Webster's Unabridged Dictionary - Letter S - Page 1

S () the nineteenth letter of the English alphabet, is a consonant, and is often called a sibilant, in allusion to its hissing sound. It has two principal sounds; one a mere hissing, as in sack, this; the other a vocal hissing (the same as that of z), as in is, wise. Besides these it sometimes has the sounds of sh and zh, as in sure, measure. It generally has its hissing sound at the beginning of words, but in the middle and at the end of words its sound is determined by usage. In a few words it is silent, as in isle, debris. With the letter h it forms the digraph sh. See Guide to pronunciation, // 255-261.

-s () The suffix used to form the plural of most words; as in roads, elfs, sides, accounts.

-s () The suffix used to form the third person singular indicative of English verbs; as in falls, tells, sends.

-s () An adverbial suffix; as in towards, needs, always, -- originally the genitive, possesive, ending. See -'s.

's () A contraction for is or (colloquially) for has.

Saadh (n.) See Sadh.

Saan (n. pl.) Same as Bushmen.

Sabadilla (n.) A Mexican liliaceous plant (Schoenocaulon officinale); also, its seeds, which contain the alkaloid veratrine. It was formerly used in medicine as an emetic and purgative.

Sabaean (a. & n.) Same as Sabian.

Sabaeanism (n.) Same as Sabianism.

Sabaeism (n.) Alt. of Sabaism

Sabaism (n.) See Sabianism.

Sabal (n.) A genus of palm trees including the palmetto of the Southern United States.

Sabaoth (n. pl.) Armies; hosts.

Sabaoth (n. pl.) Incorrectly, the Sabbath.

Sabbat (n.) In mediaeval demonology, the nocturnal assembly in which demons and sorcerers were thought to celebrate their orgies.

Sabbatarian (n.) One who regards and keeps the seventh day of the week as holy, agreeably to the letter of the fourth commandment in the Decalogue.

Sabbatarian (n.) A strict observer of the Sabbath.

Sabbatarian (a.) Of or pertaining to the Sabbath, or the tenets of Sabbatarians.

Sabbatarianism (n.) The tenets of Sabbatarians.

Sabbath (n.) A season or day of rest; one day in seven appointed for rest or worship, the observance of which was enjoined upon the Jews in the Decalogue, and has been continued by the Christian church with a transference of the day observed from the last to the first day of the week, which is called also Lord's Day.

Sabbath (n.) The seventh year, observed among the Israelites as one of rest and festival.

Sabbath (n.) Fig.: A time of rest or repose; intermission of pain, effort, sorrow, or the like.

Sabbathless (a.) Without Sabbath, or intermission of labor; hence, without respite or rest.

Sabbatic (a.) Alt. of Sabbatical

Sabbatical (a.) Of or pertaining to the Sabbath; resembling the Sabbath; enjoying or bringing an intermission of labor.

Sabbatism (n.) Intermission of labor, as upon the Sabbath; rest.

Sabbaton (n.) A round-toed, armed covering for the feet, worn during a part of the sixteenth century in both military and civil dress.

Sabean (a. & n.) Same as Sabian.

Sabeism (n.) Same as Sabianism.

Sabella (n.) A genus of tubicolous annelids having a circle of plumose gills around the head.

Sabellian (a.) Pertaining to the doctrines or tenets of Sabellius. See Sabellian, n.

Sabellian (n.) A follower of Sabellius, a presbyter of Ptolemais in the third century, who maintained that there is but one person in the Godhead, and that the Son and Holy Spirit are only different powers, operations, or offices of the one God the Father.

Sabellianism (n.) The doctrines or tenets of Sabellius. See Sabellian, n.

Sabelloid (a.) Like, or related to, the genus Sabella.

Saber (n.) Alt. of Sabre

Sabre (n.) A sword with a broad and heavy blade, thick at the back, and usually more or less curved like a scimiter; a cavalry sword.

Sabered (imp. & p. p.) of Sabre

Sabred () of Sabre

Sabering (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Sabre

Sabring () of Sabre

Saber (v. t.) Alt. of Sabre

Sabre (v. t.) To strike, cut, or kill with a saber; to cut down, as with a saber.

Saberbill (n.) Alt. of Sabrebill

Sabrebill (n.) The curlew.

Sabian (a.) Of or pertaining to Saba in Arabia, celebrated for producing aromatic plants.

Sabian (a.) Relating to the religion of Saba, or to the worship of the heavenly bodies.

Sabian (n.) An adherent of the Sabian religion; a worshiper of the heavenly bodies.

Sabianism (n.) The doctrine of the Sabians; the Sabian religion; that species of idolatry which consists in worshiping the sun, moon, and stars; heliolatry.

Sabicu (n.) The very hard wood of a leguminous West Indian tree (Lysiloma Sabicu), valued for shipbuilding.

Sabine (a.) Of or pertaining to the ancient Sabines, a people of Italy.

Sabine (n.) One of the Sabine people.

Sabine (n.) See Savin.

Sable (n.) A carnivorous animal of the Weasel family (Mustela zibellina) native of the northern latitudes of Europe, Asia, and America, -- noted for its fine, soft, and valuable fur.

Sable (n.) The fur of the sable.

Sable (n.) A mourning garment; a funeral robe; -- generally in the plural.

Sable (n.) The tincture black; -- represented by vertical and horizontal lines crossing each other.

Sable (a.) Of the color of the sable's fur; dark; black; -- used chiefly in poetry.

Sabled (imp. & p. p.) of Sable

Sabling (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Sable

Sable (v. t.) To render sable or dark; to drape darkly or in black.

Sabot (n.) A kind of wooden shoe worn by the peasantry in France, Belgium, Sweden, and some other European countries.

Sabot (n.) A thick, circular disk of wood, to which the cartridge bag and projectile are attached, in fixed ammunition for cannon; also, a piece of soft metal attached to a projectile to take the groove of the rifling.

Sabotiere (n.) A kind of freezer for ices.

Sabre (n. & v.) See Saber.

Sabretasche (n.) A leather case or pocket worn by cavalry at the left side, suspended from the sword belt.

Sabrina work () A variety of applique work for quilts, table covers, etc.

Sabulose (a.) Growing in sandy places.

Sabulosity (n.) The quality of being sabulous; sandiness; grittiness.

Sabulous (a.) Sandy; gritty.

Sac (n.) See Sacs.

Sac (n.) The privilege formerly enjoyed by the lord of a manor, of holding courts, trying causes, and imposing fines.

Sac (n.) See 2d Sack.

Sac (n.) A cavity, bag, or receptacle, usually containing fluid, and either closed, or opening into another cavity to the exterior; a sack.

Sacalait (n.) A kind of fresh-water bass; the crappie.

Sacar (n.) See Saker.

Saccade (n.) A sudden, violent check of a horse by drawing or twitching the reins on a sudden and with one pull.

Saccate (a.) Having the form of a sack or pouch; furnished with a sack or pouch, as a petal.

Saccate (a.) Of or pertaining to the Saccata, a suborder of ctenophores having two pouches into which the long tentacles can be retracted.

Saccharate (n.) A salt of saccharic acid.

Saccharate (n.) In a wider sense, a compound of saccharose, or any similar carbohydrate, with such bases as the oxides of calcium, barium, or lead; a sucrate.

Saccharic (a.) Of, pertaining to, or obtained from, saccharine substances; specifically, designating an acid obtained, as a white amorphous gummy mass, by the oxidation of mannite, glucose, sucrose, etc.

Sacchariferous (a.) Producing sugar; as, sacchariferous canes.

Saccharified (imp. & p. p.) of Saccharify

Saccharifying (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Saccharify

Saccharify (v. t.) To convert into, or to impregnate with, sugar.

Saccharilla (n.) A kind of muslin.

Saccharimeter (n.) An instrument for ascertaining the quantity of saccharine matter in any solution, as the juice of a plant, or brewers' and distillers' worts.

Saccharimetrical (a.) Of or pertaining to saccharimetry; obtained by saccharimetry.

Saccharimetry (n.) The act, process or method of determining the amount and kind of sugar present in sirup, molasses, and the like, especially by the employment of polarizing apparatus.

Saccharin (n.) A bitter white crystalline substance obtained from the saccharinates and regarded as the lactone of saccharinic acid; -- so called because formerly supposed to be isomeric with cane sugar (saccharose).

Saccharinate (n.) A salt of saccharinic acid.

Saccharinate (n.) A salt of saccharine.

Saccharine (a.) Of or pertaining to sugar; having the qualities of sugar; producing sugar; sweet; as, a saccharine taste; saccharine matter.

Saccharine (n.) A trade name for benzoic sulphinide.

Saccharinic (a.) Of, pertaining to, or derived from, saccharin; specifically, designating a complex acid not known in the free state but well known in its salts, which are obtained by boiling dextrose and levulose (invert sugar) with milk of lime.

Saccharized (imp. & p. p.) of Saccharize

Saccharizing (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Saccharize

Saccharize (v. t.) To convert into, or to impregnate with, sugar.

Saccharoid (a.) Alt. of Saccharoidal

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