1245
sea-go-ing /'si:,gəʊɪŋ/ adj [A] OCEANGOING: My friends have bought a seagoing yacht.
sea-gull /'si:gʌl/ n a GULL
Sea Harrier → see HARRIER JUMP JET
sea-horse /'si:hɔ:sl-hɔ:s/ n a very small fish with a neck and head that look like those of a horse → see picture at SEA
sea island 'cotton n [U] cotton of a kind grown in the US and West Indies having long soft threads and making a fine cloth
Sea King trademark a type of helicopter
seal
walrus
seal
seal1 /si:l/ n pl. seals or seal a large fish-eating animal living mostly on cool seacoasts and floating ice, with FLIPPERS (=broad flat limbs) suitable for swimming
seal2 n 1 the official mark of a government, company etc, often made by pressing a pattern into red WAX or making an unremovable mark on paper, which is fixed to certain formal and official writings: This document carries the royal seal. | (fig.) The scheme has the chairman's seal of approval. (=he thinks it is very good) | The Great Seal of the United States 2 a small piece of paper, WAX, or wire fastened across an opening a) to stop people from opening it without permission b) to protect it from especially air or water: The seal on this bottle is broken. 3 [C usually sing.] a tight connection on a machine, for keeping gas or liquid in or out: The seal has worn and the machine is losing oil. 4 set the seal on lit to bring to an end in a suitable way; formally end: This international award has set the seal on a long and distinguished career.
seal3 v [T] 1 to fix a SEAL onto: an official document, signed and sealed 2 [(UP, DOWN)] to fasten or close (as if) with a SEAL or a tight cover or band of something: The envelope was firmly sealed. | She sealed the parcel with sticky tape. | These birds seal (up) the holes and cracks in their nests with mud. | The platoon was sent out under sealed orders. (=secret orders not to be read until a particular time or place) | (fig.) I'm sorry, I can't tell you; my lips are sealed. (=I have promised not to tell) 3 [(by, with)] to settle; make (more) certain, formal, or solemn: They sealed their agreement by shaking hands. 4 seal someone's fate/doom infml to make someone's death, punishment, or ruin certain: The bank's refusal to lend any more money sealed the company's fate.
seal sthg. ⇔ in phr v [T] to keep inside or contained without a chance to escape
seal sthg. ⇔ off phr v [T] to close tightly so as not to allow entrance or escape: Police sealed off the area where the murderer was known to be hiding.
sea lane n → see LANE
sea legs n [P] infml the ability to walk, feel comfortable, and not be sick on a moving ship: He found his sea legs (=got used to being on a boat) after a couple of days.
seal-er1 /'si:lə/ also seal-ant /'si:lənt/ n [C;U] a thing or material which SEALS, especially (a covering of) paint, polish etc on a surface to keep other liquids from going into or through it
sealer2 n a person or ship that hunts SEALS
sea level n [U] the average height of the sea, used as a standard for measuring heights on land: Mount Everest is 29,028 feet above sea level. | Death Valley in California is 280 feet below sea level.
seal-ing /'si:lɪŋ/ n [U] the hunting or catching of SEALS
sealing wax n [U] a solid substance, often red and sold in small bars, which melts and then hardens quickly, and is used for SEALS (1,2)
sea lion n pl. sea lions or sea lion a large SEAL of the Pacific Ocean, often used to perform tricks in the CIRCUS
seal-skin /'si:l,skɪn/ n [U] the skin or fur of certain kinds of
SEALS, especially as used in clothing or made into leather. It is far less popular than formerly and to some people unacceptable after films were seen showing the violence of the CULL (=killing) and the large number of seals being killed including babies whose fur was especially desirable.
Sea-ly-ham /'si:liəm||'si:lihæm/ n a small dog with short legs and white fur, originally from the village of Sealyham in Wales
seam /si:m/ n 1 a line of stitches joining two pieces of cloth, leather etc: to tack a seam | (fig.) The little hall was practically bursting at the seams. (=it was completely full of people) 2 the crack, line, or raised mark where two edges meet: They used to fill the seams of wooden boats (=the cracks between the pieces of wood) with tar to stop the water getting in. 3 a narrow band of one kind of mineral, especially coal, between masses of other rocks: a coal seam → compare VEIN 4 come apart at the seams a) (of clothing or cloth) to be separating at the seams usually because the stitching is old or poor: Those trousers are coming apart at the seams. b) (an expression) to fail completely; to be ruined: First I had the flu and now I've broken my arm - I think I'm coming apart at the seams! | Our plans for a holiday this year are coming apart at the seams. —less adj: seamless stockings
sea-man /'si:mən/ n pl. -men /mən/ 1 a sailor on a ship, other than an officer 2 a member of a navy in any of the lowest group of ranks, below PETTY OFFICER 3 a man skilled in handling ships at sea → see also ABLE SEAMAN
Seaman, David (1963-) an English football player who was the GOALKEEPER for Arsenal and for the English national team during the 1990s. He was known for having a MOUSTACHE and a PONYTAIL.
sea-man-like /'si:mənlark/ adj apprec typical of a good and skilful seaman
sea-man-ship /'si:mənʃɪp/ n [U] the skill of handling a ship and directing its course
'seam bowler n (in cricket) a BOWLER who makes the ball BOUNCE on its SEAM and so turn away from a straight line
'sea mile n a NAUTICAL MILE
'sea mist n [C;U] (a) mist on land coming in from the sea or caused by a warm wind from the sea
seam-stress /'si:mstrɪs/ n a woman whose job is sewing
seam-y /'si:mi/ adj (not of a person) unpleasant, especially in being rough and immoral; SORDID: The novel gives a vivid description of the seamy side of city life. —iness n [U]
sé-ance /'seıəns, -ɒns||'seıəns/ n a meeting where people try to talk to or receive messages from the spirits of dead people
CULTURAL NOTE The STEREOTYPE of a séance involves a group of people sitting around a table holding hands with each other in a dark room. One person is called a MEDIUM, which is someone (typically a woman) who claims that they can communicate with the dead friends and relatives of the people present. The medium claims to receive messages from the dead people and give them to the people at the séance, but many people think that séances are a trick and that the medium does not really communicate with the dead. Other people think séances are evil and dangerous. Many religions also believe that it is wrong, impossible, or immoral to hold séances.
Sea of Mar-ma-ra, the /si: əv 'mɑ:mərə||-'mɑ:r-/ an INLAND (=surrounded by land) sea in northwest Turkey, between the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles
sea-plane /'si:pleɪn/ n an aircraft which can take off from and come down on water
sea-port /'si:pɔ:t||-pɔ:rt/ n a large town on a coast or connected to a coast by water, with a HARBOUR used by large ships
'sea power n 1 [U] the strength of a country's navy 2 [C] a country with a powerful navy
SEAQ /'si:æk/ the computer system used in the London STOCK EXCHANGE, which gives information about the price of shares (SHARE¹)
sear¹ /sɪə/ v [T] 1 to burn with sudden powerful heat: (fig.) The terrible experience is seared on/into my memory. (=so that I shall never be able to forget it) 2 to cook the outside of (a