second

Adjective

second (not comparable)

1. 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.
   • The second volume in "The Lord of the Rings" series is called "The Two Towers".
2. 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.
   • May the day when we become the second people upon earth […] be the day of our utter extirpation!1824, Walter Savage Landor, “Conversation I. Richard I and the Abbot of Boxley.”, in Imaginary Conversations of Literary Men and Statesmen, volume I, London: […] Taylor and Hessey, […], →OCLC, page 6
3. 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.
   • A Daniel ſtill ſay I, a ſecond Daniel,[…]c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...

Adverb

second (not comparable)

1. After the first; at the second rank.
   • Saturn is the second largest planet in the solar system.
2. After the first occurrence but before the third.
   • He is batting second today.

Noun (1)

second (plural seconds)

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.2003, Sheila Ryan Wallace, The Sea Captain and His Ladies, page 22
   • Smoky Joe ran against a Houston horse named Cherokee Chief.
     “Don't hit him,” Jeanine said to the jockey. “Maybe once. But you don't get a second.”2009, Paulette Jiles, Stormy Weather, page 37
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...1936, Dale Carnegie, ‘If You Want to Gather Honey, Don’t Kick Over the Beehive’ (part 1, chapter 1), in How to Win Friends and Influence People
    • Joint enterprise law dates back to at least the 16th century. It was later developed to deter duelling by making seconds and doctors liable for murder.2016 October 31, Owen Bowcott, “Appeal court upholds 'joint enterprise' guilty verdicts”, in The Guardian
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.1995, Boy Scouts of Canada. National Council, The Cub Book

    Synonyms:

    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.2004, William H. Cropper, Great Physicists, page 454

Verb (1)

second (third-person singular simple present seconds, present participle seconding, simple past and past participle seconded)

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.
   • Though seconding (or fifthing) the praise for “BoJack Horseman” and “In Treatment,” I think I’ll use the majority of my space to discuss “You’re the Worst.”2017, Critics Pick the TV Shows That Get Mental Health Right — IndieWire Survey
2. To follow in the next place; to succeed.
   • In the method of nature, a low valley is immediately seconded with an ambitious hill.1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain; […], London: […] Iohn Williams […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=I to XI)
   • Sin is usually seconded with sin.1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London
3. To climb after a lead climber.

Noun (2)

IPA/ˈsɛk.(ə)nd/US/ˈsɛk.(ə)nd/

second (plural seconds)

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...
   • Meronyms: quectosecond < rontosecond < yoctosecond < zeptosecond < attosecond < femtosecond < picosecond < nanosecond < microsecond < millisecond < centisecond < decisecond
2. A unit of angle equal to one-sixtieth of a minute of arc or one part in 3600 of a degree.

   Synonyms:

   arcsecond, second of arc

3. (informal) A short, indeterminate amount of time.
   • I'll be there in a second.
   • Exposure of aluminum to the air causes a near instantaneous oxide. So rapid is the oxidation that it is safe to say you never see aluminum that has no oxide on its surface... The initial exposure of aluminum, regardless of alloy, will form a thin oxide film on the surface the second it is exposed.2020, L. William Zahner, “Corrosion Characteristics”, in Aluminum Surfaces: a Guide to Alloys, Finishes, Fabrication and Maintenance in Architecture and Art, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 287

   Synonyms:

   instant, jiffy, sec, bat of an eye, bit, blink of an eye, crack, eyeblink, flash, glimpse

Verb (2)

UK/səˈkɒnd/US/səˈkɑnd/

second (third-person singular simple present seconds, present participle seconding, simple past and past participle seconded)

1. (UK, transitive) To transfer temporarily to alternative employment.
   • The army officer was seconded while he held civil office.
   • Things changed quickly from 1892 when Sam Fay was seconded from the L.S.W.R. as General Manager & Secretary.1961 October, “Talking of Trains: Last of the M.S.W.J.R.”, in Trains Illustrated, pages 585–586

   Synonyms:

   detail

2. (transitive) To assist or support; to back.
   • Wee haue Supplyes, to ſecond our Attempt:[…]c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]. Epilogue.”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […]...
   • In human works, tho’ labour’d on with pain, / A thouſand movements ſcarce one purpoſe gain; / In God's, one ſingle can its End produce, / Yet ſerves to ſecond too ſome other Uſe.1733, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Man. […], epistle I, London: […] J[ohn] Wilford, […], →OCLC, page 6, line 61
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 (3)

UK/səˈkɒnd/US/səˈkɑnd/

second (plural 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 charge1820, Pierce Egan, Sporting Anecdotes, page 414
   • They find ways to take advice from their seconds or they arrange the schedule against you as they did to me in the finals of the 1962 World Tournament1973, Frank Brady, Bobby Fischer: Profile of a Prodigy, page 201
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.1608, J. Fletcher, The Faithful Shepherdess