Webster's Unabridged Dictionary - Letter S

Webster's Unabridged Dictionary - Letter S - Page 84

Singsong (v. i.) To write poor poetry. [R.] -- Tennyson.

Singsong (a.) Uttered in a monotonous cadence or rhythm as in chanting; "their chantlike intoned prayers"; "a singsong manner of speaking" [syn: chantlike, intoned, singsong].

Singsong (n.) A regular and monotonous rising and falling intonation.

Singsong (n.) Informal group singing of popular songs [syn: singalong, singsong].

Singsong (v.) Speak, chant, or declaim in a singsong

Singsong (v.) Move as if accompanied by a singsong; "The porters singsonged the travellers' luggage up the mountain".

Singster (n.) A songstress. [Obs.] -- Wyclif.

Singular (a.) Separate or apart from others; single; distinct. [Obs.] -- Bacon.

And God forbid that all a company Should rue a singular man's folly. -- Chaucer.

Singular (a.) Engaged in by only one on a side; single. [Obs.]

To try the matter thus together in a singular combat. -- Holinshed.

Singular (a.) (Logic) Existing by itself; single; individual.

The idea which represents one . . . determinate thing, is called a singular idea, whether simple, complex, or compound. -- I. Watts.

Singular (a.) (Law) Each; individual; as, to convey several parcels of land, all and singular.

Singular (a.) (Gram.) Denoting one person or thing; as, the singular number; -- opposed to dual and plural.

Singular (a.) Standing by itself; out of the ordinary course; unusual; uncommon; strange; as, a singular phenomenon.

So singular a sadness Must have a cause as strange as the effect. -- Denham.

Singular (a.) Distinguished as existing in a very high degree; rarely equaled; eminent; extraordinary; exceptional; as, a man of singular gravity or attainments.

Singular (a.) Departing from general usage or expectations; odd; whimsical; -- often implying disapproval or censure.

His zeal None seconded, as out of season judged, Or singular and rash. -- Milton.

To be singular in anything that is wise and worthy, is not a disparagement, but a praise. -- Tillotson.

Singular (a.) Being alone; belonging to, or being, that of which there is but one; unique.

These busts of the emperors and empresses are all very scarce, and some of them almost singular in their kind. -- Addison.

Singular point in a curve (Math.), A point at which the curve possesses some peculiar properties not possessed by

other points of the curve, as a cusp point, or a multiple point.

Singular proposition (Logic), A proposition having as its subject a singular term, or a common term limited to an individual by means of a singular sign. -- Whately.

Singular succession (Civil Law), Division among individual successors, as distinguished from universal succession, by which an estate descended in intestacy to the heirs in mass.

Singular term (Logic), A term which represents or stands for a single individual.

Syn: Unexampled; unprecedented; eminent; extraordinary; remarkable; uncommon; rare; unusual; peculiar; strange; odd; eccentric; fantastic.

Singular (n.) An individual instance; a particular. [Obs.] -- Dr. H. More.

Singular (n.) (Gram) The singular number, or the number denoting one person or thing; a word in the singular number.

Singular (a.) Unusual or striking; "a remarkable sight"; "such poise is singular in one so young" [syn: remarkable, singular].

Singular (a.) Beyond or deviating from the usual or expected; "a curious hybrid accent"; "her speech has a funny twang"; "they have some funny ideas about war"; "had an odd name"; "the peculiar aromatic odor of cloves"; "something definitely queer about this town"; "what a rum fellow"; "singular behavior" [syn: curious, funny, odd, peculiar, queer, rum, rummy, singular].

Singular (a.) Being a single and separate person or thing; "can the singular person be understood apart from his culture?"; "every fact in the world might be singular...unlike any other fact and sole of its kind" -- William James.

Singular (a.) Composed of one member, set, or kind [ant: plural].

Singular (a.) Grammatical number category referring to a single item or unit [ant: plural].

Singular (a.) The single one of its kind; "a singular example"; "the unique existing example of Donne's handwriting"; "a unique copy of an ancient manuscript"; "certain types of problems have unique solutions" [syn: singular, unique].

Singular (n.) The form of a word that is used to denote a singleton [syn: singular, singular form] [ant: plural, plural form].

Singular, () construction. In grammar the singular is used to express only one, not plural. Johnson.

Singular, () In law, the singular frequently includes the plural. A bequest to "my nearest relation," for example, will be considered as a bequest to all the relations in the same degree, who are nearest to the testator. 1 Ves. sen. 337; 1 Bro. C. C. 293. A bequest made to "my heir," by a person who had three heirs, will be construed in the plural. 4 Russ. C. C. 384.

Singular, () The same rule obtains in the civil law: In usu juris frequenter uti nos singulari appellationie, am plura significari vellemus. Dig. 50, l6, 158.

Singularist (n.) One who affects singularity. [Obs.]

A clownish singularist, or nonconformist to ordinary usage. -- Borrow.

Singularities (n. pl. ) of Singularity.

Singularity (n.) The quality or state of being singular; some character or quality of a thing by which it is distinguished from all, or from most, others; peculiarity.

Pliny addeth this singularity to that soil, that the second year the very falling down of the seeds yieldeth corn. -- Sir. W. Raleigh.

I took notice of this little figure for the singularity of the instrument. -- Addison.

Singularity (n.) Anything singular, rare, or curious.

Your gallery Have we passed through, not without much content In many singularities. -- Shak.

Singularity (n.) Possession of a particular or exclusive privilege, prerogative, or distinction.

No bishop of Rome ever took upon him this name of singularity [universal bishop]. -- Hooker.

Catholicism . . . must be understood in opposition to the legal singularity of the Jewish nation. -- Bp. Pearson.

Singularity (n.) Celibacy. [Obs.] -- Jer. Taylor.

Singularity (n.) The quality of being one of a kind; "that singularity distinguished him from all his companions" [syn: singularity, uniqueness].

Singularity (n.) Strangeness by virtue of being remarkable or unusual.

Singularize (v. t.) To make singular or single; to distinguish. [R.]

Singularize (v.) Distinguish as singular [syn: singularize, singularise]

Singularly (adv.) In a singular manner; in a manner, or to a degree, not common to others; extraordinarily; as, to be singularly exact in one's statements; singularly considerate of others. "Singularly handsome." -- Milman.

Singularly (adv.) Strangely; oddly; as, to behave singularly.

Singularly (adv.) So as to express one, or the singular number.

Singularly (adv.) In a singular manner or to a singular degree; "Lord T. was considered singularly licentious even for the courts of Russia and Portugal; he acquired three wives and fourteen children during his Portuguese embassy alone".

Singult (n.) A sigh or sobbing; also, a hiccough. [Obs.] -- Spenser. -- W. Browne.

Singultous (a.) (Med.) Relating to, or affected with, hiccough. -- Dunglison.

Singultus (n.) [L.] (Med.) Hiccough.

Singultus (n.) (Usually plural) The state of having reflex spasms of the diaphragm accompanied by a rapid closure of the glottis producing an audible sound; sometimes a symptom of indigestion; "how do you cure the hiccups?" [syn: hiccup, hiccough, singultus].

Sinical (a.) (Trig.) Of or pertaining to a sine; employing, or founded upon, sines; as, a sinical quadrant.

Sinigrin (n.) (Chem.) A glucoside found in the seeds of black mustard (Brassica nigra, formerly Sinapis nigra) It resembles sinalbin, and consists of a potassium salt of myronic acid.

Sinister (a.) Note: [Accented on the middle syllable by the older poets, as Shakespeare, Milton, Dryden.] [L. sinister: cf. F. sinistre.]

Sinister (a.) On the left hand, or the side of the left hand; left; -- opposed to dexter, or right. "Here on his sinister cheek." -- Shak.

My mother's blood Runs on the dexter cheek, and this sinister Bounds in my father's -- Shak.

Note: In heraldy the sinister side of an escutcheon is the side which would be on the left of the bearer of the shield, and opposite the right hand of the beholder.

Sinister (a.) Unlucky; inauspicious; disastrous; injurious; evil; -- the left being usually regarded as the unlucky side; as, sinister influences.

All the several ills that visit earth, Brought forth by night, with a sinister birth. -- B. Jonson.

Sinister (a.) Wrong, as springing from indirection or obliquity; perverse; dishonest; corrupt; as, sinister aims.

Nimble and sinister tricks and shifts. -- Bacon.

He scorns to undermine another's interest by any sinister or inferior arts. -- South.

He read in their looks . . . sinister intentions directed particularly toward himself. -- Sir W. Scott.

Sinister (a.) Indicative of lurking evil or harm; boding covert danger; as, a sinister countenance.

Bar sinister. (Her.) See under Bar, n.

Sinister aspect (Astrol.), An appearance of two planets happening according to the succession of the signs, as Saturn in Aries, and Mars in the same degree of Gemini.

Sinister base, Sinister chief. See under Escutcheon.

Sinister (a.) Threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments; "a baleful look"; "forbidding thunderclouds"; "his tone became menacing"; "ominous rumblings of discontent"; "sinister storm clouds"; "a sinister smile"; "his threatening behavior"; "ugly black clouds"; "the situation became ugly" [syn: baleful, forbidding, menacing, minacious, minatory, ominous, sinister, threatening].

Sinister (a.) Stemming from evil characteristics or forces; wicked or dishonorable; "black deeds"; "a black lie"; "his black heart has concocted yet another black deed"; "Darth Vader of the dark side"; "a dark purpose"; "dark undercurrents of ethnic hostility"; "the scheme of some sinister intelligence bent on punishing him" -- Thomas Hardy [syn: black, dark, sinister].

Sinister (a.) On or starting from the wearer's left; "bar sinister".

Sinister-handed (a.) Left-handed; hence, unlucky. [Obs.] -- Lovelace.

Sinisterly (adv.) In a sinister manner. -- Wood.

Sinistrad (adv.) (Anat. & Zool.) Toward the left side; sinistrally.

Sinistral (a.) Of or pertaining to the left, inclining to the left; sinistrous; -- opposed to dextral.

Sinistral (a.) (Zool.) Having the whorls of the spire revolving or rising to the left; reversed; -- said of certain spiral shells.

Compare: Counterclockwise

Counterclockwise (adj. & adv.) In the opposite direction to that in which the hands of a clock rotate, as viewed from in front of the clock face; -- of rotatory motion or spiral direction. Opposite of clockwise, or right-handed.

Note: [Narrower terms: sinistral levororotary, levorotatory].

Syn: left-handed.

Sinistral (a.) Of or on the left; "a sinistral gastropod shell with the apex upward has its opening on the left when facing the observer"; "a sinistral flatfish lies with the left eye uppermost" [ant: dextral].

Sinistral (a.) Preferring to use left foot or hand or eye; "sinistral individuals exhibit dominance of the left hand and eye".

Sinistrality (n.) The quality or state of being sinistral.

Sinistrality (n.) Preference for using the left hand [syn: left-handedness, sinistrality].

Sinistrally (adv.) Toward the left; in a sinistral manner. -- J. Le Conte.

Sinistrin (n.) (Chem.) A mucilaginous carbohydrate, resembling achroodextrin, extracted from squill as a colorless amorphous substance; -- so called because it is levorotatory.

Sinistrorsal (a.) Rising spirally from right to left (of the spectator); sinistrorse.

Sinistrorsal (a.) Spiraling upward from right to left; "sinistrorse vines" [syn: sinistrorse, sinistrorsal].

Sinistrorse (a.) Turning to the left (of the spectator) in the ascending line; -- the opposite of dextrorse. See Dextrorse.

Sinistrorse (a.) Spiraling upward from right to left; "sinistrorse vines" [syn: sinistrorse, sinistrorsal].

Sinistrous (a.) Being on the left side; inclined to the left; sinistral. "Sinistrous gravity." -- Sir T. Browne.

Sinistrous (a.) Wrong; absurd; perverse.

A knave or fool can do no harm, even by the most sinistrous and absurd choice. -- Bentley.

Sinistrously (adv.) In a sinistrous manner; perversely; wrongly; unluckily.

Sinistrously (adv.) With a tendency to use the left hand.

Many, in their infancy, are sinistrously disposed, and divers continue all their life left-handed. -- Sir T. Browne.

Sunk (imp.) of Sink.

Sank () of Sink.

Sunk (p. p.) of Sink.

Sunken () of Sink.

Sinking (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Sink.

Sink (v. i.) To fall by, or as by, the force of gravity; to descend lower and lower; to decline gradually; to subside; as, a stone sinks in water; waves rise and sink; the sun sinks in the west.

I sink in deep mire. -- Ps. lxix. 2.

Sink (v. i.) To enter deeply; to fall or retire beneath or below the surface; to penetrate.

The stone sunk into his forehead. -- 1 San. xvii. 49.

Sink (v. i.) Hence, to enter so as to make an abiding impression; to enter completely.

Let these sayings sink down into your ears. -- Luke ix. 44.

Sink (v. i.) To be overwhelmed or depressed; to fall slowly, as so the ground, from weakness or from an overburden; to fail in strength; to decline; to decay; to decrease.

I think our country sinks beneath the yoke. -- Shak.

He sunk down in his chariot. -- 2 Kings ix. 24.

Let not the fire sink or slacken. -- Mortimer.

Sink (v. i.) To decrease in volume, as a river; to subside; to become diminished in volume or in apparent height.

The Alps and Pyreneans sink before him. -- Addison.

Syn: To fall; subside; drop; droop; lower; decline; decay; decrease; lessen.

Sink (v. t.) To cause to sink; to put under water; to immerse or submerge in a fluid; as, to sink a ship.

[The Athenians] fell upon the wings and sank a single ship. -- Jowett (Thucyd.).

Sink (v. t.) Figuratively: To cause to decline; to depress; to degrade; hence, to ruin irretrievably; to destroy, as by drowping; as, to sink one's reputation.

I raise of sink, imprison or set free. -- Prior.

If I have a conscience, let it sink me. -- Shak.

Thy cruel and unnatural lust of power Has sunk thy father more than all his years. -- Rowe.

Sink (v. t.) To make (a depression) by digging, delving, or cutting, etc.; as, to sink a pit or a well; to sink a die.

Sink (v. t.) To bring low; to reduce in quantity; to waste.

You sunk the river repeated draughts. -- Addison.

Sink (v. t.) To conseal and appropriate. [Slang]

If sent with ready money to buy anything, and you happen to be out of pocket, sink the money, and take up the goods on account. -- Swift.

Sink (v. t.) To keep out of sight; to suppress; to ignore.

A courtly willingness to sink obnoxious truths. -- Robertson.

Sink (v. t.) To reduce or extinguish by payment; as, to sink the national debt.

Sink (n.) A drain to carry off filthy water; a jakes.

Sink (n.) A shallow box or vessel of wood, stone, iron, or other material, connected with a drain, and used for receiving filthy water, etc., as in a kitchen.

Sink (n.) A hole or low place in land or rock, where waters sink and are lost; -- called also sink hole. [U. S.]

Sink (n.) The lowest part of a natural hollow or closed basin whence the water of one or more streams escapes by evaporation; as, the sink of the Humboldt River. [Western U. S.]

Sink hole. (a) The opening to a sink drain.

Sink hole. (b) A cesspool.

Sink hole. (c) Same as Sink, n., 3.

Sink (n.) Plumbing fixture consisting of a water basin fixed to a wall or floor and having a drainpipe.

Sink (n.) (Technology) A process that acts to absorb or remove energy or a substance from a system; "the ocean is a sink for carbon dioxide" [ant: source].

Sink (n.) A depression in the ground communicating with a subterranean passage (especially in limestone) and formed by solution or by collapse of a cavern roof [syn: sinkhole, sink, swallow hole].

Sink (n.) A covered cistern; waste water and sewage flow into it [syn: cesspool, cesspit, sink, sump].

Sink (v.) Fall or descend to a lower place or level; "He sank to his knees" [syn: sink, drop, drop down].

Sink (v.) Cause to sink; "The Japanese sank American ships in Pearl Harbor".

Sink (v.) Pass into a specified state or condition; "He sank into nirvana" [syn: sink, pass, lapse].

Sink (v.) Go under, "The raft sank and its occupants drowned" [syn: sink, settle, go down, go under] [ant: float, swim].

Sink (v.) Descend into or as if into some soft substance or place; "He sank into bed"; "She subsided into the chair" [syn: sink, subside].

Sink (v.) Appear to move downward; "The sun dipped below the horizon"; "The setting sun sank below the tree line" [syn: dip, sink].

Sink (v.) Fall heavily or suddenly; decline markedly; "The real estate market fell off" [syn: slump, fall off, sink].

Sink (v.) Fall or sink heavily; "He slumped onto the couch"; "My spirits sank" [syn: slump, slide down, sink].

Sink (v.) Embed deeply; "She sank her fingers into the soft sand"; "He buried his head in her lap" [syn: bury, sink].

Sink (v.) (sank or US also sunk, sunk) (GO DOWN BELOW) (B1) [ I or T ] （使）沈沒；（使）陷入 To (cause something or someone to) go down below the surface or to the bottom of a liquid or soft substance.

// The Titanic was a passenger ship which sank (to the bottom of the ocean) in 1912.

// The legs of the garden chair sank into the soft ground.

// Enemy aircraft sank two battleships.

// The dog sank her teeth into (= bit) the ball and ran off with it.