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 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. □ [V n] …Bryan Sutton, who seconded the motion against fox hunting. ● sec|ond|er (seconders ) N‑COUNT □ Candidates need a proposer and seconder whose names are kept secret.
9 VERB If you second what someone has said, you say that you agree with them or say the same thing yourself. □ [V n] The Prime Minister seconded the call for discipline in a speech last week.
10 PHRASE 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.
11 → see also second-hand
12 PHRASE If you say that something is second to none , you are emphasizing that it is very good indeed or the best that there is. [EMPHASIS ] □ Our scientific research is second to none.
13 PHRASE 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.
14 second nature → see nature
15 in the second place → see place
➌ se|cond /s I kɒ nd/ (seconds , seconding , seconded ) VERB [usu passive] If you are seconded somewhere, you are sent there temporarily by your employer in order to do special duties. [BRIT ] □ [be V -ed + to ] Edwards was seconded to a radar research and training school near Holyhead. □ [be V -ed to-inf] Several hundred soldiers have been seconded to help farmers.
sec|ond|ary /se kəndri, [AM ] -deri/
1 ADJ [usu ADJ n, Also v-link ADJ to n] If you describe something as secondary , you mean that it is less important than something else. □ The street erupted in a huge explosion, with secondary explosions in the adjoining buildings. □ The actual damage to the brain cells is secondary to the damage caused to the blood supply.
2 ADJ [usu ADJ n] Secondary diseases or infections happen as a result of another disease or infection that has already happened. □ He had kidney cancer, with secondary tumours in the brain and lungs.
3 ADJ Secondary education is given to pupils between the ages of 11 or 12 and 17 or 18. □ She went to a 'very minor' private school for the whole of her secondary education.
se c|ond|ary mo d|ern (secondary moderns ) N‑COUNT Secondary moderns were schools which existed until recently in Britain for children aged between about 11 and 16, where more attention was paid to practical skills and less to academic study than in a grammar school.
se c|ond|ary school (secondary schools ) N‑VAR A secondary school is a school for pupils between the ages of 11 or 12 and 17 or 18. □ She taught history at a secondary school.
se c|ond be st 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.
se c|ond cha m|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.
se c|ond chi ld|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.
se cond-cla ss also second class
1 ADJ [ADJ n] If someone treats you as a second-class citizen, they treat you as if you are less valuable and less important than other people. □ Too many airlines treat our children as second-class citizens.
2 ADJ [usu ADJ n] If you describe something as second-class , you mean that it is of poor quality. □ It is unacceptable for any children to have to settle for a second-class education.
3 ADJ [ADJ n] The second-class accommodation on a train or ship is the ordinary accommodation, which is cheaper and less comfortable than the first-class accommodation. □ He sat in the corner of a second-class carriage. □ …a second-class ticket. ● ADV [ADV after v] Second class is also an adverb. □ I recently travelled second class from Pisa to Ventimiglia. ● N‑UNCOUNT Second-class is second-class accommodation on a train or ship. □ In second class the fare is £85 one-way.
4 ADJ [ADJ n] In Britain, second-class postage is the slower and cheaper type of postage. In the United States, second-class postage is the type of postage that is used for sending newspapers and magazines. □ …a second-class stamp. ● ADV [ADV after v] Second class is also an adverb. □ They're going to send it second class.