sheet of paper is a rectangular piece of paper.\n...a sheet of newspaper...\nI was able to fit it all on one sheet.\n  N-COUNT\n\n3. You can use sheet to refer to a piece of paper which gives information about something.\n...information sheets on each country in the world.\n  N-COUNT: usu n N\n\n4. A sheet of glass, metal, or wood is a large, flat, thin piece of it.\n...a cracked sheet of glass...\nOverhead cranes were lifting giant sheets of steel...\n  N-COUNT: usu N of n\n\n5. A sheet of something is a thin wide layer of it over the surface of something else.\n...a sheet of ice.\n...a blue-grey sheet of dust.\n  N-COUNT: usu N of n\n\n6.\nas white as a sheet: see white\n  see also balance sheet, broadsheet, dust sheet, fact sheet, groundsheet, news-sheet, scoresheet, spreadsheet, worksheet


Words: sheet metal
Meaning:
sheet met.al\n   sheet metal\n  Sheet metal is metal which has been made into thin sheets.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: sheet music
Meaning:
sheet mu.sic\n   sheet music\n  Sheet music is music that is printed on sheets of paper without a hard cover.\n...a copy of the sheet music to `Happy Days’.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: sheeting
Meaning:
sheet.ing\n   sheeting\n  Sheeting is metal, plastic, or other material that is made in the form of sheets.\nThey put plastic sheeting on the insides of our windows.\n  N-UNCOUNT: oft n N


Words: sheikh
Meaning:
sheikh  sheikhs\n  A sheikh is a male Arab chief or ruler.\n...Sheikh Khalifa.\n...the sheik’s role in global oil affairs.\n  N-TITLE; N-COUNT


Words: sheikhdom
Meaning:
sheikh.dom\n   sheikhdom  sheikhdoms   also sheikdom\n  A sheikhdom is a country or region that is ruled by a sheikh.\n  N-COUNT


Words: shelf
Meaning:
shelf  shelves\n1. A shelf is a flat piece of wood, metal, or glass which is attached to a wall or to the sides of a cupboard. Shelves are used for keeping things on.\nHe took a book from the shelf.\n...the middle shelf of the oven.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. A shelf is a section of rock on a cliff or mountain or underwater that sticks out like a shelf.\nThe house stands on a shelf of rock among pines.\n  N-COUNT\n\n  see also continental shelf\n3. If you buy something off the shelf, you buy something that is not specially made for you. (BRIT)\n...off-the-shelf software.\n  PHRASE: PHR after v, PHR n\n  !=tailor-made


Words: shelf life
Meaning:
shelf life  shelf lives\n  The shelf life of a product, especially food, is the length of time that it can be kept in a shop or at home before it becomes too old to sell or use.\nMature flour has a longer shelf life.\n  N-COUNT: usu sing


Words: shell
Meaning:
shell  shells  shelling  shelled\n1. The shell of a nut or egg is the hard covering which surrounds it.\nThey cracked the nuts and removed their shells...\n  N-COUNT\n\n  Shell is the substance that a shell is made of.\n...beads made from ostrich egg shell.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n\n2. The shell of an animal such as a tortoise, snail, or crab is the hard protective covering that it has around its body or on its back.\n  N-COUNT\n\n3. Shells are hard objects found on beaches. They are usually pink, white, or brown and are the coverings which used to surround small sea creatures.\nI collect shells and interesting seaside items.\n...sea shells.\n  N-COUNT\n\n4. If you shell nuts, peas, prawns, or other food, you remove their natural outer covering.\nShe shelled and ate a few nuts.\n...shelled prawns.\n  VERB: V n, V-ed\n\n5. If someone comes out of their shell, they become more friendly and interested in other people and less quiet, shy, and reserved.\nHer normally shy son had come out of his shell.\n  N-COUNT: usu poss N\n\n6. The shell of a building, boat, car, or other structure is the outside frame of it.\n...the shells of burned buildings...\n  N-COUNT: usu with supp\n\n7. A shell is a weapon consisting of a metal container filled with explosives that can be fired from a large gun over long distances.\n  N-COUNT\n\n8. To shell a place means to fire explosive shells at it.\nThe rebels shelled the densely-populated suburbs near the port.\n  VERB: V n\n\n=>  shell.ing      shellings\nOut on the streets, the shelling continued.\n  N-VAR


Words: shell company
Meaning:
shell com.pa.ny\n   shell company shell companies\n  A shell company is a company that another company takes over in order to use its name to gain an advantage. (BUSINESS)\n  N-COUNT


Words: shell out
Meaning:
shell out\n  If you shell out for something, you spend a lot of money on it. (INFORMAL)\nYou won’t have to shell out a fortune for it...\n...an insurance premium which saves you from having to shell out for repairs...\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n for/on n, V P for/on n\n  = fork out


Words: shell program
Meaning:
shell pro.gram\n   shell program shell programs\n  A shell program is a basic computer program that provides a framework within which the user can develop the program to suit their own needs. (COMPUTING)\n  N-COUNT


Words: shell shock
Meaning:
shell shock   also shell-shock\n  Shell shock is the confused or nervous mental condition of people who have been under fire in a war.\nThe men were suffering from shell shock.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: shell suit
Meaning:
shell suit  shell suits   also shell-suit\n  A shell suit is a casual suit which is made of thin nylon.\n...someone in a shell suit from Stirchley.\n  N-COUNT


Words: shell-shocked
Meaning:
shell-shocked   also shell shocked\n1. If you say that someone is shell-shocked, you mean that they are very shocked, usually because something bad has happened. (INFORMAL)\nWe were shell-shocked when Chelsea took the lead.\n...shell-shocked investors.\n  ADJ\n  = stunned\n2. If someone is shell-shocked, they have a confused or nervous mental condition as a result of a shocking experience such as being in a war or an accident.\n...a shell-shocked war veteran.\n  ADJ


Words: shellac
Meaning:
shel.lac\n   shellac\n  Shellac is a kind of natural varnish which you paint on to wood to give it a shiny surface.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: shellfire
Meaning:
shell.fire\n   shellfire\n  Shellfire is the firing of large military guns.\nThe radio said other parts of the capital also came under shellfire.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: shellfish
Meaning:
shell.fish\n   shellfish  shellfish\n  Shellfish are small creatures that live in the sea and have a shell.\nFish and shellfish are the specialities.\n  N-VAR: usu pl


Words: shelter
Meaning:
shel.ter\n   shelter  shelters  sheltering  sheltered\n1. A shelter is a small building or covered place which is made to protect people from bad weather or danger.\nThe city’s bomb shelters were being prepared for possible air raids.\n...a bus shelter.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. If a place provides shelter, it provides you with a place to stay or live, especially when you need protection from bad weather or danger.\nThe number of families seeking shelter rose by 17 percent...\n...the hut where they were given food and shelter.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n\n3. A shelter is a building where homeless people can sleep and get food.\n...a shelter for homeless women.\n  N-COUNT\n\n4. If you shelter in a place, you stay there and are protected from bad weather or danger.\n...a man sheltering in a doorway...\n  VERB: V prep/adv\n\n5. If a place or thing is sheltered by something, it is protected by that thing from wind and rain.\n...a wooden house, sheltered by a low pointed roof.\n  VERB: usu passive, V-ed\n\n6. If you shelter someone, usually someone who is being hunted by police or other people, you provide them with a place to stay or live.\nA neighbor sheltered the boy for seven days.\n  VERB: V n\n\n7.\n  see also sheltered


Words: sheltered
Meaning:
shel.tered\n   sheltered\n1. A sheltered place is protected from wind and rain.\n...a shallow-sloping beach next to a sheltered bay.\n  ADJ\n\n2. If you say that someone has led a sheltered life, you mean that they have been protected from difficult or unpleasant experiences.\nPerhaps I’ve just led a really sheltered life...\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n\n\n3. Sheltered accommodation or work is designed for old or disabled people. It allows them to be independent but also allows them to get help when they need it.\nFor the last few years I have been living in sheltered accommodation.\n  ADJ: ADJ n\n\n4.\n  see also shelter


Words: shelve
Meaning:
shelve  shelves  shelving  shelved\n1. If someone shelves a plan or project, they decide not to continue with it, either for a while or permanently.\nAtlanta has shelved plans to include golf in the 1996 Games...\nSadly, the project has now been shelved.\n  VERB: V n, be V-ed\n\n2. If an area of ground next to or under the sea shelves, it slopes downwards.\nThe shoreline shelves away steeply.\n...a gently shelving beach.\n  VERB: V adv/prep, V-ing\n\n3. Shelves is the plural of shelf.


Words: shelving
Meaning:
shelv.ing\n   shelving\n  Shelving is a set of shelves, or material which is used for making shelves.\n...the shelving on the long, windowless wall.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: shenanigans
Meaning:
she.nani.gans\n   shenanigans\n  You can use shenanigans to refer to rather dishonest or immoral behaviour, especially when you think it is amusing or interesting. (INFORMAL)\n...the private shenanigans of public figures.\n  N-PLURAL


Words: shepherd
Meaning:
shep.herd\n   shepherd  shepherds  shepherding  shepherded\n1. A shepherd is a person, especially a man, whose job is to look after sheep.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. If you are shepherded somewhere, someone takes you there to make sure that you arrive at the right place safely.\nShe was shepherded by her guards up the rear ramp of the aircraft.\n  VERB: usu passive, be V-ed prep/adv


Words: shepherd’s pie
Meaning:
shep.herd’s pie\n   shepherd’s pie  shepherd’s pies\n  Shepherd’s pie is a dish consisting of minced meat, usually lamb, covered with a layer of mashed potato. (BRIT)\n  N-VAR


Words: shepherdess
Meaning:
shep.herd.ess\n   shepherdess  shepherdesses\n  A shepherdess is a woman whose job is to look after sheep.\n  N-COUNT


Words: sherbet
Meaning:
sher.bet\n   sherbet  sherbets\n1. Sherbet is a sweet dry powder that tastes fizzy and is eaten as a sweet. (BRIT)\n...sherbet dips.\n  N-UNCOUNT: oft N n\n\n2. Sherbet is like ice cream but made with fruit juice, sugar, and water. (AM; in BRIT, use sorbet)\n...lemon sherbet.\n  N-VAR


Words: sheriff
Meaning:
sher.iff\n   sheriff  sheriffs\n1. In the United States, a sheriff is a person who is elected to make sure that the law is obeyed in a particular county.\n...the local sheriff.\n  N-COUNT; N-TITLE\n\n2. In Scotland, a sheriff is a legal officer whose chief duty is to act as judge in a Sheriff Court. These courts deal with all but the most serious crimes and with most civil actions.\n...the presiding judge, Sheriff John Mowatt.\n  N-COUNT; N-TITLE\n\n3. In England and Wales, the Sheriff of a city or county is a person who is elected or appointed to carry out mainly ceremonial duties.\n...the Sheriff of Oxford.\n  N-COUNT: usu N of n


Words: sherry
Meaning:
sher.ry\n   sherry  sherries\n  Sherry is a type of strong wine that is made in south-western Spain. It is usually drunk before a meal.\nI poured us a glass of sherry.\n...some of the world’s finest sherries.\n  N-MASS\n\n  A glass of sherry can be referred to as a sherry.\nI’ll have a sherry please.\n  N-COUNT


Words: shiatsu
Meaning:
shi.at.su\n   shiatsu\n  Shiatsu is a form of massage that is used to cure illness and reduce pain.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: shibboleth
Meaning:
shib.bo.leth\n   shibboleth  shibboleths\n  If you describe an idea or belief as a shibboleth, you mean that it is thought important by a group of people but may be old-fashioned or wrong. (FORMAL)\nIt is time to go beyond the shibboleth that conventional forces cannot deter.\n  N-COUNT


Words: shield
Meaning:
shield  shields  shielding  shielded\n1. Something or someone which is a shield against a particular danger or risk provides protection from it.\nHe used his left hand as a shield against the reflecting sunlight.\n  N-COUNT: usu sing\n\n2. If something or someone shields you from a danger or risk, they protect you from it.\nHe shielded his head from the sun with an old sack...\n  VERB: V n from n\n  = protect\n3. If you shield your eyes, you put your hand above your eyes to protect them from direct sunlight.\nHe squinted and shielded his eyes.\n  VERB: V n\n  = shade\n4. A shield is a large piece of metal or leather which soldiers used to carry to protect their bodies while they were fighting.\n  N-COUNT\n\n5. A shield is a sports prize or badge that is shaped like a shield.\n  N-COUNT


Words: shift
Meaning:
shift  shifts  shifting  shifted\n1. If you shift something or if it shifts, it moves slightly.\nHe stopped, shifting his cane to his left hand...\nHe shifted from foot to foot...\nThe entire pile shifted and slid, thumping onto the floor.\n...the squeak of his boots in the snow as he shifted his weight.\n  VERB: V n prep/adv, V prep/adv, V, V n\n\n2. If someone’s opinion, a situation, or a policy shifts or is shifted, it changes slightly.\nAttitudes to mental illness have shifted in recent years...\nThe emphasis should be shifted more towards Parliament.\n  VERB: V, be V-ed prep/adv\n\n  Shift is also a noun.\n...a shift in government policy.\n  N-COUNT: usu N prep\n\n3. If someone shifts the responsibility or blame for something onto you, they unfairly make you responsible or make people blame you for it, instead of them.\nIt was a vain attempt to shift the responsibility for the murder to somebody else...\n  VERB: V n prep  disapproval\n\n4. If a shop or company shifts goods, they sell goods that are difficult to sell. (BRIT)\nSome suppliers were selling at a loss to shift stock.\n  VERB\n\n5. If you shift gears in a car, you put the car into a different gear. (AM; in BRIT, use change)\n  VERB\n\n6. If a group of factory workers, nurses, or other people work shifts, they work for a set period before being replaced by another group, so that there is always a group working. Each of these set periods is called a shift. You can also use shift to refer to a group of workers who work together on a particular shift.\nHis father worked shifts in a steel mill.\n  N-COUNT: oft n N\n\n7.\n  see also shifting


Words: shift down
Meaning:
When you shift down, you move the gear lever in the vehicle you are driving in order to use a higher gear. (AM; in BRIT, use change down)\n  PHRASAL VERB


Words: shift up
Meaning:
When you shift up, you move the gear lever in the vehicle you are driving in order to use a higher gear. (AM; in BRIT, use change up)\n  PHRASAL VERB


Words: shifting
Meaning:
shift.ing\n   shifting\n  Shifting is used to describe something which is made up of parts that are continuously moving and changing position in relation to other parts.\nThe Croatian town of Ilok is a classic case of shifting populations.\n  ADJ: ADJ n\n\n  see also shift


Words: shiftless
Meaning:
shift.less\n   shiftless\n  If you describe someone as shiftless, you mean that they are lazy and have no desire to achieve anything.\n...a shiftless husband.\n  ADJ  disapproval


Words: shifty
Meaning:
shifty\n  Someone who looks shifty gives the impression of being dishonest. (INFORMAL)\nHe had a shifty face and previous convictions.\n  ADJ  disapproval


Words: shilling
Meaning:
shil.ling\n   shilling  shillings\n  A shilling was a unit of money used in Britain until 1971 which was the equivalent of 5p. There were twenty shillings in a pound.\n  N-COUNT


Words: shilly-shally
Meaning:
shilly-shally  shilly-shallies  shilly-shallying  shilly-shallied\n  If you say that someone is shilly-shallying, you disapprove of the fact that they are hesitating when they should make a decision. (INFORMAL)\nIt’s time for Brooke to stop shilly-shallying.\n  VERB: usu cont, V  disapproval\n  = dither


Words: shimmer
Meaning:
shim.mer\n   shimmer  shimmers  shimmering  shimmered\n  If something shimmers, it shines with a faint, unsteady light or has an unclear, unsteady appearance.\nThe lights shimmered on the water...\n  VERB: V\n\n  Shimmer is also a noun.\n...a shimmer of starlight.\n  N-SING


Words: shimmy
Meaning:
shim.my\n   shimmy  shimmies  shimmying  shimmied\n  If you shimmy, you dance or move in a way that involves shaking your hips and shoulders from side to side.\nDancers shimmied in the streets of New Orleans...\n  VERB: V


Words: shin
Meaning:
shin  shins\n  Your shins are the front parts of your legs between your knees and your ankles.\nShe punched him on the nose and kicked him in the shins.\n  N-COUNT


Words: shindig
Meaning:
shin.dig\n   shindig  shindigs\n  A shindig is a large, noisy, enjoyable party. (INFORMAL)\n  N-COUNT\n  = knees-up


Words: shine
Meaning:
shine  shines  shining  shined  shone\n1. When the sun or a light shines, it gives out bright light.\nIt is a mild morning and the sun is shining...\nA few scattered lights shone on the horizon.\n  VERB: V, V\n\n2. If you shine a torch or other light somewhere, you point it there, so that you can see something when it is dark.\nOne of the men shone a torch in his face...\nThe man walked slowly towards her, shining the flashlight.\n  VERB: V n prep, V n\n\n3. Something that shines is very bright and clear because it is reflecting light.\nHer blue eyes shone and caught the light.\n...shining aluminum machines.\n  VERB: V, V-ing\n  = gleam\n4. Something that has a shine is bright and clear because it is reflecting light.\nThis gel gives a beautiful shine to the hair...\n  N-SING\n  = sheen\n5. If you shine a wooden, leather, or metal object, you make it bright by rubbing or polishing it.\nLet him dust and shine the furniture...\n  VERB: V n\n  = polish\n6. Someone who shines at a skill or activity does it extremely well.\nDid you shine at school?...\n  VERB: V\n  = excel\n7.\n  see also shining\n8. If you say that someone has taken a shine to another person, you mean that he or she liked them very much at their first meeting. (INFORMAL)\nSeems to me you’ve taken quite a shine to Miss Richmond.\n  PHRASE: V inflects\n\n9.\nrain or shine: see rain


Words: shingle
Meaning:
shin.gle\n   shingle  shingles\n1. Shingle is a mass of small rough pieces of stone on the shore of a sea or a river.\n...a beach of sand and shingle.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n\n2. Shingles is a disease in which painful red spots spread in bands over a person’s body, especially around their waist.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: shining
Meaning:
shin.ing\n   shining\n  A shining achievement or quality is a very good one which should be greatly admired.\nShe is a shining example to us all...\n  ADJ\n\n  see also shine


Words: shiny
Meaning:
shiny  shinier  shiniest\n  Shiny things are bright and reflect light.\nHer blonde hair was shiny and clean.\n...a shiny new sports car.\n  ADJ


Words: ship
Meaning:
ship  ships  shipping  shipped\n1. A ship is a large boat which carries passengers or cargo.\nWithin ninety minutes the ship was ready for departure...\nWe went by ship over to America.\n...merchant ships.\n  N-COUNT: also by N\n\n2. If people or things are shipped somewhere, they are sent there on a ship or by some other means of transport.\nFood is being shipped to drought-stricken Southern Africa.\n  VERB: usu passive, be V-ed prep/adv\n\n3.\n  see also shipping


Words: ship out
Meaning:
ship out\n  If someone ships out, they leave a place, especially by ship.\nSailors hung about while they waited to ship out.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P


Words: shipboard
Meaning:
ship.board\n   shipboard\n  Shipboard means taking place on a ship.\n...a shipboard romance.\n  ADJ: ADJ n


Words: shipbuilder
Meaning:
ship.builder\n   shipbuilder  shipbuilders\n  A shipbuilder is a company or a person that builds ships.\n  N-COUNT


Words: shipload
Meaning:
ship.load\n   shipload  shiploads\n  A shipload of people or goods is as many people or goods as a ship can carry.\n...a shipload of refugees...\n  N-COUNT: usu N of n


Words: shipmate
Meaning:
ship.mate\n   shipmate  shipmates\n  Sailors who work together on the same ship are shipmates.\nHis shipmates stayed at their stations.\n  N-COUNT: oft poss N


Words: shipment
Meaning:
ship.ment\n   shipment  shipments\n1. A shipment is an amount of a particular kind of cargo that is sent to another country on a ship, train, aeroplane, or other vehicle.\nFood shipments could begin in a matter of weeks.\n...a shipment of weapons.\n  N-COUNT: usu N n, N of n\n\n2. The shipment of a cargo somewhere is the sending of it there by ship, train, aeroplane, or some other vehicle.\nBananas are packed before being transported to the docks for shipment overseas.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: shipowner
Meaning:
ship.owner\n   shipowner  shipowners\n  A shipowner is someone who owns a ship or ships or who has shares in a shipping company.\n  N-COUNT


Words: shipper
Meaning:
ship.per\n   shipper  shippers\n  Shippers are people or companies who ship cargo as a business.\n  N-COUNT: usu pl


Words: shipping
Meaning:
ship.ping\n   shipping\n1. Shipping is the transport of cargo as a business, especially on ships.\n...the international shipping industry...\nThe Greeks are still powerful players in world shipping.\n  N-UNCOUNT: usu with supp\n\n2. You can refer to the amount of money that you pay to a company to transport cargo as shipping.\nIt is $39.95 plus $3 shipping.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n\n3. You can refer to ships as shipping when considering them as a group.\nThey sent naval forces to protect merchant shipping.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: shipshape
Meaning:
ship.shape\n   shipshape\n  If something is shipshape, it looks tidy, neat, and in good condition.\nThe house only needs an occasional coat of paint to keep it shipshape.\n  ADJ: usu v-link ADJ


Words: shipwreck
Meaning:
ship.wreck\n   shipwreck  shipwrecks  shipwrecked\n1. If there is a shipwreck, a ship is destroyed in an accident at sea.\nHe was drowned in a shipwreck off the coast of Spain.\n  N-VAR\n\n2. A shipwreck is a ship which has been destroyed in an accident at sea.\n  N-COUNT\n  = wreck\n3. If someone is shipwrecked, their ship is destroyed in an accident at sea but they survive and manage to reach land.\nHe was shipwrecked after visiting the island...\n  V-PASSIVE: be V-ed


Words: shipwright
Meaning:
ship.wright\n   shipwright  shipwrights\n  A shipwright is a person who builds or repairs ships as a job.\n  N-COUNT


Words: shipyard
Meaning:
ship.yard\n   shipyard  shipyards\n  A shipyard is a place where ships are built and repaired.\n  N-COUNT


Words: shire
Meaning:
shire  shires\n1. The Shires or the shire counties are the counties of England that have a lot of countryside and farms.\nSmart country people are fleeing back to the shires.\n  N-COUNT: usu the N in pl\n\n2. A shire or shire horse is a large heavy horse used for pulling loads. (BRIT)\n  N-COUNT


Words: shirk
Meaning:
shirk  shirks  shirking  shirked\n  If someone does not shirk their responsibility or duty, they do what they have a responsibility to do.\nWe in the Congress can’t shirk our responsibility...\nThe Government will not shirk from considering the need for further action.\n  VERB: usu with neg, V n, V from -ing, also V


Words: shirt
Meaning:
shirt  shirts\n1. A shirt is a piece of clothing that you wear on the upper part of your body. Shirts have a collar, sleeves, and buttons down the front.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2.\n  see also dress shirt, stuffed shirt, sweatshirt, T-shirt


Words: shirt-tail
Meaning:
shirt-tail  shirt-tails   also shirttail\n  Shirt-tails are the long parts of a shirt below the waist.\nHe wore sandals and old jeans and his shirt-tails weren’t tucked in.\n  N-COUNT


Words: shirtsleeve
Meaning:
shirt.sleeve\n   shirtsleeve  shirtsleeves\n  Shirtsleeves are the sleeves of a shirt. If a man is in shirtsleeves or in his shirtsleeves, he is wearing a shirt but not a jacket.\nHe rolled up his shirtsleeves...\n  N-COUNT: usu pl


Words: shirty
Meaning:
shirty\n  If someone gets shirty, they behave in a bad-tempered and rude way because they are annoyed about something. (BRIT INFORMAL)\nHe got quite shirty with me.\n  ADJ: usu v-link ADJ\n  = stroppy


Words: shit
Meaning:
shit  shits  shitting  shat\n1. Some people use shit to refer to solid waste matter from the body of a human being or animal. (INFORMAL, RUDE)\n  N-UNCOUNT\n\n2. To shit means to get rid of solid waste matter from the body. (INFORMAL, RUDE)\n  VERB: V\n\n3. To have a shit means to get rid of solid waste matter from the body. (INFORMAL, RUDE)\n  N-SING\n\n4. If someone has the shits, liquid waste matter keeps coming out of their body because they are ill or afraid. (INFORMAL, RUDE)\n  N-PLURAL: the N\n\n5. People sometimes refer to things that they do not like as shit. (INFORMAL, RUDE)\nThis is a load of shit.\n  N-UNCOUNT  disapproval\n\n6. People sometimes insult someone they do not like by referring to them as a shit. (INFORMAL, RUDE)\n  N-COUNT  disapproval\n\n7. Shit is used to express anger, impatience, or disgust. (INFORMAL, RUDE)\n  EXCLAM\n\n8. To beat or kick the shit out of someone means to beat or kick them so violently that they are badly injured. (INFORMAL, RUDE)\n  PHRASE: V inflects  emphasis\n\n9. If someone says that the shit hit the fan, they mean that there was suddenly a lot of trouble or angry arguments. (INFORMAL, RUDE)\n  PHRASE: V inflects\n\n10. If someone says that they do not give a shit about something, they mean that they do not care about it at all. (INFORMAL, RUDE)\n  PHRASE: V inflects, usu with brd-neg  feelings


Words: shite
Meaning:
shite\n  If someone describes something as shite, they do not like it or think that it is very poor quality. (BRIT INFORMAL, RUDE)\n  ADJ  disapproval


Words: shitless
Meaning:
shit.less\n   shitless\n  If someone says that they are scared shitless or bored shitless, they are emphasizing that they are extremely scared or bored. (INFORMAL, RUDE)\n  ADV: adj ADV  emphasis


Words: shitty
Meaning:
shit.ty\n   shitty  shittier  shittiest\n  If someone describes something as shitty, they do not like it or think that it is of poor quality. (INFORMAL, RUDE)\n  ADJ  disapproval


Words: shiver
Meaning:
shiv.er\n   shiver  shivers  shivering  shivered\n  When you shiver, your body shakes slightly because you are cold or frightened.\nHe shivered in the cold...\nI was sitting on the floor shivering with fear.\n  VERB: V, V with n\n  = shake\n  Shiver is also a noun.\nThe emptiness here sent shivers down my spine...\n  N-COUNT


Words: shivery
Meaning:
shiv.ery\n   shivery\n  If you are shivery, you cannot stop shivering because you feel cold, frightened, or ill.\nShe felt shivery and a little sick.\n  ADJ


Words: shoal
Meaning:
shoal  shoals\n  A shoal of fish is a large group of them swimming together.\nAmong them swam shoals of fish.\n...tuna shoals.\n  N-COUNT: oft N of n


Words: shock
Meaning:
shock  shocks  shocking  shocked\n1. If you have a shock, something suddenly happens which is unpleasant, upsetting, or very surprising.\nThe extent of the violence came as a shock...\nHe has never recovered from the shock of your brother’s death...\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. Shock is a person’s emotional and physical condition when something very frightening or upsetting has happened to them.\nShe’s still in a state of shock.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n\n3. If someone is in shock, they are suffering from a serious physical condition in which their blood is not flowing round their body properly, for example because they have had a bad injury.\nThey escaped the blaze but were rushed to hospital suffering from shock.\n  N-UNCOUNT: oft in N\n\n4. If something shocks you, it makes you feel very upset, because it involves death or suffering and because you had not expected it.\nAfter forty years in the police force nothing much shocks me...\n  VERB: V n\n\n=>  shocked\nThis was a nasty attack and the woman is still very shocked.\n  ADJ\n\n5. If someone or something shocks you, it upsets or offends you because you think it is rude or morally wrong.\nYou can’t shock me...\nThey were easily shocked in those days...\nWe were always trying to be creative and to shock.\n  VERB: V n, be V-ed, V\n\n=>  shocked\nDon’t look so shocked.\n  ADJ\n\n6. A shock announcement or event is one which shocks people because it is unexpected. (JOURNALISM)\n...the shock announcement that she is to resign.\n...a shock defeat.\n  ADJ: ADJ n\n\n7. A shock is the force of something suddenly hitting or pulling something else.\nSteel barriers can bend and absorb the shock.\n  N-VAR\n\n8. A shock is the same as an electric shock.\n  N-COUNT\n\n9. A shock of hair is a very thick mass of hair on a person’s head. (WRITTEN)\n...a very old priest with a shock of white hair.\n  N-COUNT: N of n\n\n10.\n  see also shocking, culture shock, electric shock, shell shock


Words: shock absorber
Meaning:
shock ab.sorb.er\n   shock absorber  shock absorbers   also shock-absorber\n  A shock absorber is a device fitted near the wheels of a car or other vehicle to reduce the effects of travelling over uneven ground.\n...a pair of rear shock absorbers.\n  N-COUNT


Words: shock horror
Meaning:
shock hor.ror\n   shock horror\n1. A shock horror story is presented in a way that is intended to cause great shock or anger. (INFORMAL)\nThe media is full of shock-horror headlines about under-age crime.\n  ADJ: ADJ n\n  = sensational\n2. You can say shock horror! in reaction to something that other people may find shocking or surprising, to indicate that you do not find it shocking or surprising at all. (HUMOROUS, INFORMAL)\nI felt intellectually superior despite.shock horror.my lack of qualifications.\n  EXCLAM  feelings


Words: shock jock
Meaning:
shock jock  shock jocks\n  A shock jock is a radio disc jockey who deliberately uses language or expresses opinions that many people find offensive. (INFORMAL)\n  N-COUNT


Words: shock tactic
Meaning:
shock tac.tic\n   shock tactic  shock tactics\n  Shock tactics are a way of trying to influence people’s attitudes to a particular matter by shocking them.\nWe must use shock tactics if we are to stop Aids becoming another accepted 20th-century disease.\n  N-COUNT: usu pl


Words: shock therapy
Meaning:
shock thera.py\n   shock therapy\n1. You can refer to the use of extreme policies or actions to solve a particular problem quickly as shock therapy.\n...Prague’s policy of economic shock therapy.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n  = shock treatment\n2. Shock therapy is a way of treating mentally ill patients by passing an electric current through their brain.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n  = shock treatment


Words: shock treatment
Meaning:
shock treat.ment\n   shock treatment  shock treatments\n  Shock treatment is the same as shock therapy.\n  N-UNCOUNT: also N in pl


Words: shock troops
Meaning:
shock troops\n  Shock troops are soldiers who are specially trained to carry out a quick attack.\n  N-PLURAL


Words: shock wave
Meaning:
shock wave  shock waves   also shockwave\n1. A shock wave is an area of very high pressure moving through the air, earth, or water. It is caused by an explosion or an earthquake, or by an object travelling faster than sound.\nThe shock waves yesterday were felt from Las Vegas to San Diego.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. A shock wave is the effect of something surprising, such as a piece of unpleasant news, that causes strong reactions when it spreads through a place.\nThe crime sent shock waves throughout the country.\n  N-COUNT


Words: shocker
Meaning:
shock.er\n   shocker  shockers\n  A shocker is something such as a story, a piece of news, or a film that shocks people or that is intended to shock them. (INFORMAL)\nMarsha Hunt’s second novel, `Free’, is a shocker.\n  N-COUNT


Words: shocking
Meaning:
shock.ing\n   shocking\n1. You can say that something is shocking if you think that it is very bad. (INFORMAL)\nThe media coverage was shocking...\n  ADJ\n  = appalling\n=>  shock.ing.ly\nHis memory was becoming shockingly bad.\n  ADV: ADV adj/adv\n\n2. You can say that something is shocking if you think that it is morally wrong.\nIt is shocking that nothing was said...\n  ADJ: oft it v-link ADJ that/to-inf\n\n=>  shock.ing.ly\nShockingly, this useless and dangerous surgery did not end until the 1930s.\n  ADV\n\n3.\n  see also shock


Words: shocking pink
Meaning:
shock.ing pink\n   shocking pink\n  Something that is shocking pink is very bright pink.\n...a shocking-pink T-shirt.\n  COLOUR


Words: shod
Meaning:
shod\n1. You can use shod when you are describing the kind of shoes that a person is wearing. (FORMAL)\nHe has demonstrated a strong preference for being shod in running shoes.\n  ADJ: v-link ADJ in/with n, adv ADJ\n\n2. Shod is the past participle of shoe.


Words: shoddy
Meaning:
shod.dy\n   shoddy  shoddier  shoddiest\n  Shoddy work or a shoddy product has been done or made carelessly or badly.\nI’m normally quick to complain about shoddy service...\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n\n\n=>  shod.di.ly\nThese products are shoddily produced.\n  ADV: usu ADV with v


Words: shoe
Meaning:
shoe  shoes\n1. Shoes are objects which you wear on your feet. They cover most of your foot and you wear them over socks or stockings.\n...a pair of shoes...\nYou don’t mind if I take my shoes off, do you?\n  N-COUNT\n\n  see also snowshoe, training shoe\n2. A shoe is the same as a horseshoe.\n  N-COUNT\n\n3. When a blacksmith shoes a horse, they fix horseshoes onto its feet.\nBlacksmiths spent most of their time repairing tools and shoeing horses...\n  VERB: V n\n\n4.\n  see also shod\n5. If you fill someone’s shoes or step into their shoes, you take their place by doing the job they were doing.\nNo one has been able to fill his shoes...\n  PHRASE: V inflects\n\n6. If you talk about being in someone’s shoes, you talk about what you would do or how you would feel if you were in their situation.\nI wouldn’t want to be in his shoes.\n  PHRASE: usu v-link PHR


Words: shoehorn
Meaning:
shoe.horn\n   shoehorn  shoehorns  shoehorning  shoehorned\n1. A shoehorn is a piece of metal or plastic with a slight curve that you put in the back of your shoe so that your heel will go into the shoe easily.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. If you shoehorn something into a tight place, you manage to get it in there even though it is difficult.\nTheir cars are shoehorned into tiny spaces...\nI was shoehorning myself into my skin-tight ball gown.\n  VERB: be V-ed into n, V n into n


Words: shoelace
Meaning:
shoe.lace\n   shoelace  shoelaces\n  Shoelaces are long, narrow pieces of material like pieces of string that you use to fasten your shoes.\nHe began to tie his shoelaces.\n  N-COUNT: usu pl


Words: shoemaker
Meaning:
shoe.maker\n   shoemaker  shoemakers\n  A shoemaker is a person whose job is making shoes and boots.\n  N-COUNT


Words: shoestring
Meaning:
shoe.string\n   shoestring  shoestrings\n1. Shoestrings are long, narrow pieces of material like pieces of string that you use to fasten your shoes. (AM; in BRIT, use shoelaces)\n  N-COUNT: usu pl\n\n2. A shoestring budget is one where you have very little money to spend.\nThe British-produced film was made on a shoestring budget.\n  ADJ: ADJ n\n\n3. If you do something or make something on a shoestring, you do it using very little money.\nThe theatre will be run on a shoestring.\n  PHRASE: PHR after v


Words: shoo
Meaning:
shoo  shoos  shooing  shooed\n1. If you shoo an animal or a person away, you make them go away by waving your hands or arms at them.\nYou’d better shoo him away...\nI shooed him out of the room.\n  VERB: V n with adv, V n prep\n\n2. You say `shoo!’ to an animal when you want it to go away.\nShoo, bird, shoo.\n  EXCLAM


Words: shoo-in
Meaning:
shoo-in  shoo-ins\n  A shoo-in is a person or thing that seems sure to succeed. (mainly AM INFORMAL)\nMs Brown is still no shoo-in for the November election.\n  N-COUNT


Words: shoot
Meaning:
shoot  shoots  shooting  shot\n1. If someone shoots a person or an animal, they kill them or injure them by firing a bullet or arrow at them.\nThe police had orders to shoot anyone who attacked them...\nThe man was shot dead by the police during a raid on his house...\nHer father shot himself in the head with a shotgun.\n  VERB: V n, V n with adj, V n in n\n\n2. To shoot means to fire a bullet from a weapon such as a gun.\nHe taunted armed officers by pointing to his head, as if inviting them to shoot...\nThe police came around the corner and they started shooting at us...\nShe had never been able to shoot straight...\n  VERB: V, V at n, V adv/prep\n\n3. If someone or something shoots in a particular direction, they move in that direction quickly and suddenly.\nThey had almost reached the boat when a figure shot past them...\n  VERB: V adv/prep\n\n4. If you shoot something somewhere or if it shoots somewhere, it moves there quickly and suddenly.\nMasters shot a hand across the table and gripped his wrist...\nYou’d turn on the water, and it would shoot straight up in the air.\n  VERB: V n prep/adv, V adv/prep\n\n5. If you shoot a look at someone, you look at them quickly and briefly, often in a way that expresses your feelings.\nMary Ann shot him a rueful look...\nThe man in the black overcoat shot a penetrating look at the other man.\n  VERB: V n n, V n at n\n\n6. If someone shoots to fame, they become famous or successful very quickly.\nAlina Reyes shot to fame a few years ago with her extraordinary first novel...\n  VERB: V to n\n\n7. When people shoot a film or shoot photographs, they make a film or take photographs using a camera.\nHe’d love to shoot his film in Cuba...\n  VERB: V n\n\n  Shoot is also a noun.\n...a barn presently being used for a video shoot.\n  N-COUNT\n\n8. Shoots are plants that are beginning to grow, or new parts growing from a plant or tree.\n  N-COUNT: usu pl\n\n9. In sports such as football or basketball, when someone shoots, they try to score by kicking, throwing, or hitting the ball towards the goal.\nSpencer scuttled away from Young to shoot wide when he should have scored...\n  VERB: V adv/prep\n\n10.\n  see also shooting, shot\n11. If you shoot the breeze or shoot the bull with someone, you talk to them about things which are not very serious or important. (mainly AM INFORMAL)\nThey expected me to sit up and shoot the breeze with them till one or two in the morning...\nI also met with Pollack again to kind of shoot the bull.\n  PHRASE: V inflects, PHR with n, pl-n V\n\n12.\nto shoot from the hip: see hip


Words: shoot down
Meaning:
shoot down\n1. If someone shoots down an aeroplane, a helicopter, or a missile, they make it fall to the ground by hitting it with a bullet or missile.\nThey claimed to have shot down one incoming missile...\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron)\n\n2. If one person shoots down another, they shoot them with a gun.\nHe was prepared to suppress rebellion by shooting down protesters...\nThey shot him down in cold blood.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), V n P\n\n3. If you shoot someone down or shoot down their ideas, you say or show that they are completely wrong.\nShe was able to shoot the rumour down in flames with ample documentary evidence.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V n P, also V P n (not pron)


Words: shoot up
Meaning:
shoot up\n1. If something shoots up, it grows or increases very quickly.\nSales shot up by 9% last month...\nThe fair market value of the property shot up.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P by/to n, V P\n\n2. If a drug addict shoots up, they inject a quantity of drugs into their body. (INFORMAL)\nDrug addicts shoot up in the back alleys...\nWe shot up heroin in the playground.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P, V P n (not pron)


Words: shoot-em-up
Meaning:
shoot-em-up  shoot-em-ups\n  A shoot-em-up is a computer game that involves shooting and killing characters. (INFORMAL)\n  N-COUNT


Words: shoot-out
Meaning:
shoot-out  shoot-outs\n1. A shoot-out is a fight in which people shoot at each other with guns.\nThree IRA men were killed in the shoot-out.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. In games such as football, a shoot-out or a penalty shoot-out is a way of deciding the result of a game that has ended in a draw. Players from each team try to score a goal in turn until one player fails to score and their team loses the game.\nThe Danes won that UEFA tie in a shoot-out.\n  N-COUNT


Words: shooter
Meaning:
shoot.er\n   shooter  shooters\n1. A shooter is a person who shoots a gun.\nAn eyewitness identified him as the shooter...\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. A shooter is a gun. (INFORMAL)\n  N-COUNT


Words: shooting
Meaning:
shoot.ing\n   shooting  shootings\n1. A shooting is an occasion when someone is killed or injured by being shot with a gun.\nA drug-related gang war led to a series of shootings in the city.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. Shooting is hunting animals with a gun as a leisure activity. (BRIT; in AM, use hunting)\nGrouse shooting begins in August.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n\n3. The shooting of a film is the act of filming it.\nIngrid was busy learning her lines for the next day’s shooting...\n  N-UNCOUNT: usu with supp


Words: shooting gallery
Meaning:
shoot.ing gal.lery\n   shooting gallery  shooting galleries\n  A shooting gallery is a place where people use rifles to shoot at targets, especially in order to win prizes.\n  N-COUNT


Words: shooting star
Meaning:
shoot.ing star\n   shooting star  shooting stars\n  A shooting star is a piece of rock or metal that burns very brightly when it enters the earth’s atmosphere from space, and is seen from earth as a bright star travelling very fast across the sky.\n  N-COUNT


Words: shooting war
Meaning:
shoot.ing war\n   shooting war  shooting wars\n  When two countries in conflict engage in a shooting war, they fight each other with weapons rather than opposing each other by diplomatic or other means. (JOURNALISM)\n  N-COUNT


Words: shop
Meaning:
shop  shops  shopping  shopped\n1. A shop is a building or part of a building where things are sold. (mainly BRIT; in AM, usually use store)\n...health food shops.\n...a record shop...\nIt’s not available in the shops.\n  N-COUNT\n  = store\n2. When you shop, you go to shops and buy things.\nHe always shopped at the Co-op.\n...some advice that’s worth bearing in mind when shopping for a new carpet.\n...customers who shop once a week.\n  VERB: V prep/adv, V prep/adv, V\n\n=>  shop.per      shoppers\n...crowds of Christmas shoppers.\n  N-COUNT\n\n3. You can refer to a place where a particular service is offered as a particular type of shop.\n...the barber shop where Rodney sometimes had his hair cut.\n...your local video shop.\n  N-COUNT: n N\n\n4. If you shop someone, you report them to the police for doing something illegal. (BRIT INFORMAL)\nHis father was so disgusted to discover his son was dealing drugs he shopped him to police...\nFraudsters are often shopped by honest friends and neighbours.\n  VERB: V n to n, be V-ed\n\n5.\n  see also shopping, chip shop, coffee shop, corner shop, paper shop, pawn shop, print shop, sex shop, tea shop, talking shop, thrift shop\n6. If something is happening all over the shop, it is happening in many different places or throughout a wide area. (BRIT INFORMAL)\nThis gave them the freedom to make trouble all over the shop without fear of retribution.\n  PHRASE: PHR after v\n\n7. If you set up shop, you start a business.\nHe set up shop as an independent PR consultant...\n  PHRASE: V inflects\n\n8. If you say that people are talking shop, you mean that they are talking about their work, and this is boring for other people who do not do the same work.\nIf you hang around with colleagues all the time you just end up talking shop.\n  PHRASE: V inflects


Words: shop around
Meaning:
shop around\n  If you shop around, you go to different shops or companies in order to compare the prices and quality of goods or services before you decide to buy them.\nPrices may vary so it’s well worth shopping around before you buy...\nHe shopped around for a firm that would be flexible.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P, V P for n


Words: shop assistant
Meaning:
shop as.sis.tant\n   shop assistant  shop assistants\n  A shop assistant is a person who works in a shop selling things to customers. (BRIT; in AM, use sales clerk)\n  N-COUNT


Words: shop floor
Meaning:
shop floor   also shop-floor; shopfloor\n  The shop floor is used to refer to all the ordinary workers in a factory or the area where they work, especially in contrast to the people who are in charge. (BRIT)\nCost must be controlled, not just on the shop floor but in the boardroom too.\n  N-SING: oft N n


Words: shop front
Meaning:
shop front  shop fronts   also shopfront\n  A shop front is the outside part of a shop which faces the street, including the door and windows. (BRIT; in AM, use storefront)\n  N-COUNT


Words: shop steward
Meaning:
shop stew.ard\n   shop steward  shop stewards\n  A shop steward is a trade union member who is elected by the other members in a factory or office to speak for them at official meetings. (BRIT)\n  N-COUNT


Words: shopaholic
Meaning:
shopa.hol.ic\n   shopaholic  shopaholics\n  A shopaholic is someone who greatly enjoys going shopping and buying things, or who cannot stop themselves doing this. (INFORMAL)\n  N-COUNT


Words: shopkeeper
Meaning:
shop.keeper\n   shopkeeper  shopkeepers\n  A shopkeeper is a person who owns or manages a small shop. (BRIT; in AM, use storekeeper, merchant)\n  N-COUNT


Words: shoplift
Meaning:
shop.lift\n   shoplift  shoplifts  shoplifting  shoplifted\n  If someone shoplifts, they steal goods from a shop by hiding them in a bag or in their clothes.\nHe openly shoplifted from a supermarket...\nThey had shoplifted thousands of dollars’ worth of merchandise.\n  VERB: V, V n\n\n=>  shop.lifter      shoplifters\n...a shoplifter in court for stealing a bottle of perfume.\n  N-COUNT


Words: shoplifting
Meaning:
shop.lifting\n   shoplifting\n  Shoplifting is stealing from a shop by hiding things in a bag or in your clothes.\nThe grocer accused her of shoplifting and demanded to look in her bag...\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: shopping
Meaning:
shop.ping\n   shopping\n1. When you do the shopping, you go to shops and buy things.\nI’ll do the shopping this afternoon.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n\n  see also window shopping\n2. Your shopping is the things that you have bought from shops, especially food.\nWe put the shopping away.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: shopping cart
Meaning:
shop.ping cart\n   shopping cart  shopping carts\n  A shopping cart is the same as a shopping trolley. (AM)\n  N-COUNT


Words: shopping centre
Meaning:
shop.ping cen.tre\n   shopping centre  shopping centres\nin AM, use shopping center\n  A shopping centre is a specially built area containing a lot of different shops.\nThe new shopping centre was constructed at a cost of 1.1 million.\n  N-COUNT


Words: shopping channel
Meaning:
shop.ping chan.nel\n   shopping channel  shopping channels\n  A shopping channel is a television channel that broadcasts programmes showing products that you can phone the channel and buy.\n  N-COUNT


Words: shopping list
Meaning:
shop.ping list\n   shopping list  shopping lists\n  A shopping list is a list of the things that you want to buy when you go shopping, which you write on a piece of paper.\n  N-COUNT


Words: shopping mall
Meaning:
shop.ping mall\n   shopping mall  shopping malls\n  A shopping mall is a specially built covered area containing shops and restaurants which people can walk between, and where cars are not allowed.\n  N-COUNT


Words: shopping trolley
Meaning:
shop.ping trol.ley\n   shopping trolley  shopping trolleys\n  A shopping trolley is a large metal basket on wheels which is provided by shops such as supermarkets for customers to use while they are in the shop. (BRIT; in AM, use shopping cart)\n  N-COUNT


Words: shore
Meaning:
shore  shores  shoring  shored\n  The shores or the shore of a sea, lake, or wide river is the land along the edge of it. Someone who is on shore is on the land rather than on a ship.\nThey walked down to the shore.\n...elephants living on the shores of Lake Kariba...\nI have spent less time on shore than most men...\n  N-COUNT: also prep N


Words: shore up
Meaning:
shore up\n  If you shore up something that is weak or about to fail, you do something in order to strengthen it or support it.\nThe democracies of the West may find it hard to shore up their defences.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron)


Words: shoreline
Meaning:
shore.line\n   shoreline  shorelines\n  A shoreline is the edge of a sea, lake, or wide river.\n  N-COUNT


Words: shorn
Meaning:
shorn\n1. If grass or hair is shorn, it has been cut very short. (LITERARY)\n...his shorn hair.\n  ADJ\n\n2. If a person or thing is shorn of something that was an important part of them, it has been removed from them. (LITERARY)\nShe looks terrible, shorn of all her beauty and dignity.\n  ADJ: v-link ADJ of n\n\n3. Shorn is the past participle of shear.


Words: short
Meaning:
NOUN USES\n   short  shorts\n1. Shorts are trousers with very short legs, that people wear in hot weather or for taking part in sports.\n...two women in bright cotton shorts and tee shirts.\n  N-PLURAL: also a pair of N\n\n2. Shorts are men’s underpants with short legs. (mainly AM)\n  N-PLURAL: also a pair of N\n\n3. A short is a small amount of a strong alcoholic drink such as whisky, gin, or vodka, rather than a weaker alcoholic drink that you can drink in larger quantities. (mainly BRIT)\n  N-COUNT\n\n4. A short is a short film, especially one that is shown before the main film at the cinema.\n  N-COUNT\n\nADJECTIVE AND ADVERB USES\n   short  shorter  shortest\n\nPlease look at category 23 to see if the expression you are looking for is shown under another headword.\n1. If something is short or lasts for a short time, it does not last very long.\nThe announcement was made a short time ago...\nHow could you do it in such a short period of time?...\nKemp gave a short laugh...\nWe had a short meeting.\n  ADJ\n  !=long\n2. If you talk about a short hour, day, or year, you mean that it seems to have passed very quickly or will seem to pass very quickly.\nFor a few short weeks there was peace...\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n\n  !=long\n3. A short speech, letter, or book does not have many words or pages in it.\nThey were performing a short extract from Shakespeare’s Two Gentlemen of Verona...\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n\n  !=long\n4. Someone who is short is not as tall as most people are.\nI’m tall and thin and he’s short and fat.\n...a short, elderly woman with grey hair...\n  ADJ\n  !=tall\n5. Something that is short measures only a small amount from one end to the other.\nThe city centre and shops are only a short distance away...\nHis black hair was very short.\n  ADJ\n  !=long\n6. If you are short of something or if it is short, you do not have enough of it. If you are running short of something or if it is running short, you do not have much of it left.\nHer father’s illness left the family short of money...\nSupplies of everything are unreliable, food is short...\n  ADJ: v-link ADJ, usu ADJ of n\n\n7. If someone or something is or stops short of a place, they have not quite reached it. If they are or fall short of an amount, they have not quite achieved it.\nHe stopped a hundred yards short of the building...\n  ADJ: v-link ADJ of n\n\n8. Short of a particular thing means except for that thing or without actually doing that thing.\nShort of climbing railings four metres high, there was no way into the garden from this road...\n  PREP-PHRASE: PREP n/-ing\n\n9. If something is cut short or stops short, it is stopped before people expect it to or before it has finished.\nHis glittering career was cut short by a heart attack...\n  ADV: ADV after v\n\n10. If a name or abbreviation is short for another name, it is the short version of that name.\nHer friend Kes (short for Kesewa) was in tears...\n`O.O.B.E.’ is short for `Out Of Body Experience’.\n  ADJ: v-link ADJ for n\n\n11. If you have a short temper, you get angry very easily.\n...an awkward, self-conscious woman with a short temper.\n  ADJ\n\n  see also short-tempered\n12. If you are short with someone, you speak briefly and rather rudely to them, because you are impatient or angry.\nShe seemed nervous or tense, and she was definitely short with me.\n  ADJ: v-link ADJ, usu ADJ with n\n\n13. If a person or thing is called something for short, that is the short version of their name.\nOpposite me was a woman called Jasminder (Jazzy for short)...\n  PHRASE: usu n PHR\n\n14. If you go short of something, especially food, you do not have as much of it as you want or need.\nSome people may manage their finances badly and therefore have to go short of essentials.\n  PHRASE: V inflects, oft PHR of n\n\n15. You use in short when you have been giving a lot of details and you want to give a conclusion or summary.\nTry tennis, badminton or windsurfing. In short, anything challenging...\n  PHRASE: PHR with cl\n\n16. You use nothing short of or little short of to emphasize how great or extreme something is. For example, if you say that something is nothing short of a miracle or nothing short of disastrous, you are emphasizing that it is a miracle or it is disastrous.\nThe results are nothing short of magnificent...\n  PHRASE: v-link PHR adj  emphasis\n\n17. If you say that someone is, for example, several cards short of a full deck or one sandwich short of a picnic, you think they are stupid, foolish, or crazy. (INFORMAL)\n  PHRASE: v-link PHR\n\n18. If someone or something is short on a particular good quality, they do not have as much of it as you think they should have.\n(next)


Words: short .1
Meaning:
The proposals were short on detail.\n  PHRASE: V inflects  disapproval\n\n19. If someone stops short of doing something, they come close to doing it but do not actually do it.\nHe stopped short of explicitly criticizing the government...\n  PHRASE: V inflects, PHR -ing\n\n20. If workers are put on short time, they are asked to work fewer hours than the normal working week, because their employer can not afford to pay them a full time wage.\nWorkers across the country have been put on short time because of the slump in demand...\nMost manufacturers have had to introduce short-time working.\n  PHRASE: on PHR, PHR n\n\n21. If something pulls you up short or brings you up short, it makes you suddenly stop what you are doing.\nThe name on the gate pulled me up short.\n  PHRASE: V inflects\n\n22. If you make short work of someone or something, you deal with them or defeat them very quickly. (INFORMAL)\nAgassi made short work of his opponent.\n  PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n\n\n23.\nshort of breath: see breath\nat short notice: see notice\nto sell someone short: see sell\nto get short shrift: see shrift\nto cut a long story short: see story\nto draw the short straw: see straw\nin short supply: see supply\nin the short term: see term


Words: short back and sides
Meaning:
short back and sides   also short-back-and-sides\n  If a man has a short back and sides, his hair is cut very short at the back and sides with slightly thicker, longer hair on the top of the head. (BRIT)\n  N-SING


Words: short cut
Meaning:
short cut  short cuts   also short-cut, shortcut\n1. A short cut is a quicker way of getting somewhere than the usual route.\nI tried to take a short cut and got lost.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. A short cut is a method of achieving something more quickly or more easily than if you use the usual methods.\nFame can be a shortcut to love and money...\n  N-COUNT: oft N to n\n\n3. On a computer, a shortcut is an icon on the desktop that allows you to go immediately to a program, document and so on. (COMPUTING)\n...ways to move or copy icons or create shortcuts in Windows.\n  N-COUNT\n\n4. On a computer, a shortcut is a keystroke or a combination of keystrokes that allows you to give commands without using the mouse. (COMPUTING)\n...a handy keyboard shortcut that takes you to the top of the screen.\n  N-COUNT


Words: short message system
Meaning:
short mes.sage sys.tem\n   short message system  short message systems  also short message service\n  A short message system is a way of sending short written messages from one mobile phone to another. The abbreviation SMS is also used.\n  N-COUNT


Words: short story
Meaning:
short sto.ry\n   short story  short stories\n  A short story is a written story about imaginary events that is only a few pages long.\nHe published a collection of short stories.\n  N-COUNT


Words: short-change
Meaning:
short-change  short-changes  short-changing  short-changed\n1. If someone short-changes you, they do not give you enough change after you have bought something from them.\nThe cashier made a mistake and short-changed him.\n  VERB: V n\n\n2. If you are short-changed, you are treated unfairly or dishonestly, often because you are given less of something than you deserve.\nWomen are in fact still being short-changed in the press.\n  VERB: usu passive, be V-ed


Words: short-circuit
Meaning:
short-circuit  short-circuits  short-circuiting  short-circuited\n1. If an electrical device short-circuits or if someone or something short-circuits it, a wrong connection or damaged wire causes electricity to travel along the wrong route and damage the device.\nCarbon dust and oil build up in large motors and cause them to short-circuit...\nOnce inside they short-circuited the electronic security.\n  VERB: V, V n\n\n  Short-circuit is also a noun.\nThe fire was started by an electrical short-circuit.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. If someone or something short-circuits a process or system, they avoid long or difficult parts of it and use a quicker, more direct method to achieve their aim.\nThe approach was intended to short-circuit normal complaints procedures.\n  VERB: V n


Words: short-handed
Meaning:
short-handed   also shorthanded\n  If a company, organization, or group is short-handed, it does not have enough people to work on a particular job or for a particular purpose.\nWe’re actually a bit short-handed at the moment.\n  ADJ: usu v-link ADJ\n  = short-staffed


Words: short-haul
Meaning:
short-haul\n  Short-haul is used to describe things that involve transporting passengers or goods over short distances. Compare long-haul.\nShort-haul flights operate from Heathrow and Gatwick.\n  ADJ: ADJ n\n  !=long-haul


Words: short-lived
Meaning:
short-lived\n  Something that is short-lived does not last very long.\nAny hope that the speech would end the war was short-lived...\n  ADJ\n  !=long-lived


Words: short-range
Meaning:
short-range\n  Short-range weapons or missiles are designed to be fired across short distances.\n  ADJ: ADJ n\n  !=long-range


Words: short-sighted
Meaning:
short-sighted   also shortsighted\n1. If you are short-sighted, you cannot see things properly when they are far away, because there is something wrong with your eyes. (mainly BRIT; in AM, usually use near-sighted)\nTesting showed her to be very short-sighted.\n  ADJ\n  !=long-sighted\n=>  short-sightedness\nRadical eye surgery promises to cure short-sightedness.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n\n2. If someone is short-sighted about something, or if their ideas are short-sighted, they do not make proper or careful judgments about the future.\nEnvironmentalists fear that this is a short-sighted approach to the problem of global warming...\n  ADJ\n\n=>  short-sightedness\nThe government now recognises the short-sightedness of this approach.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: short-staffed
Meaning:
short-staffed\n  A company or place that is short-staffed does not have enough people working there. (mainly BRIT; in AM, use short-handed)\nThe hospital is desperately short-staffed.\n  ADJ\n  = short-handed


Words: short-tempered
Meaning:
short-tempered\n  Someone who is short-tempered gets angry very quickly.\nI’m a bit short-tempered sometimes.\n  ADJ


Words: short-term
Meaning:
short-term\n  Short-term is used to describe things that will last for a short time, or things that will have an effect soon rather than in the distant future.\nInvestors weren’t concerned about short-term profits over the next few years...\nThis is a cynical manipulation of the situation for short-term political gain...\nThe company has 90 staff, almost all on short-term contracts...\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n\n  !=long-term


Words: short-termism
Meaning:
short-termism\n  If you accuse people of short-termism, you mean that they make decisions that produce benefits now or soon, rather than making better decisions that will produce benefits in the future.\n  N-UNCOUNT  disapproval


Words: short-wave
Meaning:
short-wave   also short wave, shortwave\n  Short-wave is a range of short radio wavelengths used for broadcasting.\nI use the short-wave radio to get the latest war news...\n  N-UNCOUNT: oft N n


Words: shortage
Meaning:
short.age\n   shortage  shortages\n  If there is a shortage of something, there is not enough of it.\nA shortage of funds is preventing the UN from monitoring relief...\nVietnam is suffering from food shortage...\n  N-VAR: usu with supp, N of n, n N


Words: shortbread
Meaning:
short.bread\n   shortbread  shortbreads\n  Shortbread is a kind of biscuit made from flour, sugar, and butter.\n  N-VAR


Words: shortcake
Meaning:
short.cake\n   shortcake\n1. Shortcake is the same as shortbread. (BRIT)\n  N-UNCOUNT\n\n2. Shortcake is a cake or dessert which consists of a crisp cake with layers of fruit and cream. (mainly AM)\n...desserts like strawberry shortcake.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: shortcoming
Meaning:
short.coming\n   shortcoming  shortcomings\n  Someone’s or something’s shortcomings are the faults or weaknesses which they have.\nMarriages usually break down as a result of the shortcomings of both partners...\n  N-COUNT: usu pl, oft with poss\n  = failing


Words: shortcrust
Meaning:
short.crust\n   shortcrust\n  Shortcrust pastry is a kind of pastry that is used to make pies and tarts. (BRIT)\n  ADJ: ADJ n


Words: shorten
Meaning:
short.en\n   shorten  shortens  shortening  shortened\n1. If you shorten an event or the length of time that something lasts, or if it shortens, it does not last as long as it would otherwise do or as it used to do.\nSmoking can shorten your life...\nWhen the days shorten in winter some people suffer depression.\n  VERB: V n, V\n  !=lengthen\n2. If you shorten an object or if it shortens, it becomes smaller in length.\nHer father paid .1,000 for an operation to shorten her nose...\nAs they shorten, cells become more prone to disease and death.\n  VERB: V n, V\n  !=lengthen\n3. If you shorten a name or other word, you change it by removing some of the letters.\nOriginally called Lili, she eventually shortened her name to Lee.\n  VERB: V n\n\n4.\nto shorten the odds: see odds


Words: shortening
Meaning:
short.en.ing\n   shortening  shortenings\n  Shortening is cooking fat that you use with flour in order to make pastry or dough. (mainly AM)\n  N-MASS


Words: shortfall
Meaning:
short.fall\n   shortfall  shortfalls\n  If there is a shortfall in something, there is less of it than you need.\nThe government has refused to make up a .30,000 shortfall in funding.\n  N-COUNT: usu with supp\n  = deficit


Words: shorthand
Meaning:
short.hand\n   shorthand\n1. Shorthand is a quick way of writing and uses signs to represent words or syllables. Shorthand is used by secretaries and journalists to write down what someone is saying.\nBen took notes in shorthand.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n\n2. You can use shorthand to mean a quick or simple way of referring to something.\n`Third World’ is an abstraction, a form of shorthand...\n  N-UNCOUNT: also a N


Words: shorthand typist
Meaning:
short.hand typ.ist\n   shorthand typist  shorthand typists\n  A shorthand typist is a person who types and writes shorthand, usually in an office. (BRIT; in AM, use stenographer)\n  N-COUNT


Words: shortish
Meaning:
short.ish\n   shortish\n  Shortish means fairly short.\n...a shortish man, with graying hair.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n


Words: shortlist
Meaning:
short.list\n   shortlist  shortlists  shortlisting  shortlisted\n\n  The spelling short list is used in American English and sometimes in British English for the noun.\n\n1. If someone is on a shortlist, for example for a job or a prize, they are one of a small group of people who have been chosen from a larger group. The successful person is then chosen from the small group.\nIf you’ve been asked for an interview you are probably on a short list of no more than six.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. If someone or something is shortlisted for a job or a prize, they are put on a shortlist. (mainly BRIT)\nHe was shortlisted for the Nobel Prize for literature several times...\n  VERB: usu passive, be V-ed for/as n


Words: shortly
Meaning:
short.ly\n   shortly\n  If something happens shortly after or before something else, it happens not long after or before it. If something is going to happen shortly, it is going to happen soon.\nTheir trial will shortly begin...\nThe work will be completed very shortly...\nShortly after moving into her apartment, she found a job...\n  ADV: ADV with v, ADV after/before n, ADV adv


Words: shortstop
Meaning:
short.stop\n   shortstop shortstops\n  In baseball, a shortstop is a player who tries to stop balls that go between second and third base.\n  N-COUNT


Words: shot
Meaning:
shot  shots\n1. Shot is the past tense and past participle of shoot.\n\n2. A shot is an act of firing a gun.\nHe had murdered Perceval at point blank range with a single shot...\nA man fired a volley of shots at them.\n  N-COUNT\n\n3. Someone who is a good shot can shoot well. Someone who is a bad shot cannot shoot well.\nHe was not a particularly good shot because of his eyesight.\n  N-COUNT: adj N\n\n4. In sports such as football, golf, or tennis, a shot is an act of kicking, hitting, or throwing the ball, especially in an attempt to score a point.\nHe had only one shot at goal.\n  N-COUNT\n\n5. A shot is a photograph or a particular sequence of pictures in a film.\n...a shot of a fox peering from the bushes...\n  N-COUNT\n\n6. If you have a shot at something, you attempt to do it. (INFORMAL)\nThe heavyweight champion will be given a shot at Holyfield’s world title.\n  N-COUNT: usu sing, usu N at n\n\n7. A shot of a drug is an injection of it.\nHe administered a shot of Nembutal.\n  N-COUNT: usu N of n\n\n8. A shot of a strong alcoholic drink is a small glass of it. (AM)\n...a shot of vodka.\n  N-COUNT\n\n9. If you give something your best shot, you do it as well as you possibly can. (INFORMAL)\nI don’t expect to win. But I am going to give it my best shot.\n  PHRASE: V inflects\n\n10. The person who calls the shots is in a position to tell others what to do.\nThe directors call the shots and nothing happens without their say-so.\n  PHRASE: V inflects\n\n11. If you do something like a shot, you do it without any delay or hesitation. (INFORMAL)\nI heard the key turn in the front door and I was out of bed like a shot...\n  PHRASE: PHR after v\n\n12. If you describe something as a long shot, you mean that it is unlikely to succeed, but is worth trying.\nThe deal was a long shot, but Bagley had little to lose...\n  PHRASE: v-link PHR\n\n13. People sometimes use the expression by a long shot to emphasize the opinion they are giving.\nThe missile-reduction treaty makes sweeping cuts, but the arms race isn’t over by a long shot.\n  PHRASE  emphasis\n\n14. If something is shot through with an element or feature, it contains a lot of that element or feature.\nThis is an argument shot through with inconsistency.\n  PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n\n\n15.\na shot in the dark: see dark


Words: shot put
Meaning:
shot put\n  In athletics, the shot put is a competition in which people throw a heavy metal ball as far as possible.\n  N-SING: usu the N\n\n=>  shot put.ter      shot putters\n...Canadian shot-putter Georgette Reed.\n  N-COUNT


Words: shotgun
Meaning:
shot.gun\n   shotgun  shotguns\n  A shotgun is a gun used for shooting birds and animals which fires a lot of small metal balls at one time.\n  N-COUNT


Words: shotgun wedding
Meaning:
shot.gun wed.ding\n   shotgun wedding shotgun weddings\n1. A shotgun wedding is a wedding that has to take place quickly, often because the woman is pregnant.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. A shotgun wedding is a merger between two companies which takes place in a hurry because one or both of the companies is having difficulties. (BUSINESS)\n  N-COUNT


Words: should
Meaning:
should  WEAK   STRONG\n\n  Should is a modal verb. It is used with the base form of a verb.\n\n1. You use should when you are saying what would be the right thing to do or the right state for something to be in.\nI should exercise more...\nThe diet should be maintained unchanged for about a year...\nHe’s never going to be able to forget it. And I don’t think he should...\nSometimes I am not as brave as I should be...\nShould our children be taught to swim at school?\n  MODAL\n\n2. You use should to give someone an order to do something, or to report an official order.\nAll visitors should register with the British Embassy...\nThe European Commission ruled that British Aerospace should pay back tens of millions of pounds.\n  MODAL\n\n3. If you say that something should have happened, you mean that it did not happen, but that you wish it had. If you say that something should not have happened, you mean that it did happen, but that you wish it had not.\nI should have gone this morning but I was feeling a bit ill...\nYou should have written to the area manager again...\nI shouldn’t have said what I did.\n  MODAL\n\n4. You use should when you are saying that something is probably the case or will probably happen in the way you are describing. If you say that something should have happened by a particular time, you mean that it will probably have happened by that time.\nYou should have no problem with reading this language...\nThe doctor said it will take six weeks and I should be fine by then...\n  MODAL\n\n5. You use should in questions when you are asking someone for advice, permission, or information.\nShould I or shouldn’t I go to university?...\nPlease could you advise me what I should do?...\nShould I go back to the motel and wait for you to telephone?...\n  MODAL\n\n6. You say `I should’, usually with the expression `if I were you’, when you are giving someone advice by telling them what you would do if you were in their position. (FORMAL)\nI should look out if I were you!\n  MODAL\n\n7. You use should in conditional clauses when you are talking about things that might happen. (FORMAL)\nIf you should be fired, your health and pension benefits will not be automatically cut off...\nShould you buy a home from Lovell, the company promises to buy it back at the same price after three years...\n  MODAL\n\n8. You use should in `that’ clauses after certain verbs, nouns, and adjectives when you are talking about a future event or situation.\nHe raised his glass and indicated that I should do the same...\nMy father was very keen that I should fulfill my potential...\n  MODAL\n\n9. You use should in expressions such as I should think and I should imagine to indicate that you think something is true but you are not sure.\nI should think it’s going to rain soon...\n  MODAL  vagueness\n\n10. You use should in expressions such as I should like and I should be happy to show politeness when you are saying what you want to do, or when you are requesting, offering, or accepting something.\nI should be happy if you would bring them this evening...\n  MODAL  politeness\n\n11. You use should in expressions such as You should have seen us and You should have heard him to emphasize how funny, shocking, or impressive something that you experienced was. (SPOKEN)\nYou should have heard him last night!\n  MODAL  emphasis


Words: should’ve
Meaning:
should’ve\n  Should’ve is the usual spoken form of `should have’, especially when `have’ is an auxiliary verb.


Words: shoulder
Meaning:
shoul.der\n   shoulder  shoulders  shouldering  shouldered\n1. Your shoulders are between your neck and the tops of your arms.\nShe led him to an armchair, with her arm round his shoulder...\nHe glanced over his shoulder and saw me watching him.\n  N-COUNT: oft poss N\n\n2. The shoulders of a piece of clothing are the parts that cover your shoulders.\n...extravagant fashions with padded shoulders.\n  N-COUNT\n\n3. When you talk about someone’s problems or responsibilities, you can say that they carry them on their shoulders.\nNo one suspected the anguish he carried on his shoulders...\n  N-PLURAL: poss N\n\n4. If you shoulder the responsibility or the blame for something, you accept it.\nHe has had to shoulder the responsibility of his father’s mistakes...\n  VERB: V n\n  = accept\n5. If you shoulder something heavy, you put it across one of your shoulders so that you can carry it more easily.\nThe rest of the group shouldered their bags, gritted their teeth and set off...\n  VERB: V n\n\n6. If you shoulder someone aside or if you shoulder your way somewhere, you push past people roughly using your shoulder.\nThe policemen rushed past him, shouldering him aside...\nShe could do nothing to stop him as he shouldered his way into the house...\nHe shouldered past Harlech and opened the door.\n  VERB: V n with aside, V way prep/adv, V past/through n\n\n7. A shoulder is a joint of meat from the upper part of the front leg of an animal.\n...shoulder of lamb.\n  N-VAR\n\n8.\n  see also cold-shoulder, hard shoulder\n9. If someone offers you a shoulder to cry on or is a shoulder to cry on, they listen sympathetically as you talk about your troubles.\nRoland sometimes saw me as a shoulder to cry on.\n  PHRASE: usu PHR after v\n\n10. If you say that someone or something stands head and shoulders above other people or things, you mean that they are a lot better than them.\nThe two candidates stood head and shoulders above the rest...\n  PHRASE: PHR above n\n\n11. If two or more people stand shoulder to shoulder, they are standing next to each other, with their shoulders touching.\nThey fell into step, walking shoulder to shoulder with their heads bent against the rain...\n  PHRASE: PHR after v, v-link PHR\n\n12. If people work or stand shoulder to shoulder, they work together in order to achieve something, or support each other.\nThey could fight shoulder-to-shoulder against a common enemy...\n  PHRASE: usu v PHR\n\n13.\na chip on one’s shoulder: see chip\nto rub shoulders with: see rub


Words: shoulder blade
Meaning:
shoul.der blade\n   shoulder blade  shoulder blades\n  Your shoulder blades are the two large, flat, triangular bones that you have in the upper part of your back, below your shoulders.\n  N-COUNT


Words: shoulder pad
Meaning:
shoul.der pad\n   shoulder pad  shoulder pads\n  Shoulder pads are small pads that are put inside the shoulders of a jacket, coat, or other article of clothing in order to raise them.\n  N-COUNT


Words: shoulder strap
Meaning:
shoul.der strap\n   shoulder strap  shoulder straps\n1. The shoulder straps on a piece of clothing such as a dress are two narrow straps that go over the shoulders.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. A shoulder strap on a bag is a long strap that you put over your shoulder to carry the bag.\n  N-COUNT


Words: shoulder-bag
Meaning:
shoulder-bag  shoulder-bags\n  A shoulder-bag is a bag that has a long strap so that it can be carried on a person’s shoulder.\n  N-COUNT


Words: shoulder-high
Meaning:
shoulder-high\n  A shoulder-high object is as high as your shoulders.\n...a shoulder-high hedge.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n\n\n  Shoulder-high is also an adverb.\nThey picked up Oliver and carried him shoulder high into the garage.\n  ADV: ADV after v


Words: shout
Meaning:
shout  shouts  shouting  shouted\n  If you shout, you say something very loudly, usually because you want people a long distance away to hear you or because you are angry.\nHe had to shout to make himself heard above the near gale-force wind...\n`She’s alive!’ he shouted triumphantly...\nAndrew rushed out of the house, shouting for help...\nYou don’t have to shout at me...\nI shouted at mother to get the police...\nThe driver managed to escape from the vehicle and shout a warning.\n  VERB: V, V with quote, V for n, V at n, V at n to-inf, V n\n\n  Shout is also a noun.; If you say that someone is in with a shout of achieving or winning something, you mean that they have a chance of achieving or winning it. (INFORMAL)\nThe decision was greeted with shouts of protest from opposition MPs...\nI heard a distant shout.\nHe knew he was be in with a shout of making Craig Brown’s squad for Japan.\n  N-COUNT; PHRASE


Words: shout down
Meaning:
shout down\n  If people shout down someone who is trying to speak, they prevent that person from being heard by shouting at them.\nThey shouted him down when he tried to explain why Zaire needed an interim government...\nThere were scuffles when UDF hecklers began to shout down the speakers.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V n P, V P n (not pron)


Words: shout out
Meaning:
shout out\n  If you shout something out, you say it very loudly so that people can hear you clearly.\nThey shouted out the names of those detained...\nI shouted out `I’m OK’...\nI wanted to shout it out, let her know what I had overheard.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), V P with quote, V n P


Words: shouting match
Meaning:
shout.ing match\n   shouting match  shouting matches\n  A shouting match is an angry quarrel in which people shout at each other.\nWe had a real shouting match with each other.\n  N-COUNT: oft N with/between n


Words: shove
Meaning:
shove  shoves  shoving  shoved\n1. If you shove someone or something, you push them with a quick, violent movement.\nHe shoved her out of the way...\nHe’s the one who shoved me...\nShe shoved as hard as she could.\n  VERB: V n prep/adv, V n, V\n\n  Shove is also a noun.\nShe gave Gracie a shove towards the house.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. If you shove something somewhere, you push it there quickly and carelessly.\nWe shoved a copy of the newsletter beneath their door...\n  VERB: V n prep/adv\n\n3. If you talk about what you think will happen if push comes to shove, you are talking about what you think will happen if a situation becomes very bad or difficult. (INFORMAL)\nIf push comes to shove, if you should lose your case in the court, what will you do?...\n  PHRASE: V inflects


Words: shovel
Meaning:
shov.el\n   shovel  shovels  shovelling  shovelled\nin AM, use shoveling, shoveled\n1. A shovel is a tool with a long handle that is used for lifting and moving earth, coal, or snow.\n...a coal shovel...\nShe dug the foundation with a pick and shovel.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. If you shovel earth, coal, or snow, you lift and move it with a shovel.\nHe has to get out and shovel snow...\nPendergood had shovelled the sand out of the caravan.\n  VERB: V n, V n prep/adv\n\n3. If you shovel something somewhere, you push a lot of it quickly into that place.\nRandall was shoveling food into his mouth.\n  VERB: V n prep/adv


Words: show
Meaning:
show  shows  showing  showed  shown\n1. If something shows that a state of affairs exists, it gives information that proves it or makes it clear to people.\nResearch shows that a high-fibre diet may protect you from bowel cancer...\nThese figures show an increase of over one million in unemployment...\nIt was only later that the drug was shown to be addictive...\nYou’ll be given regular blood tests to show whether you have been infected.\n  VERB: V that, V n, be V-ed to-inf, V wh\n\n2. If a picture, chart, film, or piece of writing shows something, it represents it or gives information about it.\nFigure 4.1 shows the respiratory system...\nThe cushions, shown left, measure 20 x 12 inches and cost $39.95...\nMuch of the film shows the painter simply going about his task...\nOur photograph shows how the plants will turn out.\n  VERB: V n, V-ed, V n -ing, V wh\n\n3. If you show someone something, you give it to them, take them to it, or point to it, so that they can see it or know what you are referring to.\nCut out this article and show it to your bank manager...\nHe showed me the flat he shares with Esther...\nI showed them where the gun was...\n  VERB: V n to n, V n n, V n wh\n\n4. If you show someone to a room or seat, you lead them there.\nLet me show you to my study...\nI’ll show you the way.\n  VERB: V n prep/adv, V n n\n\n5. If you show someone how to do something, you do it yourself so that they can watch you and learn how to do it.\nClaire showed us how to make a chocolate roulade...\nDr. Reichert has shown us a new way to look at those behavior problems.\n  VERB: V n wh, V n n\n\n6. If something shows or if you show it, it is visible or noticeable.\nHis beard was just beginning to show signs of grey...\nFaint glimmers of daylight were showing through the treetops...\n  VERB: V n, V\n\n7. If you show a particular attitude, quality, or feeling, or if it shows, you behave in a way that makes this attitude, quality, or feeling clear to other people.\nShe showed no interest in her children...\nFerguson was unhappy and it showed...\nYou show me respect...\nMr Clarke has shown himself to be resolutely opposed to compromise...\nThe baby was tugging at his coat to show that he wanted to be picked up.\n  VERB: V n, V, V n n, V n to-inf, V that\n\n8. If something shows a quality or characteristic or if that quality or characteristic shows itself, it can be noticed or observed.\nThe story shows a strong narrative gift and a vivid eye for detail...\nHow else did his hostility to women show itself?\n  VERB: V n, V pron-refl\n\n9. A show of a feeling or quality is an attempt by someone to make it clear that they have that feeling or quality.\nMiners gathered in the centre of Bucharest in a show of support for the government...\n  N-COUNT: usu a N of n\n\n10. If you say that something is for show, you mean that it has no real purpose and is done just to give a good impression.\nThe change in government is more for show than for real...\n  N-UNCOUNT\n\n11. If a company shows a profit or a loss, its accounts indicate that it has made a profit or a loss.\nIt is the only one of the three companies expected to show a profit for the quarter...\n  VERB: V n\n\n12. If a person you are expecting to meet does not show, they do not arrive at the place where you expect to meet them. (mainly AM)\nThere was always a chance he wouldn’t show.\n  VERB: V\n  = turn up\n  Show up means the same as show.\nWe waited until five o’clock, but he did not show up...\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P\n\n13. A television or radio show is a programme on television or radio.\nI had my own TV show...\nThis is the show in which Loyd Grossman visits the houses of the famous.\n...a popular talk show on a Cuban radio station...\n  N-COUNT: oft supp N\n  = programme\n14. A show in a theatre is an entertainment or concert, especially one that includes different items such as music, dancing, and comedy.\nHow about going shopping and seeing a show in London?...\n  N-COUNT\n\n(next)


Words: show .1
Meaning:
15. If someone shows a film or television programme, it is broadcast or appears on television or in the cinema.\nThe BBC World Service Television news showed the same film clip...\nAmerican films are showing at Moscow’s cinemas.\n  VERB: V n, V\n\n=>  show.ing      showings\nI gave him a private showing of the film.\n  N-COUNT\n\n16. A show is a public exhibition of things, such as works of art, fashionable clothes, or things that have been entered in a competition.\nThe venue for the show is Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre Hall...\nTwo complementary exhibitions are on show at the Africa Centre...\n  N-COUNT: also on N\n\n17. To show things such as works of art means to put them in an exhibition where they can be seen by the public.\n50 dealers will show oils, watercolours, drawings and prints from 1900 to 1992.\n  VERB: V n\n\n18. A show home, house, or flat is one of a group of new homes. The building company decorates it and puts furniture in it, and people who want to buy one of the homes come and look round it.\n  ADJ: ADJ n\n\n19. If a question is decided by a show of hands, people vote on it by raising their hands to indicate whether they vote yes or no.\nParliamentary leaders agreed to take all such decisions by a show of hands...\nRussell then asked for a show of hands concerning each of the targets.\n  PHRASE\n\n20. If you have something to show for your efforts, you have achieved something as a result of what you have done.\nI’m nearly 31 and it’s about time I had something to show for my time in my job...\n  PHRASE: have inflects, PHR n\n\n21. You can say `I’ll show you’ to threaten or warn someone that you are going to make them admit that they are wrong.\nShe shook her fist. `I’ll show you,’ she said...\n  PHRASE\n\n22. If you say it just goes to show or it just shows that something is the case, you mean that what you have just said or experienced demonstrates that it is the case.\nThis just goes to show that getting good grades in school doesn’t mean you’re clever...\n  PHRASE: PHR that, PHR n\n\n23. If you say that someone steals the show, you mean that they get a lot of attention or praise because they perform better than anyone else in a show or other event.\nBrad Pitt steals the show as the young man doomed by his zest for life.\n  PHRASE: V inflects\n\n24.\nto show someone the door: see door\nto show your face: see face


Words: show around
Meaning:
show around\n  If you show someone around or show them round, you go with them to show them all the interesting, useful, or important features of a place when they first visit it. (in BRIT, also use show round)\nWould you show me around?...\nSpear showed him around the flat.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V n P, V n P n


Words: show business
Meaning:
show busi.ness\n   show business\n  Show business is the entertainment industry of film, theatre, and television.\nHe started his career in show business by playing the saxophone and singing.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: show jumper
Meaning:
show jump.er\n   show jumper  show jumpers\n  A show jumper is a person who takes part in the sport of show jumping.\nI loved horses as a child and was a junior show jumper.\n  N-COUNT


Words: show jumping
Meaning:
show jump.ing\n   show jumping   also showjumping\n  Show jumping is a sport in which horses are ridden in competitions to demonstrate their skill in jumping over fences and walls.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: show off
Meaning:
show off\n1. If you say that someone is showing off, you are criticizing them for trying to impress people by showing in a very obvious way what they can do or what they own.\nAll right, there’s no need to show off...\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P  disapproval\n\n2. If you show off something that you have, you show it to a lot of people or make it obvious that you have it, because you are proud of it.\nNaomi was showing off her engagement ring...\nHe actually enjoys his new hair-style and has decided to start showing it off.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), V n P\n\n3.\n  see also show-off


Words: show trial
Meaning:
show tri.al\n   show trial  show trials\n  People describe a trial as a show trial if they believe that the trial is unfair and is held for political reasons rather than in order to find out the truth.\n...the show trials of political dissidents.\n  N-COUNT  disapproval


Words: show up
Meaning:
show up\n1. If something shows up or if something shows it up, it can be clearly seen or noticed.\nYou may have some strange disease that may not show up for 10 or 15 years...\n...a telescope so powerful that it can show up galaxies billions of light years away...\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P, V P n (not pron)\n\n2. If someone or something shows you up, they make you feel embarrassed or ashamed of them.\nHe wanted to teach her a lesson for showing him up in front of Leonov...\n  PHRASAL VERB: V n P\n\n3.\nsee show 12


Words: show-off
Meaning:
show-off  show-offs   also showoff\n  If you say that someone is a show-off, you are criticizing them for trying to impress people by showing in a very obvious way what they can do or what they own. (INFORMAL)\n  N-COUNT  disapproval


Words: show-stopping
Meaning:
show-stopping   also showstopping\n  A show-stopping performance or product is very impressive. (INFORMAL)\n  ADJ: ADJ n  approval


Words: showcase
Meaning:
show.case\n   showcase  showcases  showcasing  showcased\n1. A showcase is a glass container with valuable objects inside it, for example at an exhibition or in a museum.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. You use showcase to refer to a situation or setting in which something is displayed or presented to its best advantage.\nThe festival remains a valuable showcase for new talent.\n  N-COUNT: with supp\n\n3. If something is showcased, it is displayed or presented to its best advantage. (JOURNALISM)\nRestored films are being showcased this month at a festival in Paris.\n  VERB: usu passive, be V-ed


Words: showdown
Meaning:
show.down\n   showdown  showdowns   also show-down\n  A showdown is a big argument or conflict which is intended to settle a dispute that has lasted for a long time.\nThe Prime Minister is preparing for a showdown with Ministers.\n  N-COUNT: usu sing


Words: shower
Meaning:
show.er\n   shower  showers  showering  showered\n1. A shower is a device for washing yourself. It consists of a pipe which ends in a flat cover with a lot of holes in it so that water comes out in a spray.\nShe heard him turn on the shower.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. A shower is a small enclosed area containing a shower.\n  N-COUNT\n\n3. The showers or the shower in a place such as a sports centre is the area containing showers.\nThe showers are a mess...\nWe all stood in the women’s shower.\n  N-COUNT\n\n4. If you have a shower, you wash yourself by standing under a spray of water from a shower.\nI think I’ll have a shower before dinner...\nShe took two showers a day.\n  N-COUNT\n\n5. If you shower, you wash yourself by standing under a spray of water from a shower.\nThere wasn’t time to shower or change clothes.\n  VERB: V\n\n6. A shower is a short period of rain, especially light rain.\nThere’ll be bright or sunny spells and scattered showers this afternoon.\n  N-COUNT\n\n7. You can refer to a lot of things that are falling as a shower of them.\nShowers of sparks flew in all directions.\n  N-COUNT: usu N of n\n\n8. If you are showered with a lot of small objects or pieces, they are scattered over you.\nThey were showered with rice in the traditional manner...\n  VERB: usu passive, be V-ed with n\n\n9. If you shower a person with presents or kisses, you give them a lot of presents or kisses in a very generous and extravagant way.\nHe showered her with emeralds and furs...\nHer parents showered her with kisses.\n  VERB: V n with n, V n with n\n\n10. A shower is a party or celebration at which the guests bring gifts.; If you refer to a group of people as a particular kind of shower, you disapprove of them. (mainly AM BRIT INFORMAL)\n...a baby shower.\n...a shower of wasters.\n  N-COUNT; N-SING: usu sing, oft N of n  disapproval


Words: shower gel
Meaning:
show.er gel\n   shower gel shower gels\n  Shower gel is a type of liquid soap designed for use in the shower.\n  N-VAR


Words: showery
Meaning:
show.ery\n   showery\n  If the weather is showery, there are showers of rain but it does not rain all the time.\n  ADJ


Words: showgirl
Meaning:
show.girl\n   showgirl  showgirls\n  A showgirl is a young woman who sings and dances as part of a group in a musical show.\n  N-COUNT


Words: showground
Meaning:
show.ground\n   showground  showgrounds\n  A showground is a large area of land where events such as farming shows or horse riding competitions are held.\n  N-COUNT


Words: showman
Meaning:
show.man\n   showman  showmen\n  A showman is a person who is very entertaining and dramatic in the way that they perform, or the way that they present things.\n  N-COUNT


Words: showmanship
Meaning:
show.man.ship\n   showmanship\n  Showmanship is a person’s skill at performing or presenting things in an entertaining and dramatic way.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: showpiece
Meaning:
show.piece\n   showpiece  showpieces   also show-piece\n  A showpiece is something that is admired because it is the best thing of its type, especially something that is intended to be impressive.\nThe factory was to be a showpiece of Western investment in the East...\n  N-COUNT: with supp


Words: showroom
Meaning:
show.room\n   showroom  showrooms\n  A showroom is a shop in which goods are displayed for sale, especially goods such as cars or electrical or gas appliances.\n...a car showroom...\n  N-COUNT: usu n N


Words: showstopper
Meaning:
show.stopper\n   showstopper showstoppers  also show-stopper\n  If something is a showstopper, it is very impressive. (INFORMAL)\nHer natural creativity and artistic talent make her home a real showstopper.\n  N-COUNT  approval


Words: showtime
Meaning:
show.time\n   showtime\n  Showtime is the time when a particular stage or television show starts.\nIt’s close to showtime now, so you retire into the dressing room.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: showy
Meaning:
showy  showier  showiest\n  Something that is showy is very noticeable because it is large, colourful, or bright.\nSince he was color blind, he favored large, showy flowers...\n  ADJ


Words: shrapnel
Meaning:
shrap.nel\n   shrapnel\n  Shrapnel consists of small pieces of metal which are scattered from exploding bombs and shells.\nHe was hit by shrapnel from a grenade.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: shred
Meaning:
shred  shreds  shredding  shredded\n1. If you shred something such as food or paper, you cut it or tear it into very small, narrow pieces.\nThey may be shredding documents...\nFinely shred the carrots, cabbage and cored apples.\n  VERB: V n, V n\n\n2. If you cut or tear food or paper into shreds, you cut or tear it into small, narrow pieces.\nCut the cabbage into fine long shreds.\n  N-COUNT: usu pl\n\n3. If there is not a shred of something, there is not even a small amount of it.\nHe said there was not a shred of evidence to support such remarks...\nThere is not a shred of truth in the story...\n  N-COUNT: N of n, usu with brd-neg\n  = scrap


Words: shredder
Meaning:
shred.der\n   shredder  shredders\n  A shredder is a machine for shredding things such as documents or parts of bushes that have been cut off.\n...a document shredder.\n  N-COUNT


Words: shrewd
Meaning:
shrewd  shrewder  shrewdest\n  A shrewd person is able to understand and judge a situation quickly and to use this understanding to their own advantage.\nShe’s a shrewd businesswoman...\n  ADJ


Words: shriek
Meaning:
shriek  shrieks  shrieking  shrieked\n1. When someone shrieks, they make a short, very loud cry, for example because they are suddenly surprised, are in pain, or are laughing.\nShe shrieked and leapt from the bed...\nMiranda shrieked with laughter.\n  VERB: V, V with n\n\n  Shriek is also a noun.\nSue let out a terrific shriek and leapt out of the way.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. If you shriek something, you shout it in a loud, high-pitched voice.\n`Stop it! Stop it!’ shrieked Jane...\nHe was shrieking obscenities and weeping.\n  VERB: V with quote, V n\n  = scream


Words: shrift
Meaning:
shrift\n  If someone or something gets short shrift, they are paid very little attention.\nThe idea has been given short shrift by philosophers.\n  PHRASE: PHR after v


Words: shrill
Meaning:
shrill  shriller  shrillest\n1. A shrill sound is high-pitched and unpleasant.\nShrill cries and startled oaths flew up around us as pandemonium broke out...\nMary Ann’s voice grew shrill.\n  ADJ\n  = piercing\n=>  shril.ly\n`What are you doing?’ she demanded shrilly.\n  ADV: usu ADV with v\n\n=>  shrill.ness\n...that ugly shrillness in her voice.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n\n2. If you describe a demand, protest, or statement as shrill, you disapprove of it and do not like the strong, forceful way it is said.\nShrill voices on both sides of the Atlantic are advocating protectionism.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n  disapproval


Words: shrimp
Meaning:
shrimp  shrimps  or shrimp\n  Shrimps are small shellfish with long tails and many legs.\nAdd the shrimp and cook for 30 seconds...\n  N-COUNT


Words: shrimp cocktail
Meaning:
shrimp cock.tail\n   shrimp cocktail  shrimp cocktails\n  A shrimp cocktail is a dish that consists of shrimp, salad, and a sauce. It is usually eaten at the beginning of a meal. (mainly AM; in BRIT, use prawn cocktail)\n  N-VAR


Words: shrine
Meaning:
shrine  shrines\n1. A shrine is a place of worship which is associated with a particular holy person or object.\n...the holy shrine of Mecca.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. A shrine is a place that people visit and treat with respect because it is connected with a dead person or with dead people that they want to remember.\nThe monument has been turned into a shrine to the dead and the missing.\n  N-COUNT


Words: shrink
Meaning:
shrink  shrinks  shrinking  shrank  shrunk\n1. If cloth or clothing shrinks, it becomes smaller in size, usually as a result of being washed.\nAll my jumpers have shrunk.\n  VERB: V\n\n2. If something shrinks or something else shrinks it, it becomes smaller.\nThe vast forests of West Africa have shrunk...\nHungary may have to lower its hopes of shrinking its state sector.\n  VERB: V, V n\n  !=grow\n3. If you shrink away from someone or something, you move away from them because you are frightened, shocked, or disgusted by them.\nOne child shrinks away from me when I try to talk to him...\n  VERB: V prep/adv\n\n4. If you do not shrink from a task or duty, you do it even though it is unpleasant or dangerous.\nWe must not shrink from the legitimate use of force if we are to remain credible...\n  VERB: usu with neg, V from n\n\n5. A shrink is a psychiatrist. (INFORMAL)\nI’ve seen a shrink already.\n  N-COUNT\n\n6.\nno shrinking violet: see violet


Words: shrink-wrapped
Meaning:
shrink-wrapped\n  A shrink-wrapped product is sold in a tight covering of thin plastic.\n...a shrink-wrapped cassette.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n


Words: shrinkage
Meaning:
shrink.age\n   shrinkage\n  Shrinkage is a decrease in the size or amount of something.\nAllow for some shrinkage in both length and width.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: shrivel
Meaning:
shriv.el\n   shrivel  shrivels  shrivelling  shrivelled\nin AM, use shriveling, shriveled\n  When something shrivels or when something shrivels it, it becomes dryer and smaller, often with lines in its surface, as a result of losing the water it contains.\nThe plant shrivels and dies.\n...dry weather that shrivelled this summer’s crops.\n  VERB: V, V n\n\n  Shrivel up means the same as shrivel.\nThe leaves started to shrivel up.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P\n\n=>  shriv.elled\nIt looked old and shrivelled.\n  ADJ


Words: shroud
Meaning:
shroud  shrouds  shrouding  shrouded\n1. A shroud is a cloth which is used for wrapping a dead body.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. You can refer to something that surrounds an object or situation as a shroud of something.\n...a parked car huddled under a shroud of grey snow...\nMinisters are as keen as ever to wrap their activities in a shroud of secrecy.\n  N-COUNT: N of n\n\n3. If something has been shrouded in mystery or secrecy, very little information about it has been made available.\nFor years the teaching of acting has been shrouded in mystery.\n...the secrecy which has shrouded the whole affair.\n  VERB: be V-ed in n, V n\n\n4. If darkness, fog, or smoke shrouds an area, it covers it so that it is difficult to see.\nMist shrouded the outline of Buckingham Palace.\n  VERB: V n


Words: Shrove Tuesday
Meaning:
Shrove Tues.day\n   Shrove Tuesday\n  Shrove Tuesday is the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. People traditionally eat pancakes on Shrove Tuesday.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n  = Pancake Day


Words: shrubbery
Meaning:
shrub.bery\n   shrubbery  shrubberies\n1. A shrubbery is a part of a garden where a lot of shrubs are growing. (BRIT)\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. You can refer to a lot of shrubs or to shrubs in general as shrubbery.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: shrug
Meaning:
shrug  shrugs  shrugging  shrugged\n  If you shrug, you raise your shoulders to show that you are not interested in something or that you do not know or care about something.\nI shrugged, as if to say, `Why not?’...\nThe man shrugged his shoulders.\n  VERB: V, V n\n\n  Shrug is also a noun.\n`I suppose so,’ said Anna with a shrug.\n  N-COUNT


Words: shrug off
Meaning:
shrug off\n  If you shrug something off, you ignore it or treat it as if it is not really important or serious.\nHe shrugged off the criticism...\nHe just laughed and shrugged it off.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), V n P


Words: shrunken
Meaning:
shrunk.en\n   shrunken\n  Someone or something that is shrunken has become smaller than they used to be.\nShe now looked small, shrunken and pathetic...\n  ADJ


Words: shuck
Meaning:
shuck  shucks  shucking  shucked\n1. The shuck of something is its outer covering, for example the leaves round an ear of corn, or the shell of a shellfish. (AM)\n...corn shucks.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. If you shuck something such as corn or shellfish, you remove it from its outer covering. (AM)\nOn a good day, each employee will shuck 3,500 oysters.\n  VERB: V n\n\n3. If you shuck something that you are wearing, you take it off. (AM INFORMAL)\nHe shucked his coat and set to work.\n  VERB: V n\n\n4. Shucks is an exclamation that is used to express embarrassment, disappointment, or annoyance. (AM INFORMAL)\nTerry actually says `Oh, shucks!’ when complimented on her singing.\n  EXCLAM  feelings


Words: shudder
Meaning:
shud.der\n   shudder  shudders  shuddering  shuddered\n1. If you shudder, you shake with fear, horror, or disgust, or because you are cold.\nLloyd had urged her to eat caviar. She had shuddered at the thought...\n  VERB: V prep/adv\n\n  Shudder is also a noun.\nShe recoiled with a shudder.\n  N-COUNT: usu sing\n\n2. If something such as a machine or vehicle shudders, it shakes suddenly and violently.\nThe train began to pull out of the station.then suddenly shuddered to a halt...\nThe whole ship shuddered and trembled at the sudden strain.\n  VERB: V prep/adv, V\n\n3. If something sends a shudder or shudders through a group of people, it makes them worried or afraid.\nThe next crisis sent a shudder of fear through the UN community...\n  N-COUNT\n\n4. If you say that you shudder to think what would happen in a particular situation, you mean that you expect it to be so bad that you do not really want to think about it.\nI shudder to think what would have happened if he hadn’t acted as quickly as he did.\n  PHRASE: V inflects, usu PHR wh  feelings


Words: shuffle
Meaning:
shuf.fle\n   shuffle  shuffles  shuffling  shuffled\n1. If you shuffle somewhere, you walk there without lifting your feet properly off the ground.\nMoira shuffled across the kitchen...\n  VERB: V prep/adv\n\n  Shuffle is also a noun.\nShe noticed her own proud walk had become a shuffle.\n  N-SING\n\n2. If you shuffle around, you move your feet about while standing or you move your bottom about while sitting, often because you feel uncomfortable or embarrassed.\nHe shuffles around in his chair...\nHe grinned and shuffled his feet.\n  VERB: V prep/adv, V n\n\n3. If you shuffle playing cards, you mix them up before you begin a game.\nThere are various ways of shuffling and dealing the cards.\n  VERB: V n\n\n4. If you shuffle things such as pieces of paper, you move them around so that they are in a different order.\nThe silence lengthened as Thorne unnecessarily shuffled some papers.\n  VERB: V n


Words: shun
Meaning:
shun  shuns  shunning  shunned\n  If you shun someone or something, you deliberately avoid them or keep away from them.\nFrom that time forward everybody shunned him...\nHe has always shunned publicity...\n  VERB: V n, V n


Words: shunt
Meaning:
shunt  shunts  shunting  shunted\n1. If a person or thing is shunted somewhere, they are moved or sent there, usually because someone finds them inconvenient.\nHe has spent most of his life being shunted between his mother, father and various foster families...\n  VERB: usu passive, be V-ed prep/adv  disapproval\n\n2. When railway engines shunt wagons or carriages, they push or pull them from one railway line to another.\nThe GM diesel engine shunted the coaches to Platform 4.\n  VERB: V n prep/adv


Words: shush
Meaning:
shush  shushes  shushing  shushed\n1. You say shush when you are telling someone to be quiet.\nShush! Here he comes. I’ll talk to you later.\n  CONVENTION\n\n2. If you shush someone, you tell them to be quiet by saying `shush’ or `sh’, or by indicating in some other way that you want them to be quiet.\nFrannie shushed her with a forefinger to the lips.\n  VERB: V n, also V


Words: shut
Meaning:
shut  shuts  shutting\n\n  The form shut is used in the present tense and is the past tense and past participle.\n\n1. If you shut something such as a door or if it shuts, it moves so that it fills a hole or a space.\nJust make sure you shut the gate after you...\nThe screen door shut gently.\n  VERB: V n, V\n  = close  !=open\n  Shut is also an adjective.\nThey have warned residents to stay inside and keep their doors and windows shut...\n  ADJ: v-link ADJ\n\n2. If you shut your eyes, you lower your eyelids so that you cannot see anything.\nLucy shut her eyes so she wouldn’t see it happen.\n  VERB: V n\n  = close  !=open\n  Shut is also an adjective.\nHis eyes were shut and he seemed to have fallen asleep.\n  ADJ: v-link ADJ\n\n3. If your mouth shuts or if you shut your mouth, you place your lips firmly together.\nDaniel’s mouth opened, and then shut again...\nHe opened and shut his mouth, unspeaking.\n  VERB: V, V n\n  = close  !=open\n  Shut is also an adjective.\nShe was silent for a moment, lips tight shut, eyes distant.\n  ADJ: v-link ADJ\n\n4. When a store, bar, or other public building shuts or when someone shuts it, it is closed and you cannot use it until it is open again.\nThere is a tendency to shut museums or shops at a moment’s notice...\nWhat time do the pubs shut?\n  VERB: V n, V\n  = close  !=open\n  Shut is also an adjective.\nMake sure you have food to tide you over when the local shop may be shut.\n  ADJ: v-link ADJ\n\n5. If you say that someone shuts their eyes to something, you mean that they deliberately ignore something which they should deal with.\nWe shut our eyes to the plainest facts, refusing to admit the truth...\n  PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n  disapproval\n\n6. If someone tells you to keep your mouth shut about something, they are telling you not to let anyone else know about it.\n  PHRASE: V inflects\n\n7. If you keep your mouth shut, you do not express your opinions about something, even though you would like to.\nIf she had kept her mouth shut she would still have her job now.\n  PHRASE: V inflects


Words: shut down
Meaning:
shut down\n  If a factory or business shuts down or if someone shuts it down, work there stops or it no longer trades as a business.\nSmaller contractors had been forced to shut down...\nIt is required by law to shut down banks which it regards as chronically short of capital...\nMr Buzetta sold the newspaper’s assets to its competitor and shut it down.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P, V P n (not pron), V n P\n\n  see also shutdown


Words: shut in
Meaning:
shut in\n1. If you shut someone or something in a room, you close the door so that they cannot leave it.\nThe door enables us to shut the birds in the shelter in bad weather.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V n P n\n\n2. If you shut yourself in a room, you stay in there and make sure nobody else can get in.\nAfter one particular bad result, he shut himself in the shower room for an hour...\n  PHRASAL VERB: V pron-refl P n\n\n3.\n  see also shut-in


Words: shut off
Meaning:
shut off\n1. If you shut off something such as an engine or an electrical item, you turn it off to stop it working.\nThey pulled over and shut off the engine...\nWill somebody for God’s sake shut that alarm off.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), V n P\n  = switch off\n2. If you shut yourself off, you avoid seeing other people, usually because you are feeling depressed.\nBilly tends to keep things to himself more and shut himself off...\n  PHRASAL VERB: V pron-refl P\n\n3. If an official organization shuts off the supply of something, they no longer send it to the people they supplied in the past.\nThe State Water Project has shut off all supplies to farmers.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), also V n P


Words: shut out
Meaning:
shut out\n1. If you shut something or someone out, you prevent them from getting into a place, for example by closing the doors.\n`I shut him out of the bedroom,’ says Maureen...\nI was set to shut out anyone else who came knocking.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V n P of n, V P n (not pron)\n\n2. If you shut out a thought or a feeling, you prevent yourself from thinking or feeling it.\nI shut out the memory which was too painful to dwell on...\nThe figures represent such overwhelming human misery that the mind wants to shut it out.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), V n P\n  = block out\n3. If you shut someone out of something, you prevent them from having anything to do with it.\nShe is very reclusive, to the point of shutting me out of her life...\nShe had effectively shut him out by refusing to listen.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V n P of n, V n P


Words: shut up
Meaning:
shut up\n  If someone shuts up or if someone shuts them up, they stop talking. You can say `shut up’ as an impolite way to tell a person to stop talking.\nJust shut up, will you?...\nA sharp put-down was the only way to shut her up.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P, V n P


Words: shut-eye
Meaning:
shut-eye   also shuteye\n  Shut-eye is sleep. (INFORMAL)\nGo home and get some shut-eye.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: shut-in
Meaning:
shut-in  shut-ins\n  A shut-in is someone who is ill for a long time, and has to stay in bed or at home. (AM)\n...Meals on Wheels or similar programs that bring outside life to shut-ins.\n  N-COUNT


Words: shutdown
Meaning:
shut.down\n   shutdown  shutdowns\n  A shutdown is the closing of a factory, shop, or other business, either for a short time or for ever.\nThe shutdown is the latest in a series of painful budget measures...\n  N-COUNT


Words: shutter
Meaning:
shut.ter\n   shutter  shutters\n1. The shutter in a camera is the part which opens to allow light through the lens when a photograph is taken.\nThere are a few things you should check before pressing the shutter release.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. Shutters are wooden or metal covers fitted on the outside of a window. They can be opened to let in the light, or closed to keep out the sun or the cold.\nShe opened the shutters and gazed out over village roofs.\n  N-COUNT: usu pl


Words: shuttered
Meaning:
shut.tered\n   shuttered\n1. A shuttered window, room, or building has its shutters closed.\nI opened a shuttered window...\n  ADJ\n\n2. A shuttered window, room, or building has shutters fitted to it.\n...green-shuttered colonial villas.\n  ADJ: ADJ n


Words: shuttle
Meaning:
shut.tle\n   shuttle  shuttles  shuttling  shuttled\n1. A shuttle is the same as a space shuttle.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. A shuttle is a plane, bus, or train which makes frequent journeys between two places.\n...shuttle flights between London and Manchester.\n  N-COUNT: oft N n\n\n3. If someone or something shuttles or is shuttled from one place to another place, they frequently go from one place to the other.\nHe and colleagues have shuttled back and forth between the three capitals...\nMachine parts were also being shuttled across the border without authorisation.\n  VERB: V prep/adv, be V-ed prep/adv


Words: shuttle diplomacy
Meaning:
shut.tle di.plo.ma.cy\n   shuttle diplomacy\n  Shuttle diplomacy is the movement of diplomats between countries whose leaders refuse to talk directly to each other, in order to try to settle the argument between them.\nUN mediators are conducting shuttle diplomacy between the two sides.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: shuttlecock
Meaning:
shuttle.cock\n   shuttlecock  shuttlecocks\n  A shuttlecock is the small object that you hit over the net in a game of badminton. It is rounded at one end and has real or artificial feathers fixed in the other end.\n  N-COUNT


Words: shy
Meaning:
shy  shyer  shyest  shies  shying  shied\n1. A shy person is nervous and uncomfortable in the company of other people.\nShe was a shy and retiring person off-stage...\nHe is painfully shy of women.\n  ADJ\n\n=>  shy.ly\nThe children smiled shyly.\n  ADV: usu ADV with v\n\n=>  shy.ness\nEventually he overcame his shyness.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n\n2. If you are shy of doing something, you are unwilling to do it because you are afraid of what might happen.\nYou should not be shy of having your say in the running of the school.\n  ADJ: oft ADJ of -ing\n\n3. When a horse shies, it moves away suddenly, because something has frightened it.\nLlewelyn’s stallion shied as the wind sent sparks flying.\n  VERB: V\n\n4. A number or amount that is just shy of another number or amount is just under it.\n...a high-school dropout rate just shy of 53%...\n  PREP-PHRASE\n  = short of


Words: shy away from
Meaning:
shy away from\n  If you shy away from doing something, you avoid doing it, often because you are afraid or not confident enough.\nWe frequently shy away from making decisions...\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P P -ing


Words: shyster
Meaning:
shy.ster\n   shyster  shysters\n  If you refer to someone, especially a lawyer or politician, as a shyster, you mean that they are dishonest and immoral. (mainly AM INFORMAL)\n  N-COUNT  disapproval


Words: Siamese cat
Meaning:
Sia.mese cat\n   Siamese cat  Siamese cats\n  A Siamese cat is a type of cat with short cream and brown fur, blue eyes, dark ears, and a dark tail.\n  N-COUNT


Words: Siamese twin
Meaning:
Sia.mese twin\n   Siamese twin  Siamese twins\n  Siamese twins are twins who are born with their bodies joined.\n  N-COUNT


Words: sibilant
Meaning:
sibi.lant\n   sibilant\n  Sibilant sounds are soft `s’ sounds. (FORMAL)\nA sibilant murmuring briefly pervaded the room.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n


Words: sibling
Meaning:
sib.ling\n   sibling  siblings\n  Your siblings are your brothers and sisters. (FORMAL)\nHis siblings are mostly in their early twenties...\n  N-COUNT


Words: sic
Meaning:
sic\n  You write sic in brackets after a word or expression when you want to indicate to the reader that although the word looks odd or wrong, you intended to write it like that or the original writer wrote it like that.\nThe latest school jobs page advertises a `wide range (sic) of 6th form courses.’


Words: Sicilian
Meaning:
Si.cil.ian\n   Sicilian  Sicilians\n1. Sicilian means belonging or relating to Sicily, or to its people or culture.\n  ADJ\n\n2. A Sicilian is a Sicilian citizen, or a person of Sicilian origin.\n  N-COUNT


Words: sick
Meaning:
sick  sicker  sickest\n1. If you are sick, you are ill. Sick usually means physically ill, but it can sometimes be used to mean mentally ill.\nHe’s very sick. He needs medication...\nShe found herself with two small children, a sick husband, and no money...\n  ADJ\n\n  The sick are people who are sick.\nThere were no doctors to treat the sick.\n  N-PLURAL: the N\n\n2. If you are sick, the food that you have eaten comes up from your stomach and out of your mouth. If you feel sick, you feel as if you are going to be sick.\nShe got up and was sick in the handbasin...\nThe very thought of food made him feel sick...\n  ADJ: v-link ADJ\n\n3. Sick is vomit. (BRIT INFORMAL)\n  N-UNCOUNT\n\n4. If you say that you are sick of something or sick and tired of it, you are emphasizing that you are very annoyed by it and want it to stop. (INFORMAL)\nI am sick and tired of hearing all these people moaning...\n  ADJ: v-link ADJ of n/-ing  emphasis\n  = fed up\n5. If you describe something such as a joke or story as sick, you mean that it deals with death or suffering in an unpleasantly humorous way.\n...a sick joke about a cat...\n  ADJ  disapproval\n\n6. If you say that something or someone makes you sick, you mean that they make you feel angry or disgusted. (INFORMAL)\nIt makes me sick that people commit offences and never get punished...\n  PHRASE: V inflects, oft it PHR that\n\n7. If you are off sick, you are not at work because you are ill.\nWhen we are off sick, we only receive half pay.\n  PHRASE: usu v-link PHR\n\n8. If you say that you are worried sick, you are emphasizing that you are extremely worried. (INFORMAL)\nHe was worried sick about what our mothers would say.\n  PHRASE: v-link PHR  emphasis


Words: sick bay
Meaning:
sick bay  sick bays   also sick-bay\n  A sick bay is an area, especially on a ship or navy base, or in Britain in a school or university, where medical treatment is given and where beds are provided for people who are ill.\n...a free 16-bed sick bay for students needing continuous care...\n  N-COUNT: also prep N


Words: sick building syndrome
Meaning:
sick build.ing syn.drome\n   sick building syndrome\n  Sick building syndrome is a group of conditions, including headaches, sore eyes, and tiredness, which people who work in offices may experience because the air there is not healthy to breathe.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: sick leave
Meaning:
sick leave\n  Sick leave is the time that a person spends away from work because of illness or injury. (BUSINESS)\nI have been on sick leave for seven months with depression.\n  N-UNCOUNT: oft on N


Words: sick note
Meaning:
sick note  sick notes\n  A sick note is an official note signed by a doctor which states that someone is ill and needs to stay off work for a particular period of time.\n  N-COUNT


Words: sick pay
Meaning:
sick pay\n  When you are ill and unable to work, sick pay is the money that you get from your employer instead of your normal wages. (BUSINESS)\nThey are not eligible for sick pay.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: sickbed
Meaning:
sick.bed\n   sickbed  sickbeds   also sick-bed\n  Your sickbed is the bed that you are lying in while you are ill.\nMichael left his sickbed to entertain his house guests.\n  N-COUNT: usu poss N


Words: sicken
Meaning:
sick.en\n   sicken  sickens  sickening  sickened\n  If something sickens you, it makes you feel disgusted.\nThe notion that art should be controlled by intellectuals sickened him...\n  VERB: V n\n  = disgust


Words: sickening
Meaning:
sick.en.ing\n   sickening\n  You describe something as sickening when it gives you feelings of horror or disgust, or makes you feel sick in your stomach.\nThis was a sickening attack on a pregnant and defenceless woman...\n  ADJ


Words: sickie
Meaning:
sickie  sickies\n  If someone takes a sickie, they take a day off work saying that they are ill, especially when they are not actually ill. (INFORMAL)\nBroughton took a sickie on Monday to paint his fence.\n  N-COUNT


Words: sickle
Meaning:
sick.le\n   sickle  sickles\n  A sickle is a tool that is used for cutting grass and grain crops. It has a short handle and a long curved blade.\n  N-COUNT


Words: sickle-cell anaemia
Meaning:
sickle-cell anaemia\nin AM, use sickle-cell anemia\n  Sickle-cell anaemia is an inherited illness in which the red blood cells become curved, causing a number of health problems.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: sickly
Meaning:
sick.ly\n   sickly  sicklier  sickliest\n1. A sickly person or animal is weak, unhealthy, and often ill.\nHe had been a sickly child.\n  ADJ\n\n2. A sickly smell or taste is unpleasant and makes you feel slightly sick, often because it is extremely sweet.\n...the sickly smell of rum.\n  ADJ\n\n3. A sickly colour or light is unpleasantly pale or weak.\nWallpapers for children too often come only in sickly pastel shades.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n


Words: sickness
Meaning:
sick.ness\n   sickness  sicknesses\n1. Sickness is the state of being ill or unhealthy.\nIn fifty-two years of working he had one week of sickness...\nThere appears to be another outbreak of sickness among seals in the North Sea.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n\n2. Sickness is the uncomfortable feeling that you are going to vomit.\nAfter a while, the sickness gradually passed and she struggled to the mirror.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n  = nausea\n  see also morning sickness, travel sickness\n3. A sickness is a particular illness.\n...radiation sickness.\n  N-VAR


Words: sickness benefit
Meaning:
sick.ness ben.efit\n   sickness benefit\n  Sickness benefit is money that you receive regularly from the government when you are unable to work because of illness. (BRIT)\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: sickroom
Meaning:
sick.room\n   sickroom  sickrooms   also sick room\n  A sickroom is a room in which a sick person is lying in bed.\nClose friends were allowed into the sickroom.\n  N-COUNT


Words: side
Meaning:
side  sides  siding  sided\n1. The side of something is a position to the left or right of it, rather than in front of it, behind it, or on it.\nOn one side of the main entrance there’s a red plaque.\n...a photograph with me in the centre and Joe and Ken on each side of me.\n...the nations on either side of the Pacific...\nThere’s nothing but woods on the other side of the highway...\nThere has been a build-up of troops on both sides of the border...\nPC Dacre knocked on Webb’s door and, opening it, stood to one side.\n  N-COUNT: usu prep N of n\n\n2. The side of an object, building, or vehicle is any of its flat surfaces which is not considered to be its front, its back, its top, or its bottom.\nWe put a notice on the side of the box.\n...a van bearing on its side the name of a company...\nThere was a stone staircase against the side of the house...\nA carton of milk lay on its side.\n  N-COUNT: usu with poss\n\n3. The sides of a hollow or a container are its inside vertical surfaces.\nThe rough rock walls were like the sides of a deep canal...\nLine the base of the dish with greaseproof paper and lightly grease the sides.\n  N-COUNT\n\n4. The sides of an area or surface are its edges.\nPark on the side of the road.\n...a small beach on the north side of the peninsula...\n  N-COUNT: usu prep N of n\n  = edge\n5. The two sides of an area, surface, or object are its two halves.\nShe turned over on her stomach on the other side of the bed...\nThe major centre for language is in the left side of the brain.\n  N-COUNT: usu prep N of n\n  = half\n6. The two sides of a road are its two halves on which traffic travels in opposite directions.\nIt had gone on to the wrong side of the road and hit a car coming in the other direction.\n  N-COUNT\n\n7. If you talk about the other side of a town or of the world, you mean a part of the town or of the world that is very far from where you are.\nHe saw the ship that was to transport them to the other side of the world...\nAre you working on this side of the city?\n  N-COUNT: with supp\n\n8. Your sides are the parts of your body between your front and your back, from under your arms to your hips.\nHis arms were limp at his sides...\nThey had laid him on his side.\n  N-COUNT: usu poss N\n\n9. If someone is by your side or at your side, they stay near you and give you comfort or support.\nHe was constantly at his wife’s side...\n  N-COUNT: usu sing, by/at poss N\n\n10. The two sides of something flat, for example a piece of paper, are its two flat surfaces. You can also refer to one side of a piece of paper filled with writing as one side of writing.\nThe new copiers only copy onto one side of the paper...\nFry the chops until brown on both sides...\n  N-COUNT\n\n11. One side of a tape or record is what you can hear or record if you play the tape or record from beginning to end without turning it over.\nWe want to hear side A...\n  N-COUNT\n\n12. Side is used to describe things that are not the main or most important ones of their kind.\nShe slipped in and out of the theatre by a side door.\n...a prawn curry with a lentil side dish.\n  ADJ: ADJ n\n  !=main\n13. The different sides in a war, argument, or negotiation are the groups of people who are opposing each other.\nBoth sides appealed for a new ceasefire...\n...the elections which his side lost...\n  N-COUNT: usu with supp\n\n14. The different sides of an argument or deal are the different points of view or positions involved in it.\n...those with the ability to see all sides of a question...\n  N-COUNT: usu N of n\n\n15. If one person or country sides with another, they support them in an argument or a war. If people or countries side against another person or country, they support each other against them.\nThere has been much speculation that America might be siding with the rebels...\n  VERB: V with/against n\n\n16. In sport, a side is a team. (BRIT; in AM, use team)\nItaly were definitely a better side than Germany...\n  N-COUNT: usu with supp\n  = team\n(next)


Words: side .1
Meaning:
17. A particular side of something such as a situation or someone’s character is one aspect of it.\nHe is in charge of the civilian side of the UN mission...\nIt shows that your child can now see the funny side of things...\n  N-COUNT: usu supp N\n\n18. The mother’s side and the father’s side of your family are your mother’s relatives and your father’s relatives.\nSo was your father’s side more well off?\n  N-COUNT: usu supp N\n\n19.\n  see also -sided, siding\n20. If two people or things are side by side, they are next to each other.\nWe sat side by side on two wicker seats...\n  PHRASE: usu PHR after v\n\n21. If people work or live side by side, they work or live closely together in a friendly way.\n...areas where different nationalities have lived side by side for centuries...\n  PHRASE: usu PHR after v\n\n22. If you say that someone has let the side down, you mean that they have embarrassed their family or friends by behaving badly or not doing well at something. (BRIT)\nBrown was constantly letting the side down.\n  PHRASE: V inflects\n\n23. If something moves from side to side, it moves repeatedly to the left and to the right.\nShe was shaking her head from side to side.\n  PHRASE: PHR after v\n\n24. If you are on someone’s side, you are supporting them in an argument or a war.\nHe has the Democrats on his side...\nSome of the younger people seem to be on the side of reform.\n  PHRASE: PHR after v\n\n25. If something is on your side or if you have it on your side, it helps you when you are trying to achieve something.\nThe law is not on their side.\n  PHRASE: PHR after v, v-link PHR\n\n26. If you get on the wrong side of someone, you do something to annoy them and make them dislike you. If you stay on the right side of someone, you try to please them and avoid annoying them.\nI wouldn’t like to get on the wrong side of him...\n  PHRASE: usu PHR after v\n\n27. If you say that something is on the small side, you are saying politely that you think it is slightly too small. If you say that someone is on the young side, you are saying politely that you think they are slightly too young.\nHe’s quiet and a bit on the shy side.\n  PHRASE: usu v-link PHR  politeness\n\n28. If someone does something on the side, they do it in addition to their main work.\n...ways of making a little bit of money on the side.\n  PHRASE: usu PHR after v\n\n29. If you put something to one side or put it on one side, you temporarily ignore it in order to concentrate on something else.\nIn order to maintain profit margins health and safety regulations are often put to one side.\n  PHRASE: V inflects\n\n30. If you take someone to one side or draw them to one side, you speak to them privately, usually in order to give them advice or a warning.\nHe took Sabrina to one side and told her about the safe.\n  PHRASE: V inflects\n\n31. If you take sides or take someone’s side in an argument or war, you support one of the sides against the other.\nWe cannot take sides in a civil war...\n  PHRASE: V inflects\n\n32.\nto look on the bright side: see bright\nthe other side of the coin: see coin\nto err on the side of something: see err\nto be on the safe side: see safe\nsomeone’s side of the story: see story


Words: side dish
Meaning:
side dish  side dishes\n  A side dish is an amount of a particular food that is served at the same time as the main dish.\nThese mushrooms would make a delicious side dish.\n  N-COUNT


Words: side issue
Meaning:
side is.sue\n   side issue  side issues\n  A side issue is an issue or subject that is not considered to be as important as the main one.\nI must forget these side issues and remember my mission.\n  N-COUNT


Words: side order
Meaning:
side or.der\n   side order  side orders\n  A side order is an amount of a food that you order in a restaurant to be served at the same time as the main dish.\n...a side order of potato salad.\n  N-COUNT


Words: side road
Meaning:
side road  side roads\n  A side road is a road which leads off a busier, more important road.\n  N-COUNT


Words: side salad
Meaning:
side sal.ad\n   side salad  side salads\n  A side salad is a bowl of salad for one person which is served with a main meal.\n  N-COUNT


Words: side street
Meaning:
side street  side streets\n  A side street is a quiet, often narrow street which leads off a busier street.\n  N-COUNT


Words: side-effect
Meaning:
side-effect  side-effects   also side effect\n1. The side-effects of a drug are the effects, usually bad ones, that the drug has on you in addition to its function of curing illness or pain.\nThe treatment has a whole host of extremely unpleasant side-effects including weight gain, acne, skin rashes and headaches...\nMost patients suffer no side-effects.\n  N-COUNT: usu pl\n\n2. A side-effect of a situation is something unplanned and usually unpleasant that happens in addition to the main effects of that situation.\nOne side effect of modern life is stress...\n  N-COUNT: usu N of n/-ing


Words: side-foot
Meaning:
side-foot side-foots side-footing side-footed  also sidefoot\n  In football, if a player side-foots the ball, they kick it with the side of their foot. (BRIT JOURNALISM)\nCurrie sidefooted his first goal of the season.\n  VERB: V n, also V\n\n  Side-foot is also a noun.\nAnthony scored with a simple side-foot.\n  N-COUNT: usu sing


Words: side-on
Meaning:
side-on\n  A side-on collision or view is a collision or view from the side of an object.\n...steel beams built into the doors for protection against a side-on crash.\n  ADJ


Words: side-saddle
Meaning:
side-saddle\n  When you ride a horse side-saddle, you sit on a special saddle with both your legs on one side rather than one leg on each side of the horse.\nNaomi was given a pony and taught to ride side-saddle.\n  ADV: ADV after v


Words: side-splitting
Meaning:
side-splitting\n  Something that is side-splitting is very funny and makes you laugh a lot. (INFORMAL)\n...a side-splitting joke.\n  ADJ


Words: sidearm
Meaning:
side.arm\n   sidearm  sidearms\n  Sidearms are weapons, usually small guns, that you can wear on a belt.\nTwo guards with sidearms patrolled the wall.\n  N-COUNT: usu pl


Words: sideboard
Meaning:
side.board\n   sideboard  sideboards\n1. A sideboard is a long cupboard which is about the same height as a table. Sideboards are usually kept in dining rooms to put plates and glasses in.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. Sideboards are the same as sideburns. (BRIT)\n  N-PLURAL


Words: sideburns
Meaning:
side.burns\n   sideburns\n  If a man has sideburns, he has a strip of hair growing down the side of each cheek.\n...a young man with long sideburns.\n  N-PLURAL


Words: sidecar
Meaning:
side.car\n   sidecar  sidecars\n  A sidecar is a kind of box with wheels which you can attach to the side of a motorcycle so that you can carry a passenger in it.\n  N-COUNT


Words: sidekick
Meaning:
side.kick\n   sidekick  sidekicks\n  Someone’s sidekick is a person who accompanies them and helps them, and who you consider to be less intelligent or less important than the other person. (INFORMAL)\nHis sons, brother and nephews were his armed sidekicks.\n  N-COUNT: oft poss N


Words: sidelight
Meaning:
side.light\n   sidelight  sidelights\n1. The sidelights on a vehicle are the small lights at the front that help other drivers to notice the vehicle and to judge its width. (BRIT; in AM, usually use parking lights)\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. The sidelights on a vehicle are lights on its sides. (AM)\n  N-COUNT\n\n3. A sidelight on a particular situation is a piece of information about that situation which is interesting but which is not particularly important.\nThe book is full of amusing sidelights on his family background.\n  N-COUNT: oft N on n


Words: sideline
Meaning:
side.line\n   sideline  sidelines  sidelining  sidelined\n1. A sideline is something that you do in addition to your main job in order to earn extra money.\nMr. Means sold computer disks as a sideline.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. The sidelines are the lines marking the long sides of the playing area, for example on a football field or tennis court.\n  N-PLURAL\n\n3. If you are on the sidelines in a situation, you do not influence events at all, either because you have chosen not to be involved, or because other people have not involved you.\nFrance no longer wants to be left on the sidelines when critical decisions are taken...\n  N-PLURAL: the N, usu on/from N\n\n4. If someone or something is sidelined, they are made to seem unimportant and not included in what people are doing.\nHe was under pressure to resign and was about to be sidelined...\n  VERB: usu passive, be V-ed


Words: sidelong
Meaning:
side.long\n   sidelong\n  If you give someone a sidelong look, you look at them out of the corner of your eyes.\nShe gave him a quick sidelong glance.\n  ADJ: ADJ n


Words: sideshow
Meaning:
side.show\n   sideshow  sideshows   also side-show\n1. A sideshow is a less important or less significant event or situation related to a larger, more important one that is happening at the same time.\nIn the end, the meeting was a sideshow to a political storm that broke Thursday...\n  N-COUNT: oft N to n\n\n2. At a circus or fair, a sideshow is a performance that you watch or a game of skill that you play, that is provided in addition to the main entertainment.\n  N-COUNT


Words: sidestep
Meaning:
side.step\n   sidestep  sidesteps  sidestepping  sidestepped   also side-step\n1. If you sidestep a problem, you avoid discussing it or dealing with it.\nRarely, if ever, does he sidestep a question...\nHe was trying to sidestep responsibility.\n  VERB: V n, V n\n  = avoid\n2. If you sidestep, you step sideways in order to avoid something or someone that is coming towards you or going to hit you.\nAs I sidestepped, the bottle hit me on the left hip...\nHe made a grab for her but she sidestepped him.\n  VERB: V, V n


Words: sideswipe
Meaning:
side.swipe\n   sideswipe  sideswipes   also side-swipe\n  If you take a sideswipe at someone, you make an unexpected critical remark about them while you are talking about something else.\nDespite the increasingly hostile sideswipes at him, the Chancellor is secure in his post.\n  N-COUNT: usu N at n


Words: sidetrack
Meaning:
side.track\n   sidetrack  sidetracks  sidetracking  sidetracked   also side-track\n  If you are sidetracked by something, it makes you forget what you intended to do or say, and start instead doing or talking about a different thing.\nHe’d managed to avoid being sidetracked by Schneider’s problems...\nThe leadership moved to sidetrack the proposal...\nThey have a tendency to try to sidetrack you from your task.\n  VERB: be V-ed, V n, V n from n, also be V-ed into n/-ing


Words: sidewalk
Meaning:
side.walk\n   sidewalk  sidewalks\n  A sidewalk is a path with a hard surface by the side of a road. (AM; in BRIT, use pavement)\nTwo men and a woman were walking briskly down the sidewalk toward him.\n  N-COUNT


Words: sideways
Meaning:
side.ways\n   sideways\n1. Sideways means from or towards the side of something or someone.\nPiercey glanced sideways at her...\nThe ladder blew sideways...\nHe was facing sideways.\n  ADV: ADV after v\n\n  Sideways is also an adjective.\nAlfred shot him a sideways glance.\n  ADJ: ADJ n\n\n2. If you are moved sideways at work, you move to another job at the same level as your old job.\nHe would be moved sideways, rather than demoted.\n  ADV: ADV after v\n\n  Sideways is also an adjective.\n...her recent sideways move.\n  ADJ: ADJ n


Words: siding
Meaning:
sid.ing\n   siding  sidings\n1. A siding is a short railway track beside the main tracks, where engines and carriages are left when they are not being used.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. Siding is a wooden or metal covering on the outside walls of a building. (AM)\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: sidle
Meaning:
si.dle\n   sidle  sidles  sidling  sidled\n  If you sidle somewhere, you walk there in a quiet or cautious way, as if you do not want anyone to notice you.\nA young man sidled up to me and said, `May I help you?’\n  VERB: V prep/adv


Words: SIDS
Meaning:
SIDS\n  SIDS is used to talk about the sudden death of a baby while it is asleep, when it had not previously been ill. SIDS is an abbreviation for `sudden infant death syndrome’.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n  = cot death


Words: siege
Meaning:
siege  sieges\n1. A siege is a military or police operation in which soldiers or police surround a place in order to force the people there to come out or give up control of the place.\nWe must do everything possible to lift the siege...\nThe journalists found a city virtually under siege.\n  N-COUNT: also under N\n\n  see also state of siege\n2. If police, soldiers, or journalists lay siege to a place, they surround it in order to force the people there to come out or give up control of the place.\nThe rebels laid siege to the governor’s residence...\n  PHRASE: V inflects, usu PHR to n


Words: siege mentality
Meaning:
siege men.tal.ity\n   siege mentality\n  If a group of people have a siege mentality, they think that other people are constantly trying to harm or defeat them, and so they care only about protecting themselves.\nPolice officers had a siege mentality that isolated them from the people they served.\n  N-SING: also no det


Words: siesta
Meaning:
si.es.ta\n   siesta  siestas\n  A siesta is a short sleep or rest which you have in the early afternoon, especially in hot countries.\nThey have a siesta during the hottest part of the day.\n  N-COUNT


Words: sieve
Meaning:
sieve  sieves  sieving  sieved\n1. A sieve is a tool used for separating solids from liquids or larger pieces of something from smaller pieces. It consists of a metal or plastic ring with a wire or plastic net underneath, which the liquid or smaller pieces pass through.\nPress the raspberries through a fine sieve to form a puree.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. When you sieve a substance, you put it through a sieve.\nCream the margarine in a small bowl, then sieve the icing sugar into it.\n  VERB: V n\n  = sift


Words: sift
Meaning:
sift  sifts  sifting  sifted\n1. If you sift a powder such as flour or sand, you put it through a sieve in order to remove large pieces or lumps.\nSift the flour and baking powder into a medium-sized mixing bowl.\n  VERB: V n\n  = sieve\n2. If you sift through something such as evidence, you examine it thoroughly.\nPolice officers have continued to sift through the wreckage following yesterday’s bomb attack...\nBrook has sifted the evidence and summarises it clearly.\n  VERB: V through n, V n


Words: sigh
Meaning:
sigh  sighs  sighing  sighed\n1. When you sigh, you let out a deep breath, as a way of expressing feelings such as disappointment, tiredness, or pleasure.\nMichael sighed wearily...\nDad sighed and stood up.\n  VERB: V prep/adv, V\n\n  Sigh is also a noun.\nShe kicked off her shoes with a sigh...\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. If you sigh something, you say it with a sigh.\n`Oh, sorry. I forgot.’.`Everyone forgets,’ the girl sighed.\n  VERB: V with quote\n\n3. If people breathe or heave a sigh of relief, they feel happy that something unpleasant has not happened or is no longer happening.\nThere was a big sigh of relief once the economic reform plan was agreed...\n  PHRASE: sigh inflects, PHR after v


Words: sight
Meaning:
sight  sights  sighting  sighted\n1. Someone’s sight is their ability to see.\nMy sight is failing, and I can’t see to read any more...\nI use the sense of sound much more than the sense of sight.\n  N-UNCOUNT: oft poss N\n  = vision\n2. The sight of something is the act of seeing it or an occasion on which you see it.\nI faint at the sight of blood...\nThe sight of him entering a room could flood her with desire.\n  N-SING: the N of n\n\n3. A sight is something that you see.\nWe encountered the pathetic sight of a family packing up its home...\n  N-COUNT: usu with supp, oft adj N\n\n4. If you sight someone or something, you suddenly see them, often briefly.\nThe security forces sighted a group of young men that had crossed the border...\n  VERB: V n\n\n5. The sights of a weapon such as a rifle are the part which helps you aim it more accurately.\n  N-COUNT: usu pl\n\n6. The sights are the places that are interesting to see and that are often visited by tourists.\nI am going to show you the sights of our wonderful city...\n  N-PLURAL: usu the N, oft N of n\n\n7. You can use a sight to mean a lot. For example, if you say that something is a sight worse than it was before, you are emphasizing that it is much worse than it was. (INFORMAL)\nShe’s been no more difficult than most daughters and a sight better than some I could mention...\n  ADV: ADV adj/adv  emphasis\n\n8.\n  see also sighted, sighting\n9. If you catch sight of someone, you suddenly see them, often briefly.\nThen he caught sight of her small black velvet hat in the crowd...\n  PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n\n  = see\n10. If you say that something seems to have certain characteristics at first sight, you mean that it appears to have the features you describe when you first see it but later it is found to be different.\nIt promised to be a more difficult undertaking than might appear at first sight...\n  PHRASE: PHR with cl\n\n11. If something is in sight or within sight, you can see it. If it is out of sight, you cannot see it.\nThe Atlantic coast is within sight of the hotel...\nMy companion suggested that we park out of sight of passing traffic to avoid attracting attention.\n  PHRASE: usu v-link PHR\n\n12. If a result or a decision is in sight or within sight, it is likely to happen within a short time.\nAn agreement on many aspects of trade policy was in sight...\n  PHRASE: v-link PHR\n\n13. If you lose sight of an important aspect of something, you no longer pay attention to it because you are worrying about less important things.\nIn some cases, US industry has lost sight of customer needs in designing products...\n  PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n\n  = forget\n14. If someone is ordered to do something on sight, they have to do it without delay, as soon as a person or thing is seen.\nTroops shot anyone suspicious on sight...\n  PHRASE\n\n15. If you set your sights on something, you decide that you want it and try hard to get it.\nThey have set their sights on the world record...\n  PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n


Words: sight-read
Meaning:
sight-read  sight-reads  sight-reading\nThe form sight-read is used in the present tense, where it is pronounced   and is the past tense and past participle, pronounced\n  Someone who can sight-read can play or sing music from a printed sheet the first time they see it, without practising it beforehand.\nSymphony musicians cannot necessarily sight-read.\n  VERB: V, also V n


Words: sighted
Meaning:
sight.ed\n   sighted\n  Sighted people have the ability to see. This word is usually used to contrast people who can see with people who are blind.\nBlind children tend to be more passive in this area of motor development than sighted children.\n  ADJ: ADJ n\n  !=blind\n  see also clear-sighted, far-sighted, long-sighted, near-sighted, short-sighted


Words: sighting
Meaning:
sight.ing\n   sighting  sightings\n  A sighting of something, especially something unusual or unexpected is an occasion on which it is seen.\n...the sighting of a rare sea bird at Lundy island...\n  N-COUNT: oft N of n


Words: sightless
Meaning:
sight.less\n   sightless\n  Someone who is sightless is blind. (LITERARY)\nHe wiped a tear from his sightless eyes.\n  ADJ


Words: sightseeing
Meaning:
sight.see.ing\n   sightseeing   also sight-seeing\n  If you go sightseeing or do some sightseeing, you travel around visiting the interesting places that tourists usually visit.\n...a day’s sight-seeing in Venice.\n...a sightseeing tour.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: sightseer
Meaning:
sight.seer\n   sightseer  sightseers\n  A sightseer is someone who is travelling around visiting the interesting places that tourists usually visit.\n...coachloads of sightseers.\n  N-COUNT


Words: sign
Meaning:
sign  signs  signing  signed\n1. A sign is a mark or shape that always has a particular meaning, for example in mathematics or music.\nEquations are generally written with a two-bar equals sign.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. A sign is a movement of your arms, hands, or head which is intended to have a particular meaning.\nThey gave Lavalle the thumbs-up sign...\nThe priest made the sign of the cross over him.\n  N-COUNT\n\n3. If you sign, you communicate with someone using sign language. If a programme or performance is signed, someone uses sign language so that deaf people can understand it.\nAll programmes will be either `signed’ or subtitled...\n  VERB: be V-ed, also V, V n\n\n4. A sign is a piece of wood, metal, or plastic with words or pictures on it. Signs give you information about something, or give you a warning or an instruction.\n...a sign saying that the highway was closed because of snow.\n  N-COUNT\n\n5. If there is a sign of something, there is something which shows that it exists or is happening.\nThey are prepared to hand back a hundred prisoners of war a day as a sign of good will...\nYour blood would have been checked for any sign of kidney failure.\n  N-VAR: usu with supp, oft N of n\n\n6. When you sign a document, you write your name on it, usually at the end or in a special space. You do this to indicate that you have written the document, that you agree with what is written, or that you were present as a witness.\nWorld leaders are expected to sign a treaty pledging to increase environmental protection...\n  VERB: V n\n\n7. If an organization signs someone or if someone signs for an organization, they sign a contract agreeing to work for that organization for a specified period of time.\nThe Minnesota Vikings signed Herschel Walker from the Dallas Cowboys...\nThe band then signed to Slash Records.\n  VERB: V n, V to/for n\n\n8. In astrology, a sign or a sign of the zodiac is one of the twelve areas into which the heavens are divided.\nThe New Moon takes place in your opposite sign of Libra on the 15th.\n  N-COUNT\n\n9.\n  see also signing, call sign\n10. If you say that there is no sign of someone, you mean that they have not yet arrived, although you are expecting them to come.\nThe London train was on time, but there was no sign of my Finnish friend.\n  PHRASE: v-link PHR n\n\n11.\nto sign one’s own death warrant: see death warrant


Words: sign away
Meaning:
sign away\n  If you sign something away, you sign official documents that mean that you no longer own it or have a right to it.\nThe Duke signed away his inheritance...\nThey signed the rights away when they sold their idea to DC Comics.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), V n P


Words: sign for
Meaning:
sign for\n  If you sign for something, you officially state that you have received it, by signing a form or book.\nWhen the postal clerk delivers your order, check the carton before signing for it.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n


Words: sign in
Meaning:
sign in\n  If you sign in, you officially indicate that you have arrived at a hotel or club by signing a book or form.\nI signed in and crunched across the gravel to my room.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P


Words: sign language
Meaning:
sign lan.guage\n   sign language  sign languages\n  Sign language is movements of your hands and arms used to communicate. There are several official systems of sign language, used for example by deaf people. Movements are also sometimes invented by people when they want to communicate with someone who does not speak the same language.\nHer son used sign language to tell her what happened.\n  N-VAR


Words: sign off
Meaning:
sign off\n1. If someone signs off, they write a final message at the end of a letter or they say a final message at the end of a telephone conversation. You can say that people such as entertainers sign off when they finish a broadcast.\nO.K. I’ll sign off. We’ll talk at the beginning of the week...\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P\n\n2. When someone who has been unemployed signs off, they officially inform the authorities that they have found a job, so that they no longer receive money from the government. (BRIT)\nIf you work without signing off the dole you are breaking the law.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), also V P


Words: sign on
Meaning:
sign on\n  When an unemployed person signs on, they officially inform the authorities that they are unemployed, so that they can receive money from the government in order to live. (BRIT)\nHe has signed on at the job centre...\nI had to sign on the dole on Monday.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P prep, V P n (not pron)


Words: sign over
Meaning:
sign over\n  If you sign something over, you sign documents that give someone else property, possessions, or rights that were previously yours.\nTwo years ago, he signed over his art collection to the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art...\nLast June, he closed his business voluntarily and signed his assets over to someone else.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), V n P


Words: sign up
Meaning:
sign up\n  If you sign up for an organization or if an organization signs you up, you sign a contract officially agreeing to do a job or course of study.\nHe signed up as a steward with P&O Lines...\nHe saw the song’s potential, and persuaded the company to sign her up.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P as/for n, V n P


Words: signal
Meaning:
sig.nal\n   signal  signals  signalling  signalled\nin AM, use signaling, signaled\n1. A signal is a gesture, sound, or action which is intended to give a particular message to the person who sees or hears it.\nThey fired three distress signals...\nAs soon as it was dark, Mrs Evans gave the signal...\nYou mustn’t fire without my signal.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. If you signal to someone, you make a gesture or sound in order to send them a particular message.\nThe United manager was to be seen frantically signalling to McClair...\nHe stood up, signalling to the officer that he had finished with his client...\nShe signalled a passing taxi and ordered him to take her to the rue Marengo.\n  VERB: V prep/adv, V that, V n, also V\n\n3. If an event or action is a signal of something, it suggests that this thing exists or is going to happen.\nKurdish leaders saw the visit as an important signal of support...\n  N-COUNT: with supp\n  = sign\n4. If someone or something signals an event, they suggest that the event is happening or likely to happen.\nShe will be signalling massive changes in energy policy...\nThe outcome of that meeting could signal whether there truly exists a political will to begin negotiating.\n  VERB: V n, V wh\n  = indicate\n5. A signal is a piece of equipment beside a railway, which indicates to train drivers whether they should stop the train or not.\n  N-COUNT\n\n6. A signal is a series of radio waves, light waves, or changes in electrical current which may carry information.\n...high-frequency radio signals.\n  N-COUNT


Words: signal box
Meaning:
sig.nal box\n   signal box  signal boxes\n  A signal box is a small building near a railway, which contains the switches used to control the signals.\n  N-COUNT


Words: signalman
Meaning:
signal.man\n   signalman  signalmen\n  A signalman is a person whose job is to control the signals on a particular section of a railway.\n  N-COUNT


Words: signatory
Meaning:
sig.na.tory\n   signatory  signatories\n  The signatories of an official document are the people, organizations, or countries that have signed it. (FORMAL)\nBoth countries are signatories to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.\n  N-COUNT: oft N of/to n


Words: signature
Meaning:
sig.na.ture\n   signature  signatures\n1. Your signature is your name, written in your own characteristic way, often at the end of a document to indicate that you wrote the document or that you agree with what it says.\nI was writing my signature at the bottom of the page.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. A signature item is typical of or associated with a particular person. (mainly JOURNALISM)\nRabbit stew is one of chef Giancarlo Moeri’s signature dishes...\n  ADJ: ADJ n


Words: signature tune
Meaning:
sig.na.ture tune\n   signature tune  signature tunes\n  A signature tune is the tune which is always played at the beginning or end of a particular television or radio programme, or which people associate with a particular performer. (mainly BRIT; in AM, usually use theme song)\nDoesn’t that sound like the signature tune from The Late Late Show?\n  N-COUNT


Words: signboard
Meaning:
sign.board\n   signboard  signboards\n  A signboard is a piece of wood which has been painted with pictures or words and which gives some information about a particular place, product, or event.\nThe signboard outside the factory read `baby milk plant’.\n  N-COUNT


Words: signer
Meaning:
sign.er\n   signer  signers\n  A signer is someone who communicates to deaf people using sign language.\nI’m keen on providing signers for deaf people and readers for the blind.\n  N-COUNT


Words: signet ring
Meaning:
sig.net ring\n   signet ring  signet rings\n  A signet ring is a ring which has a flat oval or circular section at the front with a pattern or letters carved into it.\n  N-COUNT


Words: significance
Meaning:
sig.nifi.cance\n   significance\n  The significance of something is the importance that it has, usually because it will have an effect on a situation or shows something about a situation.\nIdeas about the social significance of religion have changed over time...\n  N-UNCOUNT: usu with supp, oft N prep\n  = importance


Words: significant
Meaning:
sig.nifi.cant\n   significant\n1. A significant amount or effect is large enough to be important or affect a situation to a noticeable degree.\nA small but significant number of 11-year-olds are illiterate.\n...foods that offer a significant amount of protein...\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n\n  !=insignificant\n=>  sig.nifi.cant.ly\nThe number of MPs now supporting him had increased significantly...\n  ADV: ADV with v, ADV adj/adv/prep\n\n2. A significant fact, event, or thing is one that is important or shows something.\nI think it was significant that he never knew his own father.\n  ADJ\n\n=>  sig.nifi.cant.ly\nSignificantly, the company recently opened a huge store in Atlanta.\n  ADV


Words: significant other
Meaning:
sig.nifi.cant oth.er\n   significant other  significant others\n  If you refer to your significant other, you are referring to your wife, husband, or the person you are having a relationship with.\n  N-COUNT


Words: signify
Meaning:
sig.ni.fy\n   signify  signifies  signifying  signified\n1. If an event, a sign, or a symbol signifies something, it is a sign of that thing or represents that thing.\nThe contrasting approaches to Europe signified a sharp difference between the major parties ...\nThe symbol displayed outside a restaurant signifies there’s excellent cuisine inside.\n  VERB: V n, V that\n\n2. If you signify something, you make a sign or gesture in order to communicate a particular meaning.\nTwo jurors signified their dissent...\nThe UN flag was raised at the airport yesterday to signify that control had passed into its hands.\n  VERB: V n, V that\n  = indicate


Words: signing
Meaning:
sign.ing\n   signing  signings\n1. The signing of a document is the act of writing your name to indicate that you agree with what it says or to say that you have been present to witness other people writing their signature.\nSpain’s top priority is the signing of an EMU treaty.\n  N-UNCOUNT: N of n\n\n2. A signing is someone who has recently signed a contract agreeing to play for a sports team or work for a record company.\n...the salary paid to the club’s latest signing.\n  N-COUNT: usu with supp\n\n3. The signing of a player by a sports team or a group by a record company is the act of drawing up a legal document setting out the length and terms of the association between them.\n...Manchester United’s signing of the Australian goalkeeper Mark Bosnich.\n  N-UNCOUNT: N of n\n\n4. Signing is the use of sign language to communicate with someone who is deaf.\nThe two deaf actors converse solely in signing.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: signpost
Meaning:
sign.post\n   signpost  signposts\n  A signpost is a sign where roads meet that tells you which direction to go in to reach a particular place or different places.\nTurn off at the signpost for Attlebridge.\n  N-COUNT\n  = sign


Words: signposted
Meaning:
sign.post.ed\n   signposted\n  A place or route that is signposted has signposts beside the road to show the way.\nThe entrance is well signposted and is in Marbury Road.\n  ADJ


Words: Sikh
Meaning:
Sikh  Sikhs\n  A Sikh is a person who follows the Indian religion of Sikhism.\nThe rise of racism concerns Sikhs because they are such a visible minority.\n...Sikh festivals.\n  N-COUNT: oft N n


Words: Sikhism
Meaning:
Sikh.ism\n   Sikhism\n  Sikhism is an Indian religion which separated from Hinduism in the sixteenth century and which teaches that there is only one God.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: silage
Meaning:
si.lage\n   silage\n  Silage is food for cattle that is made by cutting a crop such as grass or corn when it is green and then keeping it covered.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: silence
Meaning:
si.lence\n   silence  silences  silencing  silenced\n1. If there is silence, nobody is speaking.\nThey stood in silence...\nHe never lets those long silences develop during dinner...\nThen he bellowed `Silence!’\n  N-VAR: oft in/of N\n\n2. The silence of a place is the extreme quietness there.\nShe breathed deeply, savouring the silence.\n  N-UNCOUNT: oft the N of n\n\n3. Someone’s silence about something is their failure or refusal to speak to other people about it.\nThe district court ruled that Popper’s silence in court today should be entered as a plea of not guilty.\n  N-UNCOUNT: oft poss N\n\n  If someone breaks their silence about something, they talk about something that they have not talked about before or for a long time.\nGary decided to break his silence about his son’s suffering in the hope of helping other families.\n  PHRASE: V inflects\n\n4. To silence someone or something means to stop them speaking or making a noise.\nA ringing phone silenced her...\n  VERB: V n\n\n5. If someone silences you, they stop you expressing opinions that they do not agree with.\nLike other tyrants, he tried to silence anyone who spoke out against him.\n  VERB: V n


Words: silencer
Meaning:
si.lenc.er\n   silencer  silencers\n1. A silencer is a device that is fitted onto a gun to make it very quiet when it is fired.\n...a pistol that was equipped with a silencer.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. A silencer is a device on a car exhaust that makes it quieter. (BRIT; in AM, use muffler)\n  N-COUNT


Words: silent
Meaning:
si.lent\n   silent\n1. Someone who is silent is not speaking.\nTrish was silent because she was reluctant to put her thoughts into words...\nHe spoke no English and was completely silent during the visit...\nThey both fell silent.\n  ADJ: v-link ADJ\n\n=>  si.lent.ly\nShe and Ned sat silently for a moment, absorbing the peace of the lake...\n  ADV: ADV with v\n\n2. If you describe someone as a silent person, you mean that they do not talk to people very much, and sometimes give the impression of being unfriendly.\nHe was a serious, silent man.\n  ADJ: ADJ n\n  = quiet\n3. A place that is silent is completely quiet, with no sound at all. Something that is silent makes no sound at all.\nThe room was silent except for John’s crunching...\n  ADJ: usu v-link ADJ\n\n=>  si.lent.ly\nStrange shadows moved silently in the almost permanent darkness.\n  ADV: ADV with v\n\n4. A silent emotion or action is not expressed in speech.\nThe attacker still stood there, watching her with silent contempt...\n  ADJ: ADJ n\n\n5. A silent film has pictures usually accompanied by music but does not have the actors’ voices or any other sounds.\n...one of the famous silent films of Charlie Chaplin.\n  ADJ: ADJ n


Words: silent majority
Meaning:
si.lent ma.jor.ity\n   silent majority\n  If you believe that, in society or in a particular group, the opinions of most people are very different from the opinions that are most often heard in public, you can refer to these people as the silent majority.\nThe silent majority of supportive parents and teachers should make their views known.\n  N-SING-COLL


Words: silent partner
Meaning:
si.lent part.ner\n   silent partner  silent partners\n  A silent partner is a person who provides some of the capital for a business but who does not take an active part in managing the business. (AM BUSINESS; in BRIT, use sleeping partner)\n  N-COUNT


Words: silhouette
Meaning:
sil.hou.ette\n   silhouette  silhouettes\n1. A silhouette is the solid dark shape that you see when someone or something has a bright light or pale background behind them.\nThe dark silhouette of the castle ruins stood out boldly against the fading light.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. The silhouette of something is the outline that it has, which often helps you to recognize it.\n...the distinctive silhouette of his ears...\n  N-COUNT


Words: silhouetted
Meaning:
sil.hou.ett.ed\n   silhouetted\n  If someone or something is silhouetted against a background, you can see their silhouette.\nSilhouetted against the sun stood the figure of a man.\n  ADJ: usu v-link ADJ against n


Words: silica
Meaning:
sili.ca\n   silica\n  Silica is silicon dioxide, a compound of silicon which is found in sand, quartz, and flint, and which is used to make glass.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: silicate
Meaning:
sili.cate\n   silicate  silicates\n  A silicate is a compound of silica which does not dissolve. There are many different kinds of silicate.\n...large amounts of aluminum silicate.\n  N-MASS


Words: silicon
Meaning:
sili.con\n   silicon\n  Silicon is an element that is found in sand and in minerals such as quartz and granite. Silicon is used to make parts of computers and other electronic equipment.\nA chip is a piece of silicon about the size of a postage stamp.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: silicon chip
Meaning:
sili.con chip\n   silicon chip  silicon chips\n  A silicon chip is a very small piece of silicon inside a computer. It has electronic circuits on it and can hold large quantities of information or perform mathematical or logical operations.\n  N-COUNT\n  = microchip


Words: silicone
Meaning:
sili.cone\n   silicone\n  Silicone is a tough artificial substance made from silicon, which is used to make polishes, and also used in cosmetic surgery and plastic surgery.\n...silicone breast implants.\n  N-UNCOUNT: usu N n


Words: silk
Meaning:
silk  silks\n  Silk is a substance which is made into smooth fine cloth and sewing thread. You can also refer to this cloth or thread as silk.\nThey continued to get their silks from China...\nPauline wore a silk dress with a strand of pearls.\n  N-MASS


Words: silk-screen
Meaning:
silk-screen   also silkscreen\n  Silk-screen printing is a method of printing patterns onto cloth by forcing paint or dyes through silk or similar material.\n...silk-screen prints.\n  ADJ: ADJ n


Words: silken
Meaning:
silk.en\n   silken\n1. Silken is used to describe things that are very pleasantly smooth and soft. (LITERARY)\n...her long silken hair.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n\n\n2. A silken garment, fabric, or rope is made of silk or a material that looks like silk. (LITERARY)\n...silken cushions.\n  ADJ: ADJ n


Words: silkworm
Meaning:
silk.worm\n   silkworm  silkworms\n  A silkworm is the young form of a Chinese moth and it produces silk.\n  N-COUNT


Words: silky
Meaning:
silky  silkier  silkiest\n  If something has a silky texture, it is smooth, soft, and shiny, like silk.\n...dresses in seductively silky fabrics...\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n


Words: sill
Meaning:
sill  sills\n  A sill is a shelf along the bottom edge of a window, either inside or outside a building.\nWhitlock was perched on the sill of the room’s only window.\n  N-COUNT\n  = ledge


Words: silly
Meaning:
sil.ly\n   silly  sillier  silliest\n  If you say that someone or something is silly, you mean that they are foolish, childish, or ridiculous.\nMy best friend tells me that I am silly to be upset about this...\nThat’s a silly question.\n  ADJ


Words: silly season
Meaning:
sil.ly sea.son\n   silly season\n  The silly season is the time around August when the newspapers are full of unimportant or silly news stories because there is not much political news to report. (BRIT)\n  N-PROPER: the N


Words: silo
Meaning:
silo  silos\n1. A silo is a tall round metal tower on a farm, in which grass, grain, or some other substance is stored.\nBefore silos were invented, cows gave less milk during winter because they had no green grass to eat.\n...a grain silo.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. A silo is a specially built place underground where a nuclear missile is kept.\n...underground nuclear missile silos.\n  N-COUNT


Words: silt
Meaning:
silt\n  Silt is fine sand, soil, or mud which is carried along by a river.\nThe lake was almost solid with silt and vegetation.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: silver
Meaning:
sil.ver\n   silver  silvers\n1. Silver is a valuable pale grey metal that is used for making jewellery and ornaments.\n...a hand-crafted brooch made from silver.\n...silver teaspoons.\n  N-UNCOUNT: oft N n\n\n2. Silver consists of coins that are made from silver or that look like silver.\n...the basement where .150,000 in silver was buried.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n\n3. You can use silver to refer to all the things in a house that are made of silver, especially the cutlery and dishes.\nHe beat the rugs and polished the silver.\n  N-UNCOUNT: also the N\n\n4. Silver is used to describe things that are shiny and pale grey in colour.\nHe had thick silver hair which needed cutting.\n  COLOUR\n\n5. A silver is the same as a silver medal.\nBritain went on to take bronze and then followed it up by winning silver in the World Cup.\n  N-VAR\n\n6.\nborn with a silver spoon in your mouth: see spoon


Words: silver birch
Meaning:
sil.ver birch\n   silver birch  silver birches  or silver birch\n  A silver birch is a tree with a greyish-white trunk and branches.\n  N-COUNT


Words: silver jubilee
Meaning:
sil.ver ju.bi.lee\n   silver jubilee  silver jubilees\n  A silver jubilee is the 25th anniversary of an important event such as a person becoming king or queen, or an organization being started.\nShe arrived in St Ives to celebrate the Queen’s Silver Jubilee.\n  N-COUNT


Words: silver lining
Meaning:
sil.ver lin.ing\n   silver lining\n1. If you say that every cloud has a silver lining, you mean that every sad or unpleasant situation has a positive side to it.\nAs they say, every cloud has a silver lining. We have drawn lessons from the decisions taken.\n  PHRASE\n\n2. If you talk about a silver lining, you are talking about something positive that comes out of a sad or unpleasant situation.\nThe fall in inflation is the silver lining of the prolonged recession.\n  N-SING


Words: silver medal
Meaning:
sil.ver med.al\n   silver medal  silver medals\n  If you win a silver medal, you come second in a competition, especially a sports contest, and are given a medal made of silver as a prize.\nGillingham won the silver medal in the 200 metres at Seoul.\n  N-COUNT


Words: silver plate
Meaning:
sil.ver plate\n   silver plate\n1. Silver plate is metal that has been coated with a thin layer of silver.\n...silver-plate cutlery.\n  N-UNCOUNT: oft N n\n\n2. Silver plate is dishes, bowls, and cups that are made of silver. (BRIT; in AM, use silver, solid silver)\n...gold and silver plate, jewellery, and roomfuls of antique furniture.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: silver screen
Meaning:
sil.ver screen\n   silver screen\n  People sometimes refer to the films that are shown in cinemas as the silver screen.\nMarlon Brando, Steve McQueen, and James Dean are now legends of the silver screen...\n  N-SING: the N


Words: silver wedding
Meaning:
sil.ver wed.ding\n   silver wedding  silver weddings\n  A married couple’s silver wedding or silver wedding anniversary is the 25th anniversary of their wedding.\nHe and Helen celebrated their silver wedding last year.\n  N-COUNT: usu poss N


Words: silver-plated
Meaning:
silver-plated\n  Something that is silver-plated is covered with a very thin layer of silver.\n...silver-plated cutlery.\n  ADJ


Words: silver-tongued
Meaning:
silver-tongued\n  A silver-tongued person is very skilful at persuading people to believe what they say or to do what they want them to do.\n...a silver-tongued lawyer.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n


Words: silvered
Meaning:
sil.vered\n   silvered\n  You can describe something as silvered when it has become silver in colour. (LITERARY)\nHe had a magnificent head of silvered hair.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n


Words: silversmith
Meaning:
silver.smith\n   silversmith  silversmiths\n  A silversmith is a person who makes things out of silver.\n  N-COUNT


Words: silverware
Meaning:
silver.ware\n   silverware\n1. You can use silverware to refer to all the things in a house that are made of silver, especially the cutlery and dishes.\nThere was a serving spoon missing when Nina put the silverware back in its box.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n  = silver\n2. Journalists sometimes use silverware to refer to silver cups and other prizes won by sports teams or players.\nEverton paraded their recently acquired silverware.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: silvery
Meaning:
sil.very\n   silvery\n  Silvery things look like silver or are the colour of silver.\n...a small, intense man with silvery hair...\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n


Words: sim
Meaning:
sim sims\n  A sim is a computer game that simulates an activity such as playing a sport or flying an aircraft. (COMPUTING)\nThe game is a simple sports sim.\n  N-COUNT


Words: SIM card
Meaning:
SIM card SIM cards\n  A SIM card is a microchip in a mobile phone that connects it to a particular phone network. SIM is an abbreviation for `Subscriber Identity Module’.\n  N-COUNT


Words: simian
Meaning:
sim.ian\n   simian\n1. If someone has a simian face, they look rather like a monkey. (FORMAL)\nAda had a wrinkled, simian face.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n\n\n2. Simian is used to describe things relating to monkeys or apes. (TECHNICAL)\n...a simian virus.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n


Words: similar
Meaning:
simi.lar\n   similar\n  If one thing is similar to another, or if two things are similar, they have features that are the same.\n...a savoury cake with a texture similar to that of carrot cake...\nThe accident was similar to one that happened in 1973.\n...a group of similar pictures.\n  ADJ: oft ADJ to n\n  !=different


Words: similarity
Meaning:
simi.lar.ity\n   similarity  similarities\n1. If there is a similarity between two or more things, they are similar to each other.\nThe astonishing similarity between my brother and my first-born son...\nShe is also 25 and a native of Birmingham, but the similarity ends there.\n  N-UNCOUNT: oft N between/in/with n\n\n2. Similarities are features that things have which make them similar to each other.\nThere were significant similarities between mother and son...\n  N-COUNT: usu pl, oft N between/in/with n\n  !=difference


Words: similarly
Meaning:
simi.lar.ly\n   similarly\n1. You use similarly to say that something is similar to something else.\nMost of the men who now gathered round him again were similarly dressed.\n  ADV: ADV adj/adv, ADV with v\n  !=differently\n2. You use similarly when mentioning a fact or situation that is similar to the one you have just mentioned.\nA mother recognises the feel of her child’s skin when blindfolded. Similarly, she can instantly identify her baby’s cry.\n  ADV: ADV with cl\n  = likewise


Words: simile
Meaning:
simi.le\n   simile  similes\n  A simile is an expression which describes a person or thing as being similar to someone or something else. For example, the sentences `She runs like a deer’ and `He’s as white as a sheet’ contain similes.\n  N-COUNT


Words: simmer
Meaning:
sim.mer\n   simmer  simmers  simmering  simmered\n1. When you simmer food or when it simmers, you cook it by keeping it at boiling point or just below boiling point.\nMake an infusion by boiling and simmering the rhubarb and camomile together...\nTurn the heat down so the sauce simmers gently.\n  VERB: V n, V\n\n  Simmer is also a noun.\nCombine the stock, whole onion and peppercorns in a pan and bring to a simmer.\n  N-SING\n\n2. If a conflict or a quarrel simmers, it does not actually happen for a period of time, but eventually builds up to the point where it does.\n...bitter divisions that have simmered for more than half a century...\nThe province was attacked a month ago after weeks of simmering tension.\n  VERB: V, V-ing


Words: simper
Meaning:
sim.per\n   simper  simpers  simpering  simpered\n  When someone simpers, they smile in a rather silly way.\nThe maid lowered her chin and simpered.\n  VERB: V\n\n  Simper is also a noun.\n`Thank you doctor,’ said the nurse with a simper.\n  N-COUNT


Words: simple
Meaning:
sim.ple\n   simple  simpler  simplest\n1. If you describe something as simple, you mean that it is not complicated, and is therefore easy to understand.\n...simple pictures and diagrams.\n...pages of simple advice on filling in your tax form...\nBuddhist ethics are simple but its practices are very complex to a western mind.\n  ADJ\n  !=complicated\n=>  simp.ly\nWhen applying for a visa state simply and clearly the reasons why you need it.\n  ADV: ADV with v\n\n2. If you describe people or things as simple, you mean that they have all the basic or necessary things they require, but nothing extra.\nHe ate a simple dinner of rice and beans.\n...the simple pleasures of childhood...\nNothing is simpler than a cool white shirt.\n  ADJ\n\n=>  simp.ly\nThe living room is furnished simply with wicker furniture...\n  ADV: ADV after v\n\n3. If a problem is simple or if its solution is simple, the problem can be solved easily.\nSome puzzles look difficult but once the solution is known are actually quite simple...\nI cut my purchases dramatically by the simple expedient of destroying my credit cards.\n  ADJ\n\n4. A simple task is easy to do.\nThe simplest way to install a shower is to fit one over the bath.\n  ADJ: oft ADJ to-inf\n  = easy\n=>  simp.ly\nSimply dial the number and tell us your area.\n  ADV: ADV with v\n\n5. If you say that someone is simple, you mean that they are not very intelligent and have difficulty learning things.\nHe was simple as a child.\n  ADJ\n\n6. You use simple to emphasize that the thing you are referring to is the only important or relevant reason for something.\nHis refusal to talk was simple stubbornness.\n  ADJ: ADJ n  emphasis\n  = plain\n7. In grammar, simple tenses are ones which are formed without an auxiliary verb `be’, for example `I dressed and went for a walk’ and `This tastes nice’. Simple verb groups are used especially to refer to completed actions, regular actions, and situations. Compare continuous.\n  ADJ\n\n8. In English grammar, a simple sentence consists of one main clause. Compare compound, complex.\n  ADJ\n\n9.\n  see also simply


Words: simple interest
Meaning:
sim.ple in.ter.est\n   simple interest\n  Simple interest is interest that is calculated on an original sum of money and not also on interest which has previously been added to the sum. Compare compound interest. (BUSINESS)\n  N-UNCOUNT\n  !=compound interest


Words: simple-minded
Meaning:
simple-minded\n  If you describe someone as simple-minded, you believe that they interpret things in a way that is too simple and do not understand how complicated things are.\nSylvie was a simple-minded romantic...\n  ADJ  disapproval


Words: simpleton
Meaning:
sim.ple.ton\n   simpleton  simpletons\n  If you call someone a simpleton, you think they are easily deceived or not very intelligent.\n`But Ian’s such a simpleton’, she laughed...\n  N-COUNT  disapproval


Words: simplicity
Meaning:
sim.plic.ity\n   simplicity\n1. The simplicity of something is the fact that it is not complicated and can be understood or done easily.\nThe apparent simplicity of his plot is deceptive...\n  N-UNCOUNT: usu with supp\n\n2. When you talk about something’s simplicity, you approve of it because it has no unnecessary parts or complicated details.\n...fussy details that ruin the simplicity of the design...\n  N-UNCOUNT: usu with supp  approval


Words: simplification
Meaning:
sim.pli.fi.ca.tion\n   simplification  simplifications\n1. You can use simplification to refer to the thing that is produced when you make something simpler or when you reduce it to its basic elements.\nLike any such diagram, it is a simplification.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. Simplification is the act or process of making something simpler.\nEveryone favours the simplification of court procedures.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: simplify
Meaning:
sim.pli.fy\n   simplify  simplifies  simplifying  simplified\n  If you simplify something, you make it easier to understand or you remove the things which make it complex.\n...a plan to simplify the complex social security system...\n  VERB: V n\n  !=complicate


Words: simplistic
Meaning:
sim.plis.tic\n   simplistic\n  A simplistic view or interpretation of something makes it seem much simpler than it really is.\nHe has a simplistic view of the treatment of eczema...\n  ADJ


Words: simply
Meaning:
simp.ly\n   simply\n1. You use simply to emphasize that something consists of only one thing, happens for only one reason, or is done in only one way.\nThe table is simply a chipboard circle on a base...\nMost of the damage that’s occurred was simply because of fallen trees...\n  ADV: ADV before v, ADV with cl/group  emphasis\n  = just\n2. You use simply to emphasize what you are saying.\nThis sort of increase simply cannot be justified...\nSo many of these questions simply don’t have answers...\n  ADV: ADV before v, ADV adj  emphasis\n  = just\n3.\n  see also simple


Words: simulate
Meaning:
simu.late\n   simulate  simulates  simulating  simulated\n1. If you simulate an action or a feeling, you pretend that you are doing it or feeling it.\nThey rolled about on the Gilligan Road, simulating a bloodthirsty fight...\nHe performed a simulated striptease.\n  VERB: V n, V-ed\n\n2. If you simulate an object, a substance, or a noise, you produce something that looks or sounds like it.\nThe wood had been painted to simulate stone...\n  VERB: V n\n\n3. If you simulate a set of conditions, you create them artificially, for example in order to conduct an experiment.\nThe scientist developed one model to simulate a full year of the globe’s climate...\nCars are tested to see how much damage they suffer in simulated crashes.\n  VERB: V n, V-ed


Words: simulation
Meaning:
simu.la.tion\n   simulation  simulations\n  Simulation is the process of simulating something or the result of simulating it.\nTraining includes realistic simulation of casualty procedures.\n  N-VAR


Words: simulator
Meaning:
simu.la.tor\n   simulator  simulators\n  A simulator is a device which artificially creates the effect of being in conditions of some kind. Simulators are used in training people such as pilots or astronauts.\n...pilots practising a difficult landing in a flight simulator.\n  N-COUNT


Words: simulcast
Meaning:
sim.ul.cast\n   simulcast   simulcasts  simulcasting\n\n  The form simulcast is used in the present tense and is the past tense and past participle of the verb.\n\n1. A simulcast is a programme which is broadcast at the same time on radio and television, or on more than one channel.\n...tonight’s simulcast of Verdi’s Aida.\n  N-COUNT: oft N of n\n\n2. To simulcast a programme means to broadcast it at the same time on radio and television, or on more than one channel.\nThe show will be simulcast on NBC, Fox and a number of cable networks.\n  VERB: be V-ed, also V n


Words: simultaneous
Meaning:
sim.ul.ta.neous\n   simultaneous\n  Things which are simultaneous happen or exist at the same time.\n...the simultaneous release of the book and the album...\nThe theatre will provide simultaneous translation in both English and Chinese.\n  ADJ\n\n=>  sim.ul.ta.neous.ly\nThe two guns fired almost simultaneously...\n  ADV: ADV with v, ADV with cl/group


Words: sin
Meaning:
sin  sins  sinning  sinned\n1. Sin or a sin is an action or type of behaviour which is believed to break the laws of God.\nThe Vatican’s teaching on abortion is clear: it is a sin...\n  N-VAR\n\n  see also cardinal sin, mortal sin\n2. If you sin, you do something that is believed to break the laws of God.\nThe Spanish Inquisition charged him with sinning against God and man...\nYou have sinned and must repent your ways.\n  VERB: V against n, V\n\n=>  sin.ner      sinners\nI am a sinner and I need to repent of my sins.\n  N-COUNT\n\n3. A sin is any action or behaviour that people disapprove of or consider morally wrong.\nThe ultimate sin was not infidelity, but public mention which led to scandal.\n  N-COUNT\n\n4. If you say that a man and a woman are living in sin, you mean that they are living together as a couple although they are not married. (OLD-FASHIONED)\nShe was living in sin with her boyfriend.\n  PHRASE: V inflects\n\n5.\na multitude of sins: see multitude


Words: sin-bin
Meaning:
sin-bin   also sin bin\n  In the sports of ice hockey and rugby league, if a player is sent to the sin-bin, they are ordered to leave the playing area for a short period of time because they have done something that is against the rules.\n  N-SING


Words: since
Meaning:
since\n1. You use since when you are mentioning a time or event in the past and indicating that a situation has continued from then until now.\nJacques Arnold has been a member of parliament since 1987...\nShe had a sort of breakdown some years ago, and since then she has been very shy...\nI’ve been here since the end of June.\n  PREP\n\n  Since is also an adverb.\nWhen we first met, we had a row, and we have rowed frequently ever since...\n  ADV: ADV with v\n\n  Since is also a conjunction.\nI’ve earned my own living since I was seven, doing all kinds of jobs.\n  CONJ\n\n2. You use since to mention a time or event in the past when you are describing an event or situation that has happened after that time.\nThe percentage increase in reported crime in England and Wales this year is the highest since the war...\nHe turned out to have more battles with the Congress than any president since Andrew Johnson.\n  PREP\n\n  Since is also a conjunction.\nSo much has changed in the sport since I was a teenager...\nSince I have become a mother, the sound of children’s voices has lost its charm.\n  CONJ\n\n3. When you are talking about an event or situation in the past, you use since to indicate that another event happened at some point later in time.\nAbout six thousand people were arrested, several hundred of whom have since been released...\n  ADV: ADV with v\n\n4. If you say that something has long since happened, you mean that it happened a long time ago.\nEven though her parents have long since died, she still talks about them in the present tense.\n  PHRASE: PHR with v\n\n5. You use since to introduce reasons or explanations.\nI’m forever on a diet, since I put on weight easily...\n  CONJ\n  = as


Words: sincere
Meaning:
sin.cere\n   sincere\n  If you say that someone is sincere, you approve of them because they really mean the things they say. You can also describe someone’s behaviour and beliefs as sincere.\nHe’s sincere in his views...\nThere was a sincere expression of friendliness on both their faces.\n  ADJ  approval\n  = genuine  !=insincere\n=>  sin.cer.ity\nI was impressed with his deep sincerity...\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: sincerely
Meaning:
sin.cere.ly\n   sincerely\n1. If you say or feel something sincerely, you really mean or feel it, and are not pretending.\n`Congratulations,’ he said sincerely...\n`I sincerely hope we shall meet again’, he said...\nHe sincerely believed he was acting in both women’s best interests.\n  ADV: usu ADV with v, also ADV adj\n\n2. In Britain, people write `Yours sincerely’ before their signature at the end of a formal letter when they have addressed it to someone by name. In the United States, people usually write `Sincerely yours’ or `Sincerely’ instead.\nYours sincerely, James Brown.\n  CONVENTION


Words: sine qua non
Meaning:
sine qua non\n  A sine qua non is something that is essential if you want to achieve a particular thing. (FORMAL)\nSuccessful agricultural reform is also a sine qua non of Mexico’s modernisation.\n  N-SING: a N


Words: sinecure
Meaning:
si.necure\n   sinecure   sinecures\n  A sinecure is a job for which you receive payment but which does not involve much work or responsibility.\nShe found him an exalted sinecure as a Fellow of the Library of Congress.\n  N-COUNT


Words: sinew
Meaning:
sin.ew\n   sinew  sinews\n  A sinew is a cord in your body that connects a muscle to a bone.\n...the sinews of the neck.\n  N-COUNT


Words: sinewy
Meaning:
sin.ewy\n   sinewy\n  Someone who is sinewy has a lean body with strong muscles.\nA short, sinewy young man...\n  ADJ


Words: sinful
Meaning:
sin.ful\n   sinful\n  If you describe someone or something as sinful, you mean that they are wicked or immoral.\n`I am a sinful man,’ he said.\n  ADJ\n\n=>  sin.ful.ness\n...the sinfulness of apartheid.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: sing
Meaning:
sing  sings  singing  sang  sung\n1. When you sing, you make musical sounds with your voice, usually producing words that fit a tune.\nI can’t sing...\nI sing about love most of the time...\nThey were all singing the same song...\nGo on, then, sing us a song!...\n`You’re getting to be a habit with me,’ sang Eddie.\n  VERB: V, V about n, V n, V n n, V with quote\n\n2. When birds or insects sing, they make pleasant high-pitched sounds.\nBirds were already singing in the garden.\n  VERB: V\n\n3.\n  see also singing


Words: sing along
Meaning:
sing along\n  If you sing along with a piece of music, you sing it while you are listening to someone else perform it.\nWe listen to children’s shows on the radio, and Janey can sing along with all the tunes...\nYou can sing along to your favourite Elvis hits.\n...fifteen hundred people all singing along and dancing.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P with n, V P to n, V P\n\n  see also singalong


Words: sing-song
Meaning:
sing-song  sing-songs   also singsong\n1. A sing-song voice repeatedly rises and falls in pitch.\nHe started to speak in a nasal sing-song voice.\n  ADJ: ADJ n\n\n2. A sing-song is an occasion on which a group of people sing songs together for pleasure. (BRIT)\n  N-COUNT\n  = singalong


Words: singalong
Meaning:
sing.along\n   singalong  singalongs   also sing-along\n  A singalong is an occasion when a group of people sing songs together for pleasure.\nHow about a nice sing-along around the piano?\n  N-COUNT


Words: Singaporean
Meaning:
Sin.ga.po.rean\n   Singaporean  Singaporeans\n1. Singaporean means belonging or relating to Singapore, or to its people or culture.\n  ADJ\n\n2. A Singaporean is a citizen of Singapore or a person of Singaporean origin.\n  N-COUNT


Words: singe
Meaning:
singe  singes  singeing  singed\n  If you singe something or if it singes, it burns very slightly and changes colour but does not catch fire.\nThe electric fire had begun to singe the bottoms of his trousers...\nToast the dried chillies in a hot pan until they start to singe.\n  VERB: V n, V


Words: singer
Meaning:
sing.er\n   singer  singers\n  A singer is a person who sings, especially as a job.\nMy mother was a singer in a dance band.\n...Dame Joan Sutherland, one of the great opera singers of the century.\n  N-COUNT


Words: singer-songwriter
Meaning:
singer-songwriter  singer-songwriters\n  A singer-songwriter is someone who writes and performs their own songs, especially popular songs.\nTwenty years ago singer-songwriter John Prine released his first album.\n  N-COUNT


Words: singing
Meaning:
sing.ing\n   singing\n  Singing is the activity of making musical sounds with your voice.\n...a people’s carnival, with singing and dancing in the streets.\n...the singing of a traditional hymn...\nShe’s having singing lessons.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: single
Meaning:
sin.gle\n   single  singles  singling  singled\n1. You use single to emphasize that you are referring to one thing, and no more than one thing.\nA single shot rang out...\nOver six hundred people were wounded in a single day...\nShe hadn’t uttered a single word.\n  ADJ: ADJ n  emphasis\n\n2. You use single to indicate that you are considering something on its own and separately from other things like it.\nEvery single house in town had been damaged...\nThe Middle East is the world’s single most important source of oil.\n  ADJ: det ADJ  emphasis\n\n3. Someone who is single is not married. You can also use single to describe someone who does not have a girlfriend or boyfriend.\nIs it difficult being a single mother?...\nGay men are now eligible to become foster parents whether they are single or have partners.\n  ADJ\n\n4. A single room is a room intended for one person to stay or live in.\nA single room at the Astir Hotel costs .56 a night.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n\n\n  Single is also a noun.\nIt’s .65 for a single, .98 for a double and .120 for an entire suite.\n  N-COUNT\n\n5. A single bed is wide enough for one person to sleep in.\n  ADJ: ADJ n\n\n6. A single ticket is a ticket for a journey from one place to another but not back again. (BRIT)\nThe price of a single ticket is thirty-nine pounds.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n\n  !=return\n  Single is also a noun. (in AM, use one-way)\n...a Club Class single to Los Angeles.\n  N-COUNT\n\n7. A single or a CD single is a CD which has a few short songs on it. You can also refer to the main song on a CD as a single.\nThe winners will get a chance to release their own single.\n  N-COUNT\n\n8. Singles is a game of tennis or badminton in which one player plays another. The plural singles can be used to refer to one or more of these matches.\nBoris Becker of Germany won the men’s singles...\n  N-UNCOUNT\n\n9.\nin single file: see file\n  see also single-


Words: single cream
Meaning:
sin.gle cream\n   single cream\n  Single cream is thin cream that does not have a lot of fat in it. (BRIT; in AM, use light cream)\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: single out
Meaning:
single out\n  If you single someone out from a group, you choose them and give them special attention or treatment.\nThe gunman had singled Debilly out and waited for him...\nHis immediate superior has singled him out for a special mention...\nWe wanted to single out the main threat to civilisation.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V n P, V n P for/as n, V P n (not pron)


Words: single parent
Meaning:
sin.gle par.ent\n   single parent  single parents\n  A single parent is someone who is bringing up a child on their own, because the other parent is not living with them.\nI was bringing up my three children as a single parent.\n...a single-parent household.\n  N-COUNT: oft N n


Words: single supplement
Meaning:
sin.gle sup.plement\n   single supplement single supplements  also single person supplement\n  A single supplement is an additional sum of money that a hotel charges for one person to stay in a room meant for two people.\nYou can avoid the single supplement by agreeing to share a twin room.\n  N-COUNT


Words: single-
Meaning:
single-\n  single- is used to form words which describe something that has one part or feature, rather than having two or more of them.\nThe single-engine plane landed in western Arizona.\n...a single-track road.\n  COMB in ADJ


Words: single-breasted
Meaning:
single-breasted\n  A single-breasted coat, jacket, or suit fastens in the centre of the chest and has only one row of buttons.\n  ADJ


Words: single-decker
Meaning:
single-decker  single-deckers\n  A single-decker or a single-decker bus is a bus with only one deck. (BRIT)\n  N-COUNT


Words: single-handed
Meaning:
single-handed\n  If you do something single-handed, you do it on your own, without help from anyone else.\nI brought up my seven children single-handed...\n  ADV: ADV after v


Words: single-minded
Meaning:
single-minded\n  Someone who is single-minded has only one aim or purpose and is determined to achieve it.\n...a single-minded determination to win.\n  ADJ


Words: single-sex
Meaning:
single-sex\n  At a single-sex school, the pupils are either all boys or all girls.\nIs single-sex education good for girls?\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n


Words: singles bar
Meaning:
sin.gles bar\n   singles bar  singles bars\n  In North America, a singles bar is a bar where single people can go in order to drink and meet other single people.\n  N-COUNT


Words: singlet
Meaning:
sin.glet\n   singlet  singlets\n1. A singlet is a sleeveless sports shirt worn by athletes and boxers. (BRIT)\n...a grubby running singlet.\n  N-COUNT\n  = vest\n2. A singlet is a plain sleeveless piece of underwear which is worn on the upper half of the body. (BRIT)\nHe was wearing a blue silk singlet and boxer shorts.\n  N-COUNT\n  = vest, undershirt


