<B>severance pay,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> additional pay granted to employees who are leaving an establishment or other undertaking, such as a business or company, based on length of service. <BR> <I>Ex. Some actors didn't fit their roles, and had to be dismissed with severance pay (Newsweek).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="severancetax">
<B>severance tax,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) a tax on the amount of ore, oil, timber, or the like processed during a certain period, levied on producers in certain states. </DL>
<A NAME="severe">
<B>severe, </B>adjective, <B>-verer,</B> <B>-verest.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>very strict; stern; harsh. <BR> <I>Ex. a severe reprimand, severe self-denial. The judge imposed a severe sentence on the criminal.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>sharp or violent. <BR> <I>Ex. severe criticism, a severe winter. I have a severe headache. That was a severe storm.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>serious; dangerous; grave. <BR> <I>Ex. a severe illness.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>very plain or simple; without ornament. <BR> <I>Ex. She wore a severe black dress.</I> (SYN) chaste, unadorned. <DD><B> 5. </B>difficult; taxing. <BR> <I>Ex. The new gun had to pass a series of severe tests.</I> (SYN) exacting. <DD><B> 6. </B>rigidly exact, accurate, or methodical. <BR> <I>Ex. severe reasoning.</I> (SYN) precise, rigid. adv. <B>severely.</B> noun <B>severeness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="severity">
<B>severity, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ties.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>strictness; sternness; harshness. <BR> <I>Ex. The children feared their new neighbor because of his severity.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>sharpness or violence. <BR> <I>Ex. the severity of storms, the severity of pain, the severity of grief.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>simplicity of style or taste; plainness. <BR> <I>Ex. I like the severity of modern architecture better than the ornamentation of earlier buildings. The severity of a nun's dress is often becoming.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>seriousness; gravity. <DD><B> 5. </B>accuracy; exactness. <DD><B> 6. </B>something severe. </DL>
<A NAME="sevillana">
<B>sevillana, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the form of seguidilla performed in Seville, Spain. </DL>
<B>Sevres, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> a choice and costly kind of porcelain made in Sevres, France. <DD><I>adj. </I> of or designating this porcelain. <BR> <I>Ex. a Sevres vase.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="sew">
<B>sew, </B>verb, <B>sewed,</B> <B>sewed</B> or <B>sewn,</B> <B>sewing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.i. </I> to work with a needle and thread. You can sew by hand or with a machine. <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to fasten with stitches. <BR> <I>Ex. to sew on a button.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to use a needle and thread to make or mend. <BR><I>expr. <B>sew up,</B> <DD><B> a. </B>to close with stitches. </I> <I>Ex. The doctor sewed up the wound.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>(U.S. Informal.) to make certain. <BR> <I>Ex. Betsy Davison had a job sewed up at an uptown private nursery school (Mary McCarthy).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="sewage">
<B>sewage, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the waste matter carried off in sewers and drains. </DL>
<A NAME="sewagefarm">
<B>sewage farm,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a farm which disposes of sewage by using it to irrigate and fertilize the fields. </DL>
<A NAME="sewan">
<B>sewan, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> loose shell beads used as money by American Indians; seawan. </DL>
<A NAME="sewellel">
<B>sewellel, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) a mountain beaver. </DL>
<A NAME="sewer">
<B>sewer</B> (1), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> an underground drain to carry off waste water and refuse. (SYN) conduit. </DL>
<A NAME="sewer">
<B>sewer</B> (2), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person or thing that sews. </DL>
<A NAME="sewer">
<B>sewer</B> (3), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (formerly) a head servant in charge of arranging the table and serving the meals. <BR> <I>Ex. The sewer with savoury meats Dish after dish served them (William Cowper).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="sewerage">
<B>sewerage, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the removal of waste matter by sewers. <DD><B> 2. </B>a system of sewers. <DD><B> 3. </B><B>=sewage.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="sewing">
<B>sewing, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>work done with a needle and thread. <BR> <I>Ex. The fine even stitching was a beautiful piece of sewing.</I> (SYN) needlework. <DD><B> 2. </B>something to be sewed. <BR> <I>Ex. He took his sewing to the tailor.</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> for sewing; used in sewing. <BR> <I>Ex. a sewing room.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="sewingcircle">
<B>sewing circle,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a group of women who meet regularly to sew, as for their church or for charity. <BR> <I>Ex. Her sewing circle was to meet at her house ... and most of the members were too decrepit to climb the stairs (New Yorker).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="sewingmachine">
<B>sewing machine,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a machine for sewing or stitching cloth. </DL>
<B>sewn, </B>verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> sewed; a past participle of <B>sew.</B> <BR> <I>Ex. Mother has sewn a new button on your shirt.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="sex">
<B>sex, </B>noun, adjective, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>one of the two divisions of human beings and animals. Men, bulls, and roosters are of the male sex; women, cows, and hens are of the female sex. <DD><B> 2a. </B>the character of being male or female. <BR> <I>Ex. People were admitted without regard to age or sex.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>the physical quality in plants of having male or female functions. <DD><B> 3. </B>the differences in structure and function between male and female. <BR> <I>Ex. The young need ... to be told ... all we know of three fundamental things; the first of which is God ... and the third Sex (H. G. Wells).</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>the attraction of one sex for the other. <BR> <I>Ex. the subject of sex in literature.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>behavior between the sexes; sexual matters. <BR> <I>Ex. Freud brought sex out from its mid-Victorian cloak (Alfred B. Heilbrun, Jr.).</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>(Informal.) sexual intercourse. <DD><I>adj. </I> of sex; having to do with sex. <BR> <I>Ex. sex distinctions sex education, the sex organs, the sex drive, a person's sex life, the sex attractant of an insect.</I> <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to determine the sex of. <BR> <I>Ex. "We can sex infants before birth (Donald Gould). Crocodiles are very hard to sex (New Scientist).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>Usually, <B>sex up.</B> (Informal.) to make sexy; give sex appeal to. <BR> <I>Ex. to sex up a play or movie.</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>the sex,</B> </I>(Archaic.) women. <BR> <I>Ex. The sex of Venice are undoubtedly of a distinguished beauty (Arthur Young).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="sex">
<B>sex-,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (combining form.) six. <BR> <I>Ex. Sexangular = having six angles.</I> <DL COMPACT><DD> Also, <B>sexi-.</B> </DL>
</DL>
<A NAME="sexagenarian">
<B>sexagenarian, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> a person who is 60 years old or between 60 and 70 years old. <DD><I>adj. </I> 60 years old or between 60 and 70 years old. </DL>
<A NAME="sexagenary">
<B>sexagenary, </B>adjective, noun, pl. <B>-naries.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>of or having to do with the number 60. <DD><B> 2. </B>composed of or going by sixties. <DD><B> 3. </B><B>=sexagenarian.</B> <DD><I>noun </I> <B>=sexagenarian.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="sexagesima">
<B>Sexagesima, </B>noun, or <B>Sexagesima Sunday,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the second Sunday before Lent. </DL>
<A NAME="sexagesimal">
<B>sexagesimal, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> having to do with or based upon the number 60. A sexagesimal fraction is one whose denominator is 60 or a power of 60. <DD><I>noun </I> a sexagesimal fraction. </DL>
<A NAME="sexangular">
<B>sexangular, </B>adjective. =hexagonal.</DL>
<A NAME="sexappeal">
<B>sex appeal,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>attraction for the opposite sex. <BR> <I>Ex. She has a large endowment of the "plus" quality of feminity, the unexplainable but unmistakable flair called "sex appeal" (Sunday Express).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>popular attraction or appeal. <BR> <I>Ex. The expression "fiscal responsibility" ... has had little political sex appeal (Canada Month).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="sexavalent">
<B>sexavalent, </B>adjective. =sexivalent.</DL>
<A NAME="sexbomb">
<B>sex bomb,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Slang.) a sexpot. </DL>
<A NAME="sexcell">
<B>sex cell,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an egg cell or sperm cell; germ cell. </DL>
<A NAME="sexcentenary">
<B>sexcentenary, </B>adjective, noun, pl. <B>-naries.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> having to do with the number 600. <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>period of 600 years. <DD><B> 2. </B>a 600th anniversary. </DL>
<A NAME="sexchromatin">
<B>sex chromatin,</B> =Barr body.</DL>
<A NAME="sexchromosome">
<B>sex chromosome,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> either of a pair of chromosomes which in combination with each other determine sex and sex-linked characteristics. </DL>
<A NAME="sexdecillion">
<B>sexdecillion, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>(in the U.S., Canada, and France) 1 followed by 51 zeros. <DD><B> 2. </B>(in Great Britain and Germany) 1 followed by 96 zeros. </DL>
<A NAME="sexed">
<B>sexed, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having sex or the characteristics of sex. </DL>
<A NAME="sexennial">
<B>sexennial, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>of or for six years. <DD><B> 2. </B>occurring every six years. <DD><I>noun </I> a sexennial celebration or other event. adv. <B>sexennially.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="sexennium">
<B>sexennium, </B>noun, pl. <B>-enniums,</B> <B>-ennia.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a period of six years. </DL>
<A NAME="sexgland">
<B>sex gland,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a gland that produces sex hormones. The gonads are sex glands. </DL>
<A NAME="sexhormone">
<B>sex hormone,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a hormone which influences the development or stimulates the function of reproductive organs and other sexual characteristics. <BR> <I>Ex. Scientists call the female sex hormones estrogens and the male hormones androgens (Science News Letter).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="sexhygiene">
<B>sex hygiene,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the hygiene of sex and sexual activity. </DL>
<A NAME="sexi">
<B>sexi-,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (combining form.) a form of <B>sex-,</B> as in <I>sexivalent.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="sexily">
<B>sexily, </B>adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) in a sexy manner. </DL>
<A NAME="sexiness">
<B>sexiness, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) the quality of being sexy. </DL>
<A NAME="sexipolar">
<B>sexipolar, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having six poles. </DL>