squint /skw I nt/ (squints , squinting , squinted )
1 VERB If you squint at something, you look at it with your eyes partly closed. □ [V prep/adv] The girl squinted at the photograph. □ [V ] The bright sunlight made me squint. □ [V n] He squinted his eyes and looked at the floor.
2 N‑COUNT If someone has a squint , their eyes look in different directions from each other.
squire /skwa I ə r / (squires ) N‑COUNT ; N‑TITLE In former times, the squire of an English village was the man who owned most of the land in it.
squirm /skwɜː r m/ (squirms , squirming , squirmed )
1 VERB If you squirm , you move your body from side to side, usually because you are nervous or uncomfortable. □ [V ] He had squirmed and wriggled and screeched when his father had washed his face. □ [V adj] He gave a feeble shrug and tried to squirm free. □ [V adv/prep] He squirmed out of the straps of his backpack.
2 VERB If you squirm , you are very embarrassed or ashamed. □ [V ] Mentioning religion is a sure way to make him squirm.
squir|rel /skw I rəl, [AM ] skwɜː rəl/ (squirrels ) N‑COUNT A squirrel is a small animal with a long furry tail. Squirrels live mainly in trees.
squirt /skwɜː r t/ (squirts , squirting , squirted )
1 VERB If you squirt a liquid somewhere or if it squirts somewhere, the liquid comes out of a narrow opening in a thin fast stream. □ [V n prep/adv] Norman cut open his pie and squirted tomato sauce into it. □ [V prep/adv] The water squirted from its throat. ● N‑COUNT Squirt is also a noun. □ [+ of ] It just needs a little squirt of oil.
2 VERB If you squirt something with a liquid, you squirt the liquid at it. □ [V n + with ] I squirted him with water.
squishy /skw I ʃi/ (squishier , squishiest ) ADJ Something that is squishy is soft and easy to squash. □ …squishy pink leather chairs.
Sr in AM, use Sr. Sr is a written abbreviation for senior , and is written after a man's name. It is used in order to distinguish a man from his son when they both have the same name. □ …Donald Cunningham, Sr.
st st is used as a written abbreviation for stone when you are mentioning someone's weight. [BRIT ] □ He weighs 11st 8lb.
St also st. The form SS or SS. is used as the plural for meaning 2 . 1 St is a written abbreviation for street . □ …116 Princess St.
2 St is a written abbreviation for saint . □ …St Thomas. □ …the Church of SS Cornelius and Cyprian.
SUFFIX -st
You add -st to numbers written in figures and ending in 1 – but not 11 – in order to form ordinal numbers. For example, ' 1st August' is day number 1 in the month of August.
stab /stæ b/ (stabs , stabbing , stabbed )
1 VERB If someone stabs you, they push a knife or sharp object into your body. □ [V n] Somebody stabbed him in the stomach. □ [V + to ] Stephen was stabbed to death in an unprovoked attack nearly five months ago.
2 VERB If you stab something or stab at it, you push at it with your finger or with something pointed that you are holding. □ [V n] Bess stabbed a slice of cucumber. □ [V n + at ] Goldstone flipped through the pages and stabbed his thumb at the paragraph he was looking for. □ [V + at ] He stabbed at the omelette with his fork.
3 N‑SING If you have a stab at something, you try to do it. [INFORMAL ] □ Several tennis stars have had a stab at acting.
4 N‑SING You can refer to a sudden, usually unpleasant feeling as a stab of that feeling. [LITERARY ] □ [+ of ] …a stab of pain just above his eye. □ [+ of ] She felt a stab of pity for him.
5 PHRASE If you say that someone has stabbed you in the back , you mean that they have done something very harmful to you when you thought that you could trust them. You can refer to an action of this kind as a stab in the back . □ She felt betrayed, as though her daughter had stabbed her in the back.
6 a stab in the dark → see dark
stab|bing /stæ b I ŋ/ (stabbings )
1 N‑COUNT A stabbing is an incident in which someone stabs someone else with a knife.
2 ADJ [ADJ n] A stabbing pain is a sudden sharp pain. □ He was struck by a stabbing pain in his midriff.
sta|bil|ity /stəb I l I ti/ → see stable
sta|bi|lize /ste I b I la I z/ (stabilizes , stabilizing , stabilized ) in BRIT, also use stabilise VERB If something stabilizes , or is stabilized , it becomes stable. □ [V ] Although her illness is serious, her condition is beginning to stabilize. □ [V n] Officials hope the move will stabilize exchange rates. ● sta|bi|li|za|tion /ste I b I la I ze I ʃ ə n/ N‑UNCOUNT □ [+ of ] …the stabilisation of property prices.
sta|bi|li|zer /ste I b I la I zə r / (stabilizers ) in BRIT, also use stabiliser N‑COUNT A stabilizer is a device, mechanism, or chemical that makes something stable.