<B>significant, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>full of meaning; important; of consequence. <BR> <I>Ex. July 4, 1776, is a significant date for Americans.</I> (SYN) momentous. <DD><B> 2. </B>having a meaning; expressive. <BR> <I>Ex. Smiles are significant of pleasure.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>having or expressing a hidden meaning. <BR> <I>Ex. A significant nod from my friend warned me to stop talking.</I> <DD><I>noun </I> something that expresses or conveys a meaning. adv. <B>significantly.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="signification">
<B>signification, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>meaning; sense; import. <BR> <I>Ex. The signification of a proposition is the sum total of the contextual senses of its parts (Simeon Potter).</I> (SYN) significance. <DD><B> 2. </B>the act or process of signifying. <BR> <I>Ex. Signification relies largely upon words and gestures.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="significative">
<B>significative, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>serving to signify; having a meaning. <DD><B> 2. </B>significant or suggestive. adv. <B>significatively.</B> noun <B>significativeness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="significator">
<B>significator, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person or thing that signifies or indicates something. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Astrology.) the planet that rules a house. </DL>
<A NAME="significatory">
<B>significatory, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> serving to signify; significative. </DL>
<A NAME="significs">
<B>significs, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the science or the systematic study of the exact significance of terms in any department of education or learning. <BR> <I>Ex. Modern semantics originated in the early 1900's in what an English philosopher ... called significs (S. I. Hayakawa).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="signifier">
<B>signifier, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person or thing that signifies. </DL>
<A NAME="signify">
<B>signify, </B>verb, <B>-fied,</B> <B>-fying.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to be a sign of; mean. <BR> <I>Ex. "Oh!" signifies surprise.</I> (SYN) represent, denote, imply, suggest. <DD><B> 2. </B>to make known by signs, words, or actions. <BR> <I>Ex. to signify consent with a nod.</I> (SYN) indicate, intimate. <DD><I>v.i. </I> to have importance; be of consequence; have significance; matter. <BR> <I>Ex. What a fool says does not signify. What does it signify how we dress on a camping trip?</I> </DL>
<A NAME="signifying">
<B>signifying, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) a verbal game or contest among black youths, in which a series of insults are exchanged to test the participants' restraint and ability with words. <BR> <I>Ex. Girls are also the objects of much signifyin' by male students. The signifyin' may relate to a girl's looks or ... her boyfriend (Today's Education).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="signin">
<B>sign-in, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the collecting of people's signatures in support of a petition or demand addressed to any authoritative body. </DL>
<A NAME="signior">
<B>signior, </B>noun. =signor.</DL>
<A NAME="signlanguage">
<B>sign language,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a system of communication in which motions, especially of the hands, stand for letters, words, ideas, or actions. <DD><B> 2. </B>a system of gestures used by some American Indians for communicating between tribes. </DL>
<A NAME="signless">
<B>signless, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>making no sign or manifestation; quiet; passive. <DD><B> 2. </B>having no algebraic sign, or being essentially positive, like the modulus of an imaginary or a tensor. </DL>
<A NAME="signmanual">
<B>sign manual,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person's signature, especially that of a sovereign or magistrate, that authenticates an official document. <DD><B> 2. </B>a distinctively individual sign, stamp, or quality. </DL>
<A NAME="signoff">
<B>sign-off, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>an act or instance of signing off; a going off the air. <DD><B> 2. </B>a word or phrase used in signing off. <BR> <I>Ex. [Her] television sign-off is "Have a Happy" (New York Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="signofthecross">
<B>sign of the cross,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the movement of theright hand from the forehead to the breast and to the shoulders which Catholics and members of the Eastern Orthodox Churches perform as a sacramental. </DL>
<A NAME="signofthezodiac">
<B>sign of the zodiac,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> any one of the 12 zodiacal divisions. </DL>
<B>signoria, </B>noun, pl. <B>-rias.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a governing body in old Italian republics, especially Venice. </DL>
<A NAME="signorina">
<B>signorina, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ne.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Italian.) <DD><B> 1. </B>Miss. <DD><B> 2. </B>a young lady. </DL>
<A NAME="signorino">
<B>signorino, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ni.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Italian.) <DD><B> 1. </B>Master (as used to a boy or youth). <DD><B> 2. </B>a young gentleman. </DL>
<A NAME="signory">
<B>signory, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ries.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B><B>=seigniory.</B> <DD><B> 2. </B>a governing body, especially that by which Venice was ruled as a republic. </DL>
<A NAME="signpainter">
<B>sign painter,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a person who paints signs, as for tradesmen. </DL>
<A NAME="signpost">
<B>signpost, </B>noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a post having signs, notices, or directions on it; guidepost. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) anything that marks, points, guides, or from which bearings may be taken or conclusions drawn. <DD><I>v.t. </I> (British.) to equip or provide with signposts. </DL>
<A NAME="signup">
<B>sign-up, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> act or instance of signing up. </DL>
<A NAME="sigurd">
<B>Sigurd, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a hero in Norse legends who slays a dragon, identified with the German Siegfried. </DL>
<A NAME="sijeunessesavait,sivieillessepouvait">
<B>si jeunesse savait, si vieillesse pouvait,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (French.) if youth but knew, if age but could. </DL>
<A NAME="sika">
<B>sika, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a small deer native to Japan and China, having a brown coat that is spotted with white in the summer. </DL>
<A NAME="sike">
<B>sike, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Scottish.) <DD><B> 1. </B>a small stream of water; rill; streamlet. <DD><B> 2. </B>a ditch or channel through which such a stream flows. </DL>
<B>Sikh, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> a member of a religious sect of northwestern India, founded in the early 1500's as an offshoot of Hinduism, from which it differs sharply, especially in being monotheistic and in denying caste. Sikhs are famous as soldiers. <DD><I>adj. </I> of or having to do with the Sikhs. </DL>
<A NAME="sikhism">
<B>Sikhism, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the religious system and practices of the Sikhs. <BR> <I>Ex. Sikhism is a monotheistic religion incorporating elements of Hinduism, Islam and other religions (New York Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="sikkimese">
<B>Sikkimese, </B>adjective, noun, pl. <B>-ese.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> of or having to do with Sikkim, a small state in the Himalayas, or its people. <BR> <I>Ex. Sikkimese customs.</I> <DD><I>noun </I> a native or inhabitant of Sikkim. <BR> <I>Ex. ... the Bhutias, people from Tibet and Bhutan who have been Sikkimese for centuries (London Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="silage">
<B>silage, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> green fodder for winter feeding of livestock, stored in a silo or other airtight chamber and preserved by partial fermentation; ensilage. Silage is usually chopped stalks of slightly immature corn. </DL>
<A NAME="silane">
<B>silane, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a compound of silicon and hydrogen. It is a colorless gas that burns spontaneously with a brilliant white flame when exposed to air. </DL>
<A NAME="silat">
<B>silat, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a formal system of fencing practiced in Indonesia. </DL>
<A NAME="sild">
<B>sild, </B>noun, pl. <B>silds</B> or (collectively) <B>sild.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an immature herring similar to a brisling, canned in Norway. </DL>
<A NAME="silenaceous">
<B>silenaceous, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> belonging to the pink family of plants; caryophyllaceous. </DL>
<A NAME="silence">
<B>silence, </B>noun, verb, <B>-lenced,</B> <B>-lencing,</B> interjection.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>an absence of all sound or noise; stillness; noiselessness. <BR> <I>Ex. The teacher asked for silence. And silence, like a poultice, comes to heal the blows of sound (Oliver Wendell Holmes).</I> (SYN) hush, quiet. <DD><B> 2. </B>the state of being or keeping silent; not talking. <BR> <I>Ex. to keep or break silence, to listen in silence. Silence gives consent (Oliver Goldsmith).</I> (SYN) reticence, reserve. <DD><B> 3. </B>a failure to mention; omission of mention or notice in a narrative, or omission or neglect to write, communicate, or reply (about something); secrecy. <BR> <I>Ex. Mother passed over our foolish remarks in silence. Silence in matters of public interest is intolerable in a free society.</I> <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to stop the speech or noise of; make silent; quiet. <BR> <I>Ex. The nurse silenced the baby's crying. To silence envious tongues (Shakespeare).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to make silent by restraint or prohibition; repress. <BR> <I>Ex. to silence the press, to silence an uprising.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) to put at rest; stop the activity of. <BR> <I>Ex. to silence doubts, one's conscience, or scruples.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>to stop (enemy guns) from firing by destroying or disabling them. <BR> <I>Ex. Fighter-bombers ripped rails, knocked out rolling stock and silenced gun positions in attacks deep in North Korea (New York Times).</I> <DD><I>interj. </I> keep still!; be still! </DL>
<A NAME="silencecloth">
<B>silence cloth,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a sheet of thick cotton cloth or the like placed under the linen cloth on a dining table. </DL>
<A NAME="silencer">
<B>silencer, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person or thing that silences. <DD><B> 2. </B>a device which muffles the sound of a gun. It usually fits over and extends slightly forward of the barrel. <DD><B> 3. </B>(British.) a muffler on an internal-combustion engine. </DL>
