second
sec|ond best
also second-best
1 [ADJ] usu ADJ n
Second best is used to describe something that is not as good as the best thing of its kind but is better than all the other things of that kind.
He put on his second best suit...
2 [ADJ]
You can use second best to describe something that you have to accept even though you would have preferred something else.
He refused to settle for anything that was second best.
[N-SING]
Second best is also a noun.
Oatmeal is a good second best.sec|ond cham|ber
[N-SING]
The second chamber is one of the two groups that a parliament is divided into. In Britain, the second chamber is the House of Lords. In the United States, the second chamber can be either the Senate or the House of Representatives.sec|ond child|hood
[N-SING]
If you say that an old person is in their second childhood, you mean that their mind is becoming weaker and that their behaviour is similar to that of a young child.sec|ond com|ing
[N-SING] the N
When Christians refer to the second coming, they mean the expected return to earth of Jesus Christ.sec|ond cous|in (second cousins)
[N-COUNT]
Your second cousins are the children of your parents' first cousins. Compare first cousin.sec|ond lan|guage (second languages)
[N-COUNT]
Someone's second language is a language which is not their native language but which they use at work or at school.
Lucy teaches English as a second language...sec|ond lieu|ten|ant (second lieutenants)
1 [N-COUNT]
A second lieutenant is an officer in the army who ranks directly below a lieutenant. (BRIT)
2 [N-COUNT]
A second lieutenant is an officer in the army, air force, or marines who ranks directly below a first lieutenant. (AM)sec|ond name (second names)
[N-COUNT]
Someone's second name is their family name, or the name that comes after their first name and before their family name.sec|ond opin|ion (second opinions)
[N-COUNT]
If you get a second opinion, you ask another qualified person for their opinion about something such as your health.
I would like a second opinion on my doctor's diagnosis.sec|ond per|son
[N-SING] the N
A statement in the second person is a statement about the person or people you are talking to. The subject of a statement like this is `you'.sec|ond sight
[N-UNCOUNT]
If you say that someone has second sight, you mean that they seem to have the ability to know or see things that are going to happen in the future, or are happening in a different place.sec|ond string
also second-string
[N-SING] oft N n
If you describe a person or thing as someone's second string, you mean that they are only used if another person or thing is not available.
...a second string team.sec|ond thought (second thoughts)
1 [N-SING] with brd-neg, a N
If you do something without a second thought, you do it without thinking about it carefully, usually because you do not have enough time or you do not care very much.
This murderous lunatic could kill them both without a second thought...
Roberto didn't give a second thought to borrowing $2,000 from him.
2 [N-PLURAL] oft N about n
If you have second thoughts about a decision that you have made, you begin to doubt whether it was the best thing to do.
I had never had second thoughts about my decision to leave the company.
3 [PHRASE] PHR with cl
You can say on second thoughts or on second thought when you suddenly change your mind about something that you are saying or something that you have decided to do.
`Wait there!' Kathryn rose. `No, on second thought, follow me.'sec|ond wind
[N-SING]
When you get your second wind, you become able to continue doing something difficult or energetic after you have been tired or out of breath.
Finding a second wind, he rode away from his pursuers.♦♦♦ sec|ond1 /s'ekənd/ (second seconds) PART OF A MINUTE
[N-COUNT]
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...♦♦♦ sec|ond2 /s'ekənd/ (second seconds seconding seconded) COMING AFTER SOMETHING ELSE
Please look at category 13 to see if the expression you are looking for is shown under another headword.
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...
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.
The soil is depleted first by having crops grown in it and second by natural weathering and bacterial action.
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] V n
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.
...Bryan Sutton, who seconded the motion against fox hunting...
● seconder [N-COUNT]
Candidates need a proposer and seconder whose names are kept secret.
9 [VERB] V n
If you second what someone has said, you say that you agree with them or say the same thing yourself.
The Prime Minister seconded the call for discipline in a speech 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.
Most of them had only heard of the massacre at second hand.
see also second-hand
11 [PHRASE] v-link PHR
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 placese|cond3 /sɪk'ɒnd/ (second seconds seconding seconded) SENDING SOMEONE TO DO A JOB
[VERB] usu passive, be V-ed prep/adv, be V-ed to-inf
If you are seconded somewhere, you are sent there temporarily by your employer in order to do special duties. (BRIT)
In 1937 he was seconded to the Royal Canadian Air Force in Ottawa as air armament adviser...
Several hundred soldiers have been seconded to help farmers.split se|cond
also split-second
[N-SING]
A split second is an extremely short period of time.
Her gaze met Michael's for a split second...
also second-best
1 [ADJ] usu ADJ n
Second best is used to describe something that is not as good as the best thing of its kind but is better than all the other things of that kind.
He put on his second best suit...
2 [ADJ]
You can use second best to describe something that you have to accept even though you would have preferred something else.
He refused to settle for anything that was second best.
[N-SING]
Second best is also a noun.
Oatmeal is a good second best.sec|ond cham|ber
[N-SING]
The second chamber is one of the two groups that a parliament is divided into. In Britain, the second chamber is the House of Lords. In the United States, the second chamber can be either the Senate or the House of Representatives.sec|ond child|hood
[N-SING]
If you say that an old person is in their second childhood, you mean that their mind is becoming weaker and that their behaviour is similar to that of a young child.sec|ond com|ing
[N-SING] the N
When Christians refer to the second coming, they mean the expected return to earth of Jesus Christ.sec|ond cous|in (second cousins)
[N-COUNT]
Your second cousins are the children of your parents' first cousins. Compare first cousin.sec|ond lan|guage (second languages)
[N-COUNT]
Someone's second language is a language which is not their native language but which they use at work or at school.
Lucy teaches English as a second language...sec|ond lieu|ten|ant (second lieutenants)
1 [N-COUNT]
A second lieutenant is an officer in the army who ranks directly below a lieutenant. (BRIT)
2 [N-COUNT]
A second lieutenant is an officer in the army, air force, or marines who ranks directly below a first lieutenant. (AM)sec|ond name (second names)
[N-COUNT]
Someone's second name is their family name, or the name that comes after their first name and before their family name.sec|ond opin|ion (second opinions)
[N-COUNT]
If you get a second opinion, you ask another qualified person for their opinion about something such as your health.
I would like a second opinion on my doctor's diagnosis.sec|ond per|son
[N-SING] the N
A statement in the second person is a statement about the person or people you are talking to. The subject of a statement like this is `you'.sec|ond sight
[N-UNCOUNT]
If you say that someone has second sight, you mean that they seem to have the ability to know or see things that are going to happen in the future, or are happening in a different place.sec|ond string
also second-string
[N-SING] oft N n
If you describe a person or thing as someone's second string, you mean that they are only used if another person or thing is not available.
...a second string team.sec|ond thought (second thoughts)
1 [N-SING] with brd-neg, a N
If you do something without a second thought, you do it without thinking about it carefully, usually because you do not have enough time or you do not care very much.
This murderous lunatic could kill them both without a second thought...
Roberto didn't give a second thought to borrowing $2,000 from him.
2 [N-PLURAL] oft N about n
If you have second thoughts about a decision that you have made, you begin to doubt whether it was the best thing to do.
I had never had second thoughts about my decision to leave the company.
3 [PHRASE] PHR with cl
You can say on second thoughts or on second thought when you suddenly change your mind about something that you are saying or something that you have decided to do.
`Wait there!' Kathryn rose. `No, on second thought, follow me.'sec|ond wind
[N-SING]
When you get your second wind, you become able to continue doing something difficult or energetic after you have been tired or out of breath.
Finding a second wind, he rode away from his pursuers.♦♦♦ sec|ond1 /s'ekənd/ (second seconds) PART OF A MINUTE
[N-COUNT]
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...♦♦♦ sec|ond2 /s'ekənd/ (second seconds seconding seconded) COMING AFTER SOMETHING ELSE
Please look at category 13 to see if the expression you are looking for is shown under another headword.
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...
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.
The soil is depleted first by having crops grown in it and second by natural weathering and bacterial action.
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] V n
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.
...Bryan Sutton, who seconded the motion against fox hunting...
● seconder [N-COUNT]
Candidates need a proposer and seconder whose names are kept secret.
9 [VERB] V n
If you second what someone has said, you say that you agree with them or say the same thing yourself.
The Prime Minister seconded the call for discipline in a speech 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.
Most of them had only heard of the massacre at second hand.
see also second-hand
11 [PHRASE] v-link PHR
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 placese|cond3 /sɪk'ɒnd/ (second seconds seconding seconded) SENDING SOMEONE TO DO A JOB
[VERB] usu passive, be V-ed prep/adv, be V-ed to-inf
If you are seconded somewhere, you are sent there temporarily by your employer in order to do special duties. (BRIT)
In 1937 he was seconded to the Royal Canadian Air Force in Ottawa as air armament adviser...
Several hundred soldiers have been seconded to help farmers.split se|cond
also split-second
[N-SING]
A split second is an extremely short period of time.
Her gaze met Michael's for a split second...