second JUST WRITTEN FOR YOU
/ˈsɛkɪnd/ · sec·ond
noun
- Something that is number two in a series. The second book in the trilogy was released last year.
- Something that is next in rank, quality, precedence, position, status, or authority. The second-in-command will take over if the leader is absent.
- The place that is next below or after first in a race or contest. The athlete finished in second place and won a silver medal.
verb
- To agree as a second person to a proposal, usually to reach a necessary quorum of two. I second the motion to approve the new policy.
- To follow in the next place; to succeed. The second runner crossed the finish line shortly after the winner.
- To climb after a lead climber. The second climber secured the rope as the lead climber ascended the rock face.
adjective
- Number-two; following after the first one with nothing between them. The second floor of the building has a great view of the city.
- Next to the first in value, power, excellence, dignity, or rank; secondary; subordinate; inferior. The second-best solution was still acceptable, but not ideal.
- Being of the same kind as one that has preceded; another. The second hurricane of the season made landfall last week.
adverb
- After the first; at the second rank. The company is ranked second in the industry for customer satisfaction.
- After the first occurrence but before the third. The second time I tried the recipe, it turned out perfectly.
Did you know? The word 'second' is also a unit of time, equal to one-sixtieth of a minute, and is used as a fundamental unit of measurement in physics and astronomy. The second is defined as the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium-133 atom.