Library / English Dictionary

SECOND

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The fielding position of the player on a baseball team who is stationed near the second of the bases in the infield

Synonyms:

second; second base

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("second" is a kind of...):

position ((in team sports) the role assigned to an individual player)

Holonyms ("second" is a member of...):

baseball team (a team that plays baseball)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Merchandise that has imperfections; usually sold at a reduced price without the brand name

Synonyms:

irregular; second

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("second" is a kind of...):

merchandise; product; ware (commodities offered for sale)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The gear that has the second lowest forward gear ratio in the gear box of a motor vehicle

Example:

he had to shift down into second to make the hill

Synonyms:

second; second gear

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("second" is a kind of...):

gear; gear mechanism (a mechanism for transmitting motion for some specific purpose (as the steering gear of a vehicle))

Holonyms ("second" is a part of...):

automotive vehicle; motor vehicle (a self-propelled wheeled vehicle that does not run on rails)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A speech seconding a motion

Example:

do I hear a second?

Synonyms:

endorsement; indorsement; second; secondment

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("second" is a kind of...):

agreement (the verbal act of agreeing)

Derivation:

second (give support or one's approval to)

Sense 5

Meaning:

The official attendant of a contestant in a duel or boxing match

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("second" is a kind of...):

attendant; attender; tender (someone who waits on or tends to or attends to the needs of another)

Sense 6

Meaning:

A 60th part of a minute of arc

Example:

the treasure is 2 minutes and 45 seconds south of here

Synonyms:

arcsecond; second

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Hypernyms ("second" is a kind of...):

angular unit (a unit of measurement for angles)

Holonyms ("second" is a part of...):

arcminute; minute; minute of arc (a unit of angular distance equal to a 60th of a degree)

Sense 7

Meaning:

Following the first in an ordering or series

Example:

he came in a close second

Classified under:

Nouns denoting relations between people or things or ideas

Hypernyms ("second" is a kind of...):

rank (relative status)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "second"):

latter (the second of two or the second mentioned of two)

Derivation:

second (coming next after the first in position in space or time or degree or magnitude)

Sense 8

Meaning:

1/60 of a minute; the basic unit of time adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites

Synonyms:

s; sec; second

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Hypernyms ("second" is a kind of...):

time unit; unit of time (a unit for measuring time periods)

Meronyms (parts of "second"):

millisecond; msec (one thousandth (10^-3) of a second)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "second"):

leap second (a second (as measured by an atomic clock) added to or subtracted from Greenwich Mean Time in order to compensate for slowing in the Earth's rotation)

Holonyms ("second" is a part of...):

min; minute (a unit of time equal to 60 seconds or 1/60th of an hour)

Sense 9

Meaning:

A particular point in time

Example:

the moment he arrived the party began

Synonyms:

instant; minute; moment; second

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Hypernyms ("second" is a kind of...):

point; point in time (an instant of time)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "second"):

climax; culmination (the decisive moment in a novel or play)

eleventh hour; last minute (the latest possible moment)

moment of truth (a crucial moment on which much depends)

moment of truth (the moment in a bullfight when the matador kills the bull)

pinpoint (a very brief moment)

time (a suitable moment)

psychological moment (the most appropriate time for achieving a desired effect)

Sense 10

Meaning:

An indefinitely short time

Example:

in just a bit

Synonyms:

bit; minute; mo; moment; second

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Hypernyms ("second" is a kind of...):

time (an indefinite period (usually marked by specific attributes or activities))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "second"):

blink of an eye; flash; heartbeat; instant; jiffy; New York minute; split second; trice; twinkling; wink (a very short time (as the time it takes the eye to blink or the heart to beat))

 II. (adjective) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A part or voice or instrument or orchestra section lower in pitch than or subordinate to the first

Example:

the second violins

Classified under:

Adjectives

Domain category:

music (an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner)

Antonym:

first (highest in pitch or chief among parts or voices or instruments or orchestra sections)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Coming next after the first in position in space or time or degree or magnitude

Synonyms:

2d; 2nd; second

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

ordinal (being or denoting a numerical order in a series)

Derivation:

second (following the first in an ordering or series)

 III. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Transfer an employee to a different, temporary assignment

Example:

The officer was seconded for duty overseas

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "second" is one way to...):

reassign; transfer (transfer somebody to a different position or location of work)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

secondment (the detachment of a person from their regular organization for temporary assignment elsewhere)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Give support or one's approval to

Example:

endorse a new project

Synonyms:

back; endorse; indorse; second

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "second" is one way to...):

back up; support (give moral or psychological support, aid, or courage to)

Verb group:

back; endorse; indorse; plump for; plunk for; support (be behind; approve of)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

second (a speech seconding a motion)

seconder (someone who endorses a motion or petition as a necessary preliminary to a discussion or vote)

secondment (a speech seconding a motion)

 IV. (adverb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

In the second place

Example:

second, we must consider the economy

Synonyms:

second; secondly

Classified under:

Adverbs

Credits

 Context examples: 

All things therefore seemed to point to this; that I was slowly losing hold of my original and better self, and becoming slowly incorporated with my second and worse.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

But, in the second place, why did you not come at once?

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

And when the second eye was done I could see much better than before.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

“No, read it yourself,” cried Catherine, whose second thoughts were clearer.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

Second one vamped up for the occasion.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He watched me a second, then saying, "Remember! No conversation," he left the room.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

A concentration unit equal to one micromole of solute in one liter of solution per unit of time equal to one second.

(Micromole Per Liter Per Second, NCI Thesaurus)

“It is the second most interesting object that I have seen in the North.”

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

This was Zapata's second attempt to cross the Channel on the Flyboard Air.

(French inventor Franky Zapata successfully crosses English Channel on jet-powered hoverboard, Wikinews)

“There is the gravel-drive, and there are the rose-bushes where I lay. That second window is the one that I jumped from.”

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)