second
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈsɛkənd/
enpr: sĕʹkənd
ipa: /ˈsɛk.(ə)nd/
ipa: /ˈsɛkɪnd/
rhymes: -ɛkənd
Forms: form: seconds
form: 2nd
form: 2ⁿᵈ
form: 2d
form: 2ᵈ
form: IInd
form: II
form: II.
Etymology: From Middle English secunde, second, secound, secund, borrowed from Old French second, seond, from Latin secundus (“following, next in order”), from root of sequor (“I follow”), from Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ- (“to follow”). Doublet of secund and secundo. Displaced native twoth and partially displaced native other (from Old English ōþer (“other; next; second”)).
Senses: glosses: Something that is number two in a series.
glosses: Something that is next in rank, quality, precedence, position, status, or authority.
glosses: The place that is next below or after first in a race or contest.
examples: text: They were discounted because they contained blemishes, nicks or were otherwise factory seconds.
glosses: A manufactured item that, though still usable, fails to meet quality control standards.
examples: text: That was good barbecue. I hope I can get seconds.
glosses: An additional helping of food.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 2003, Sheila Ryan Wallace, The Sea Captain and His Ladies, page 22:
text: 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.”
ref: 2009, Paulette Jiles, Stormy Weather, page 37:
text: 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.
ref: 2011, Karen Miller, The Innocent Mage:
glosses: A chance or attempt to achieve what should have been done the first time, usually indicating success this time around. (See second-guess.)
topics: entertainment
lifestyle
music
glosses: 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).
glosses: The second gear of an engine.
topics: ball-games
baseball
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: Second base.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 1936, Dale Carnegie, ‘If You Want to Gather Honey, Don’t Kick Over the Beehive’ (part 1, chapter 1), in How to Win Friends and Influence People:
glosses: 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: text: Many packs have a sixer's council where the sixers, and sometimes the seconds, meet with Akela and some of the other leaders.
ref: 1995, Boy Scouts of Canada. National Council, The Cub Book:
synonyms: seconder
glosses: A Cub Scout appointed to assist the sixer.
examples: text: [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.
ref: 2004, William H. Cropper, Great Physicists, page 454:
glosses: A second-class honours degree.
Derived terms: cosmetic second
diminished second
factory second
major second
minor second
sloppy seconds
this second
Related terms: topics: music
entertainment
lifestyle
word: secundal