<B>sexual selection,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Biology.) natural selection perpetuating certain characteristics that attract one sex to the other, such as bright feathers in birds. <BR> <I>Ex. I conclude that of all the causes which have led to the differences in external appearance between the races of men ... sexual selection has been by far the most efficient (Charles Darwin).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="sexupara">
<B>sexupara, </B>noun pl.<DL COMPACT><DD> parthenogenetic female organisms which give birth to males and to females that lay fertilized eggs. </DL>
<A NAME="sexuparous">
<B>sexuparous, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having to do with sexupara. </DL>
<A NAME="sexy">
<B>sexy, </B>adjective, <B>sexier,</B> <B>sexiest.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) sexually appealing or stimulating; having sex appeal. <BR> <I>Ex. sexy photographs, sexy beauties. With words and music just simple, sad and sexy enough to make it sound like a hit (Time).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="seychellois">
<B>Seychellois, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ois,</B> adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> a native or inhabitant of Seychelles (a country of many islands in the Indian Ocean). <DD><I>adj. </I> of or from the Seychelles. </DL>
<A NAME="seyfert">
<B>Seyfert, </B>noun, or <B>Seyfert galaxy,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> any one of a group of spiral galaxies having very small, starlike centers which exhibit broad emission lines indicative of a high state of atomic excitation. <BR> <I>Ex. A possible link between normal galaxies and quasars may be provided by the Seyfert galaxies, which have unusually bright nuclei similar in many ways to the sharply defined quasars (Science Journal).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="seym">
<B>Seym, </B>noun. =Sejm.</DL>
<A NAME="sf">
<B>sf.,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> sforzando. </DL>
<A NAME="sf">
<B>SF</B> (no periods),<DL COMPACT><DD> science fiction. <BR> <I>Ex. Long ago the SF writer was deprived of his Bug-eyed Monsters and compelled to use jargon that bore at least a superficial patina of conviction to the student of physics (Punch).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="sfc">
<B>Sfc.,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> sergeant first class. </DL>
<A NAME="sferics">
<B>sferics, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B><B>=atmospherics.</B> <DD><B> 2. </B>the study of atmospherics; spherics. <DD><B> 3. </B>an electronic detector of atmospheric disturbances. </DL>
<A NAME="sforzando">
<B>sforzando, </B>adjective, adverb, noun, pl. <B>-dos,</B> <B>-di.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Music.) <DD><I>adj. </I> with special, usually sudden, emphasis (used as a direction). <DD><I>adv. </I> in a sforzando manner. <DD><I>noun </I> a tone or chord played with special emphasis or rendered louder than the rest. (Abbr:) sfz. </DL>
<A NAME="sfumato">
<B>sfumato, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a misty or indistinct effect in a painting caused by blending the tints so that the outlines cannot be perceived. </DL>
<A NAME="sfz">
<B>sfz.,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> sforzando. </DL>
<A NAME="sg">
<B>s.g.,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> specific gravity. </DL>
<B>S.-G.,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> Secretary-General (of the United Nations). </DL>
<A NAME="sgd">
<B>sgd.,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> signed. </DL>
<A NAME="sgraffito">
<B>sgraffito, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ti.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a type of decoration scratched through a layer as of paint, plaster, or clay; graffito. <BR> <I>Ex. ... embellished with sgraffito designs of foliage on a slightly ridged surface (New Yorker).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="sgt">
<B>Sgt.</B> or <B>sgt.,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> sergeant. </DL>
<B>sh</B> or <B>'sh, </B>interjection.<DL COMPACT><DD> a shortened form of <B>hush,</B> used in urging silence. <BR> <I>Ex. "Sh!" she whispered. "Never mind what you make" (Leonard Merrick).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="sh">
<B>sh.,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an abbreviation for the following: <DD><B> 1. </B>share. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Bookbinding.) sheep. <DD><B> 3. </B>sheet. <DD><B> 4. </B>shilling or shillings. <DD><B> 5. </B>short. </DL>
<A NAME="sh">
<B>SH</B> (no period),<DL COMPACT><DD> sulfhydryl. </DL>
<A NAME="sha">
<B>SHA</B> (no periods),<DL COMPACT><DD> sidereal hour angle. </DL>
<A NAME="shaban">
<B>Shaban, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the eighth month of the Moslem year. It has 29 days. </DL>
<A NAME="shabbat">
<B>Shabbat, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Hebrew.) the Jewish Sabbath. </DL>
<A NAME="shabbily">
<B>shabbily, </B>adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD> in a shabby manner. <BR> <I>Ex. (Figurative.) Schumann's exacting Toccata was also rather shabbily treated (London Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="shabbiness">
<B>shabbiness, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> shabby condition or quality. </DL>
<B>Shabbos, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Yiddish.) the Jewish Sabbath. </DL>
<A NAME="shabby">
<B>shabby, </B>adjective, <B>-bier,</B> <B>-biest.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>much worn. <BR> <I>Ex. His old suit looks shabby. The other had his hand bound up with shabby strips of a tropical shirt (Graham Greene).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>wearing old or much worn clothes; poorly dressed. <BR> <I>Ex. She is always shabby.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>poor or neglected; run-down. <BR> <I>Ex. a shabby old house.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>(Figurative.) not generous; mean; unfair. <BR> <I>Ex. It is shabby not to speak to an old friend because he is poor. Strangers get such shabby treatment in this town that they never want to visit it again.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="shabbygenteel">
<B>shabby-genteel, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> shabby but genteel; making or showing an effort to keep up appearances. </DL>
<A NAME="shabbygentility">
<B>shabby-gentility, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the condition of being shabby-genteel. </DL>
<A NAME="shable">
<B>shable, </B>noun. =shabble.</DL>
<A NAME="shabrack">
<B>shabrack, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a saddlecloth used in European armies. </DL>
<A NAME="shabuoth">
<B>Shabuoth</B> or <B>Shabuot, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a Jewish festival, seven weeks after the beginning of Passover, celebrating the harvest and the giving of the Torah to Moses; Pentecost; Feast of Weeks. Also, <B>Shavuos,</B> <B>Shavuot,</B> <B>Shavuoth.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="shack">
<B>shack</B> (1), noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a roughly built hut or cabin. <BR> <I>Ex. The boys made a shack out of old boards in the backyard. The Caney Creek Community Center was born in a one-room shack (Newsweek).</I> (SYN) shanty. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Informal.) <DD><B> a. </B>a house in bad condition. <BR> <I>Ex. There are a lot of shacks in the rundown part of town near the railroad.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>a house that is poorly built or designed. <DD><I>v.i. </I> (Slang.) <B>1. </B>to live at a place; dwell. <BR> <I>Ex. He shacks in a boarding house.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>Usually, <B>shack up.</B> <DD><B> a. </B>to stay in a place. <BR> <I>Ex. I was going to shack up in a hotel for a couple of days (J. D. Salinger).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>to live together as husband and wife though not legally married; cohabit. </DL>
<B>shackle, </B>noun, verb, <B>-led,</B> <B>-ling.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a metal band fastened around the ankle or wrist of a prisoner or slave. Shackles are usually fastened to each other, the wall, or the floor by chains. <DD><B> 2. </B>the link fastening together the two rings for the ankles and wrists of a prisoner. <DD><B> 3. </B>Also, <B>shackles.</B> (Figurative.) anything that prevents freedom of action or thought. <BR> <I>Ex. Superstition and fear of change are two great shackles on men's minds. ... the bars and shackles of civilization (Mark Twain). He frequently writes of the shackles imposed by the Japanese family system (Atlantic).</I> (SYN) impediment, obstacle. <DD><B> 4. </B>a thing for fastening or coupling, leaving some freedom of movement. <BR> <I>Ex. The springs of a car are secured on each end by shackles.</I> <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to put shackles on. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) torestrain; hamper. (SYN) obstruct, restrict. <DD><B> 3. </B>to fasten or couple with a shackle. <BR> <I>Ex. (Figurative.) ... who were not shackled to the past in their thinking (New York Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="shacklebone">
<B>shackle-bone, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Scottish.) the wrist. </DL>
<A NAME="shackler">
<B>shackler, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person or thing that shackles. </DL>
<A NAME="shacktown">
<B>shacktown, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S. and Canada.) a group or settlement of makeshift shacks; shantytown. </DL>
<A NAME="shad">
<B>shad, </B>noun, pl. <B>shad</B> or (for different kinds) <B>shads.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>any one of several saltwater fishes, related to the herrings, that ascend rivers every spring to spawn. The shad common on the North Atlantic coast is a valuable food fish. Shad have many small, loose bones. <DD><B> 2. </B>any one of various other related saltwater fishes. <DD><B> 3. </B>a freshwater fish, such as the gizzard shad. </DL>
<A NAME="shadberry">
<B>shadberry, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ries.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the fruit of the shadbush. <DD><B> 2. </B><B>=shadbush.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="shadblossom">
<B>shadblossom, </B>noun. =shadbush.</DL>
<A NAME="shadblow">
<B>shadblow, </B>noun. =shadbush.</DL>
<A NAME="shadbush">
<B>shadbush, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> any one of a genus of North American shrubs or small trees of the rose family, with berrylike fruit and white flowers which blossom about the time when shad appear in the rivers; Juneberry; serviceberry. </DL>
<A NAME="shadchan">
<B>shadchan, </B>noun, pl. <B>shadchonim,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Yiddish.) a professional matchmaker or marriage broker. Also, <B>schatchen.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="shaddock">
<B>shaddock, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the pear-shaped citrus fruit of a tree of the rue family, like a coarse, dry, inferior grapefruit. <DD><B> 2. </B>the tree that it grows on. </DL>
