to clean oneself, especially one’s hands and arms, as a preparation for performing a surgical proce-dure.. to have a certain number of places to sit; to have room for a certain number of
Trang 1scrub up 1 to clean oneself up.
2 to clean oneself, especially one’s
hands and arms, as a preparation
for performing a surgical
proce-dure (A special use of Q.)
scrutinize ["skrut n aIz] tv to
examine someone or something
closely; to look at something very
closely; to inspect someone or
something
scrutiny ["skrut n i] n a close
examination; an inspection;
look-ing at somethlook-ing closely (No
plu-ral.)
→ under scrutiny
scuba ["sku b@] 1 iv to dive and
explore underwater (Past tense
and past participle: scubaed.)
2 the adj use of Q.
scuba diver ["sku b@ "daI v#] n.
someone who does scuba diving.
scuba (diving) n diving or
explor-ing underwater with a tank that
contains air, allowing a diver to
breathe, and that can be carried or
worn on the back (No plural An
acronym for self-contained
under-water breathing apparatus.)
scuff ["sk^f] 1 tv to make
scratches in the surface of
some-thing clean and smooth; to make
marks on the surface of something
clean and smooth 2 iv to walk
somewhere without picking up
one’s feet; to slide one’s feet along
as one walks
sculptor ["sk^lp t#] n an artist
who makes art out of clay, stone,
metal, or other solid materials
sculpture ["sk^lp tS#] 1 n the art
of making art from clay, stone,
metal, or another solid material
(No plural.) 2 n a piece of art
that is made out of clay, stone, metal, or another solid material (Often singular with a plural meaning.)
sea ["si] 1 n a large body of salt
water that is smaller than an
ocean 2 n one of the large bodies
of salt water that cover almost three-fourths of the earth’s sur-face; an ocean
→ at sea
→ at sea (about something)
→ between the devil and the deep blue sea
→ There are plenty of other fish in the sea.
sea level ["si lEv @l] n the
horizon-tal level at the surface of the oceans, which is considered zero
seafood ["si fud] n animals from
the sea, including fish, shellfish, and octopus, that are eaten as food (No plural.)
seal ["sil] 1 n a large animal that
has thick, coarse fur, lives in and
near the sea, and has flat legs 2 n.
an official mark or design of a government, business, organiza-tion, or person that is printed or stamped on objects for identifica-tion (A signature usually serves as
a seal for an individual.) 3 n a
piece of wax, metal, or other material that has the mark or design of a government, business, organization, or person printed or
stamped on it 4 n something
that causes an opening in an object to remain closed; some-thing that prevents an opening
from being opened secretly 5 tv.
to close something tightly; to fas-ten something tightly, offas-ten with scrub up
526
Trang 2glue or pressure 6 tv to fill cracks
in an object with a substance so
that air, water, or other things
can-not pass through the cracks
→ signed, sealed, and delivered
seal something off (from someone
or something) to make something
inaccessible to someone or
some-thing
seam ["sim] 1 n the line of thread
where two pieces of cloth have
been sewn together 2 n the line
where two edges of anything meet
→ burst at the seams
→ come apart at the seams
the seamy side of life the most
unpleasant or roughest aspect of
life (Informal A reference to the
inside of a garment, where the
seams show.)
search ["s#tS] 1 iv to look
care-fully, trying to find someone or
something 2 tv to examine
someone or something closely to
try to find something 3 n an
attempt to find someone or
some-thing
search high and low for someone
or something Go to hunt high and
low for someone or something.
search something with a
fine-tooth comb Go to go over
some-thingwith a fine-tooth comb.
seashell ["si SEl] n a shell of an
animal that lives in the sea; a hard,
protective covering made by an
animal that lives in the sea, such as
an oyster
seashore ["si Sor] n the land that
borders the sea; the shore that
runs along a sea
seasick ["si sIk] adj being sick
while on a boat or a ship because
of the movement of the sea
seaside ["si saId] 1 n the land that
borders a sea; the seashore (No
plural.) 2 adj located on the
seashore; at the side of the sea
season ["siz @n] 1 n one of the
four times of the year: winter,
spring, summer, and fall 2 n a
period of time marked by a cer-tain kind of weather, an activity,
or condition 3 tv to add spices to
food to make it taste better or dif-ferent
→ in season
→ out of season
seasonal ["siz @ n@l] the adj form
ofseason W (Adv: seasonally.)
seasoning ["siz (@) nIN] n a spice;
an herb; something that is added
to food to make it taste better or different
seat ["sit] 1 n something that is
used for sitting on; a place where
someone can sit 2 n the part of a pair of pants that one sits on 3 n.
the part of the body that one sits
on; the behind; the buttocks 4 n.
a place where someone is a mem-ber, such as in Congress or on a
stock exchange 5 tv to provide
someone with Q; to lead someone
to Q; to help someone sit down
6 tv to have a certain number of
places to sit; to have room for a certain number of seated people
→ by the seat of one’spants
→ show oneto one’sseat
→ show someoneto a seat
→ take a backseat (to someone)
seat belt ["sit bElt] n a strap that
buckles across one’s lap, as in a car
527
Trang 3or an airplane (See also safety
belt.)
seated ["sit Id] adj sitting down in
or on something
seating ["sit IN] 1 n a particular
arrangement of seats (No plural.)
2 n the number of seats that are
available in a place (No plural.)
seawater ["si wOt #] n salt water
as found in the sea
seaweed ["si wid] n a plant that
grows in or at the edge of the sea
(Plural only for types and
instances.)
seclude [sI "klud] tv to keep
some-one away from other people; to
keep something away from other
things or places
secluded [sI "klud Id] adj private;
remote; set apart from other
places; kept away from other
places or people (Adv: secludedly.)
seclusion [sI "klu Z@n] n the
con-dition of being private and hidden;
a place away from other people
(No plural.)
second ["sEk @nd] 1 n a basic unit
of the measurement of time; ¹⁄₆₀ of
a minute; ¹⁄₃₆₀₀ of an hour 2 n a
moment; a very short period of
time 3 n a unit of measurement
of an angle equal to ¹⁄₆₀ of a
minute or ¹⁄₃₆₀₀ of a degree 4 n
someone or something that comes
after the first [one] as in T 5 adj.
coming, happening, or being
immediately after the first (Adv:
secondly.) 6 adv in a position
that is immediately after the first
position
→ come off second best
→ get one’ssecond wind
→ get second thoughts about someone or something
→ in one’ssecond childhood
→ on second thought
→ play second fiddle (to someone)
second nature to someone easy
and natural for someone
secondary ["sEk @n dEr i] 1 adj.
second in importance; not
pri-mary (Adv: secondarily.) 2 adj.
[of the education of students] from the 6th to 12th or from the 9th to 12th grades, depending on the school district
secondhand ["sEk @nd "hAnd]
1 adj [of goods] already used by someone else; not new 2 adj [of
stores] selling used products
3 adj not experienced directly
but heard from another person
4 adv learned from someone else.
second-rate not of the best
qual-ity; inferior
seconds n an additional serving of
food (Treated as plural.)
secrecy ["si krI si] n the quality of
being secret; keeping something a secret (No plural.)
secret ["si krIt] 1 n information
known by a small number of peo-ple, especially people who have promised not to tell anyone else
2 n a mystery; something that cannot be explained 3 adj.
known only by a small number of people who have promised not to
tell anyone else (Adv: secretly.)
4 adj working at a job without
others knowing what one does; doing something without others knowing what one is doing (Adv:
secretly.)
→ carry a secret to the grave seated
528
Trang 4→ in secret
→ keep a secret
→ open secret
→ take a secret to one’sgrave
secretary ["sEk rI tEr i] 1 n
some-one who is employed to type
let-ters, answer telephones, organize
schedules and meetings, and do
other office work 2 n someone
who keeps a written record of the
things that are discussed at the
official meetings of an
organiza-tion 3 n someone who is in
charge of a department of the
United States government 4 n a
writing desk with drawers and
shelves
secrete [sI "krit] 1 tv [for a part of
a plant or an animal] to produce
and release a fluid 2 tv to hide
something; to put something in a
place where others cannot see it or
find it
secretion [sI "kri S@n] n a fluid
that is produced and released by a
part of a plant or an animal, such
as sap or mucus (Singular or
plu-ral with the same meaning, but
not countable.)
secretive ["si kr@ tIv] adj tending
to do things secretly; tending not
to do things publicly or openly
(Adv: secretively.)
secretly ["si kr@t li] adv without
being known or seen by others
section ["sEk S@n] 1 n a separate
part of a larger group, place, or
thing; a division 2 n a unit of
measurement of land equal to one
square mile or 640 acres 3 tv to
divide something into separate
parts as in Q
secure [sI "kjUr] 1 adj safe from
danger, harm, loss, injury, or theft
(Adv: securely.) 2 tv to safely fas-ten or close something 3 tv to
obtain something
security [sI "kjUr @ ti] 1 n the state
of being or feeling safe from dan-ger, harm, loss, injury, or theft
(No plural.) 2 n an office or
department concerned with the protection of people and property
(No plural.) 3 n property that is
promised to a bank or lender when money is borrowed (If the money is not paid back, then the bank or lender will be given the
property No plural.) 4 n a
mone-tary asset or debt agreement, such
as a stock or a bond 5 the adj use
of Q, W, E, or R
→ lull someoneinto a false sense of security
→ social security
security against something
some-thing that keeps somesome-thing safe against potential loss; something that protects something against a loss; a protection
sedan [sI "dAn] n a car with four
doors, a front seat and a backseat,
a fixed roof, and room for at least four people
sedate [sI "det] 1 adj quiet; calm;
relaxed; not excited; not moved by
excitement (Adv: sedately.) 2 tv.
to give someone or an animal a drug that causes relaxation
sedative ["sEd @ tIv] 1 n a drug or
medicine that causes one to sleep
or relax 2 the adj use of Q sedentary ["sEd n tEr i] 1 adj [of a
creature] not very active and keep-ing still most of the time (Adv:
529
Trang 5sedentarily [sEd n "tEr @ li].) 2 adj.
[of activity] not requiring a lot of
movement (Adv: sedentarily [sEd
n "tEr @ li].)
see ["si] 1 iv., irreg to sense or
experience with the eyes (Past
tense: saw;past participle: seen.)
2 tv., irreg to observe someone or
something by the use of the eyes;
to sense or experience someone or
something with the eyes 3 tv.,
irreg to understand something; to
comprehend something (The
object can be a clause with that
U.) 4 tv., irreg to learn
some-thing by reading or through direct
observation (The object can be a
clause with that U.) 5 tv., irreg.
to visit someone; to stop by the
place where someone lives 6 tv.,
irreg to meet with someone for an
appointment 7 tv., irreg to date
someone; to have a romantic
rela-tionship with someone
→ begin to see daylight
→ begin to see the light
→ can’t see beyond the end of one’s
nose
→ can’t see one’shand in front of
one’sface
→ Long time no see.
→ not able to see the forest for
the trees
→ not see further than the end of
one’snose
→ wait-and-see attitude
see double to see two of
every-thing instead of one
see eye to eye (about something)
and see eye to eye on
some-thing to view somesome-thing in the
same way (as someone else)
see eye to eye on something Go
to see eye to eye (about something).
see someone off to accompany one
to the point of departure for a trip and say good-bye
see someone or something as
something to consider someone or something the same as something
see someone to someplace to
escort someone to a place; to make sure that someone gets to place safely; to accompany some-one to a place
see something through to stay
with a project all the way to its completion
see stars to see flashing lights after
receiving a blow to the head
see the (hand)writing on the wall to know that something is
certain to happen
see the light (at the end of the tunnel) to foresee an end to one’s
problems after a long period of time
see the light (of day) to come to
the end of a very busy time
see things to imagine one sees
someone or something that is not there
see through someone or something
to recognize the deception involved with someone or some-thing
see (to it) that something is done
to make sure of something; to make certain of something; to be certain to do something
see to someone or something to
tend to or care for someone or something
seed ["sid] 1 n a part of a plant
that a new plant will grow from if see
530
Trang 6it is fertilized 2 tv to plant crops
on an area of land by scattering Q
→ go to seed
→ run to seed
seedling ["sid lIN] n a young plant
or tree that is newly grown from a
seed
seedy ["si di] 1 adj having a lot of
seeds (Comp: seedier; sup:
seediest.) 2 adj run-down;
shabby (Adv: seedily Comp:
seed-ier; sup: seediest.)
seeing that something is the case
considering that something is the
case; since something is the case
seek ["sik] tv., irreg to try to find
someone or something; to look for
someone or something (Past tense
and past participle: sought.)
seek to do something to try to do
something; to attempt to do
some-thing; to pledge oneself to do
something
seem ["sim] iv to appear to be a
certain way; to give the impression
of being a certain way
seen ["sin] past participle ofsee
seep ["sip] iv [for a liquid] to pass
through something slowly; to leak
seep in(to something) [for a fluid]
to trickle or leak (out of
some-thing) into something
seep out (of something) [for a
fluid] to trickle or leak out of
something
seep through something [for a
fluid] to permeate something and
escape
segment ["sEg m@nt] 1 n a part of
something; a part of something
that can be easily separated 2 tv.
to separate something into parts;
to divide something into parts
segregate ["sE grI get] 1 tv to
sep-arate someone or a group of peo-ple from other peopeo-ple; to isolate someone or a group of people
2 tv to separate people of one
race from people of another race
segregated ["sE grI get Id] adj [of
human races] separated by law or
other forces (Adv: segregatedly.)
segregation [sE grI "ge S@n] 1 n.
the state existing in a segregated society; the state of races being separated by law or other causes
(No plural.) 2 n the separation of
someone or something from other people or things (No plural.)
seize ["siz] 1 tv to grab, take, and
hold on to someone or something
2 tv to take control of something
by force or by authority; to cap-ture something by force or by authority
seize onto someone or something
to grab onto someone or some-thing
seize up to freeze or halt; [of a
machine with moving parts] to jam and stop suddenly
seize (up)on something 1 to grasp something tightly 2 to take hold
of something, such as a plan, idea, etc (Figurative.)
seizure ["si Z#] 1 n an act of seiz-ing someone or somethseiz-ing 2 n a
sudden attack of a sickness; a con-vulsion caused by a sudden attack
of a sickness
seldom ["sEl d@m] adv almost
never; rarely
531
Trang 7select [s@ "lEkt] 1 tv to pick
some-one or something from a group of
choices 2 adj specifically chosen;
exclusive; specially chosen (Adv:
selectly.)
selection [s@ "lEk S@n] 1 n a
choice; someone or something
that is chosen; someone or
some-thing that is selected 2 n a
vari-ety of things to choose from,
especially in a store
selective [s@ "lEk tIv] adj choosing
carefully; making careful choices
(Adv: selectively.)
self ["sElf] n a reference to a person
as an individual or being (Usually
in compounds See also myself,
yourself, herself, himself, itself,
oneself, ourselves, yourselves,
themselves.No plural.)
self-addressed ["sElf @ "drEst] adj.
addressed to oneself
self-centered ["sElf "sEn t#d] adj.
selfish; often thinking only of
one-self instead of anyone else (Adv:
self-centeredly.)
self-confidence [sElf "kan fI d@ns]
n the belief that one is able to do
something; confidence in one’s
own ability (No plural.)
self-conscious [sElf "kan S@s] adj.
aware that one is being seen by
other people, especially when one
is shy or embarrassed around
other people (Adv:
self-con-sciously.)
self-contained [sElf k@n "tend]
adj containing within itself
every-thing that is necessary
self-control [sElf k@n "trol] n the
control of one’s own actions or
feelings (No plural.)
self-discipline ["sElf "dIs @ plIn] n.
the discipline needed to control one’s feelings and actions (No plu-ral.)
self-employed [sElf Em "ploId] adj.
working for one’s own business; not working for other people
self-esteem [sElf @ "stim] n the
good opinion one has of oneself; the respect one shows for oneself (No plural.)
self-help ["sElf "hElp] 1 n helping
oneself without the help of others
(No plural.) 2 adj [of books or
techniques] showing people how
to help themselves without the help of others
selfish ["sEl fIS] adj too concerned
with oneself; too concerned with what one wants instead of what other people want; showing more care for oneself than for other
people (Adv: selfishly.)
selfishness ["sEl fIS n@s] n the
state of being too greedy and con-cerned with oneself (No plural.)
self-reliant [sElf rI "laI @nt] adj.
able to get along or do something without the help of others (Adv:
self-reliantly.)
self-respect [sElf rI "spEkt] n the
respect and pride one has for one-self (No plural.)
self-service ["sElf "s# vIs] 1 n the
system by which one must serve oneself in a store or business (No
plural.) 2 the adj use of Q sell ["sEl] 1 tv., irreg to transfer a
product in exchange for money; to transfer a product to someone in exchange for money (Past tense and past participle: sold.) 2 tv.,
select
532
Trang 8irreg to make something available
for purchase 3 tv., irreg to cause
something to be more likely to be
used or bought
sell for some amount to be offered
for sale for an amount of money;
to be sold for an amount of
money
sell like hot cakes [for
some-thing] to be sold very fast
sell out (to someone) 1 to sell
everything to someone 2 to
betray someone or something to
someone
sell someone a bill of goods to
get someone to believe something
that is not true
sell someone or something out to
betray someone or something
sell someone or something short to
underestimate someone or
some-thing; to fail to see the good
quali-ties of someone or something
sell something off to sell all of
something
seller ["sEl #] n someone who sells
something for money
semester [sI "mEs t#] n half of a
school year; a term; a 16-week to
18-week period of classes
semicircle ["sEm I s#k @l] n half of
a circle; a shape like half of a
cir-cle
semicolon ["sEm I ko l@n] n a
punctuation mark (;) that shows
separation between two clauses,
indicating more of a pause than a
comma but less of a pause than a
period (It is also used to separate
items in a list if any of the items
uses a comma so that the reader is
not confused.)
seminar ["sEm @ nar] 1 n one of
the meetings of a type of (college) course that meets regularly with a professor to discuss theories,
stud-ies, or research 2 n a meeting
where a speaker, or panel of speakers, talks and information or ideas about a particular topic is exchanged
senate ["sEn @t] 1 n the smaller of
the two groups of people who are elected to make the federal laws in
the United States 2 n the
profes-sors who are the governing body at certain schools and universities
senator ["sEn @ t#] n someone
who is a member of a senate
send ["sEnd] tv., irreg to cause
someone or something to be transported or to go from one place to another (Past tense and past participle: sent.)
send away (for something) to
order something to be brought or sent from some distance
send for someone or something to
request that someone come or that something be brought
send off for something to dispatch
an order for something to a distant place
send one about one’s business to
send someone away, usually in an unfriendly way
send out (for someone or some-thing) to send an order by
messen-ger, telephone, cable, or fax that someone or something is to come
or be delivered
send someone in for someone to
send someone into a game as a replacement for someone else
533
Trang 9send someone in(to something) to
make someone go into something
or someplace
send someone into something to
cause someone to be in a certain
state or condition
send someone off to participate in
saying good-bye to someone who
is leaving
send someone off (to something)
to send someone away to
some-thing or someplace, especially
away on a journey; to be present
when someone sets out on a
jour-ney to something or someplace
send someone out (for someone or
something) to send someone out
to search for someone or
some-thing
send someone over ((to)
some-place) to order someone to go to
someplace
send someone packing to send
someone away; to dismiss
some-one, possibly rudely
send someone to the showers to
send a player out of a game and off
the field, court, etc (Figurative
and literal.)
send something by something 1 to
send something by a particular
carrier 2 to deliver something to
something or someplace
(Infor-mal.)
send something off (to someone or
something) to send something to
someone, something, or
some-place
senile ["si naIl] adj tending to
for-get things or be confused because
of advancing age (Adv: senilely.)
senility [s@ "nIl @ ti] n a state of
confusion and loss of memory associated with old age (No plu-ral.)
senior ["sin j#] 1 adj [of people]
older; [of employees] having served an employer longer than
most other employees 2 adj higher in rank or position 3 adj.
of or for students in the fourth year of high school or college
4 adj for very old or elderly peo-ple; serving elderly people 5 n an
older person; a senior citizen 6 n.
a student in the fourth year of high school (12th grade) or the fourth year of college
senior citizen ["sin j# "sIt @ z@n] n.
someone who is 65 years old or older
seniority [sin "jor @ ti] n the
qual-ity of having been employed at one’s place of work for a relatively longer period of time than some-one else (No plural.)
sensation [sEn "se S@n] 1 n the
use of the senses; the ability to see,
hear, touch, taste, or smell 2 n.
an awareness of someone or some-thing because of sight, sound,
touch, taste, or smell 3 n a vague
feeling of awareness; a general
feeling in the mind 4 n someone
or something that causes people to become very excited or interested
sensational [sEn "se S@ n@l] 1 adj.
very exciting or interesting; attracting a lot of attention (Adv:
sensationally.) 2 adj exaggerated
and designed to excite and appeal
to a mass audience (Adv: sensa-tionally.)
send someone in(to something)
534
Trang 10sense ["sEns] 1 n each of the
abili-ties allowing creatures to see, hear,
touch, taste, or smell 2 n a
spe-cial feeling or sensation, espespe-cially
one that cannot be described (No
plural.) 3 n the ability to
under-stand or appreciate something
(No plural See also sense of
humor.) 4 n good judgment; the
ability to make good decisions
(No plural.) 5 n the meaning or
definition of something; a
mean-ing 6 n a belief shared by a
group of people 7 tv to be aware
of something with the help of Q
(The object can be a clause with
that U.) 8 tv to determine
some-thing; to have a feeling about a
sit-uation (The object can be a clause
with that U.)
→ come to one’ssenses
→ common sense
→ lull someoneinto a false sense of
security
→ out of one’ssenses
→ sixth sense
sense of humor [sEns @v "hju m#]
n the ability to laugh at things
that are funny; the ability to see
the funny aspects of a situation
(No plural.)
senseless ["sEns l@s] 1 adj
with-out reason; having no purpose;
stupid; foolish (Adv: senselessly.)
2 adj unconscious (Adv:
sense-lessly.)
sensible ["sEn s@ b@l] 1 adj
repre-senting or showing common
sense; wise (Adv: sensibly.) 2 adj.
practical instead of stylish (Adv:
sensibly.)
sensitive ["sEn s@ tIv] 1 adj able
to feel the effect of something,
especially light, sound, smell,
taste, or texture; easily affected or
harmed by something (Adv:
sensi-tively.) 2 adj easily offended; [of
someone] easily affected by
some-thing (Figurative on Q Adv:
sen-sitively.) 3 adj easily able to sense
a small change in something
sensitivity [sEn s@ "tIv I ti] 1 n the
ability to sense or perceive
some-thing (No plural.) 2 n the
ten-dency to perceive or imagine even the smallest offense (Sometimes plural with the same meaning.)
sensory ["sEn s@ ri] adj of the
senses; of the ability to see, hear, taste, touch, or smell
sensual ["sEn Su @l] adj providing
pleasure to the body; concerning the pleasures of eating, drinking,
sex, etc (Adv: sensually.)
sensuous [sEn "Su @s] adj affecting
the senses; experienced through
the senses (Adv: sensuously.)
sent ["sEnt] past tense and past
par-ticiple ofsend
sentence ["sEnt ns] 1 n a group of
words that forms an independent thought, usually including at least
a subject and a verb 2 n the
pun-ishment given to a criminal by a
judge in a court of law 3 tv [for a
judge] to assign a punishment to a criminal
sentiment ["sEn t@ m@nt] n a
ten-der feeling or emotion (No plu-ral.)
sentimental [sEn t@ "mEn t@l] adj.
having tender feelings or emo-tions, often sad or romantic ones
(Adv: sentimentally.)
535