| Library / English Dictionary |
SECONDARY
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Coil such that current is induced in it by passing a current through the primary coil
Synonyms:
secondary; secondary coil; secondary winding
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("secondary" is a kind of...):
coil (reactor consisting of a spiral of insulated wire that introduces inductance into a circuit)
Holonyms ("secondary" is a part of...):
transformer (an electrical device by which alternating current of one voltage is changed to another voltage)
Sense 2
Meaning:
The defensive football players who line up behind the linemen
Classified under:
Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects
Hypernyms ("secondary" is a kind of...):
formation (an arrangement of people or things acting as a unit)
Meronyms (members of "secondary"):
back ((American football) the position of a player on a football team who is stationed behind the line of scrimmage)
Holonyms ("secondary" is a member of...):
eleven; football team (a team that plays football)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Belonging to a lower class or rank
Classified under:
Similar:
low-level; subordinate (lower in rank or importance)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Not of major importance
Example:
played a secondary role in world events
Classified under:
Similar:
minor (of lesser importance or stature or rank)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Being of second rank or importance or value; not direct or immediate
Example:
secondary streams
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
vicarious (experienced at secondhand)
substitute; utility (capable of substituting in any of several positions on a team)
tributary ((of a stream) flowing into a larger stream)
thirdhand (derived from what is primary or original by two intermediate steps)
standby (ready for emergency use)
second-string (being a replacement or substitute for a regular member of a team)
secondhand (derived from what is primary or original; not firsthand)
indirect (not as a direct effect or consequence)
collateral (additional but secondary; auxiliary)
auxiliary; subsidiary; supplemental; supplementary (functioning in a supporting capacity)
alternate; alternative; substitute (serving or used in place of another)
Also:
unoriginal (not original; not being or productive of something fresh and unusual)
inessential; unessential (not basic or fundamental)
Antonym:
primary (of first rank or importance or value; direct and immediate rather than secondary)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Depending on or incidental to what is original or primary
Example:
a secondary infection
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
incident; incidental ((sometimes followed by 'to') minor or casual or subordinate in significance or nature or occurring as a chance concomitant or consequence)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Inferior in rank or status
Example:
a subordinate functionary
Synonyms:
junior-grade; lower-ranking; lowly; petty; secondary; subaltern
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
junior (younger; lower in rank; shorter in length of tenure or service)
Context examples:
A chondrosarcoma that has spread to a secondary anatomical site.
(Metastatic Chondrosarcoma, NCI Thesaurus)
Mars will conjoin Jupiter in your communication sector, so this will be an important day to watch because Mars is your secondary ruler.
(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)
A meningeal melanoma with secondary diffuse meningeal spread.
(Meningeal Melanomatosis, NCI Thesaurus/WHO)
Miss Tilney was earnest, though gentle, in her secondary civilities, and the affair became in a few minutes as nearly settled as this necessary reference to Fullerton would allow.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
A secondary adenocarcinoma that has developed in an ovarian dermoid cyst.
(Ovarian Dermoid Cyst with Adenocarcinoma, NCI Thesaurus)
Secondary bone cancer is cancer that spreads to the bone from another part of the body (such as the prostate, breast, or lung).
(Bone Cancer, NCI Dictionary)
The subjects of which her heart had been full on leaving Kellynch, and which she had felt slighted, and been compelled to smother among the Musgroves, were now become but of secondary interest.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
A secondary melanocytic nevus that has developed in an ovarian dermoid cyst.
(Ovarian Dermoid Cyst with Melanocytic Nevus, NCI Thesaurus)
My being saved from pain is a very secondary consideration.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
Such neoplasms may arise in the bone marrow (e.g. myeloid leukemias) or may involve the bone marrow as secondary, metastatic tumors (e.g. metastatic carcinomas to the bone marrow).
(Bone Marrow Neoplasm, NCI Thesaurus)
