I. PART OF A MINUTE
(~s)
Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
A ~ is one of the sixty parts that a minute is divided into. People often say ‘a ~’ or ‘~s’ when they simply mean a very short time.
For a few ~s nobody said anything...
It only takes forty ~s...
Her orbital speed must be a few hundred meters per ~...
Within ~s the other soldiers began firing too...
N-COUNT
II. COMING AFTER SOMETHING ELSE
(~s, ~ing ~ed)
Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
Please look at category 13 to see if the expression you are looking for is shown under another headword.
1.
The ~ item in a series is the one that you count as number two.
...the ~ day of his visit to Delhi.
...their ~ child...
My son just got married for the ~ time...
She was the ~ of nine children.
...King Charles the Second...
Britain came ~ in the Prix St Georges Derby.
ORD
2.
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 ~ strongest in Italy.
...the ~-largest city in the United States.
ORD: ORD adj-superl
3.
You say ~ when you want to make a ~ point or give a ~ reason for something.
The soil is depleted first by having crops grown in it and ~ by natural weathering and bacterial action.
ADV: ADV cl
4.
In Britain, an upper ~ is a good honours degree and a lower ~ is an average honours degree.
I then went up to Lancaster University and got an upper ~.
N-COUNT
5.
If you have ~s, you have a ~ helping of food. (INFORMAL)
There’s ~s if you want them.
N-PLURAL
6.
Seconds are goods that are sold cheaply in shops because they have slight faults.
It’s a new shop selling discounted lines and ~s.
N-COUNT: usu pl
7.
The ~s 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 ~s, ‘I did it! I did it!’
N-COUNT: usu pl
8.
If you ~ 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 ~ed the motion against fox hunting...
VERB: V n
~er (~ers)
Candidates need a proposer and ~er whose names are kept secret.
N-COUNT
9.
If you ~ what someone has said, you say that you agree with them or say the same thing yourself.
The Prime Minister ~ed the call for discipline in a speech last week.
VERB: V n
10.
If you experience something at ~ hand, you are told about it by other people rather than experiencing it yourself.
Most of them had only heard of the massacre at ~ hand.
PHRASE: PHR after v
see also ~-hand
11.
If you say that something is ~ to none, you are emphasizing that it is very good indeed or the best that there is.
Our scientific research is ~ to none.
PHRASE: v-link PHR emphasis
12.
If you say that something is ~ only to something else, you mean that only that thing is better or greater than it.
As a major health risk hepatitis is ~ only to tobacco.
PHRASE: usu v-link PHR
13.
~ nature: see nature
in the ~ place: see place
III. SENDING SOMEONE TO DO A JOB
(~s, ~ing, ~ed)
If you are ~ed somewhere, you are sent there temporarily by your employer in order to do special duties. (BRIT)
In 1937 he was ~ed to the Royal Canadian Air Force in Ottawa as air armament adviser...
Several hundred soldiers have been ~ed to help farmers.
VERB: usu passive, be V-ed prep/adv, be V-ed to-inf