📖 S — The English dictionary · page 47

silhouette — Everyday, meaning 1: A silhouette is the dark shape or outline of someone or something seen against a brighter background, like a person standing in front of a sunset.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: A silhouette is a picture of a person or thing cut out of black paper or painted all black, showing only the outline.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: (verb) To be silhouetted means to appear as a dark shape against a light background.↗ Everyday, meaning 4: In fashion, a silhouette is the overall shape of a piece of clothing.↗ Example: The castle was silhouetted against the orange sky.↗ · We painted sunset backgrounds and added black silhouettes of trees.↗ · A tall silhouette appeared in the doorway.↗ · Can you guess the animal from its silhouette?↗ · The old portrait was a silhouette cut from black paper.↗ · The birds made dark silhouettes on the telephone wire.↗

silicate — Everyday, meaning 1: (science) A mineral or compound made of silicon and oxygen, often with metals; most rocks, sand and clay are made of silicates.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: A material made from such compounds, as in some glass, cement and paint.↗ Example: Most of the rocks in the Earth's crust are silicates.↗ · Quartz is a silicate mineral found in sand.↗ · Clay is made of tiny silicate grains.↗ · The Moon's surface is covered in grey silicate dust.↗ · Some glues and paints contain silicates.↗ · Mica is a silicate that splits into thin shiny sheets.↗

silicon — Everyday, meaning 1: Silicon is a chemical element (symbol Si), a grey shiny solid that is the main part of sand and many rocks.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Silicon is used to make computer chips and solar panels.↗ Example: Computer chips are made of silicon.↗ · Sand contains a lot of silicon.↗ · Silicon Valley is home to big tech companies.↗ · Solar panels use silicon to turn sunlight into electricity.↗ · Silicon's symbol is Si.↗ · Glass is made by melting sand rich in silicon.↗

silk — Everyday, meaning 1: A soft, smooth, shiny cloth made from threads spun by silkworms.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: The thread itself, made by silkworms or spiders.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: (UK, informal) A senior barrister; to «take silk» means to become one.↗ Example: Her dress is made of silk.↗ · Silkworms spin silk to make their cocoons.↗ · Spider silk is very strong for its weight.↗ · Traders carried silk along the Silk Road.↗ · The scarf felt smooth as silk.↗ · Dad wore a silk tie to the wedding.↗ · She wore a silk dress, golden bracelets, and large amber beads.↗ · I clothed thee also with richly woven work, and shod thee with sealskin, and I wound fine linen about thy head, and covered thee with silk.↗ (Prophets EZK.16.10, JPS 1917)↗

silken — Everyday, meaning 1: Made of silk.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Soft, smooth and shiny like silk: «silken hair», «a silken voice».↗ Example: The princess wore a silken gown.↗ · Her hair was long and silken.↗ · The river slid by with a silken sound.↗ · The cat's fur felt silken under my hand.↗ · He spoke in a soft, silken voice.↗ · A silken thread hung from the spider's web.↗ · The king sat on silken cushions.↗ · How her silken robe is rustling!↗

silkworm — Everyday, meaning 1: A silkworm is the caterpillar of the silk moth, which spins a cocoon of fine silk thread; people use this thread to make silk cloth.↗ Example: Silkworms eat only mulberry leaves.↗ · The silkworm spun a white cocoon around itself.↗ · Silk cloth is made from the thread of silkworms.↗ · Ancient China kept silkworms secret for centuries.↗ · Our class watched silkworms turn into moths.↗ · A single silkworm cocoon is made of one very long thread.↗ · Silkworm moths cannot fly.↗

silky — Everyday, meaning 1: Smooth, soft and shiny, like silk.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: (voice, movement) Smooth and gentle: a silky voice, silky skills (in sport).↗ Example: The kitten had silky fur.↗ · Her hair was long and silky.↗ · The chocolate sauce was silky smooth.↗ · The footballer showed silky skills.↗ · The fox spoke in a silky voice to trick the hen.↗ · Satin feels silky to touch.↗ · Toto was not gray; he was a little black dog, with long silky hair and small black eyes that twinkled merrily on either side of his funny, wee nose.↗

sill — Everyday, meaning 1: A sill is the flat shelf at the bottom of a window, inside or outside.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: A sill is also the bottom part of a door frame.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: In geology, a sill is a flat layer of rock that formed when hot melted rock pushed between other layers.↗ Example: The cat sat on the window sill in the sun.↗ · We put our bean seeds on the sill to grow.↗ · A robin landed on the sill outside.↗ · Grandma left a pie to cool on the window sill.↗ · There was dust all along the sill.↗ · Rain dripped off the sill onto the path.↗ · Don't sit on the sill of an open window — it is not safe.↗ · When he had done pecking he got upon the window-sill, opened his wings, and flew right away.↗

silliness — Everyday, meaning 1: Being silly: behaving in a foolish, funny or not serious way.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: A silly act or silly talk.↗ Example: That's enough silliness — please sit down.↗ · The party was full of giggles and silliness.↗ · I laughed at the silliness of the joke.↗ · Alice was tired of the silliness at the tea party.↗ · Their silliness on the climbing frame was dangerous.↗ · A bit of silliness after a hard test is fine.↗ · For that one moment he dropped his silliness and spoke with dignity.↗

silly — Everyday, meaning 1: Silly means funny in a foolish way: a silly hat.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Silly means not sensible or not wise: a silly mistake.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: «Silly» can be said kindly to someone who is being foolish.↗ Everyday, meaning 4: A silly can also be a foolish person, often said kindly to someone.↗ Early Modern English, meaning 1: Foolish or ridiculous in a way that is funny or a bit daft.↗ Example: The clown wore 3 silly hats.↗ · They told silly jokes for 10 minutes.↗ · It is silly to buy 20 umbrellas.↗ · How many silly faces did he draw?↗ · I made a silly mistake and forgot to carry the one.↗ · Don't be silly, it's only a spider.↗ · The children giggled at the silly song.↗ · Well, that was one big silly.↗ · For anger killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one.↗ (Writings JOB.5.2, JPS 1917)↗ · And Ephraim is become like a silly dove, without understanding; they call unto Egypt, they go to Assyria.↗ (Prophets HOS.7.11, JPS 1917)↗ · “Of course you have, you silly.↗ (Peter Pan) · "Who says that you are silly?"↗ (Fifty Famous Stories Retold) · Well, that was one big silly.↗ (English Fairy Tales)

silt — Everyday, meaning 1: Fine sand, mud and soil carried by flowing water and left at the bottom of rivers, lakes or harbours.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: (verb) «Silt up» means to become blocked with silt.↗ Example: The river left silt on the fields after the flood.↗ · Silt makes the soil rich for farming.↗ · The harbour silted up over time.↗ · The water was brown with silt.↗ · Silt is finer than sand.↗ · Farmers by the Nile used the silt to grow crops.↗

silver — Everyday, meaning 1: Silver is a shiny, grey-white precious metal used for jewellery, coins and cutlery.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Silver is the shiny grey-white colour.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: Silver means second place: a silver medal.↗ Everyday, meaning 4: «Silver» is also things made of silver, like knives, forks and spoons.↗ Example: She won a silver medal in the race.↗ · Grandma's ring is made of silver.↗ · The fish had silver scales.↗ · Every cloud has a silver lining.↗ · Silver conducts electricity very well.↗ · The full moon looked silver over the sea.↗ · Please polish the silver for the party.↗ · Well, they began taking gold and silver.↗ · And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.↗ (Torah GEN.13.2, JPS 1917)↗ · to devise skilful works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, (Torah EXO.31.4, JPS 1917)↗ · And to devise skilful works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, (Torah EXO.35.32, JPS 1917)↗ · Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water.↗ (Prophets ISA.1.22, JPS 1917)↗ · And the Almighty be thy treasure, and precious silver unto thee; (Writings JOB.22.25, JPS 1917)↗ · Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands.↗ (Writings PSA.115.4, JPS 1917)↗

silverback — Everyday, meaning 1: A silverback is a grown-up male gorilla, the leader of a gorilla family, named after the silvery-grey hair on his back.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: (informal) Sometimes people jokingly call a strong older man who leads a group a silverback.↗ Example: The silverback beat his chest to scare off danger.↗ · A silverback can weigh twice as much as a man.↗ · The baby gorillas played near the silverback.↗ · The silverback leads his family through the forest.↗ · Gorillas' hair turns silver when they are about twelve years old.↗ · At the zoo, the silverback sat calmly eating leaves.↗ · Dad is the silverback of our house, Mum joked.↗

silverfish — Everyday, meaning 1: A silverfish is a small, shiny, silver-grey insect with no wings that wriggles like a fish and lives in damp corners of houses.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: (rare) Silverfish is also a name for some small silvery fish.↗ Example: A silverfish darted across the bathroom floor.↗ · Silverfish like damp, dark places.↗ · Silverfish nibble paper, glue and old books.↗ · It is an insect even though it is called a fish.↗ · We spotted three silverfish under the sink.↗ · Silverfish are harmless to people but annoying.↗

silversmith — In Jewish tradition, meaning 1: A craftsman who makes things out of silver.↗ Example: The image perchance, which the craftsman hath melted, and the goldsmith spread over with gold, the silversmith casting silver chains?↗ (Prophets ISA.40.19, JPS 1917)↗

silvery — Everyday, meaning 1: Silvery means shiny and grey-white, like silver.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: A silvery sound is high, clear and pleasant, like a little bell.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: Silvery hair is grey or white and shining.↗ Example: The moon cast a silvery light on the river.↗ · Small silvery fish darted under the bridge.↗ · Grandma has beautiful silvery hair.↗ · We heard the silvery sound of a little bell.↗ · Aluminium is a light, silvery metal.↗ · The frost made the grass look silvery in the morning.↗ · The fairy had a silvery voice.↗ · A silvery thread among the stars, it soon drifted low beneath the horizon.↗

sima — Everyday, meaning 1: (geology, older term) The lower layer of the Earth's crust, under the oceans and below the continents, made of heavy rock rich in silicon and magnesium (si + ma).↗ Everyday, meaning 2: (a name) Sima is a given name in several countries, for example in Iran, Croatia and Czechia.↗ Example: Sima is the heavier layer of rock under the ocean floor.↗ · The old textbook showed sial on top of sima.↗ · Basalt is a rock typical of the sima.↗ · The word sima comes from silicon and magnesium.↗ · Sima is a girl in my class.↗ · Under the continents, the lighter sial rests on the heavier sima.↗

simeon — In Jewish tradition, meaning 1: Simeon is a man's name: the second son of Jacob and Leah, and also the tribe that came from him.↗ Example: These are the families of Simeon.↗ (Torah EXO.6.15, JPS 1917)↗ · Of Simeon, Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.↗ (Torah NUM.1.6, JPS 1917)↗ · Simeon and Levi are brethren; weapons of violence their kinship.↗ (Torah GEN.49.5, JPS 1917)↗ · The sons of Simeon: Nemuel, and Jamim, Jarib, Zerah, Shaul; (Writings 1CH.4.24, JPS 1917)↗ · These are the sons of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun; (Writings 1CH.2.1, JPS 1917)↗ · This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Simeon according to their families.↗ (Prophets JOS.19.8, JPS 1917)↗

similar — Everyday, meaning 1: Almost the same as something else, but not exactly.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: (maths) Of shapes: the same shape but maybe a different size, with all angles equal and sides in the same ratio.↗ Example: My jumper is similar to yours, but mine has stripes.↗ · The twins look very similar.↗ · Frogs and toads are similar but not the same.↗ · A small square and a big square are similar shapes.↗ · Write the similarities and differences between the two stories.↗ · We have similar ideas for the project.↗ · These two triangles are similar: each side of the big one is twice as long.↗ · The weather today is similar to yesterday.↗ · This work then, or a similar predecessor, is at least as old as a.d.↗ 200.↗ (Sefer Yetzirah, Westcott 1893)↗ · This work then, or a similar predecessor, is at least as old as A.D.↗ 200.↗ (Sefer Yetzirah, Westcott 1893)↗ · The Hebrew term תֹּהוּ tohu is much more similar in sense to the Greek kháos than it is to English chaos.↗ (Sefer Yetzirah, Sefaria community translation)↗

similarity — In Jewish tradition, meaning 1: Similarity is a way in which two things are alike.↗

similarly — In Jewish tradition, meaning 1: In the same way; likewise.↗ Example: Similarly, all cuneiform characters originated from two symbols Y < those for one and ten.↗ (Mordell, The Origin of Letters and Numerals according to Sefer Yetzirah (1914))↗

simile — Everyday, meaning 1: A simile is a way of describing something by comparing it to something else using «like» or «as»: «as brave as a lion», «she ran like the wind».↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Similes help the reader picture something more clearly or feel it more strongly.↗ Example: «As white as snow» is a simile.↗ · «He ate like a horse» is a simile using «like».↗ · Write a simile to describe the storm.↗ · «Her eyes shone like stars» is a simile.↗ · A simile uses «like» or «as»; a metaphor does not.↗ · «The classroom was as quiet as a mouse» is a simile.↗ · Try to invent new similes instead of using old ones.↗

similitude — In Jewish tradition, meaning 1: A similitude is a likeness or form, an old word for something that resembles another thing.↗ Example: with him do I speak mouth to mouth, even manifestly, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the LORD doth he behold; wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against My servant, against Moses?'↗ (Torah NUM.12.8, JPS 1917)↗ · The Twenty-fourth Path is the Imaginative Intelligence, and it is so called because it gives a likeness to all the similitudes, which are created in like manner similar to its harmonious elegancies.↗ (Sefer Yetzirah, Westcott 1887)↗ · The Twenty-fourth Path is the Imaginative Intelli- gence, and it is so called because it gives a likeness to all the similitudes which are created in like manner similar to its harmonious elegancies.↗ (Sefer Yetzirah, Westcott 1893)↗ · And under it was the similitude of oxen, which did compass it round about, for ten cubits, compassing the sea round about.↗ (Writings 2CH.4.3, JPS 1917)↗ · I have also spoken unto the prophets, and I have multiplied visions; and by the ministry of the prophets have I used similitudes.↗ (Prophets HOS.12.11, JPS 1917)↗