I.
noun very short moment of time
ADJECTIVE
▪ brief , fleeting , mere ( esp. AmE ), split
▪
I only saw the man for a split ~ as he ran past.
▪
I swam to the other shore in mere ~s.
▪ single
▪ precious
▪
She had wasted a few precious ~s.
▪ closing , dying ( BrE )
▪
His goal in the dying ~s of the game secured Rangers a 3–2 victory.
VERB + SECOND
▪ take
▪
This will only take a ~.
▪ have
▪
Do you have a ~, Miss White?
▪ hang on , hold on , wait
▪
Wait a second—this letter's been sent to me by mistake.
▪ spend
▪
She wanted to spend every ~ with him.
SECOND + VERB
▪ go by , pass , tick by
▪
The ~s ticked by.
SECOND + NOUN
▪ hand
PREPOSITION
▪ for a ~
▪
For a ~ I thought you were my mother.
▪
I hesitated for a ~ before speaking.
▪ in a ~
▪
I'll be with you in a ~.
▪ in ~s , within ~s
▪
Within ~s he had disappeared from view.
PHRASES
▪ a couple of ~s
▪
It took a couple of ~s to realize what was going on.
▪ a fraction of a ~
▪
If he'd reacted a fraction of a ~ later, he would surely have died.
▪ a matter of ~s
▪
The end of the game is only a matter of ~s away.
▪ count the ~s
▪
I was counting the ~s until the bell.
▪ in the final ~s
▪
The game was lost in the final ~s.
▪ (only) ~s left
▪
We only have a few ~s left.
▪
We were three points behind with only ~s left in the game.
▪ with each passing ~ , with every passing ~
▪
The room seemed to grow hotter with each passing ~.
II.
verb
Second is used with these nouns as the object: ↑ motion