<B>sampan, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> any one of various small boats of the rivers and coastal waters of China and nearby regions. A sampan is sculled by one or more oars at the stern; it usually has a single sail and a cabin made of mats. </DL>
<A NAME="samphire">
<B>samphire, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a European plant of the parsley family, growing in clefts of rocks by the sea. Its aromatic, saline, fleshy leaves are used in pickles. <DD><B> 2. </B><B>=glasswort.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="sample">
<B>sample, </B>noun, adjective, verb, <B>-pled,</B> <B>-pling.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> a part to show what the rest is like; one thing to show what the others are like. <BR> <I>Ex. Get samples of blue silk for a new dress. (Figurative.) Pushing people aside to get on a bus is a sample of his bad manners.</I> (SYN) specimen. <DD><I>adj. </I> serving as a sample. <BR> <I>Ex. a sample copy, sample ores.</I> <DD><I>v.t. </I> to take a part of; test a part of. <BR> <I>Ex. We sampled the cake and found it very good. (Figurative.) Each of us ... seems to have sampled all the different varieties of human experience (Mark Twain).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="sampler">
<B>sampler, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person who samples. <DD><B> 2. </B>a piece of cloth embroidered to show skill in needlework. <DD><B> 3. </B>something containing typical samples. <BR> <I>Ex. a sampler of Poe's work.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>a mechanism for collecting samplings. </DL>
<A NAME="sampleroom">
<B>sample room,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) <DD><B> 1. </B>a room where samples, especially of merchandise, are kept or shown. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Informal.) a barroom; saloon. </DL>
<A NAME="sampling">
<B>sampling, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>an act or process of taking samples; a testing or trying of anything by means of samples, especially in order to determine its quality or nature. <BR> <I>Ex. A second requirement in prospecting in any area is to find the constitution of the surface layers of the sea bed by direct sampling (Gaskell and Hill).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>something taken or serving as a sample. <BR> <I>Ex. Samplings were ... tested out by a physician on eight military patients (Newsweek).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="sampson">
<B>Sampson, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a variety of tangelo grown in the United States. </DL>
<A NAME="samsara">
<B>samsara, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Hinduism.) the endless repetition of births, deaths, and rebirths to which man is subject. </DL>
<A NAME="samshu">
<B>samshu, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a Chinese alcoholic beverage made from fermented rice or millet. <DD><B> 2. </B>alcoholic or intoxicating liquor generally. </DL>
<A NAME="samson">
<B>Samson, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a man of very great strength who was one of the judges of Israel (in the Bible, Judges 13-16). <DD><B> 2. </B>any very strong man. </DL>
<A NAME="samsonian">
<B>Samsonian, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of, having to do with, or resembling Samson; showing great strength. <BR> <I>Ex. [He] gave a faintly Samsonian performance, for one had the odd impression that some of his prodigious strength left him after a capital loss (London Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="samuel">
<B>Samuel, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a Hebrew leader, judge, and prophet of the 1000's B.C. He anointed Saul, the first king of Israel, and later, David. <DD><B> 2. </B>either of two books of the Old Testament, I Samuel and II Samuel, coming after Judges and named after Samuel. In the Douay Bible, these books are called I Kings and II Kings. (Abbr:) Sam. </DL>
<A NAME="samurai">
<B>samurai, </B>noun, pl. <B>-rai.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the military class in feudal Japan, consisting of the retainers of the great nobles. <DD><B> 2. </B>a member of this class. </DL>
<A NAME="san">
<B>san, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) a sanitorium. </DL>
<A NAME="san">
<B>San, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Spanish and Italian.) Saint. </DL>
<A NAME="sanative">
<B>sanative, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having the power to cure or heal; healing; curative. (SYN) therapeutic, sanatory, remedial. </DL>
<A NAME="sanatorium">
<B>sanatorium, </B>noun, pl. <B>-toriums,</B> <B>-toria,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B><B>=sanitarium.</B> <DD><B> 2. </B>a health resort, especially one in the hills or mountains of hot countries such as India, for summer use. </DL>
<A NAME="sanatory">
<B>sanatory, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>favorable to health; healing; curing. <DD><B> 2. </B>of or having to do with healing. </DL>
<A NAME="sanbenito">
<B>sanbenito, </B>noun, pl. <B>-tos.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a yellow penitential garment with a red Saint Andrew's cross before and behind, worn by a confessed heretic under trial by the Inquisition. <DD><B> 2. </B>a black garment ornamented with flames, devils, and other symbols of magic worn by a condemned heretic at an auto-da-fe. </DL>
<A NAME="sanblas">
<B>San Blas,<DL COMPACT><DD> 1. </B>a group of four tribes of American Indians living on the San Blas Islands off the eastern coast of Panama. <DD><B> 2. </B>the Chibchan language of these tribes. </DL>
<A NAME="sanchopanza">
<B>Sancho Panza,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the squire of Don Quixote, whose simplicity and common sense contrast sharply with Don Quixote's visionary heroics. </DL>
<A NAME="sanctification">
<B>sanctification, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the act of sanctifying or state of being sanctified; consecration; purification from sin. <BR> <I>Ex. God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth (II Thessalonians 2:13).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="sanctified">
<B>sanctified, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>made holy; set apart for sacred services; consecrated; sacred. <DD><B> 2. </B>sanctimonious. <BR> <I>Ex. a sanctified whine.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="sanctifier">
<B>sanctifier, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person who sanctifies or makes holy. </DL>
<A NAME="sanctify">
<B>sanctify, </B>transitive verb, <B>-fied,</B> <B>-fying.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>to make holy; make legitimate or binding by a religious sanction. <BR> <I>Ex. to sanctify a marriage. We will our youth lead on to higher fields, And draw no swords, but what are sanctify'd (Shakespeare).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to set apart as sacred; observe as holy; consecrate. <BR> <I>Ex. "Lord, sanctify this our offering to thy use." And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it (Genesis 2:3).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>to make (a person) free from sin. <BR> <I>Ex. He prayed to God to sanctify his heart.</I> (SYN) redeem. <DD><B> 4. </B>to make right; justify or sanction. <BR> <I>Ex. a custom sanctified by law. (Figurative.) Does the end sanctify the means? (W. H. Hudson).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="sanctifyingly">
<B>sanctifyingly, </B>adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD> in a manner or degree tending to sanctify or make holy. </DL>
<A NAME="sanctimonious">
<B>sanctimonious, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>making a show of holiness; putting on airs of sanctity. <BR> <I>Ex. a sanctimonious hypocrite. The sanctimonious pirate, that went to sea with the ten Commandments, but scraped one out of the Table (Shakespeare).</I> (SYN) pharisaic. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Obsolete.) consecrated; sacred; holy. adv. <B>sanctimoniously.</B> noun <B>sanctimoniousness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="sanctimony">
<B>sanctimony, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a show of holiness; affected or hypocritical devoutness; airs of sanctity. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Obsolete.) holiness; sanctity. </DL>
<A NAME="sanction">
<B>sanction, </B>noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1a. </B>permission with authority; support; approval. <BR> <I>Ex. We have the sanction of the recreation department to play ball in this park. Plans are also being prepared for the building of nine others, for which all necessary sanctions from various interested authorities have been obtained (London Times).</I> (SYN) approbation. <DD><B> b. </B>(Figurative.) encouragement given to an opinion or practice, as by an influential person or by custom or public opinion. <BR> <I>Ex. Religion gave her sanction to that intense and unquenchable animosity (Macaulay).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>the act of making legally authoritative or binding; solemn ratification or confirmation. <BR> <I>Ex. The day on which the royal sanction was ... solemnly given to this great Act (Macaulay).</I> <DD><B> 3a. </B>a provision of a law stating a penalty for disobedience to it or a reward for obedience. <DD><B> b. </B>the penalty or reward. <DD><B> 4. </B>an action by several nations toward another nation, such as a blockade, restrictions on trade, or withholding loans, intended to force it to obey international law. <BR> <I>Ex. to apply economic sanctions, rather than to threaten with military ones.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>a consideration that leads one to obey a rule of conduct. <DD><B> 6. </B>binding force. <BR> <I>Ex. This word [honor] is often made the sanction of an oath (Jonathan Swift).</I> <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to approve; allow. <BR> <I>Ex. Her conscience does not sanction stealing. The use of a site in Hyde Park, selected by the Prince, was sanctioned by the Government (Lytton Strachey).</I> (SYN) authorize. <DD><B> 2. </B>to make valid or binding; confirm. noun <B>sanctioner.</B> </DL>
<B>sanctity, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ties.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>holiness of life; saintliness; godliness. <BR> <I>Ex. the sanctity of a saint.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>holy character; sacredness. <BR> <I>Ex. the sanctity of a church. (Figurative.) the sanctity of the home. His affirmations have the sanctity of an oath (Charles Lamb).</I> (SYN) inviolability. <BR><I>expr. <B>sanctities,</B> <DD><B> a. </B>sacred obligations, feelings, or the like. </I> <I>Ex. the sanctities of obedience and faith (Emerson).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>sacred things. <BR> <I>Ex. the flower of olden sanctities (Coventry Patmore).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="sanctuarize">
<B>sanctuarize, </B>transitive verb, <B>-rized,</B> <B>-rizing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to shelter by means of a sanctuary or sacred privileges. </DL>
