second

I PART OF A MINUTE

♦

seconds

N-COUNT

(Pronounced [[t]se̱kənd[/t]] in second 1 and 2, and [[t]sɪkɒ̱nd[/t]] in second 3.)

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.

II COMING AFTER SOMETHING ELSE

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seconds, seconding, seconded

(Pronounced [[t]se̱kənd[/t]] in second 1 and 2, and [[t]sɪkɒ̱nd[/t]] in second 3.)

1) ORD 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) ORD: ORD adj-superl 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) ADV: ADV cl You say second when you want to make a second point or give a second reason for something.

First, the weapons should be intended for use only in retaliation after a nuclear attack. Second, the possession of the weapons must be a temporary expedient.

4) N-COUNT 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) N-PLURAL If you have seconds, you have a second helping of food. [INFORMAL]

There's seconds if you want them.

6) N-COUNT: usu pl Seconds are goods that are sold cheaply in shops because they have slight faults.

It's a new shop selling discounted lines and seconds.

7) N-COUNT: usu pl The seconds of someone who is taking part in a boxing match or chess tournament are the people who assist and encourage them.

He shouted to his seconds, `I did it! I did it!'

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.

[V n] ...Bryan Sutton, who seconded the motion against fox hunting...

[V n] Your application must be proposed and seconded by current members.

Derived words:

seconder plural N-COUNT

Candidates need a proposer and seconder whose names are kept secret.

9) VERB If you second what someone has said, you say that you agree with them or say the same thing yourself.

[V n] The Prime Minister seconded the call for discipline and austerity in a speech to the assembly last week.

10) PHRASE: PHR after v If you experience something at second hand, you are told about it by other people rather than experiencing it yourself.

→ See also second-hand

Most of them, after all, had not been at the battle and had only heard of the massacre at second hand.

11) PHRASE: v-link PHR (emphasis) If you say that something is second to none, you are emphasizing that it is very good indeed or the best that there is.

Our scientific research is second to none.

12) PHRASE: usu v-link PHR If you say that something is second only to something else, you mean that only that thing is better or greater than it.

As a major health risk hepatitis is second only to tobacco.

13) second nature → see nature

in the second place → see place

III SENDING SOMEONE TO DO A JOB

seconds, seconding, seconded

VERB: usu passive

(Pronounced [[t]se̱kənd[/t]] in second 1 and 2, and [[t]sɪkɒ̱nd[/t]] in second 3.)

If you are seconded somewhere, you are sent there temporarily by your employer in order to do special duties. [BRIT]

[be V-ed prep/adv] In 1937 he was seconded to the Royal Canadian Air Force in Ottawa as air armament adviser...

[be V-ed to-inf] Several hundred soldiers have been seconded to help farmers.