second
secondin part of a minute
(sekənd )Word forms: plural seconds
countable noun
A second is one of the sixty parts that a minute is divided into. People often say 'a second' or 'seconds' when they simply mean a very short time.
For a few seconds nobody said anything.
It only takes forty seconds.
Her orbital speed must be a few hundred meters per second.
Within seconds the other soldiers began firing too.
Seconds later, firemen reached his door.
moment, minute, instant, flash, tick [British, informal], sec [informal], twinkling, split second, jiffy [informal], trice, twinkling of an eye, two shakes of a lamb's tail [informal], bat of an eye [informal], SEC [text messaging]secondin coming after something else
(sekənd )Word forms: plural, 3rd person singular present tense seconds , present participle seconding , past tense, past participle seconded
1. ordinal number
The second item in a series is the one that you count as number two.
...the second day of his visit to Delhi.
...their second child.
My son just got married for the second time.
...the Second World War.
She was the second of nine children.
...King Charles the Second.
Britain came second in the Prix St Georges Derby.
2. ordinal number
Second is used before superlative adjectives to indicate that there is only one thing better or larger than the thing you are referring to.
The party is still the second strongest in Italy.
...the second-largest city in the United States.
3. adverb
4. countable noun
In Britain, an upper second is a good honours degree and a lower second is an average honours degree.
I then went up to Lancaster University and got an upper second.
5. plural noun
If you have seconds, you have a second helping of food.
[informal]There's seconds if you want them.
6. countable noun [usually plural]
7. countable noun [usually plural]
8. verb
If you second a proposal in a meeting or debate, you formally express your agreement with it so that it can then be discussed or voted on.
...Bryan Sutton, who seconded the motion against fox hunting. [VERB noun]
Your application must be proposed and seconded by current members. [VERB noun]
support, back, endorse, forward, promote, approve, vote for, go along with, commend, give moral support to, help, further, aid, encourageseconder Word forms: plural seconders countable noun
Candidates need a proposer and seconder whose names are kept secret.
9. verb
10.
11. See also second-hand
12.
14. second nature
secondin sending someone to do a job
(sɪkɒnd )Word forms: 3rd person singular present tense seconds , present participle seconding , past tense, past participle seconded
verb [usually passive]
If you are seconded somewhere, you are sent there temporarily by your employer in order to do special duties.
[British]In 1937 he was seconded to the Royal Canadian Air Force in Ottawa as air armament adviser. [be VERB-ed + to]
Several hundred soldiers have been seconded to help farmers. [be VERB-ed to-infinitive]
