second

adjective 2nd · 2ⁿᵈ · 2d · 2ᵈ · IInd · II

1. not comparable Number-two; following after the first one with nothing between them. The ordinal number corresponding to the cardinal number two. He lives on Second Street.
2. not comparable Next to the first in value, power, excellence, dignity, or rank; secondary; subordinate; inferior. His job is second priority, because his family is the most important thing in his life.
3. not comparable Being of the same kind as one that has preceded; another. Residents of Texas prepared for Hurricane Harvey, which would in some ways turn out to become the second Hurricane Katrina.

Similar: other

adverb 2nd · 2ⁿᵈ · 2d · 2ᵈ · IInd · II

1. not comparable, with superlative After the first; at the second rank. Saturn is the second largest planet in the solar system.
2. not comparable After the first occurrence but before the third. He is batting second today.

noun seconds · 2nd · 2ⁿᵈ · 2d · 2ᵈ · IInd

1. Something that is number two in a series.
2. Something that is next in rank, quality, precedence, position, status, or authority.
3. The place that is next below or after first in a race or contest.
4. plural normally A manufactured item that, though still usable, fails to meet quality control standards. They were discounted because they contained blemishes, nicks or were otherwise factory seconds.
5. plural normally An additional helping of food. That was good barbecue. I hope I can get seconds.
6. A chance or attempt to achieve what should have been done the first time, usually indicating success this time around. (See second-guess.) 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.
7. 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).
8. The second gear of an engine.
9. Second base.
10. 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. 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
11. A Cub Scout appointed to assist a sixer. Many packs have a sixer's council where the sixers, and sometimes the seconds, meet with Akela and some of the other leaders.

    Similar: seconder

12. informal A second-class honours degree. [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.

verb seconds · seconding · seconded · 2nd · 2ⁿᵈ

1. transitive To agree as a second person to (a proposal), usually to reach a necessary quorum of two. (See etymology 3 for translations.) I second the motion.
2. To follow in the next place; to succeed. In the method of nature, a low valley is immediately seconded with an ambitious hill.
3. To climb after a lead climber.

noun seconds · s · sec · arcsec

1. A unit of time historically and commonly defined as a sixtieth of a minute which the International System of Units more precisely defines as the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of radiation corresponding to the transition between two hyperfine levels of caesium-133 in a ground state at a temperature of absolute zero and at rest. Holonyms: decasecond < minute < hectosecond < kilosecond < hour < day < week < megasecond < fortnight < month < year < gigasecond < century < kiloannum, kiloyear, millennium < terasecond < mega-annum, megayear < petasecond < giga-annum, gigayear < exasecond < zettasecond < yottasecond < ronnasecond
2. A unit of angle equal to one-sixtieth of a minute of arc or one part in 3600 of a degree.

   Similar: arcsecond, second of arc

3. informal A short, indeterminate amount of time. I'll be there in a second.

   Similar: instant, jiffy, sec, bat of an eye, bit, blink of an eye, crack, eyeblink, flash, glimpse, half a mo, jiff

verb seconds · seconding · seconded

1. UK, transitive To transfer temporarily to alternative employment. The army officer was seconded while he held civil office.

   Similar: detail

2. transitive To assist or support; to back. Wee haue Supplyes, to ſecond our Attempt:[…]
3. transitive To agree as a second person to (a proposal), usually to reach a necessary quorum of two. (This may come from etymology 1 above.) I second the motion.
4. transitive To accompany by singing as the second performer.

noun seconds

1. One who supports another in a contest or combat, such as a dueller's assistant. The dogs however parted, and after a little handling by their seconds immediately returned to the charge
2. One who supports or seconds a motion, or the act itself, as required in certain meetings to pass judgement etc. If we want the motion to pass, we will need a second.
3. obsolete Aid; assistance; help. Give second, and my love / Is everlasting thine.