second — English Dictionary

Adjective

1. Number-two; following after the first one with nothing between them. The ordinal number corresponding to the cardinal number two.

   Usage

   • not-comparable

   Examples

   This is my second visit.

   He lives on Second Street.

   The second volume in "The Lord of the Rings" series is called "The Two Towers".

   More examples (5)

   He became the second player to hit 50000 runs for his county.

   You take the first one, and I'll have the second.

   The story struck the depressingly familiar note with which true stories ring in the tried ears of experienced policemen.[…]The second note, the high alarum, not so familiar and always important since it indicates the paramount sin in Man's private calendar, took most of them by surprise although they had been well prepared.

   Malay is the lingua franca of several Southeast Asia countries and has been simplified by its use as a second language by non-native speakers. For example, the Malay plural is formed by repeating a word twice – buku means book and buku-buku means books.

   Consequently, in the initial position the white pieces and pawns are placed on the first and second ranks; the black pieces and pawns on the eighth and seventh ranks.

2. Next to the first in value, power, excellence, dignity, or rank; secondary; subordinate; inferior.

   Usage

   • not-comparable

   Examples

   His job is second priority, because his family is the most important thing in his life.

   May the day when we become the second people upon earth […] be the day of our utter extirpation!

3. Being of the same kind as one that has preceded; another.

   Usage

   • not-comparable

   Examples

   Residents of Texas prepared for Hurricane Harvey, which would in some ways turn out to become the second Hurricane Katrina.

   A Daniel ſtill ſay I, a ſecond Daniel,[…]

Adverb

1. After the first; at the second rank.

   Usage

   • not-comparable
   • with superlative

   Examples

   Saturn is the second largest planet in the solar system.

2. After the first occurrence but before the third.

   Usage

   • not-comparable

   Examples

   He is batting second today.

Noun

1. Something that is number two in a series.

2. Something that is next in rank, quality, precedence, position, status, or authority.

3. The place that is next below or after first in a race or contest.

4. A manufactured item that, though still usable, fails to meet quality control standards.

   Usage

   • plural-normally

   Examples

   They were discounted because they contained blemishes, nicks or were otherwise factory seconds.

5. An additional helping of food.

   Usage

   • plural-normally

   Examples

   That was good barbecue. I hope I can get seconds.

6. A chance or attempt to achieve what should have been done the first time, usually indicating success this time around. (See second-guess.)

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   The policeman smiled, his eyes twinkling. "Now if you'll follow me, I'll escort you to the Victoria." "Oh, there's no need of that. If you'll just point me in the right direction..." That's what got you in trouble the first time around. You don't need a second.

   Smoky Joe ran against a Houston horse named Cherokee Chief. “Don't hit him,” Jeanine said to the jockey. “Maybe once. But you don't get a second.”

   I'll have one chance to show them that's no longer true. One chance ... and if I stumble, I'll not get a second.

7. The interval between two adjacent notes in a diatonic scale (either or both of them may be raised or lowered from the basic scale via any type of accidental).

8. The second gear of an engine.

9. Second base.

10. The agent of a party to an honour dispute whose role was to try to resolve the dispute or to make the necessary arrangements for a duel.

    Examples

    More examples (1)

    Since he [i.e., Abraham Lincoln] had very long arms, he chose cavalry broadswords and took lessons in sword fighting from a West Point graduate; and, on the appointed day, he and [James] Shields met on a sandbar in the Mississippi River, prepared to fight to the death; but, at the last minute, their seconds interrupted and stopped the duel.

    Joint enterprise law dates back to at least the 16th century. It was later developed to deter duelling by making seconds and doctors liable for murder.

11. A Cub Scout appointed to assist a sixer.

    Synonyms

    seconder

    Examples

    Many packs have a sixer's council where the sixers, and sometimes the seconds, meet with Akela and some of the other leaders.

12. A second-class honours degree.

    Usage

    • Informal

    Examples

    [Stephen Hawking] […] would go to Cambridge, he said, if they gave him a first, and stay at Oxford if they gave him a second. He got a first.

Verb

1. To agree as a second person to (a proposal), usually to reach a necessary quorum of two. (See etymology 3 for translations.)

   Usage

   • Transitive

   Examples

   I second the motion.

   Though seconding (or fifthing) the praise for “BoJack Horseman” and “In Treatment,” I think I’ll use the majority of my space to discuss “You’re the Worst.”

2. To follow in the next place; to succeed.

   Examples

   In the method of nature, a low valley is immediately seconded with an ambitious hill.

   Sin is usually seconded with sin.

3. To climb after a lead climber.

Noun

1. A unit of time historically and commonly defined as a sixtieth of a minute which the International System of Units more precisely defines as the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of radiation corresponding to the transition between two hyperfine levels of caesium-133 in a ground state at a temperature of absolute zero and at rest.

   Examples

   The light changes every thirty seconds.

   More examples (3)

   Holonyms: decasecond < minute < hectosecond < kilosecond < hour < day < week < megasecond < fortnight < month < year < gigasecond < century < kiloannum, kiloyear, millennium < terasecond < mega-annum, megayear < petasecond < giga-annum, gigayear < exasecond < zettasecond < yottasecond < ronnasecond < quettasecond

   Meronyms: quectosecond < rontosecond < yoctosecond < zeptosecond < attosecond < femtosecond < picosecond < nanosecond < microsecond < millisecond < centisecond < decisecond

   For this reason, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that spinach be cooked at 160º for 15 seconds, which kills potentially fatal bacteria.

2. A unit of angle equal to one-sixtieth of a minute of arc or one part in 3600 of a degree.

   Synonyms

   arcsecondsecond of arc

3. A short, indeterminate amount of time.

   Usage

   • Informal

   Synonyms

   instantjiffysec

   Examples

   Wait a second.

   I'll be there in a second.

   More examples (1)

   Exposure of aluminum to the air causes a near instantaneous oxide. So rapid is the oxidation that it is safe to say you never see aluminum that has no oxide on its surface... The initial exposure of aluminum, regardless of alloy, will form a thin oxide film on the surface the second it is exposed.

Verb

1. To transfer temporarily to alternative employment.

   Usage

   • UK usage
   • Transitive

   Synonyms

   detail

   Examples

   The army officer was seconded while he held civil office.

   Things changed quickly from 1892 when Sam Fay was seconded from the L.S.W.R. as General Manager & Secretary.

   More examples (2)

   Daniel had still been surprised, however, to find the lab area deserted, all the scientists apparently seconded by Cleomides's military friends.

   As The Signpost reported, all was not well with Wikilambda. Ten days prior to the article, a group of Google employees seconded to Abstract Wikipedia had released a damning report on Meta-Wiki, the site where projects of the Wikimedia Foundation are documented.

2. To assist or support; to back.

   Usage

   • Transitive

   Examples

   Wee haue Supplyes, to ſecond our Attempt:[…]

   More examples (1)

   In human works, tho’ labour’d on with pain, / A thouſand movements ſcarce one purpoſe gain; / In God's, one ſingle can its End produce, / Yet ſerves to ſecond too ſome other Uſe.

3. To agree as a second person to (a proposal), usually to reach a necessary quorum of two. (This may come from etymology 1 above.)

   Usage

   • Transitive

   Examples

   I second the motion.

4. To accompany by singing as the second performer.

   Usage

   • Transitive

Noun

1. One who supports another in a contest or combat, such as a dueller's assistant.

   Examples

   The dogs however parted, and after a little handling by their seconds immediately returned to the charge

   They find ways to take advice from their seconds or they arrange the schedule against you as they did to me in the finals of the 1962 World Tournament

   More examples (2)

   Vaguely reminiscent of the use of "seconds" among duelists, this provision required that the two hostile nations stop threatening each other and, instead, to let two appointed countries (their "seconds") try and solve their difficulties

   Theodore's practice is described as a model for the housemasters and their seconds

2. One who supports or seconds a motion, or the act itself, as required in certain meetings to pass judgement etc.

   Examples

   If we want the motion to pass, we will need a second.

3. Aid; assistance; help.

   Usage

   • Obsolete

   Examples

   Give second, and my love / Is everlasting thine.

Adjective

1. coming next after the first in position in space or time or degree or magnitude

   Synonyms

   2nd2d

2. a part or voice or instrument or orchestra section lower in pitch than or subordinate to the first

   Antonyms

   first

   Examples

   second flute

   the second violins

Noun

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

   Synonyms

   secs

   Broader terms

   time unitunit of time

2. an indefinitely short time

   Synonyms

   momentmominutebit

   Broader terms

   time

   Examples

   wait just a moment

   in a mo

   More examples (2)

   it only takes a minute

   in just a bit

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

   Synonyms

   second base

   Broader terms

   position

4. a particular point in time

   Synonyms

   momentminuteinstant

   Broader terms

   pointpoint in time

   Examples

   the moment he arrived the party began

5. following the first in an ordering or series

   Broader terms

   rank

   Examples

   he came in a close second

6. a 60th part of a minute of arc

   Synonyms

   arcsecond

   Broader terms

   angular unit

   Examples

   the treasure is 2 minutes and 45 seconds south of here

7. the official attendant of a contestant in a duel or boxing match

   Broader terms

   attendantattendertender

8. a speech seconding a motion

   Synonyms

   secondmentendorsementindorsement

   Broader terms

   agreement

   Examples

   do I hear a second?

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

   Synonyms

   second gear

   Broader terms

   geargear mechanism

   Examples

   he had to shift down into second to make the hill

10. merchandise that has imperfections; usually sold at a reduced price without the brand name

    Synonyms

    irregular

    Broader terms

    merchandisewareproduct

Adverb

1. in the second place

   Synonyms

   secondly

   Examples

   second, we must consider the economy

1. give support or one's approval to

   Synonyms

   backendorseindorse

   Broader terms

   supportback up

   Examples

   I'll second that motion

   I can't back this plan

   More examples (1)

   endorse a new project

1. transfer an employee to a different, temporary assignment

   Broader terms

   transferreassign

   Examples

   The officer was seconded for duty overseas