to be between two or more people or things; to keep two or more people or things apart.. to cause two or more people or things to be apart.. the order in which a group of people or thing
Trang 1sentiments n a written or spoken
expression ofsentiment (Treated
as plural.)
separable ["sEp # @ b@l] adj able to
be separated; able to be divided
(Adv: separably.)
separate 1 ["sEp r@t] adj not
together; not joined; apart; single;
individual (Adv: separately.)
2 ["sEp @ ret] tv to be between
two or more people or things; to
keep two or more people or things
apart 3 ["sEp @ ret] tv to cause
two or more people or things to be
apart 4 ["sEp @ ret] iv to break
apart; to divide; to split 5 ["sEp @
ret] iv [for a husband and wife] to
stop living together, often as a trial
before beginning to divorce each
other
separate something out (of
some-thing) to remove something out
from something
separate the men from the boys
to separate the competent from
those who are less competent
separate the sheep from the
goats to divide people into two
groups according to whether they
meet a certain standard
separated ["sEp @ ret Id] adj [of a
married couple] no longer living
together but not divorced
separation [sEp @ "re S@n] 1 n the
state of being separated (Plural
only for types and instances.) 2 n.
a period of time when two people
who are married no longer live
together but have not yet divorced
September [sEp "tEm b#] Go to
month.
sequence ["si kw@ns] 1 n the
order in which a group of people
or things are placed; the order in which a series of events happen
2 tv to put people or things into
Q
sequester [sI "kwEs t#] tv to keep
someone apart from other people, especially to isolate members of a jury from the public during a trial
serenade [sEr @ "ned] 1 n a song
sung to someone; a love song
2 tv to sing a romantic song to
someone; to play a romantic piece
of music for someone
serene [s@ "rin] adj quiet; calm;
peaceful (Adv: serenely.)
serenity [s@ "rEn I ti] n the quality
of being serene (No plural.)
serial ["sIr i @l] 1 n a story that is
presented in separate parts 2 the
adj use of Q (Adv: serially.)
series ["sIr iz] 1 n a group of
simi-lar things that happen or appear one after the other in a certain order; a group of similar things that are arranged in a row
(Treated as singular.) 2 n a set of
television programs that is broad-cast one at a time, usually once per week
serious ["sIr i @s] 1 adj stern; not
humorous or playful (Adv:
seri-ously.) 2 adj important; not
minor (Adv: seriously.)
seriousness ["sIr i @s n@s] n.
importance; gravity; a state of being serious Q or W (No plu-ral.)
sermon ["s# m@n] 1 n a speech
about religion or morals, espe-cially one given by a member of sentiments
536
Trang 2the clergy 2 n a long speech by
someone who is giving advice or
who is scolding someone else
(Figurative on Q.)
serpent ["s# p@nt] n a snake.
servant ["s# v@nt] n someone who
serves a person, the public, or
God, especially someone who is
paid to work for someone else in
that person’s house
serve ["s#v] 1 tv to provide
some-one with a service 2 tv to bring
(previously ordered) food to
someone, as in a restaurant 3 tv.
to provide a useful service or
function 4 iv to perform military
service 5 iv to begin a play in a
sport like tennis by hitting the ball
toward the other player
→ first come, first served
serve as a guinea pig [for
some-one] to be experimented on; to
allow some sort of test to be
per-formed on one
serve someone right [for an act or
event] to punish someone fairly
(for having done something
wrong)
serve something up to distribute or
deliver food for people to eat
serve time to spend a certain
amount of time in jail
serve under someone or something
to carry out one’s responsibility
under the direction or in the
employment of someone
server ["s# v#] 1 n a utensil used
to serve certain foods 2 n a
wait-ress;a waiter
service ["s# vIs] 1 n the work that
someone does for the benefit of
someone; work done by servants,
clerks, food servers, taxi drivers, etc (No plural See E.) 2 n the repair of a machine or device;
maintenance (No plural.) 3 n.
the benefit provided by a company
or organization that fulfills the needs of people but does not usu-ally manufacture products (This
includes electric service, natural gas service, telephone service, water service, sewer service, message serv-ice, diaper servserv-ice, lawn-care
service, etc.) 4 n a religious meet-ing or ceremony 5 tv to repair or
adjust something mechanical or electronic
→ out of service
the service n a military duty;
serv-ing [one’s country in] a military organization
services n work that is done to
help someone, especially the work done by a professional person (Treated as plural, but not counta-ble.)
serving ["s# vIN] n the amount of
food or drink that is usually served to one person
session ["sE S@n] n a period of
time during which a meeting is held or an activity is pursued
→ in session
→ arump session
set ["sEt] 1 tv., irreg to put
some-one or something on a surface; to place someone or something somewhere (Past tense and past participle: set.) 2 tv., irreg to
move someone or something into
a certain position 3 tv., irreg to
join the ends of a broken bone and place them in the proper position
4 tv., irreg to determine or
estab-set
537
Trang 3lish a value, a standard, a time, an
amount, etc 5 tv., irreg to adjust
a machine so that it works
cor-rectly; to adjust something so that
it will show the correct
measure-ment, time, amount, etc 6 iv.,
irreg [for a liquid] to take a
cer-tain shape; to become shaped; [for
concrete or plaster] to get hard
7 iv., irreg [for the sun] to drop
below the horizon at night; to sink
out of sight 8 n a collection of
related things; a group of things
that are found or belong together
9 n the location of the
perform-ing area for a play, TV show, or
movie 10 adj ready (Not
prenominal.) 11 adj established;
determined in advance; arranged
→ have one’sheart set on something
→ not set foot somewhere
→ one’sheart is set on something
→ television set
set a trap to adjust and prepare a
trap to catch a person or an
ani-mal
set foot somewhere to go or enter
somewhere (Often in the
nega-tive.)
set great store by someone or
something to have positive
expec-tations for someone or something;
to have high hopes for someone or
something
set in to begin; to become fixed for
a period of time
set off (for something) to leave for
something or someplace
set off on something to begin on a
journey or expedition
set one (back) on one’s feet and
set one on one’s feet again to
reestablish someone; to help
someone become active and pro-ductive again
set one back on one’s heels to
surprise, shock, or overwhelm someone
set one on one’s feet again Go to
set one(back) on one’sfeet.
set one’s heart on something to
become determined about some-thing
set one’s sights on something to
select something as one’s goal
set out (on something) to begin a
journey; to begin a project
set out to do something to begin to
do something; to intend to do something
set someone down (on(to) some-thing) to place a person one is
car-rying or lifting onto something
set someone off 1 to cause
some-one to become very angry; to
ignite someone’s anger 2 to cause
someone to start talking or lectur-ing about a particular subject
set someone or something free to
release someone or something; to allow someone or something to leave, go away, depart, or escape
set someone or something up to
place someone or something in a vertical or standing position
set someone straight to make
cer-tain that someone understands something exactly (Often said in anger or domination.)
set someone up (for something)
1 to arrange a situation so that
someone is the target of a
decep-tion 2 to make someone become
part of a joke
set a trap
538
Trang 4set someone’s teeth on edge
1 [for a sour or bitter taste] to
irritate one’s mouth and make it
feel strange 2 [for a person or a
noise] to be irritating or get on
someone’s nerves
set something down (on
something) 1 to place something
on the surface of something 2 to
write something on paper 3 to
land an airplane on something
set something down to something
to blame something on something
else; to regard something as the
cause of something
set something in(to something) to
put something into its place
set something off 1 to ignite
some-thing, such as fireworks 2 to
cause something to begin 3 to
make something distinct or
out-standing
set something to music to
incor-porate words into a piece of music;
to write a piece of music to
incor-porate a set of words
set something up to arrange the
time and place of a meeting,
appointment, interview, etc
set something up (for something)
to arrange something for a
partic-ular time or event
set something (up)on something to
place something on the surface of
something
set the table to arrange a table
with plates, glasses, knives, forks,
etc., for a meal
set the world on fire to do
excit-ing thexcit-ings that brexcit-ing fame and
glory to one (Frequently
nega-tive.)
set type to arrange type for
print-ing, now usually on a computer
setback ["sEt bAk] n something
that causes something to change for the worse
settle ["sEt @l] 1 tv to decide
something, especially an
argu-ment; to resolve something 2 tv.
to pay a bill or account 3 tv to
place oneself in a comfortable position (Takes a reflexive object.)
4 tv to occupy land or a town and live there, often as a pioneer 5 tv.
to cause something to be calm,
still, or less active 6 iv to sink,
especially into the ground or to the bottom of something
settle down 1 to become calm.
2 to get quiet 3 to abandon a
free lifestyle and take up a more stable and disciplined one
settle down somewhere to
estab-lish a residence somewhere
settle in(to something) 1 to
become accustomed to something, such as a new home, job, status,
etc 2 to get comfortable in
some-thing
settle someone down to make
someone become quiet
settle (something) (out of court)
to end a disagreement and reach
an agreement without having to go through a court of justice
settle up with someone to pay
someone what one owes; to pay one one’s share of something
settlement ["sEt @l m@nt] 1 n the
establishing of towns or commu-nities in new areas (No plural.)
2 n a town established by people
who have moved to an area where
settlement
539
Trang 5there was no town before 3 n an
agreement that ends an argument,
disagreement, or fight
settler ["sEt l#, "sEt l #] n a
pio-neer; someone who is one of the
first people to live in a location
setup ["sEt @p] n an arrangement;
the way something is arranged or
organized
seven ["sEv @n] 7 Go to four
→ at sixes and sevens
seventeen ["sEv @n "tin] 17 Go to
four
seventeenth [sEv @n "tinT] 17th.
Go to fourth
seventh ["sEv @nT] 7th Go to
fourth
→ in seventh heaven
seventieth ["sEv @n ti @T] 70th Go
to fourth
seventy ["sEv @n ti] 70 Go to forty
sever ["sEv #] tv to cut through
something; to cut something
apart
sever ties with someone to end a
relationship or agreement
sud-denly
several ["sEv (@) r@l] 1 adj some; a
few, but not many 2 n some
peo-ple or things; a few peopeo-ple or
things (No plural.)
severe [s@ "vIr] 1 adj harsh; strict;
not gentle (Adv: severely Comp:
severer; sup: severest.) 2 adj.
strong; violent; causing harm; not
mild (Adv: severely Comp:
sev-erer; sup: severest.)
severed ["sEv #d] adj cut off; cut
from; separated
severity [sI "vEr I ti] n the quality
of being severe (No plural.)
sew ["so] 1 tv., irreg to attach two
pieces of material together or to attach something to a piece of material by making stitches using
a needle and thread (Past tense:
sewed; past participle: sewed or
sewn.) 2 iv., irreg to attach with
stitches using a needle and thread
→ get somethingsewed up
sewage ["su IdZ] n water and
human waste that is carried away
by sewers from homes and busi-nesses (No plural.)
sewer 1 ["su #] n a pipe that
car-ries waste away from homes and
businesses 2 ["so #] n someone
who sews
sewing ["so IN] 1 n the work that
is done with a needle and thread; the stitches made in material with
a needle and thread (No plural.)
2 n a piece of clothing or
mate-rial that is being sewed (No
plu-ral.) 3 the adj use of Q or W.
sewn ["son] a past participle ofsew
sex ["sEks] 1 n human sexual
responses and activity (No
plu-ral.) 2 n copulation; sexual
arousal leading to copulation; the urge to copulate; the subject of
copulation (No plural.) 3 n the
state of being male or female
4 the adj use of Q.
→ opposite sex
sexism ["sEks Iz @m] n the belief
that men are better than women; discrimination against women because they are women (No plu-ral.)
sexist ["sEk sIst] 1 n someone,
usually a male, who practices sex-ism 2 the adj use of Q (Adv:
sexistly.)
settler
540
Trang 6sexual ["sEk Su @l] 1 adj of or
about copulation or reproduction
and the associated feelings and
urges (Adv: sexually.) 2 adj.
requiring two creatures or
organ-isms for reproduction
sexual intercourse ["sEk Su @l "In
t# kors] n copulation; an act
involving the genitals of two
peo-ple for the purpose of creating
pleasure or the production of
off-spring (No plural Can be
short-ened to intercourse.)
sexuality [sEk Su "Al @ ti] n human
sexual matters and feelings; the
involvement or interest a person
has in sex (No plural.)
sexually ["sEk Su (@) li] adv in a
sexual manner; in a way that
con-cerns sex
sexy ["sEk si] adj of or about sex
appeal; causing an interest in sex;
sexually exciting (Comp: sexier;
sup: sexiest.)
shabby ["SAb i] adj having a messy
appearance; looking run-down or
worn-out (Adv: shabbily Comp:
shabbier; sup: shabbiest.)
shack ["SAk] n a small house, hut,
or shed that has been built quickly
or poorly
shade ["Sed] 1 n a place that is not
directly exposed to sunlight
because an object between that
place and the sun blocks the
sun-light (No plural.) 2 n a variety of
a color; the lightness or darkness
of a color 3 n a slight amount of
a quality 4 n a device that can be
rolled down over a window so that
light will not get in or so that
peo-ple cannot see in (Short for
win-dow shade.) 5 tv to prevent light
from reaching an area; to make something darker or harder to see
by blocking light 6 tv to make
something darker by painting or drawing on it with a darker color
→ window shade
shades of someone or something
reminders of someone or thing; things reminiscent of some-one or something
shading ["Sed IN] n the use of
darker colors in paintings and drawings to make shadows and darker areas (No plural.)
shadow ["SAd o] 1 n the patch of
shade created by someone or
something blocking light 2 n a
slight suggestion; a trace (Figura-tive on Q.)
shadow of itself Go to shadow of
oneself
shadow of oneself and shadow
of itself someone or something
that is not as strong, healthy, full,
or lively as before
shady ["Se di] 1 adj in the shade;
blocked from direct exposure to
light; shaded (Comp: shadier; sup:
shadiest.) 2 adj not honest;
always making schemes and
deceiving people (Comp: shadier; sup: shadiest.)
shaft ["SAft] 1 n a rod or pole, such as part of an arrow 2 n a
pole that is used as a handle, such
as with an axe or a golf club 3 n a ray [of light] 4 n a long, narrow
passage, often vertical
shaggy ["SAg i] adj covered with
long, thick, messy hair; [of hair]
long, thick, and messy (Adv:
shag-shaggy
541
Trang 7gily Comp: shaggier; sup:
shaggiest.)
shaggy-dog story a kind of funny
story that relies on its length and a
sudden, ridiculous ending for its
humor
shake ["Sek] 1 iv., irreg [for
some-thing large] to move up and down,
back and forth, or side to side
many times very quickly (Past
tense: shook;past participle:
shaken.) 2 iv., irreg [for someone]
to move as in Q or seem less
secure 3 tv., irreg to cause
some-one or something to move up and
down, back and forth, or side to
side many times very quickly
→ in two shakes of a lamb’s tail
shake hands and shake
some-one’s hand to take somesome-one’s
hand and move it up and down as
a greeting or to mark an
agree-ment
shake in one’s boots and quake
in one’s boots to be afraid; to
shake from fear
shake someone’s hand Go to shake
hands.
shake something down Go to
shake somethingout.
shake something out 1 to clean
something of dirt or crumbs by
shaking 2 and shake something
down to test something to find
out what the problems are
(Figu-rative.)
shake something up 1 to mix
something by shaking 2 to upset
an organization or group of people
by some administrative action
shaken ["Sek @n] 1 Past participle
ofshake 2 adj greatly upset;
dis-turbed; bothered
shaker ["Sek #] n a small container
that has a few tiny holes on one end from which salt or pepper or sometimes other spices, is spread
on food by shaking
shake-up ["Sek @p] n a large
change in the arrangement of an organization, including the move-ment, firing, or addition of people who have important jobs
shaky ["Se ki] 1 adj shaking a
small amount; not steady (Comp:
shakier; sup: shakiest.) 2 adj.
risky; not certain; not able to be
relied on (Comp: shakier; sup: shakiest.)
shall ["SAl] 1 aux a form used
with I and we to indicate
some-thing in the future (Formal See also will and should do something.)
2 aux a form used with you, he,
she, it, they, and names of people
or things to indicate something one must do, a command, or a promise (Formal See also will and should do something.) 3 aux a
verb form used with I and we in
questions that ask the hearer or reader to decide something con-cerning the speaker or writer (Formal See also willand should
do something.)
shallow ["SAl o] 1 adj not deep;
having only a small distance from the top of something to the bot-tom, especially used to describe
water (Adv: shallowly Comp: shallower; sup: shallowest.) 2 adj.
[of thoughts] trivial; not having deep, important thoughts (Figu-shaggy-dog story
542
Trang 8rative on Q Adv: shallowly.
Comp: shallower; sup: shallowest.)
shame ["Sem] 1 n a feeling that
someone has done something
wrong or bad; a bad feeling of
guilt (No plural.) 2 n an
unfor-tunate situation (No plural.) 3 n.
disgrace; loss of honor (No
plu-ral.) 4 tv to cause someone to feel
Q
→ put someoneto shame
shameful ["Sem fUl] adj causing or
deserving shame or disgrace
(Adv: shamefully.)
shameless ["Sem l@s] adj without
shame, especially when one should
feel shame; not modest (Adv:
shamelessly.)
shampoo [SAm "pu] 1 n a liquid
soap used for washing hair (Plural
only for types and instances
Plural ends in -s.) 2 n a washing
of one’s own or someone else’s hair
with Q (Plural ends in -s.) 3 tv.
to wash someone’s hair with Q
4 iv to wash [hair] with Q.
shape ["Sep] 1 n a form; a figure; a
mass; an object 2 n condition; a
state of being—good or bad (No
plural.) 3 tv to cause something
to have a certain form; to form
something
→ in good shape
→ in shape
→ take shape
shape someone up 1 to cause
someone to get into good physical
condition 2 to cause someone to
become productive, efficient,
competent, etc
shape up 1 to get into good
physi-cal condition 2 to become
pro-ductive, efficient, competent, etc
shape up or ship out to either
improve one’s performance or one’s behavior or quit and leave
shapeless ["Sep l@s] adj without a
shape; having no definite form
(Adv: shapelessly.)
shapely ["Sep li] adj having an
attractive body; attractive in shape (Especially used to describe
women Comp: shapelier; sup: shapeliest.)
share ["SEr] 1 n one person’s part
of something that belongs to more
than one person; a portion 2 n a
unit ofstock E; a unit into which the capital of a company or busi-ness is divided, and that is owned
by a person or corporation 3 tv.
to use something together with another person or other people; to own something together with another person or other people
4 tv to divide something between
two or among three or more peo-ple so that each person has a
por-tion of it 5 iv to use together
with another person or other peo-ple; to own together with another person or other people
→ thelion’s share (of something)
→ one’sfair share
share someone’s pain to
under-stand and sympathize with some-one’s pain or emotional discomfort
share someone’s sorrow to feel
someone else’s emotional pain
shared ["SErd] adj belonging to
two or more people; divided among two or more people
shark ["Sark] n a large, dangerous
fish with a pointed fin on its back and long, sharp teeth
shark
543
Trang 9sharp ["Sarp] 1 adj having an edge
that cuts things easily or having a
point that pierces things easily; not
dull (Adv: sharply Comp: sharper;
sup: sharpest.) 2 adj having a
sudden change in direction;
turn-ing at a narrow angle (Adv:
sharply Comp: sharper; sup:
sharpest.) 3 adj intelligent; smart;
able to learn things quickly; aware
(Adv: sharply Comp: sharper; sup:
sharpest.) 4 adj feeling like a
sting, bite, or cut; causing a
sting-ing, bitsting-ing, or cutting feeling
(Adv: sharply Comp: sharper; sup:
sharpest.) 5 adj distinct; clear;
easily seen or heard (Adv: sharply.
Comp: sharper; sup: sharpest.) 6.
adj [of speech or language]
bit-terly negative (Adv: sharply.
Comp: sharper; sup: sharpest.)
7 adj slightly higher in tone.
(Comp: sharper; sup: sharpest.)
8 adj excellent looking (Adv:
sharply Comp: sharper; sup:
sharpest.) 9 n a tone that is half a
step higher than the next lowest
natural tone 10 adv exactly at a
stated time
sharpen ["Sar p@n] tv to cause
something to become sharp
→ pencil sharpener
shatter ["SAt #] 1 iv to break into
many tiny pieces 2 tv to break
something into many tiny pieces
shave ["Sev] 1 tv., irreg to remove
someone’s or something’s hair
with a sharp blade; to scrape off
hair by moving a razor over the
skin (Past tense: shaved; past
par-ticiple: shaved or shaven.) 2 tv.,
irreg to cut a thin slice from
something 3 iv., irreg to move a
razor over one’s skin to remove
hair 4 n an instance of removing hair from the face or body by using a razor
→ have a close shave
shaven ["Sev @n] a past participle of
shave.
she ["Si] 1 pron the third-person
feminine singular pronoun (Refers to female persons or crea-tures Used as the subject of a sen-tence or a clause See also her, herself, and hers.) 2 pron the
third-person feminine singular pronoun (Informal Used to refer
to certain objects, such as ships
and cars.) 3 n a female.
shear ["SIr] 1 tv., irreg to cut or
remove something with shearsor scissors, especially wool from a
sheep (Past participle: sheared or
shorn.) 2 tv., irreg to trim a sheep
totally, removing its wool
shears n large scissors; a heavy
pair of scissors used for cutting thick materials (Treated as plural Number is usually expressed with
pair(s) of shears.)
sheath ["SiT] n., irreg a covering
for the blade of a knife or sword (Plural: ["SiDz].)
she’d ["Sid] 1 cont she had, where
hadis an auxiliary 2 cont she
would
shed ["SEd] 1 n a small building, usually used for storage 2 iv.,
irreg to release or lose hair, or
skin in the case of a reptile (Past
tense and past participle: shed.)
3 tv., irreg [for an animal] to lose skin or hair 4 tv., irreg to release
a fluid, especially tears or blood 5.
tv., irreg to rid oneself of a burden
or something embarrassing (Figu-sharp
544
Trang 10rative on E.) 6 tv., irreg to
remove clothing
shed crocodile tears to shed false
tears; to pretend that one is crying
sheep ["Sip] n., irreg an animal
that grows wool on its body and is
raised on farms for its wool and
meat (Plural: sheep.)
→ separate the sheep from the
goats
→ awolf in sheep’s clothing
sheepish ["Sip IS] adj weak; timid;
easily scared; shy; easily
embar-rassed (Adv: sheepishly.)
sheer ["SIr] 1 adj complete; utter.
(Comp: sheerer; sup: sheerest.)
2 adj transparent; very thin; easy
to see through (Adv: sheerly.
Comp: sheerer; sup: sheerest.)
3 adj straight up and down;
ver-tical but not slanting or sloping
(Adv: sheerly Comp: sheerer; sup:
sheerest.)
sheet ["Sit] 1 n a large, thin piece
of fabric that is used in pairs on
beds (People sleep between
sheets.) 2 n a thin, flat piece of
something, such as paper, metal,
glass, ice, etc., usually rectangular
shelf ["SElf] n., irreg a horizontal,
flat piece of wood, metal, etc., that
is put against or attached to a wall
or is found in bookcases or other
furniture (Plural: shelves.)
she’ll ["Sil] cont she will.
shell ["SEl] 1 n the hard covering
on the outside of seeds, nuts, eggs,
and shellfish 2 n an exploding
object that is shot out of a large
gun 3 tv to free something from
Q [by removing Q] 4 tv to
attack people or a place with shells
as in W
shellfish ["SEl fIS] 1 n., irreg an
animal that lives in the water and has a shell, including clams, crabs,
lobsters, and oysters (Plural:
shell-fish.) 2 n the meat of Q (No
plu-ral.)
shelter ["SEl t#] 1 n protection
from the weather, danger, or
harm (No plural.) 2 n a place or
structure where one can find Q
3 tv to protect someone or
some-thing from the weather, danger, or harm
sheltered ["SEl t#d] adj [of an
area] protected, especially from the weather
shelve ["SElv] 1 tv to place some-thing on a shelf 2 tv to delay
something until a later time (Fig-urative on Q.)
shelves ["SElvz] plural ofshelf
shelving ["SEl vIN] n shelves; a set
of shelves (No plural.)
shepherd ["SEp #d] 1 n someone
who raises and protects sheep
2 tv to guide someone in the way
that a shepherd leads sheep (Figu-rative on Q.)
sherbet ["S# b@t] n a sweet, frozen
dessert usually made of or flavored with fruit juice (Plural only for types and instances.)
sheriff ["SEr If] n the most
impor-tant officer elected to enforce the law in a U.S county
she’s ["Siz] 1 cont she is 2 cont.
she has, where hasis an auxiliary
shield ["Sild] 1 n a cover for
some-thing (such as a part of a machine) that protects someone from being
hurt 2 n a large piece of metal or
wood carried in front of the body
shield
545