(~s, ~ing, ~ed)
Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.
1.
You use ~ when you want to describe something that is less important, serious, or significant than other things in a group or situation.
She is known in Italy for a number of ~ roles in films...
Western officials say the problem is ~, and should be quickly overcome.
? major
ADJ
2.
A ~ illness or operation is not likely to be dangerous to someone’s life or health.
Sarah had been plagued continually by a series of ~ illnesses...
His mother had to go to the hospital for ~ surgery.
? major
ADJ: usu ADJ n
3.
In European music, a ~ scale is one in which the third note is three semitones higher than the first.
...the unfinished sonata movement in F ~.
? major
ADJ: n ADJ, ADJ n
4.
A ~ is a person who is still legally a child. In Britain and most states in the United States, people are ~s until they reach the age of eighteen.
The approach has virtually ended cigarette sales to ~s.
N-COUNT
5.
At a university or college in the United States, a student’s ~ is a subject that they are studying in addition to their main subject, or major.
? major
N-COUNT: oft poss N
6.
At a university or college in the United States, if a student is, for example, a geology ~, they are studying geology as well as their main subject.
? major
N-COUNT: n N
7.
If a student at a university or college in the United States ~s in a particular subject, they study it in addition to their main subject.
I’m ~ing in computer science.
? major
VERB: V in n