📖 S — The English dictionary · page 95

sterility — In Jewish tradition, meaning 1: The condition of being unable to have children or to produce crops; barrenness.↗ Example: These are double, because their opposites take part in life, opposed to Life is Death; to Peace, War; to Riches, Poverty; to Beauty or Reputation, Deformity or Disrepute; to Wisdom, Ignorance; to Fruitfulness, Sterility; to Power, Slavery.↗ (Sefer Yetzirah, Westcott 1887)↗

sterling — Everyday, meaning 1: Sterling is the money of the United Kingdom; its main unit is the pound (£).↗ «Pound sterling» is its full name.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Sterling silver is silver that is 92.5% pure.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: Sterling (adjective) means excellent and reliable: sterling work, a sterling effort.↗ Example: The price is given in pounds sterling.↗ · £1 sterling is worth 100 pence.↗ · Grandma's necklace is sterling silver.↗ · The volunteers did sterling work at the fair.↗ · We changed our sterling into euros for the trip to Ireland.↗ · The goalkeeper made a sterling save.↗ · Sterling is one of the oldest currencies still used.↗

stern — Everyday, meaning 1: Stern means serious and strict, not smiling, like a teacher who wants you to behave.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: The stern is the back part of a ship or boat.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: Stern can also describe a hard, serious test or warning: a stern warning.↗ Example: The headteacher gave us a stern look.↗ · Grandpa's voice was stern: «Go to bed now.»↗ · We got a stern warning about running in the corridor.↗ · We sat at the stern of the boat.↗ · The captain stood at the stern and steered.↗ · She is stern but fair.↗ · The ship was cleaned from stem to stern.↗ · Now, Minos was a stern and pitiless king.↗

sternly — Everyday, meaning 1: In a strict, serious and unsmiling way, often when someone has done wrong.↗ Example: «Sit down,» said the teacher sternly.↗ · Badger looked sternly at Toad.↗ · Dad sternly reminded us to look both ways.↗ · The judge spoke sternly to the thief.↗ · She frowned sternly at the muddy boots.↗ · The sign sternly warned: No Swimming.↗ · “You know it now,” the king replied sternly.↗

steroid — Everyday, meaning 1: A steroid is a kind of chemical, made in the body or as a medicine, that can calm swelling or act like hormones.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Steroid creams and inhalers are medicines doctors give for eczema, asthma and other illnesses.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: Steroids (anabolic steroids) are also drugs some people take to build muscles; using them like this is often against sports rules and can harm health.↗ Everyday, meaning 4: (informal) «On steroids» means much bigger or stronger than usual: «It's like a skateboard on steroids».↗ Example: The doctor gave me a steroid cream for my eczema.↗ · My brown inhaler has a small dose of steroid in it.↗ · The runner was banned for taking steroids.↗ · Taking steroids without a doctor can damage your heart.↗ · This new bike is like a scooter on steroids.↗ · Your body makes some steroids naturally, like hormones.↗

stethoscope — Everyday, meaning 1: A doctor's tool with earpieces and a tube with a small disc at the end, used to listen to the heart, lungs and breathing.↗ Example: The doctor listened to my chest with a stethoscope.↗ · The disc of the stethoscope felt cold.↗ · Through the stethoscope I heard my heart beating.↗ · The vet used a stethoscope on our dog.↗ · She wore a toy stethoscope for the school play.↗ · Count the heartbeats you hear in 15 seconds, then multiply by 4.↗

stew — Everyday, meaning 1: A meal of meat or vegetables cooked slowly in liquid in a pot.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: To cook food slowly in liquid.↗ e.g. "stewed apples".↗ Everyday, meaning 3: Informally, "in a stew" means worried and upset; to "stew" means to keep worrying about something.↗ Example: We had beef stew for dinner.↗ · Irish stew is made with lamb and potatoes.↗ · Grandma stewed some apples for the crumble.↗ · The stew cooked slowly for three hours.↗ · Stop stewing about the test and go to bed.↗ · She was in a real stew about losing her keys.↗ · The Fowler with great joy ran home to his wife, who speedily made a savoury stew of the Yellow Bird.↗ · And if thy offering be a meal-offering of the stewing-pan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil.↗ (Torah LEV.2.7, JPS 1917)↗ · And every meal-offering that is baked in the oven, and all that is dressed in the stewing-pan, and on the griddle, shall be the priest's that offereth it.↗ (Torah LEV.7.9, JPS 1917)↗

steward — Everyday, meaning 1: A steward is a person whose job is to look after passengers on a plane, ship or train.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: A person who helps organise and keep people safe at a big event, like a match or a concert.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: A person who looks after land, property or something precious for others.↗ Example: The steward brought us drinks on the plane.↗ · Ask a steward if you get lost at the match.↗ · The stewards showed people to their seats.↗ · Listen to the steward during the safety talk.↗ · Farmers are stewards of the land.↗ · The steward checked our tickets on the ferry.↗ · The steward said that he would manage this all right.↗ · And they came near to the steward of Joseph's house, and they spoke unto him at the door of the house, (Torah GEN.43.19, JPS 1917)↗ · And he commanded the steward of his house, saying: 'Fill the men's sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put every man's money in his sack's mouth.↗ (Torah GEN.44.1, JPS 1917)↗ · And when Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house: 'Bring the men into the house, and kill the beasts, and prepare the meat; for the men shall dine with me at noon.'↗ (Torah GEN.43.16, JPS 1917)↗ · So the steward took away their food, and the wine that they should drink, and gave them pulse.↗ (Writings DAN.1.16, JPS 1917)↗ · Then said Daniel to the steward, whom the chief of the officers had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: (Writings DAN.1.11, JPS 1917)↗ · Thus saith the Lord, the GOD of hosts: Go, get thee unto this steward, even unto Shebna, who is over the house: (Prophets ISA.22.15, JPS 1917)↗

stewardship — Everyday, meaning 1: Looking after something carefully on behalf of someone else, or for the future.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: (church) Christians believe God made the world and gave people stewardship of it: the duty to care for the earth, animals and gifts, not waste them.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: (money, formal) Managing money or a business carefully and responsibly.↗ Example: Christians believe humans have stewardship of God's creation.↗ · Planting trees is good stewardship of the land.↗ · The club grew under the stewardship of its new coach.↗ · Our eco-club teaches stewardship of the school garden.↗ · Stewardship means looking after what is not only ours.↗ · The church talked about stewardship of time and money.↗

stick — Everyday, meaning 1: A stick is a thin piece of wood, often fallen from a tree.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: A stick is a long thin thing: a walking stick, a hockey stick, a glue stick, a stick of celery.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: To stick is to fix one thing to another with glue or tape.↗ Everyday, meaning 4: To stick is to push a pointed thing into something: stick a pin in.↗ Everyday, meaning 5: To stick is to become fixed and unable to move: the door sticks.↗ Everyday, meaning 6: To stick with something is to keep doing it.↗ Everyday, meaning 7: Stick can also be an informal, affectionate name for a friend, as in "old stick".↗ Example: Tom collected 24 sticks for the fire.↗ · Each pack has 6 glue sticks.↗ · She sticks 5 stickers on each page.↗ · A stick is 30 centimeters long.↗ · The dog fetched the stick from the river.↗ · Grandpa walks with a stick.↗ · Stick the picture into your book.↗ · Friends stick together.↗ · Stick to the path in the forest.↗ · “OLD Stick!” said the Rocket, “impossible!↗ · And they that found him gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the congregation.↗ (Torah NUM.15.33, JPS 1917)↗ · And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks upon the sabbath day.↗ (Torah NUM.15.32, JPS 1917)↗ · And there shall be six branches going out of the sides thereof: three branches of the candlestick out of the one side thereof, and three branches of the candle-stick out of the other side thereof; (Torah EXO.25.32, JPS 1917)↗ · They are joined one to another; they stick together, that they cannot be sundered.↗ (Writings JOB.41.9, JPS 1917)↗ · And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thy hand before their eyes.↗ (Prophets EZK.37.20, JPS 1917)↗ · And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither, and made the iron to swim.↗ (Prophets 2KI.6.6, JPS 1917)↗

sticker — Everyday, meaning 1: A sticker is a small picture or label with glue on the back that you can stick on things.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: A price sticker is a small label in a shop that shows how much something costs.↗ Example: Anna has 9 stickers and gives 4 to a friend.↗ · Max buys 3 sheets of stickers with 10 stickers on each.↗ · Zoe loses a quarter of her stickers.↗ · The teacher gave me a gold star sticker for my spelling.↗ · I stuck a dinosaur sticker on my lunch box.↗ · Mia keeps her stickers in a sticker book.↗ · Peel the sticker off slowly so it does not tear.↗ · The price sticker on the toy says 5 dollars.↗

stickleback — Everyday, meaning 1: A stickleback is a small fish with sharp spines on its back, found in ponds, streams and coastal waters of the Northern Hemisphere.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: The male three-spined stickleback builds a nest of plants and turns red underneath in the breeding season.↗ Example: We caught a stickleback while pond dipping and then let it go.↗ · The stickleback has spiky spines on its back.↗ · The male stickleback builds a nest and guards the eggs.↗ · In spring the male stickleback's belly turns red.↗ · Herons and kingfishers eat sticklebacks.↗ · Sticklebacks raise their spines so bigger fish can't swallow them.↗ · Scientists study sticklebacks to learn how animals change over time.↗

sticky — Everyday, meaning 1: Sticky means covered with something like glue, honey or syrup that sticks to things.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Sticky can mean able to stick to surfaces, like sticky tape or a sticky note.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: Sticky weather is hot and damp, making you feel sweaty.↗ Everyday, meaning 4: A sticky situation is difficult or awkward.↗ Example: My hands are sticky from the honey.↗ · Hold the picture with sticky tape.↗ · Write the reminder on a sticky note.↗ · It was a hot, sticky summer night.↗ · The floor was sticky where the juice spilled.↗ · We were in a sticky situation when the bus left without us.↗ · Spider webs are sticky to catch insects.↗ · They could not pull their feet out of the sticky mass.↗

stiff — Everyday, meaning 1: Stiff means hard and not easy to bend or move.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: If your body is stiff, your muscles or joints hurt and are hard to move.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: Stiff means difficult or strong, like a stiff test or a stiff wind.↗ Everyday, meaning 4: Stiff behaviour is too formal and not friendly or relaxed.↗ Everyday, meaning 5: Bored stiff or scared stiff means very bored or very scared.↗ Everyday, meaning 6: Stiff can also mean stubborn and refusing to give way.↗ Example: The new shoes are stiff and hurt my feet.↗ · My legs were stiff after the long walk.↗ · Cardboard is stiffer than paper.↗ · I woke up with a stiff neck.↗ · A stiff wind blew across the field.↗ · The test was stiff, but I passed.↗ · I was scared stiff during the film.↗ · Who's a gwine fer ter stan' stiff-kneed en bol'.↗ · For I know thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck; behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, ye have been rebellious against the LORD; and how much more after my death?↗ (Torah DEU.31.27, JPS 1917)↗ · He runneth upon him with a stiff neck, with the thick bosses of his bucklers.↗ (Writings JOB.15.26, JPS 1917)↗ · He is chastened also with pain upon his bed, and all his bones grow stiff; (Writings JOB.33.19, JPS 1917)↗ · yet they hearkened not unto Me, nor inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff; they did worse than their fathers.↗ (Prophets JER.7.26, JPS 1917)↗

stiffen — Everyday, meaning 1: To stiffen is to become hard, firm or difficult to bend.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: When a person or animal stiffens, their body suddenly goes tense and still, often from fear or anger.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: To stiffen something is to make it firmer or stronger.↗ Everyday, meaning 4: To stiffen can also mean to turn into stone.↗ Example: Whisk the egg whites until they stiffen.↗ · My legs stiffened after the long walk.↗ · The dog stiffened when it heard a noise.↗ · She stiffened when the stranger spoke to her.↗ · Starch is used to stiffen collars.↗ · The clay stiffens as it dries.↗ · Stretch after running so your muscles don't stiffen.↗ · Calling to his friends to avert their faces, he drew it from his wallet, and held it before Phineus and his formidable body-guard, whereupon they all stiffened into stone.↗ · And he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God; but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart from turning unto the LORD, the God of Israel.↗ (Writings 2CH.36.13, JPS 1917)↗

stiffly — Everyday, meaning 1: Stiffly means in a stiff way, without bending easily, as when your body is sore or cold.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Stiffly means in a cold, formal, unfriendly way: «she answered stiffly».↗ Example: Grandpa got up stiffly from his chair.↗ · After the race I walked stiffly to the car.↗ · The soldier stood stiffly to attention.↗ · «No, thank you,» she said stiffly.↗ · The robot moved its arms stiffly.↗ · He bowed stiffly to the guests.↗ · The frozen washing hung stiffly on the line.↗