| 释义 |
▪ I. S|ɛs|
the nineteenth letter of the English and other modern alphabets, and the eighteenth of the ancient Roman alphabet, derives its form (through the {elatS} and {egsigma1}, {egsigma2} of early Latin and Greek inscriptions) from the Phœnician W (Hebrew שׁ shīn), which represented a voiceless sibilant: in some of the Semitic langs. |s|, in others |ʃ|. (Each of these phonetic symbols is intended to represent a class of sounds the articulatory positions of which vary considerably; the difference between the two classes is acoustically very recognizable, but the nature of the essential difference in formation is still obscure.) In ancient Greek and Latin the value of the letter is believed to have been always |s|. In late L. s between vowels was in most instances pronounced |z|, a sound which was not separately represented in the Latin alphabet. Hence when the Roman letters were adopted in OE., the letter S was used to represent both the unaltered Germanic |s|, and the |z| which had been developed from that sound in certain positions.
In OE. s was pronounced |s| initially and finally, and medially when it was either contiguous with a voiceless consonant or began the second element of a compound; medially between voiced sounds it was pronounced |z|. The southern dialect had in ME., and possibly in late OE., the peculiarity of voicing the initial s (in native words) as well as the initial f and þ. This phonetic habit extended to Kent as late as 1340, as is shown by spellings like zenne (OE. synn, sin) in the Ayenbite of Inwyt; it is now confined to the south-western dialects.
In mod. English the general rule is that s is pronounced |s| at the beginning of a word or of the second element of a compound, and when doubled or in contact with a voiceless consonant. Between vowels, and when phonetically final, a single s is mostly |z|. But there are many anomalies and uncertainties, especially in classical derivatives: cf., e.g., absurd |æbˈsɜːd|, observe |əbz-|; with regard to some words usage is divided, as in absolve |æbs-, æbz-|, and the words in -ive, e.g. effusive, evasive. Even ss is in some words sounded |z|, as in dissolve (against dissent, dissect, etc.), dessert, possess.
The phonetic combinations |sj|, |zj|, when rapidly pronounced, are very similar in acoustic effect to the simple consonants |ʃ|, |ʒ|, the position of the tongue for these being intermediate between the positions for |s| or |z| and |j|. Hence in some words where earlier Eng. had |sj| or |zj|, written either as s (before diphthongal u) or as si, the modern language has |ʃ| or |ʒ|, so that the letter has acquired these two new values. Examples are sure, sugar, censure, mission |ˈmɪʃən|, Asia |ˈeɪʃə|, treasure |-ʒə(r)|, evasion |-ʒən|. In some varieties of vulgar speech this tendency is carried much further, as in the pronunciations |ʃuː|, |prɪˈʒuːm| for sue, presume.
S is silent in a few words adopted from Old French, as in aisle, isle (hence also pseudo-etymologically in island); in the Law French mesne, demesne, a silent s was inserted by false analogy.
I.
1. a. The letter and its sound.
c1000ælfric Gram. ii. (Z.) 6 Semivocales syndon seofan: f, l, m, n, r, s, x. c1460Pol. Rel. & L. Poems 2 An S. for Salisbery, without any avision. 1709Steele Tatler No. 77 ⁋1 Some [lispers] never uttered the letter H; and others had as mortal an Aversion for S. 1842Gentl. Mag. May 480/2 The letter S was the device of Henry of Lancaster.
b. s-aorist (Philol.), in certain Indo-European languages, an aorist formed from the verbal stem by adding s and the ending; a sigmatic aorist.
1895Conway & Rouse tr. Brugmann's Compar. Gram. Indo-Gmc. Lang. IV. 371 Special vowel-grades for the root-syllable, as in the s-aorist.., cannot be made out for the parent language. 1933C. D. Buck Compar. Gram. Greek & Latin 281 The distinctive IE aorist is the s-aorist formed from the root by the addition of s and the secondary endings. 1962C. W. Watkins Indo-Europ. Orig. Celtic Verb i. 55 The more common situation in Vedic is one where a root athematic present has an s-aorist associated with it.
2. a. The shape of the letter; an object having this shape.
1426Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 17952 Every .s. y-crokyd is, lyche a crose highe in the top. 1614B. Jonson Barth. Fair ii. ii, I doe water the ground in knots, as I goe like a great Garden-pot, you may follow me by the S.S.s. I make. 1688R. Holme Armoury iii. xvi. (Roxb.) 58/1 The seuerall parts of a Viol... The S'es of the belly or round holes. 1894Outing (U.S.) XXIII. 407/1 Make an S of wire, sharpened at one end. 1898Haweis Old Violins 77 One ‘ʃ’ is a shade lower than the other, a practice so common with Strad..that it must have been intentional. 1899Blackw. Mag. 331/2 Round the great S the river made She battled her blind way.
b. collar of S, S's, SS., or Esses: see collar n. 3 c.
c. attrib. and Comb., as S-curved, S-decorated, S-necked, S-scrolled, S-shaped adjs.; S-bend, S-curve, S-hook, S-ornament, S-perforation, S-piece, S-rope, S-scroll, S-sofa, S-trap, S-turn.
1930Motor 10 June 892/2 We were negotiating an *S bend on the proper side of the line on a main road. 1931D. L. Sayers Five Red Herrings xi. 115 The road makes a very sharp and dangerous S-bend. 1975R. Browning Emperor Julian x. 187 The northern section of the frontier formed a great S-bend.
1839Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. II. 139/1 He is compelled to connect by a *S curve. 1977R. E. Harrington Quintain xii. 109 Fronck negotiated an s-curve, and..pulled the Ford out onto a straight stretch.
1940Burlington Mag. Mar. 81/2 The wings with their *S-curved shape. 1961M. W. Barley Eng. Farmhouse & Cottage iv. i. 189 An English boat came into Boston in 1628 with 3,500 tiles aboard, and the earliest references to pantiles, the S-curved roofing tile, occur in the 1630s.
1963G. Daniel in Foster & Alcock Culture & Environment ii. 21 The *S-decorated pottery which may be a degeneration of the duck motifs found on Early Iron Age pottery in Brittany and north Spain.
1844Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. VII. 152/1 An *S hook of iron must be fitted into the eye of the valve.
1896Royal Nat. Hist. V. 89 The foregoing assemblage of *S-necked or Cryptodiran tortoises.
1934Burlington Mag. Sept. 120/2 A finely-carved double-headed eagle, resting on a symmetrical *S-ornament at the bottom.
1851D. Wilson Prehist. Ann. (1863) I. ii. iv. 391 Produce the appearance of an *S or Ogee perforation.
1891Kipling Light that Failed viii, Uncouth brick and zinc mysteries supported by iron stanchions and clamped by *S-pieces.
1883W. S. Gresley Gloss. Coal-Mining 234 *S-rope, the winding rope which passes round the under side of the drum from or to the pulley; so called because it takes the form of the letter S.
1934Burlington Mag. Sept. 120/2 The symmetrically inverted *S-scroll. 1956G. Taylor Silver vii. 143 The graceful and irregular S- and C-scrolls that are the chief ingredient of the style in its linear form.
1934Burlington Mag. Sept. 125/2 The lambrequin ‘apron’ and the *S-scrolled legs both, I would suggest, came to Europe from India. 1955R. Fastnedge Eng. Furnit. Styles iii. 77 Early examples with S-scrolled legs and bun feet were frequently decorated with floral, or later, seaweed, marquetry.
1837Kirby Richardson's Fauna Bor.-Amer. iv. 8 The third becoming a broken or *S-shaped band. 1937T. Rattigan French without Tears ii. ii. 57 From sideways on it's a bit S-shaped, if you know what I mean. 1966Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. xlii. 3 Chicane,..an S-shaped curve of a race track.
1906W. De Morgan Joseph Vance xxvi. 211, I found myself sitting beside Miss Spencer on a thing like an S in the back drawing-room... As I sat by Miss Spencer on the *S-sofa.
[1882S. S. Hellyer Lect. Sci. & Art Sanitary Plumbing iii. 108 About the first form of trap used for fixing under water-closets was the syphon or round-pipe trap, i.e., a pipe bent and recurved in the shape of the letter {horizS}.] 1885,1976*S trap [see P trap s.v. P III. 1].
1920A. J. L. Scott Sixty Squad 56 Putting in a couple of ‘*S’ turns, he made a good slow landing. 1973Times 3 Mar. 15/2 The Labour Party has done an S-turn when the Government has merely done a U-turn.
3. Used like the other letters of the alphabet to denote serial order; applied e.g. to the nineteenth (or more usually the eighteenth, either I or J being omitted) group or section in classification, to the eighteenth sheet of a book or quire of a MS., etc.
4. Abbreviations.
a. S. = various proper names, as Samuel, Sarah, etc.; S. Her. (also l.c.) = Sable; S. Anat. and Zool. = sacral (vertebra); S = Saint; so SS. = Saints; S. † = Sir (prefixed to the name of a knight or a priest); S Bacteriol. = smooth a.; S. = snow (in ship's log-book); S. = Society (L. societas), as in F.R.S., Fellow of the Royal Society, F.S.A., Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries; S. Mus. = Solo; S., strain (of virus etc.), spec. in S.19, S19 = strain 19 s.v. strain n.1; S. Chem. = Sulphur; S.A., s.a., sex appeal; S.A., S-A (Med.), sino-auricular or -atrial; S.A., small arms; S.A., S/A [F. société anonyme; also It. società anonima, Sp. sociedad anónima], in France, Italy, etc., a limited or joint-stock company; S.A. = Sturmabteilung; S.A.A., small arm(s) ammunition; S.A.C., senior aircraftman; SAC (U.S.), Strategic Air Command; S.A.C.EUR., SACEUR, Saceur (also with pronunc. ˈsækjʊə(r)), Supreme Allied Commander Europe; S.A.C.W., senior aircraftwoman; S.A.E., Society of Automotive Engineers (used spec. to designate a scale of viscosity used for lubrication oils); S.A.E., s.a.e., stamped addressed envelope; S.A.L., South Arabian League; SAM, surface-to-air missile; S & L (U.S.), savings and loan (association); S and M, S–M, sadism and masochism, sado-masochism; SAR, search and rescue; S.A.S., Special Air Service; SAT (U.S.), scholastic aptitude test; S.B., simultaneous broadcast; S.B. = smooth bore (gun); S.B., Special Branch; S.B., stretcher bearer; S.B.A., sick-berth attendant; SBA (U.S.), Small Business Administration; S.B.A.C., Society of British Aerospace Companies (formerly Society of British Aircraft Constructors); SBM, sbm, single buoy moor(ing); SBN, Standard Book Number (now ISBN: see I 3); SBR, styrene-butadiene rubber; S.C., s.c., self-contained; SC, structural change (in Transformational Grammar); SCAP (also with pronunc. skæp), Supreme Commander Allied Powers (in Japan); also used transf. of the Command Headquarters; Sc.D. [L. Scientiæ Doctor], Doctor of Science; S.C.F., Save the Children Fund; scf, standard cubic feet (i.e. cubic feet of gas at standard temperature and pressure); SCLC (U.S.), Southern Christian Leadership Conference; S.C.M., State Certified Midwife; S.C.M., Student Christian Movement; SCP, single-cell protein; S.C.R., senior common room (orig. and chiefly in the University of Oxford); SCR (Electronics), silicon-controlled rectifier; S.C.U.A., Suez Canal Users' Association; S.D., s.d., semi-detached (house); S.D., sequence date; S.D. = Sicherheitsdienst; s.d., S.D. (Statistics), standard deviation; SD, structural description (in Transformational Grammar); S.D.A., Scottish Development Agency; S.D.E.C.E. [F. Service de documentation étrangère et de contre-espionnage], the official counter-intelligence agency in France; S.D.F., Social Democratic Federation; hence S.D.F.er; S.D.I. (U.S.), Strategic Defence Initiative (see Star Wars s.v. star n.1 20); S.D.L.P., Social Democratic and Labour Party; S.D.O., Subdivisional Officer; S.D.P., Social Democratic Party; S.D.R., special drawing right (usu. pl.); S.D.S. [G. Sozialistischer Deutscher Studentenbund], the Federation of Socialist Students (in West Germany); SDS (U.S.), Students for a Democratic Society; s.e.(m.), S.E.(M.) (Statistics), standard error (of the mean); S.E., S/E, Stock Exchange; S.E.A.C. (also with pronunc. ˈsiːæk), South East Asia Command; SEC (U.S.), Securities and Exchange Commission; SECAM [F. séquentiel couleur à mémoire colour sequence by memory], a colour television system developed in France and widely used; SEM, scanning electron microscope, microscopy; S.E.N., State Enrolled Nurse; SERPS, Serps |sɜːps|, State earnings-related pension scheme; S.E.T. (also with pronunc. sɛt), selective employment tax; S.F., San Francisco; S.F., s.f., science fiction; S.F. = Sinn Fein; S.F.A., Scottish Football Association (cf. F.A. s.v. F III. 3); S.F.A., Sweet Fanny Adams (cf. F.A. s.v. F III. 3, Fanny Adams 2); S.F.I.O. [F. Section française de l'Internationale ouvrière, French section of the workers' International], the French socialist party, known since 1969 as the Parti Socialiste; s.h., shit-house; S.H.F., s.h.f. (Radio), superhigh frequency; S.H.O., Senior House Officer; s.h.p., S.H.P., shaft horsepower; SI [F. système international (d'unités)], International System of Units (see Système International and international a. 1 c); S.I.D., s.i.d. (Radio), sudden ionospheric disturbance; SIDS, sudden infant death syndrome; S.I.N.S., ship's inertial navigation system; S.I.S., Secret Intelligence Service; S.I.W., self-inflicted wound (see also quot. 1929); S.J., Society of Jesus (cf. Jesuit n.); S.L.A., Symbionese Liberation Army; SLBM, submarine-launched ballistic missile; SLCM, submarine-launched cruise missile; SLE (Med.), systemic lupus erythematosus; S level, Scholarship (also, Special) level (of the General Certificate of Education examination); S.L.P., Scottish Labour Party; SLR (Photogr.), single-lens reflex (camera); S–M: see S and M above; S.M., sergeant-major; S.M., short metre (cf. short a., n. and adv. 26); S.M. = Silver Medallist (in shooting competition); S.M., s.m., stage manager; S.M.L.E., short magazine Lee-Enfield (rifle); S.M.M.T., Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders; S.M.O.N. (see smon as main entry); SMP, statutory maternity pay (payable in the U.K. by an employer to an employee on maternity leave, and recoverable from the government Department of Health and Social Security); SMPTE (U.S.), Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers; SNCC (U.S.), Student Nonviolent Co-ordinating Committee; S.N.C.F. [F. Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer], the French State railway authority, also used for the railway system itself; S.N.F., s.n.f., solids, non-fat; SNG, simulated, substitute, or synthetic natural gas; S.N.O., Senior Naval Officer (cf. N.O. s.v. N II. 1); S.N.P., Scottish National Party; SNU |snjuː| Astr., solar neutrino unit (see quot. 1970); S.O., standing order; S.O.B., s.o.b. (chiefly U.S.), son of a bitch, also silly old bastard, etc.; S.O.E., Special Operations Executive; S. of S., Secretary of State; S.O.L., s.o.l., soldier (also strictly, shit, surely: see quot. 1917) out of luck (U.S.); SOP, standard operating procedure (U.S., orig. Mil.); S.P., s.p., starting price; S.P.A.B., Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings; S.P.C.K., Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge; S.P.D. [G. Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands], the Social Democratic Party in West Germany; S.P.E., Society for Pure English; S.P.G., Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, etc.; S.P.Q.R. [L. Senatus Populusque Romanus], the Senate and People of Rome; also in joc. adaptations, esp. = small profits, quick returns; S.P.R., Society for Psychical Research; SQ [f. stereophonic-quadraphonic], a designation (proprietary in the U.S.) of audio equipment used with reference to a system of quadraphonic recording and reproduction; S.R., Socialist Revolutionary (Party); S.R., Southern Railway; S.R., Special Reserve; sr, steradian; S–R, stimulus–response adj. (in Psychol.); SRBC (Med.), sheep red blood cell(s); S.R.M.N., State Registered Mental Nurse; S.R.N., State Registered Nurse; sRNA († S-RNA) (Biol.), soluble RNA; SRO (U.S.), single-room occupancy; S.R.O. (orig. U.S.), standing room only; SRS(-A) (Med.), slow-reacting substance (of anaphylaxis); S.S. = Schutzstaffel; S.S., secret service, security service; SS, social security (benefit); S.S., s.s., ss., steamship; SSB, ssb (Radio), single side-band (transmission); SSBN [Submarine (symbol SS), Ballistic, Nuclear], a nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine; S.S.N., severely subnormal; SSP, statutory sick pay (payable in the U.K. by an employer to a sick employee and recoverable from the government Department of Health and Social Security); SSPE (Path.) subacute sclerosing panencephalitis; SSR, secondary surveillance radar; S.S.R. [Russ. Sovétskaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respúblika], Soviet Socialist Republic (cf. ); SSRC, Social Science Research Council; S.S.S.I., site of special scientific interest (so designated by the Nature Conservancy Council); cf. A.O.N.B. s.v. A III; SST, supersonic transport; S.T.C., short-title catalogue, esp. A Short-Title Catalogue of Books Printed in England, Scotland, and Ireland 1475–1640, by A. W. Pollard and G. R. Redgrave, first published in 1926; STD (Teleph.), subscriber trunk dialling; STOL, stol., short take-off and landing; S.T.V., single transferable vote; SU (Physics), special unitary (sc. group): used with following numeral denoting the number of rows and of columns in the matrices that can be used to represent it, as SU(3): cf. special a.; SV (Med.), Simian virus: used, freq. with following numeral to identify the strain, as the designation of various viruses isolated from monkeys or cultures of monkey cells; s.v. = sub verbo, sub voce s.v. sub prep.; also s.vv., sub verbis (followed by more than one citation); SVD, swine vesicular disease; S.W., small women('s size); S.W.A.(L.)K., SWA(L)K, sealed with a (loving) kiss; SWAT (U.S.), Special Weapons and Tactics; s.w.g., S.W.G., standard wire gauge; SWP, Socialist Workers' Party; S.W.R., s.w.r., standing-wave ratio. See also (as main entries) SAGE, SALT, SAVAK, SEATO, SHAEF, SHAPE, SNAFU, SOGAT, S., STP, SWANU, SWAPO.
1828–40Berry Encycl. Herald. I, *S. This letter..signifies sable, or black.
a1400Wyclif's Bible IV. 690 *S. Lucie virgyn. 1535Joye Apol. Tindale (Arb.) 4 His felowe called Hijpinus pastour of .s. nicholas parisshe in Hambourg. 1549Latimer 6th Serm. bef. Edw. VI (Arb.) 166, I am goynge to S. Tomas of Acres to the sermon. 1648Herrick Hesper. 172 (title), To his Valentine, on S. Valentines day.
1591Harington Orl. Fur., Apol. Poetrie ⁋vij b, If *S. Philip Sidney had counted this a fault. 1628Sir J. Campbell in Thanes of Cawdor (Spalding Cl.) 271, I rest, your loueing father S. J. Campbell of Calder.
1920J. A. Arkwright in Jrnl. Path. & Bacteriol. XXIII. 359 The appearance of colonies on agar of the two forms is different. The *S form makes smooth, round, domed, shiny, translucent colonies; the R form grows in colonies which have a more or less jagged outline. 1974[see rough a. 1 e].
1724Explic. Foreign Words Mus. 66 The letter *S is used as an Abbreviation of the Word Solo.
1949Vet. Rec. LXI. 318/1 Each animal was inoculated intravenously with approximately 20 times the recommended vaccine dose of *S.19 in a volume of 50 ml. 1960Farmer & Stockbreeder 26 Jan. 89/1 As the animals are ready to go out on the early spring grazing they are collected together on the farms for vaccination with S19. 1978Amer. Jrnl. Vet. Res. XXXIX. 884/1 Lymphocyte stimulation..was detected in 3 steers which had been vaccinated with S19 but not with lymphocytes from 5 nonvaccinated heifers.
1926Amer. Mercury Dec. 465 The girl is a looker with an armful of *S.A. (sex appeal). 1932P. MacDonald Maze 216 A Gallic young woman with apparently some looks and, let us say, 98 per cent. vigorous S.A. 1961John o' London's 6 July 57/2 Surely one of Hollywood's finest character actresses—all this and blonde S.A. too. 1974E. McGirr Murderous Journey 96, I saw you and the dame go into her apartment... I expected you to take longer. Losing the old s.a., Piron?
[1907Jrnl. Anat. & Physiol. XLI. 175 (caption) *s.a.j., sino-auricular junction.] 1908J. Mackenzie Dis. Heart p. xix, Sino-auricular node (s.-a. node.) 1910Jrnl. Physiol. XLI. 69 This observer finds no altered rhythm as the result of destruction of the S-A node by burning. 1944C. P. Anthony Textbk. Anat. & Physiol. v. 177 It is named the sinoatrial node but is usually referred to simply as the S.A. node... It is also called the ‘pacemaker’ of the heart. 1974M. C. Gerald Pharmacol. xxi. 386 Digitalis directly depresses the conducting tissues responsible for carrying the excitatory impulse from the S.A. node pacemaker.
1876Voyle & Stevenson Mil. Dict. (ed. 3) p. x, *S.A., small-arms. 1888Man. Field Service—Army Signallers (War Office) 12 Pins, linch, 3rd class (or 2nd class, steel, if for cart, ammunition, S.A.). 1924Regulations Equipment of Army (Provisional) (War Office) ii. i. 4 Eyepieces, rubber, sights, telescopic, S.A., No. 2.
1921London Directory 1707/1 Geneva, Switzerland. Mondiale Express Transports *S/A. 1938E. Ambler Cause for Alarm v. 83 There it was in black and white—Società Anonima Braganzetta, Torino. I had found S.A. Braga of Turin! 1977‘J. Le Carré’ Hon. Schoolboy iv. 80 Indocharter, Vientiane SA..was an overseas Chinese company.
1931W. Lewis Hitler ii. 60 The abovementioned defence-service..received the name of Storm-detachments—*S.A., in memory of the ‘heroic onset of the at that time mere handful’. 1934Ann. Reg. 1933 168 On February 22 Goering incorporated picked S.A. men as auxiliary Police Corps. 1955Times 15 Aug. 4/4 A picture of him..wearing S.A. uniform and with his right arm raised. 1968Listener 19 Sept. 358/3, I do not even know the difference between the SA and the SS, so how can I make such a film. 1977Daily Tel. 17 Nov. 36/7 The SS (Schutzstaffel) emerged as a powerful force after the 1934 purge which eliminated the SA (Sturmabteilung), the brown-shirted thugs who helped bring Hitler to political prominence.
1876Voyle & Stevenson Mil. Dict. (ed. 3) p. xi, *S.A.A., small-arm ammunition. 1907Field Service Pocket Bk. ii. 50 A total of 500 rounds S.A.A. will be maintained in the field..for every man, whether combatant or not, included in an expeditionary force. 1954J. Masters Bhowani Junction i. xi. 95, I rummaged in the table drawers and found a list:..1,000 feet of slow-burning fuse; 12,000 rounds of SAA .303 Mark VIII Z.
1952R.A.F. Rev. Jan. 11/1 Under the New Trade Structure I am now expected to pass a *SAC board to qualify as a Corporal and gain the increase in pay. 1970Athanian 1 Apr. 31/1 The club is an ‘All Ranks’ affair ranging from an S.A.C. to a Sqn Ldr.
1947Army & Navy Bull. 1 Feb. 8/3 General St. Clair Streett, *SAC Deputy Commander since its activation last March, received a new assignment in the War Department. 1958Times 8 May 11/6 Right now, therefore, the S.A.C. crew in a S.A.C. plane is the west's number one deterrent to the Kremlin. 1974Publishers Weekly 16 Dec. 22 (Advt.), H. Bruce Franklin, Melville Scholar, former SAC officer, and tugboat mate.
1951Army Information Digest July 27 Supreme Allied Commander Europe (*SACEUR). 1953Britannica Bk. of Year 752/2 Saceur, Supreme Allied Commander, Europe. 1958Economist 1 Feb. 393/1 Its [sc. Britain's] dwindling proportion of the forces at Saceur's disposal. 1959Times Lit. Suppl. 13 Feb. 79/2 Proposals for placing the missile bases under the command of S.A.C.EUR...do not, as Mr. Moore says, really change the situation. 1964Ann. Reg. 1963 162 Approval was given to the assignment of the British V-bomber force..to the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR). 1979Observer 25 Nov. 34/3 SACEUR, Supreme Allied Commander Europe, the military head of NATO; currently the American General Bernard W. Rogers.
1951R.A.F. Rev. Sept. 34/3 The R.A.F.'s qualifying trade test leads to promotion to Senior Aircraftsman or *SACW. 1977R.A.F. News 30 Mar.–12 Apr. 18/1 The only WRAF rider, SACW Jennie Hye of West Drayton, put up a plucky 44·42.
1924Jrnl. Soc. Automotive Engineers XV. 31/1 The fact that the present *S.A.E. numbers for crankcase lubricating oil specifications were used..is of interest. 1966McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. XIII. 313/1 The carburizing steels..which have the greatest ability to harden..are SAE 3310 and 4320. 1967Karch & Buber Offset Processes x. 475 The pump oiler should be filled every 25 to 50 hours of running time with ≠ 105SAE or equivalent pure mineral oil. 1974Encycl. Brit. Macropædia XIV. 188/2 In the U.S., the Society of Automotive Engineers established a system of sae numbers to indicate the viscosity at a particular temperature, 0°F (-18°C). Oils in common use have sae numbers varying from 5 to 50. Ibid., An oil designated 10W/40 has the viscosity of an sae 10W oil at 0°F.., and of an sae 40 oil at 210°F... Such an oil will help start an engine in winter (hence the suffix W) and will lubricate well under running conditions in summer.
1939‘F. O'Brien’ At Swim-two-Birds i. 15 To all my friends forwarding 6d. and two *S.A.E.'s I will present this three-star cast-iron plunger. 1962Woman's Own 15 Sept. 69/3, I will send you a leaflet on this subject on request (s.a.e., please). 1966Punch 26 Jan. 116/3 That stream of SAEs for the free, illustrated brochure. 1977Vogue Dec. 90/2 Send a SAE for the catalogue.
1966Economist 29 Oct. 457/3 The much publicised series of talks between federal ministers, *SAL leaders and a couple of dissident sheikhs..has come to nothing. 1970H. Trevelyan Middle East in Revolution 218 The original Nationalist party, the South Arabian League, known as SAL, were in decline.
1958Chambers's Techn. Dict. 983/2 *SAM. 1975R. Jackson South Asian Crisis v. 107 The Indian SAM missile systems were improved. 1979P. Niesewand Member of Club xv. 122 Tanks, armoured cars, SAM missiles..are being landed at Beira.
1951Business Week 22 Sept. 152/2 (heading) ‘Thin Ice’ for *S & L's. 1967Economist 25 Mar. 1145/2 Some Californian S & Ls suffered near runs on their accounts as savers began to doubt their solvency. 1976National Observer (U.S.) 25 Dec. 7/1 The result is that institutions that finance a large volume of home purchases, as S&Ls do, may not be able to afford to be as generous on longer-term deposit rates.
1965Acronyms & Initialisms Dict. (Gale Research Co.) 645 *S & M,..sadism and masochism (generic term). 1966Realist May 19/3 Remember the S–M ads: ‘seeks discipline’, ‘seeks uniforms’, ‘seeks leather and rubber’. 1975New Yorker 26 May 32/2 Death is by far the most controversial and hottest subject in America, ranking twenty-five shock points above transsexuality, school busing, S & M, and interracial cloning. 1977Time 15 Aug. 31/1 The streets teemed with whores, transvestites and the S–M crowd dangling slave bracelets and chains.
1955R. J. Schwartz Compl. Dict. Abbrev. 159/1 *SAR,..search and rescue. 1958Oxf. Mail 1 Aug. 6/6 SAR..has two squadrons situated at ten stations mainly around the south and east coasts. 1977R.A.F. News 5–18 Jan. 3/1 An SAR Wessex was scrambled from Manston the following morning.
1945M. James Born of Desert xxi. 319 As the continental offensive developed and gained weight, so the *S.A.S. probed deeper and deeper into the enemy lines. 1960B. A. Young Artists & S.A.S. xix. 46 The S.A.S. first went into action on November 16, 1941, when their target was the enemy airfields at Gazala and Tmimi, and their object to cripple the enemy's air before General Auchinleck launched his attack a few days later. 1976G. Seymour Glory Boys xvi. 221 The SAS anti-hi-jack force had been lifted by Wessex helicopter from their base camp.
1961A. Anastasi Psychol. Testing (ed. 2) ix. 226 A number of tests have been specially developed for use in the admission, placement, and counseling of college students. An outstanding example is the Scholastic Aptitude Test (*SAT) of the College Entrance Examination Board. 1971E. Ashby Any Person, Any Study ii. 59 Taken together with SAT scores the information is as good as any measure yet devised to predict academic performance in college examinations. 1974A. Lurie War between Tates ii. 39 Until very recently, girls like her, whatever their SAT scores, didn't usually go to graduate school.
1923J. Reith Diary 29 Aug. (1975) ii. 132, I read the News Bulletin at 7.00 p.m.—the first real *SB. 1929B.B.C. Year-Bk. 1930 310 One or two transmissions are, perhaps, being sent to the provinces via the S.B. lines... Tests are being taken of outside broadcasts or incoming S.B.
1903Sir M. G. Gerard Leaves fr. Diaries iv. 104 In 1870 our armament was still the old 12-pr. *S.B. gun and 24-pr. howitzer.
1964L. Deighton Funeral in Berlin xxxvii. 228 ‘Makes me curious about the locked room,’ said the young *S.B. man. 1975O. Sela Bengali Inheritance iv. 34 Special Branch won't like it... But you will need some assistance from SB—the files at least.
1917A. G. Empey Over Top 307 *S.B., stretcher bearer. The motive power of a stretcher. He is generally looking the other way when a fourteen-stone Tommy gets hit. 1919W. Deeping Second Youth xix. 168 'Ere, you blitherin' S.B.'s, get a move on.
1942Partridge Dict. Abbrev. 87/2 *S.B.A., Sick-Bay Attendant. 1964J. Hale Grudge Fight iii. 44 ‘Got a nice new one for you,’ said the sick bay attendant to Adams, meaning the needle which glittered in space for a moment before the S.B.A. rammed it into his arm and pressed the plunger.
1953Newsweek 24 Aug. 62/3 The new Small Business Administration whirled into rapid action... *SBA..will keep some functions formerly performed by the..Small Defense Plants Administration. 1976Billings (Montana) Gaz. 27 June 2-d/8 They file for Small Business Administration (SBA) loans and get on the long hud list for trailers.
1932Flight 1 July 601 The Flying Display arranged by the *S.B.A.C., with the co-operation of the Air Ministry, at Hendon last Monday must be counted a success. 1951R.A.F. Rev. Oct. 13/2 It flew faster than any aircraft has ever flown before in an S.B.A.C. show. 1968C. Sims Royal Air Force xi. 174 An item in the S.B.A.C. show.
1973Hobson & Pohl Mod. Petroleum Technol. xxix. 945 A development during recent years has been the so-called Single Buoy Mooring (*SBM) which may be either a fixed tower or a large buoy to which the ship is moored bow on. 1975Offshore Engineer Sept. 33 (heading) Pioneering new sbm system off coast of Anglesey. 1975Petroleum Rev. XXIX. 324/1 Floating hose conveys the crude from the SBM into a tanker.
1967Standard Book Numbering (S.B.N. Agency) 7/3 Each edition must have a different *SBN. 1969Publishers' Weekly 27 Jan. 72/1 The Bookseller list of publications for the first week of 1969 carries SBNs for 71% of the titles. 1979SBN [see ISBN s.v. I III].
1956Rubber World May 239/2 The use of the term ‘butadiene-styrene rubber’ and the coding ‘*SBR’. 1971G. J. Van der Bie et al. in C. M. Blow Rubber Technol. & Manuf. iv. b. 84 Emulsion SBR, for long the only synthetic general purpose rubber, has blossomed from the few ‘hot’ types produced during World War II into the multiplicity of grades now available in ‘cold’ types.
1920Dalton's Weekly Advertiser 10 Jan. 3/2 (Advt.), House or *S.C. Flat wanted by married couple. 1975Irish Independent 27 May 18/1 (Advt.), Newly furnished hall flat, completely s.c., own door, double bedroom. 1977Weekly Times (Melbourne) 19 Jan. 58/7 (Advt.), Clean, SC, ground level flats, acc. 2 to 6.
1964E. Bach Introd. Transformational Gram. iv. 61 The second part of the rule specifies the structural change (*SC) by means of variable signs. 1966A. Koutsoudas Writing Transformational Gram. i. 24 There are different notational conventions for writing a T-rule; rule (8) above can also be written..SC: x1—x2—x3→x3—x1—x2.
1946Newsweek 12 Aug. 43/3 Again *SCAP (Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, the official designation of the occupation) left the implementation up to the Japanese. 1978C. Humphreys Both Sides of Circle xii. 131 The formal opening took place of our own Empire Building near that of S.C.A.P. (headquarters of the American army).
1885Ordinances Univ. Cambr. p. viii, Students in Science and Letters. Proceeding to the Degrees of *Sc.D. and Litt.D. 1917J. R. Tanner Hist. Register Univ. Cambr. 195 Sc.D. Robes and hood of scarlet cloth, both lined with silk shot with pink and light blue. 1979Oxford Univ. Gaz. 1 Mar. 554/2 University Preachers... Sunday, 11 March, at 10.15 a.m. D. E. Broadbent, C.B.E., M.A., D.Sc. (M.A., Sc.D. Cambridge, Hon. D.Sc. Southampton).
1921Ann. Rep. Save the Children Fund 4/1 During the year under review, the *S.C.F. has succeeded in making the needs of the children widely known throughout the United Kingdom and the British Empire. 1967Punch 1 Mar. 292/2 ‘A simple pleasure,’ said the SCF supervisor, ‘but one that flat-dwelling kids just don't have.’
1974Petroleum Rev. XXVIII. 794/2 The combined recoverable reserves of the field are estimated to be in the order of 1·5 to 2·0 × 109 barrels of oil, with some 3·0 × 1012 *scf of associated gas.
1959L. D. Reddick Crusader without Violence xii. 205 There was so much..rumor about friction between the *SCLC and NAACP that King scampered up to New York. 1968L. Lokos House Divided x. 375 SCLC called upon the President to de-escalate the war unilaterally. 1973Freedomways XIII. 8 Recent action taken by the leaders of..SCLC..is a most welcome development.
1935Nursing Mirror & Midwives' Jrnl. 2 Feb. p. xx/3 (Advt.), *S.C.M. required... General training not essential. 1955Times 8 July 2/5 Candidates must be S.R.N., S.C.M., and should preferably have had similar experience in a Teaching Hospital.
1924Fellowship of Students (Student Christian Movement) 49 The work of the *S.C.M. must be closely related to the developing work of the Churches. 1948H. G. G. Herklots in M. Warren Triumph of God vii. 180 Now it was men and women who had been schooled in the S.C.M., who accepted its ‘interdenominational position’, who were planning the Edinburgh Conference. 1976A. Lockley Christian Communes vi. 55 The SCM headquarters were moved out of London in 1974 to Wick Court, a Jacobean mansion near Bristol, where the central staff attempted to live communally.
1971Nature 16 Apr. 430/1 The big attraction of *SCP is the possibility of utilizing cheap raw materials as fermentation substrates. 1976Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts CXXIV. 580/2 It might be more economical to convert part of our oil supplies into food by using it as a substrate for micro⁓organisms, to produce ‘Single Cell Protein’ (SCP) that could be used as the raw material for the textured meat substitutes that were referred to earlier.
1923D. K. Horne in G. Bailey Lady Margaret Hall v. 94 Each student..is placed under a tutor, who is almost invariably one of the resident members of the *S.C.R. 1964M. Hutt in D. Daiches Idea of New Univ. iii. 49 Falmer House belongs neither to the Union nor the SCR. 1965New Statesman 7 May 734/1 Mr Soyinka..knows the SCRs of Ibadan and Ife. 1976A. Cross Question of Max vi. 73 If..I had one wish right now, it would be to be connected for a time with an Oxford college and dine at the high table, chat in the SCR.
1963New Scientist 13 June 600/1 The *SCR, at the outset, is basically an ‘insulator’. It does not allow current to pass. 1975D. G. Fink Electronics Engineers' Handbk. vii. 52 During forward-bias operation.., the pnpn structure of the SCR is electrically bistable and may exhibit either a very high impedance (off state) or a very low impedance (on state).
1956Times 22 Sept. 10/4 The members of the Suez Canal Users' Association (*S.C.U.A.) shall be those nations which have participated in the second London Suez conference and which subscribe to the present declaration, and any other adhering nations. 1970H. Trevelyan Middle East in Revolution 100 The Menzies Mission..was followed by the second conference of the ‘users’, the formation of the ‘users'’ association and the realisation that the S.C.U.A., the skewer as we called it, had a blunt point.
1939London Weekly Advertiser 7 June 6/4 {pstlg}70 Exclusive.—*S.D. Modern House, three beds, etc., near Dyke Road Park. 1975Evening Herald (Dublin) 8 May 10/2 (Advt.), Very unusual 4 bedroomed s.d. in cul de sac.
1901W. M. F. Petrie Diospolis Parva i. 6 We now make a first division into fifty equal stages, numbered 30 to 80, termed sequence dates or *S.D. 1939― Making of Egypt vii. 55 This period (S.D. 60–75) has no generally distinctive culture. 1944Jrnl. Near Eastern Stud. III. 110 Petrie distinguished it from Gerzean by naming it the Third Predynastic of Semainean, ranging from Sequence Dates 60/63 to S.D. 76. 1950G. E. Daniel Hundred Yrs. of Archaeol. v. 176 He started his sequence with S.D. 30,..and carried on to dynastic times at S.D. 80.
[1940H. Koehler Inside Gestapo ii. 30 Heydrich's power is much more founded on the Security Service of the Reich Fuehrer S.S. (shortened *SD. RFSS.) than on the Gestapo.] 1947H. Trevor-Roper Last Days of Hitler i. 28 Otto Ohlendorf was head of R.S.H.A. Amt III (also called S.D. or Sicherheitsdienst). 1968Listener 8 Aug. 174/3, I was wearing my old SD cap which I'd brought through the whole war. 1974A. Williams Gentleman Traitor xiii. 212 The father had returned to Germany in 1938..and had served in the SD, the civil arm of the S.S.
1902Biometrika I. 206, σ1 is the *s.d. of the organ. 1973Nature 31 Aug. 587/2 The mean ({pm}s.d.) IQ then was 98·7 ({pm}7·1) with no precocity. 1978Jrnl. R. Soc. Med. LXXI. 659 Twin, malformed or grossly autolysed fetuses, and any which were ⩾ 2 s.d. below the mean for the gestational age group, were excluded.
1964E. Bach Introd. Transformational Gram. iv. 61 The first part of the rule is a structural description (*SD..) specifying the class of strings (in the terms of their analysis by P markers) to which the rule applies. 1975Studies in Eng. Lit.: Eng. Number (Tokyo) 170 The term ‘obligatory’..has generally been understood to mean that an obligatory rule must apply to a phrase-maker which meets the SD of that rule.
1975Glasgow Herald 17 Dec. 1 (heading) *S.D.A. pledge quick action. 1976Scotsman 15 Dec. 5/1 Capital restructuring..will give the SDA one-third of the shares at a cost of {pstlg}60,000.
1966Economist 22 Jan. 301/2 His superior in *SDECE admitted last week that this was true. 1966M. Woodhouse Tree Frog viii. 58 There is Defensive Intelligence and Active Intelligence... In France, the Ministry of the Interior and S.D.E.C.E. 1972K. Benton Spy in Chancery xvii. 193 They have a..gentleman's agreement..with both MI6 and CIA—and with the French SDECE, too, I think.
1893G. B. Shaw Let. 24 Apr. (1965) I. 390 My remarks..were not levelled at the I.L.P., but at the *S.D.F. 1910Chesterton George Bernard Shaw 68 Bernard Shaw was thrown early into what may be called the cosmopolitan club of revolution. The Socialists of the S.D.F. call it ‘l'Internationale’. 1957R. Hoggart Uses of Literacy xi. 261 They worked for Hyndman's S.D.F. in the 'eighties, and for the I.L.P. in the 'nineties. 1980‘First’ & Scott Olive Schreiner iv. 109 The Democratic Federation [of 1881] became the Social Democratic Federation (SDF) in 1883.
1936*S.D.F.er [see Morrisite].
1984N.Y. Times 10 Apr. i. 28/1 The [Defense and Administration] officials..are now referring to the President's plan as ‘*S.D.I.’, for ‘strategic defense initiative’. 1985Ann. Reg. 1984 70 The US Government sought to win the agreement of its European allies to its Star Wars programme, properly known as the Strategic Defence Initiative (SDI), which was a research project into the practicalities of space weaponry, including the use of laser beams and other non-nuclear ways of destroying incoming missiles. 1985Daily Tel. 27 Nov. 36/4 Gen Chervov, a Soviet arms control spokesman, had suggested that if Russia decided to counter SDI, it would not attempt to match it but would seek a lower cost solution.
1970Times 22 Aug. 3/1 ‘The *S.D.L.P. is the only institution that can bring about reform in Northern Ireland,’ he said. 1974Freedom 25 May 8/1 Willing followers of the power seekers of the IRA, SDLP and all the ‘loyalist’ organisations. 1978D. Murphy Place Apart vi. 117 An elderly woman then observed, ‘What we need is a sort of cross between the Provos and Stickies and SDLP.’
1936W. H. S. Smith Let. 21 June in Young Man's Country (1977) i. 9 I've been in correspondence with the present *S.D.O. 1947Civil & Milit. Gaz. 9 Apr. 2/4 ‘Youngsters are attached to S.D.O.s to learn their jobs. 1977W. H. S. Smith Young Man's Country iii. 103, I was welcomed by several clerks in the S.D.O.'s office.
1908Times 18 Apr. 10/1 The delegate..declared that as a militant force the *S.D.P. could desire no more suitable antagonist than the scion of the aristocracy who represented Rossendale. 1912R. Macaulay Views & Vagabonds ii. 24 We stand for all the principles of the Fabian Society, the S.D.P., and..so forth. 1961C. Tsuzuki H. M. Hyndman & Brit. Socialism viii. 164 In October 1907 this progress and the desire to emulate the Labour Party encouraged the executive to change the name of the Federation to the Social Democratic Party (S.D.P.). 1981Times 27 Mar. 1/1 (heading) SDP launched with aim of ‘reconciling the nation’. Ibid. 3 (Advt.), If you share our aims you can join the SDP by filling in the application and returning it with a subscription.
1967Guardian 28 Aug. 1/7 It will be up to the managing director of the IMF..to initiate and suggest the size of any proposed allotment of special drawing rights (*SDRs). 1972Penguin Dict. Econ. 382 The S.D.R...is an entry in a member country's bank balance with the I.M.F. 1976‘J. Davey’ Treasury Alarm iii. 43, I happened to hear some Treasury folk gossiping..and I find that SDRs, which baffled me, are Special Drawing Rights.
1968Times 19 Apr. 10/4 The extreme left-wing Federation of German Socialist Students (*S.D.S.). 1977in R. Crossman Diaries III. 77 In West Berlin on April 11th there was an attempt to assassinate Rudi Dütschke, left-wing leader of the militant Socialist Students' League (S.D.S.).
1961Mademoiselle Aug. 335/2 ‘Students have a mystique about action,’ says Al Haber, president of the nationwide Students for a Democratic Society... Haber..has traveled to many campuses this year to establish new *S.D.S. groups. 1965Moderator Winter 14/2 SDS was re-formed in 1962, at which time the Port Huron statement defined its purposes. 1974H. L. Foster Ribbin' iii. 92 The SDS and some third world groups sold drugs to college students to earn money and keep their cause going a few years ago.
1946C. E. Weatherburn Math. Statistics vi. 110 This S.D. is usually called the standard error (*S.E.) of the number of successes in a sample of size n. Ibid. 111 A deviation from the mean less than twice the S.E. is regarded as not significant. 1964F. N. Kerlinger Foundations Behavioral Res. ix. 167 SEM = 2·73. 1971Nature 1 Jan. 62/1 On these assumptions, the mean number ({pm} s.e.) of skeletomotor nerve fibres in normal nerves was 191{pm} 26. 1974Ibid. 23 Aug. 654/1 The mean concentration of prolactin in the peripheral blood of women during the cycle is 15{pm} 1 ({pm} s.e.m.).
1927Financial Times 7 May 6/5 (heading) *S.E. Clerks' Provident Fund. 1942Patridge Dict. Abbrev. 88/2 S/E, Stock Exchange. 1978Times 23 Jan. 15/1 A Stock Exchange investigation..is now awaiting examination by the SE Council.
1944SEAC: Daily Newspaper of South East Asia Command (Calcutta) 10 Jan. 1/1 First light is breaking over this awakening city as the birthday issue of *SEAC (pronounce it See-ack) comes flying off the presses. 1945Daily Mirror 15 Aug. 1/1 There is an Army warning against expecting the quick homecoming of SEAC troops. 1971R. Russell tr. Ahmad's Shore & Wave xv. 159 In those days he [sc. Lord Mountbatten] was the head of S.E.A.C., and was there on leave.
1934Time 16 July 46/1 The *S.E.C. will take over enforcement of the Securities Act of 1933. 1955Times 29 Aug. 11/3 Banks..have indicated an interest if the S.E.C. provides a means of registering them. 1966Economist 1 Oct. 46/3 The SEC has steadfastly opposed the exchange's efforts to limit trading in listed stocks to members only. 1978Financial Times 3 Mar. 18/2 The setting-up of a body like the SEC is a last resort.
1962Rep. Comm. Broadcasting 1960 218 in Parl Papers 1961–2 (Cmnd. 1753) IX. 259 Our attention has..been drawn to another system of colour-transmission, the ‘*SECAM’ system. This might..prove a serious rival to the NTSC system. 1968[see PAL s.v. P II]. 1978Gramophone Aug. 391/1 All the major video protagonists have mounted elaborate press launches of their systems, suitably adapted to the PAL TV format commonly used in Europe instead of the SECAM standard employed elsewhere.
1968Proc. Symp. Scanning Electron Microscope 3/1 The scanning electron microscope, or *SEM, as I shall henceforth call it. 1974SEM [see macerate n.].
1961Nursing Mirror & Midwives' Jrnl. 26 May 760/1 Male *S.E.N. or Nursing Auxiliaries required for duties in acute wards & departments. 1964G. L. Cohen What's Wrong with Hospitals? ix. 192 Negro domestics abounded, but the S.E.N. school was conspicuously white. 1977R.A.F. News 22 June–5 July 13 (caption) SACW Margie Lee, an SEN, nursing a premature baby in the maternity unit at RAF Hospital Wegberg.
1983Economist 1 Oct. 23 *Serps is a two-tier system that provides a universal flat-rate pension [etc.]. 1984Ibid. 19 May 22/1 Introduced in 1978, Serps gives extra benefits to those who choose not to ‘contract out’ of the state system. 1985Daily Tel. 10 May 1/2 Labour's leader Mr Kinnock said his party would press ahead with its ‘Save Serps’ campaign. 1985Listener 16 May 5/1 A young Tory MP..shook his head grimly over the proposed abolition of SERPS (state earnings-related pension scheme).
1966Financial Times 4 May 1/1 Most Fleet Street papers seized on the payroll tax (*SET) as the Budget's main news point. 1966Observer 8 May 9/1 The main virtue of S.E.T. is that it is indirect. a1974R. Crossman Diaries (1975) I. 508 My first reaction to S.E.T. was that in terms of farming at Prescote Manor as well as in terms of building it was absolutely unbearable.
c1875Pocket Exchange Guide San Francisco 178 *S.F. Ten-Cent Parcel Delivery Co.—16 Post. 1975B. Meggs Matter of Paradise ix. iii. 267 One year at the University of Wisconsin, then moved to S.F. with her boyfriend, drummer in a rock-band.
1929Sci. Wonder Stories June 92/3 The *S.F. Magazine. (Science-Fiction). 1948G. Conklin Treas. Sci. Fiction p. ix, Many SF writers are feeling the urgent need for social controls over our physical powers. 1954I. Asimov in Mag. Fantasy & Sci. Fiction Oct. 69 (title) The foundation of S.F. success. 1959Times Lit. Suppl. 20 Mar. 166/2 Both are by O.K.-names in the s.f. world. 1968Punch 10 Jan. 69/3 Let's take a step beyond in the company of Ray Bradbury..and other (mainly sf) bloodcurdlists. 1969Daily Tel. 16 Oct. 22/7 Two regular themes in S.F. are the world dominated by a, usually evil, visionary and the world run by a Great Computer. 1973‘D. Halliday’ Dolly & Starry Bird viii. 108 Johnson..was looking as everybody looks when they first step into an electronic workshop. That is blasé. This is the fault of the S.F. kiddie shows on the telly. 1975Felton & Fowler Best, Worst & most Unusual 44 Arguably, it is the peak of sf film in its long history. 1980Times Lit. Suppl. 7 Nov. 1263/1 The reason for preferring the old established and unpretentious ‘sf’ need not baffle us. The use of ‘sci-fi’ was clearly intended to imply a jaunty insider's knowledge coupled with a modern..demonstration of slick neologism.
1922Lady Leslie Let. 17 Mar. in M. Gilbert Winston S. Churchill (1977) IV. Compan. iii. 1809 The Union Jacks are being silently stored away—the *SF flag floats on the orange Hall. 1973Irish Times 2 Mar. 8/3 Sherlock J. (S.F.)... 2,488.
1882Football 4 Oct. 4/1 The match would be played under the supervision of the *S.F.A. 1974Evening News (Edinburgh) 9 Apr. 18/8 The SFA stipulated that no game could be cancelled at such an early hour on the strength of a weather forecast.
1933Bulletin (Sydney) 14 June 12/3 Ask any modern sailor who has been refused an issue of pay or rations ‘What luck?’ and he will be apt to reply ‘Sweet Fanny Adams’, or just ‘*S.F.A.’, meaning that he received nothing.
1935Ann. Reg. 1934 i. 172 Thus at Toulouse the *S.F.I.O. (the French section of the Workers' International) sought..to form an entente with the Communists against Fascism. 1977Compar. Politics IX. 364 The Popular Front, with its broad policies of alliance extending past the SFIO to the radical party..responded to Soviet and Comintern demands.
1949E. Pound Pisan Cantos lxxvii. 52, I heard it in the *s.h. a suitable place To hear that the war was over.
1948Prof. Papers Inst. Post Office Electr. Engineers No. 197. 3/1 *S.H.F. systems are those operating in the range 3,000 to 30,000 Mc/s, 10 to 1 cm. wavelength. 1958Electronic Engin. XXX. 276/1 The radio repeater design is based on the principle of amplification at intermediate-frequency with reconversion to s.h.f. and the use of a travelling-wave amplifier to deliver the final output power.
1965Acronyms & Initialisms Dict. (Gale Research Co.) 638 *SHO,..Senior House Officer. 1976Proc. R. Soc. Med. LXIX. 818/1 A hypothetical increase in the number of graduates to over 5000 by 1980 would require about 18 000 SHO and registrar posts in 1982.
1931Times Trade & Engin. Suppl. 24 Jan. p. iv/3 Six vessels, of 10,500 *s.h.p. 1972C. Mudie Motor Boats & Boating 28 The most important is SHP which is Shaft Horse Power or power delivered to the propeller shaft.
1961*SI [see international a. 1 c]. 1970Nature 2 May 473/2 Editors of scientific journals have been recently accused of forcing some unwilling scientists to adopt SI units. 1971Inside Kenya Today Mar. 30/1 The Engineering and Construction Industries can go ahead with the change-over to the Metric System, but in particular in its modernized version called the ‘Système International d'Unités’ or the SI as it is popularly known in all languages. 1973tr. Internat. System of Units 1 The 11th CGPM [sc. General Conference of Weights and Measures] (1960), by its Resolution 12, adopted the name International System of Units, with the international abbreviation SI, for this practical system of units of measurement. 1977Westworld (Vancouver, B.C.) May–June 34/1 Canada..is one of the last major countries still using the imperial system of measurements instead of the International System of Units—universally known as SI.
1955Sci. News Let. 29 Jan. 72/2 Polarized radio waves may also be a solution to the problem caused by ‘*SID's’, or sudden ionospheric disturbances, when the sun may hurl out a great tongue of flame from which hydrogen atoms bombard the earth about 20 hours later. 1968Radio Communication Handbk. (ed. 4) xii. 8/2 Ionospheric storms are often preceded (by approximately two days) by what are called sudden ionospheric disturbances (s.i.d.).
1970J. B. Beckwith in A. B. Bergman et al. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome 15, I personally feel the term ‘Sudden Death Syndrome’ should at least be amplified to include the word ‘infant’... I should like, therefore, to cast my vote for the term ‘Sudden Infant Death Syndrome’ (*SIDS). 1980Sci. Amer. Apr. 52/1 The phenomenon, which is also known by its initials SIDS (pronounced as letters rather than as a word), is defined clinically as the sudden, unexpected death of an apparently healthy infant for whom a routine autopsy fails to identify the cause of death.
1958Listener 13 Nov. 779/2 The ‘Nautilus’ used a fully integrated apparatus of this kind called the Ship's Inertial Navigation System—inevitably contracted into its initials, ‘*S.I.N.S.’ 1979A. Fox Threat Warning Red i. 2 He could check those latitude and longitude figures against the readings on the SINS dials on the bulkhead.
1939J. Reith Diary 21 Apr. (1975) iv. 227 Meeting in the foreign secretary's room, where I have never been before. Present: Halifax, Chatfield, Hoare, Cadogan, Leeper, CID secretary and Admiral Sinclair, the hush-hush *SIS chief. 1964G. Lyall Most Dangerous Game xiii. 91 You're SIS—one of the Foreign Office boys. What the mob would call The Secret Service. 1978R. V. Jones Most Secret War vii. 63 While my evenings were spent discussing cryptography, my days went in perusing the S.I.S. files.
a1918W. Owen Coll. Poems (1963) 74 (title) *S.I.W. 1929London Mag. Dec. 629/2 ‘What really coopered him, was being in charge of an S.I.W. just before Armistice.’ ‘What is an S.I.W.?’ I said. ‘A hospital for self-inflicted wounds.’ 1975P. Fussell Gt. War & Mod. Memory viii. 294 The final two lines of ‘S.I.W.’ tell us how the victim of the self-inflicted wound was buried.
1822Catholic Miscellany May 208 H. More Hist. Prov. Ang. *S.J. p. 467. 1916Joyce Portrait of Artist iv. 187 The Reverend Stephen Dedalus, S.J. His name in that new life leaped into characters before his eyes. 1967Cath. Dict. Theol. ii. 1/2 J. A. Jungmann SJ, Handing on the Faith..contains much recent information.
1974Time 18 Feb. 16/1 The *S.L.A. emblem is a seven-headed cobra. 1978Maledicta 1977 I. 123 Terrorists have come to rely on the press to deliver their graphic messages to the world—the Hanafi Muslims in Washington, the PLO at the Munich Olympics, the SLA in Oakland.
1967New Scientist 9 Feb. 340/2 To achieve overwhelmingness, especially in the face of Russia's ABM effort, Mr. McNamara proposes to produce and deploy the Poseidon *SLBM. 1973Sci. Amer. Feb. 14/2 The primary SALT I restrictions..impose numerical ceilings on both land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM's) and submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM's). 1979Financial Rev. 28 Sept. 10/3 The strategic deterrent is conceived as a triad consisting of bombers armed with nuclear weapons, submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) and land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).
1972Time 19 June 17/3 The Pentagon is also asking for $20 million to get started on another submarine-based missile, the *SLCM (Submarine-Launched Cruise Missile). 1975Bull. Atomic Sci. XXXI. 13 SLCM, submarine-launched cruise missile. 1979Observer 25 Nov. 34/1 Cruise Missile... Can be ground-launched (GLCMs, known as Glickums)..or launched from submarines (SLCMs).
1958Jrnl. Clin. Invest. XXXVII. 876/1 The serum of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (*SLE) has been shown to contain factor(s) with a special affinity for nucleohistone (NH). 1978Jrnl. R. Soc. Med. LXXI. 149 This is..the first case in which SLE has been reported in a patient with Hashimoto's thyroiditis and pernicious anaemia.
1951Times Educ. Suppl. 8 June 466/1 (Advt.), Wanted for January, 1952, Senior English Mistress. The work includes G.C.E. at O., A., and *S. levels. 1973Guardian 28 June 13/3 Jonathan Mestel is 16 and has just finished his A and S level maths and physics exams.
1975Glasgow Herald 23 Dec. 4/2 Mr Sillars said the *SLP did not believe oil was a Scottish resource, but something to be used for the benefit of the entire United Kingdom. 1976Times 23 Jan. 14/3 The new threat which the SLP presents..is untimely.
1964Colour Photogr. Mar.–Apr. 68/3 With one manufacturer recently introducing a half-frame *SLR, I wondered if this type of instrument would replace its larger brother. 1971Amateur Photographer 13 Jan. 80/3 (Advt.), Nikkorex F, f2 Nikkor, w/meter, S.L.R...{pstlg}69. 1977J. Hedgecoe Photographer's Handbk. 14 Because of the SLR's world-wide popularity the newest and most advanced electronic and optical technology tends to be designed to suit this camera before the others.
1890Webster 1923/2 *S.M.,..sergeant major. 1953J. Masters Lotus & Wind v. 70 It wouldn't affect his chances of promotion to S.M. 1973J. Wood North Beat xiii. 163 He had been the first company S.M. to earn a Bar to the decoration in the division.
1764A. Williams Universal Psalmodist (ed. 2) 57 [Tune] Southwell. Psalm 90th Dr W. *S.M. 1832J. Jowett Man. Parochial Psalmody 12 St. Bride's. S.M. 1909W. H. Frere in Hymns Anc. & Mod. p. lvi/2 The whole musical balance was now altered [by the influence of T. Ravenscroft's Psalmes of 1621]: the D.C.M. and P.M. tunes had hitherto formed the bulk of the collection, with a few C.M. and S.M. tunes to supplement them. 1899Daily News 21 July 11/1 Who..was to have the honour of figuring in future records, with the letters ‘*S.M.’ attached to his name. 1909J. R. Ware Passing Eng. 212/2 *S.M. (Theatrical), stage manager. 1952Granville Dict. Theatr. Terms 172 When artistes have settled into their parts, the S.M. (as he is known) may hand over the book to his assistant. 1972V. C. Clinton-Baddeley To study Long Silence ii. viii. 82, I was still in the theatre when the S.M. found him.
1909Army & Navy Gaz. 27 Mar. 297/3 (heading) *S.M.L.E. Rifle. 1958J. A. Barlow Elem. Rifle Shooting (ed. 5) p. xii, The S.M.L.E...will shortly be replaced by a self-loading rifle.
1914Autocar 2 May 817/1 The R.A.C., the A.A. and M.U., and the *S.M.M.T. 1958Economist 1 Nov. 435/2 If it were desired to try to stop the rush at some point there is no salient that looks capable of being held and no one body that could do it—not the Finance Houses' Association, not the Industrial Bankers, not the SMMT nor the Hire Purchase Trade Association. 1978Dumfries & Galloway Standard 21 Oct. 7/6 Although organising international motor shows is but one function of the SMMT, it is best known for this role.
1986Guardian 11 Oct. 29/1 The lower rate of *SMP is to be set at the same rate as the lowest level of Statutory Sick Pay.., currently {pstlg}31·60.
1950Jrnl. Soc. Motion Pict. & Television Engin. Mar. 389 *SMPTE Officers and Committees..are published annually in the April issue of the Journal. 1959W. S. Sharps Dict. Cinematogr. 11. 129/2 In Britain, the British Kinematograph Society was created originally as the British branch of the S.M.P.T.E. 1975G. J. King Audio Handbk. viii. 191 The l.f. bands adhere to the SMPTE (Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers) requirements for IMD analysis.
1960Atlanta Daily World 18 Oct. 1/3 There was no announcement of formal action on *SNCC's proposed march on the polls on election day. 1961Commonweal 15 Dec. 311/1 This fall the S.N.C.C. has been concentrating on recruitment on white campuses. 1971J. Bishop Days of M. Luther King iv. 369 The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee had been in that part of Selma for eighteen months... SNCC was in Marion too.
1949Progress French Nat. Railways Oct. 1948 28 (colophon) *S.N.C.F. 1949. 1963Times 23 May 13/6 French Railways (SNCF) most closely resemble B.R. in size. 1976A. White Long Silence vi. 46 The S.N.C.F. did not permit the express trains to stop at Colauvin.
1944Jrnl. Dairy Res. XIII. 53 Milk has been deteriorating in quality (*s.n.f. content) during the last two or three years. Ibid., This extra labour would detect adulterated samples which yet had over 8·5% s.n.f. 1960Farmer & Stockbreeder 16 Feb. 66/3 A Milk Marketing Board survey..had shown an average of 3·7 per cent butter-fat and 8·75 s.n.f. for the breed. 1976Burnham-on-Sea Gaz. 20 Apr. (Advt.), Butterfats 4%. S.N.F. 8· 83%. Total 12·83%. The cows have not been prepared for sale in any way.
1972E. N. Tiratsoo Natural Gas (ed. 2) i. 15 The incipient shortage of natural gas..led to the adoption of the CRG process..as the basis of what is planned to be the world's largest reforming plant producing *SNG (‘substitute natural gas’). Ibid. viii. 149 Simulated natural gas (SNG)..has been extensively used as an intermediate fuel to facilitate the changeover of industrial plants from manufactured town gas to full-scale natural gas supply. 1974Natural Gas (Shell Internat. Petroleum Co.) 11 Apart from LNG, which is natural gas cooled to the liquid state, there are three main possible supplementary sources of supply, namely low-calorific-value gas from coal, synthetic natural gas (SNG) from oil or coal, and methanol derived from natural gas. 1977K. A. D. Inglis in P. A. Stockil Our Industry Petroleum (Brit. Petroleum Co.) (ed. 5) 26 As supplies of natural gas run short..systems for the manufacture of substitute (or synthetic) natural gas (SNG) are being developed.
1914A. B. Milne in Publ. Navy Rec. Soc. (1970) CXV. 146 Have requested *S.N.O., Gibraltar, to keep special look⁓out for Strassburg. 1955C. S. Forester Good Shepherd ii. 264 SNO meant senior naval officer in accordance with British usage, not one of those odd collections of letters like DSO or MBE which merely meant a decoration. 1970A. J. Marder From Dreadnought to Scapa Flow V. i. ii. 17 The S.N.O. on the spot..would not allow him to have a go at the Goeben as soon as it was known that she was aground.
1935Glasgow Herald Index 1934 231/1 Compton Mackenzie addresses first *S.N.P. mtg. in Edin., 21 Ap. 1977M. Walker National Front viii. 215 It may have been, as the SNP posters said ‘Scotland's Oil’ but a goodly portion of it had already been used by British Governments to guarantee foreign loans.
1970Bahcall & Ulrich in Astrophysical Jrnl. CLX. l58 We have expressed the counting rate in solar-neutrino units: 1 *SNU ≡ 10-36 capture per target atom per second. 1972Ann. Rev. Astron. & Astrophysics X. 28 The best present estimates suggest..that the ultimate sensitivity of the current 105-gallon experiment will be set by the cosmic-ray background at ∼ 0·4 SNU. 1976J. Kleczek Universe ii. 78 It is usual to specify the rate of the neutrino capture reactions..in terms of so-called solar neutrino units (SNU or ‘snew’) which are such that 1 SNU corresponds to 10-36 captures per target Cl atom per second.
1844T. E. May Treat. Parliament xii. 215 A division is effected in the lords by the not-contents remaining within the bar, and the contents going below the bar. [note] Lords' *S.O. No. 22. 1929G. F. M. Campion Introd. Procedure House of Commons iv. 136 S.O. No. 11 of 1888 (the so-called ‘Ten Minutes Rule’). 1976in R. Crossman Diaries II. 75 It was only when the S.O. was redrafted in 1967 that M.P.s could make full use of its possibilities.
1918H. V. O'Brien Wine, Women & War (1926) 286 What an *S.O.B. that fellow is! 1930E. Pound XXX Cantos x. 45 That monstrous swollen, swelling s.o.b. Papa Pio Secundo. 1934C. Stead Seven Poor Men of Sydney iv. 120 That s.o.b. Montagu got me the job 'ere, you know. 1955Auden Shield of Achilles iii. 79 And all poor s-o-b's who never Do anything properly. 1962L. Deighton Ipcress File xxxii. 211 Just a simple case of a couple of well-informed S.O.B.s. 1975‘E. Lathen’ By Hook or by Crook xvi. 154 A stubborn SOB who doesn't give a damn.
1948Jrnl. R. United Service Inst. XCIII. 212 An *S.O.E. base was established alongside General Eisenhower's Headquarters in Algiers from the outset, primarily for work into France. 1968D. Lampe Last Ditch xi. 113 SOE, the most special of the Special Forces, had just been set up under the cover of the Ministry of Economic Warfare. 1978G. Greene Human Factor iii. i. 104 Over his head were a retired businessman who had once been connected with the rival wartime service SOE, and a retired general who had fought in the Western Desert.
1905W. S. Churchill Let. 28 Oct. in R. S. Churchill Winston S. Churchill (1969) II. Compan. i. 402 Of course the *S of S must always control the Viceroy. 1922G. Bell Let. 4 Dec. (1927) II. xxii. 658, I sent you by post the yearly report to the S. of S., a very silly sort of Xmas present. 1958L. Durrell Mountolive iv. 92 My dear chap..if you propose to make an issue of it with the S. of S. I can't help it.
1917R. Lord Captain Boyd's Battery A.E.F. (1920) ii. 24 *S.O.L.—Payroll abbreviation for Soldier, adapted to mean Soldier Out 'a Luck or Certainly Out 'a Luck, according to the way you spell it. Applicable to everything from death to being late for mess. 1921J. Dos Passos Three Soldiers ii. iii. 99 ‘We shall have to put him down A.W.O.L. You know what that means?’..‘I guess he's S.O.L.’; this from someone behind Fuselli. 1946B. C. Bowker Out of Uniform iii. 48 As the phrase went, they were ‘SOL’ (‘surely’ out of luck).
1942Yank 2 Sept. 14/2 Our regimental *SOP in reference to any MP reports on enlisted men. 1961B. Fergusson Watery Maze x. 248 The Americans had evolved what they call a Standard Operating Procedure, or S.O.P., which was thoroughly unsatisfactory. 1980S. King Firestarter 335 There will be two Shop men along, partly to act as stewards and partly to keep an eye on you. SOP, you know.
1911*s.p. [see job n.2 4 e]. 1928E. Wallace More Educ. Evans ix. 201 You backed that horse s.p. with every unfortunate bookmaker in England. 1974G. F. Newman Price ii. 60 What's the full SP, Trevor?
1937Q. Rep. Soc. Protection Anc. Buildings I. i. 4 From that moment almost it can be said that the *S.P.A.B. was born. 1943J. Lees-Milne Ancestral Voices (1975) 234 At an S.P.A.B. meeting I found a small attendance considering a matter of the first importance, whether or not to protest in the press against the night bombing of historic German cities. 1978Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts CXXVI. 477/1 The Canterbury Cloisters have been discussed by the SPAB recently as being a bad example of restoration.
1861Sat. Rev. 23 Nov. 535/2 Strong in S.P.G. and *S.P.C.K. 1892C. M. Yonge Old Woman's Outlook x. 240 A charming book of my childhood, which I rather believe belonged to the S.P.C.K. 1939J. Cary Mr. Johnson 10 Johnson's idea of a civilized marriage, founded on..a few novels approved by the S.P.C.K., is a compound of romantic sentiment and embroidered underclothes. 1969Listener 24 Apr. 586/2 Judas looking for all the world like an SPCK Jesus, all gently waving locks and sad benevolence.
1921Labour Monthly Oct. 344 We may say, without presumption, that the *S.P.D. (German Social-Democratic Party) is the party which deserves above all others the title of Republican Party. 1947Partisan Rev. Mar.–Apr. 143 The arduous theorists of the SPD were steeped in German pedantry. 1976T. Allbeury Only Good German ix. 58 Both the SPD and the CDU had offered him party seats in the Bundestat.
1913R. Bridges (title) *S.P.E. [manifesto of the Society for Pure English]. 1919― Let. 22 June (1940) 147 Is there any reason for delay about the S.P.E. 1923J. M. Murry Pencillings 268 Such is the appearance—neat, decorous, small, discreet—of an S.P.E. tract. 1948S.P.E. Tract lxvi. 177 When I addressed myself to the honourable, melancholy task of writing the obsequy of S.P.E., I revived fond memories by turning over my file.
1839C. Fox Jrnl. 22 Aug. (1883) v. 53 Mary Coleridge..read a letter from Macaulay describing the state of feeling into which one of Samuel Wilberforce's sermons had thrown him, who is now on a tour westward for the *S.P.G. 1854V. Lush Jrnl. 16 Feb. (1971) 153 We settled to write to the Bishop and request him in conjunction with the Revd Mr Venn and Revd Mr Hawkins, secretaries of C.M.S. and S.P.G.—to select a master for us. 1885Daily News 12 May 5/1 The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, familiarly known as the S.P.G.
1565J. Jewel Replie M. Hardinges Answeare 294 Beda..expounded these foure solemne letters *S.P.Q.R. in this wise. Stultus populus quærit Romam. Foolishe Folke Flee to Rome. 1621I. Sylvester Lacrymæ Lacrymarum in Du Bartas, His Diuine Weekes, This loss (alas!) which unto All belongs!.. To all the world; except S.P.Q.R. 1881N. & Q. 8 Jan. 34/2 S.P.Q.R... The following interpretation of these letters may amuse your readers. They form part of the decoration of the Adam ceiling of the Court Room of the Bank of England, and on a remark by a visitor that they seemed very incongruous in such a place, ‘Not at all,’ said one of my colleagues; ‘they stand for small profits and quick returns.’ 1927E. J. P. Benn Trade iii. 52 Our grandfathers used to talk of small profits and quick returns. ‘S.P.Q.R.’, which most schoolboys of my time imagined had something to do with the early Romans, was a very favourite shop sign. 1977L. Meynell Hooky gets Wooden Spoon xiv. 180 ‘So far he seems to have steered clear of anything big.’ ‘Wise man. S.P.Q.R. Small profits quick returns.’ 1978P. Finney Crow Goddess 112 ‘What does that say?’ he asked, pointing at the label. ‘S.P.Q.R.—the Senate and People of Rome.’
1883Proc. Soc. Psychical Res. p. i, The Council of the *S.P.R. have from time to time received letters from Members and Associates. 1926A. Conan Doyle Hist. Spiritualism I. viii. 185 No serious attempt of any sort, up to the formation of the S.P.R., was made to understand or explain a matter which was engaging the attention of millions of minds. 1937A. Huxley Let. 17 Feb. (1969) 415 Broad's presidential address to the SPR is interesting in this context. 1968M. Collis Somerville & Ross xiv. 157 Arthur Balfour, who for a time was President of the S.P.R.
1971B. Bauer et al. in Jrnl. Audio Engin. Soc. XIX. 639/1 We..‘encode’ (combine) the four channels into two by using a special ‘matrix’, or linear additive circuit.., which we called the *SQ (for stereophonic-quadraphonic) matrix encoder. 1973Official Gaz. (U.S. Patent Office) 20 Nov. tm 138/2 Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc., New York, N.Y. Filed Dec. 6, 1971... The mark represents the stylized lettering ‘SQ’. For pre-recorded phonograph records, and pre-recorded tapes... First use June 10, 1971. 1976Listener 23 Dec. 846/1 Discs in compatible quadraphonic/stereo pressings utilising the SQ system.
1919Round Table IX. 286 The British Labour Party is described as ‘worse than the right *S.R.'s’. 1967Soviet Stud. XVIII. 449 The SR's were able to obtain absolute majorities even in Petrograd and Moscow. 1974T. P. Whitney tr. Solzhenitsyn's Gulag Archipel. I. i. ii. 30 The Left SR's had been cleverer and had gone on pretending longer that they were allies of the one and only consistent party of the proletariat.
1923Southern Railway Mag. Sept. p. xvi (Advt.), For All Southern Railway Staff..Halden Estates Co., Ltd. (*S.R. Proposition). 1959Chambers's Encycl. XI. 490/1 Subsequently S.R. lines west of Exeter were transferred to the Western region. 1967J. Joyce Story Passenger Transport in Britain vii. 186 Nationalisation came in 1948 when the ‘Big Four’—the LMS, LNER, GWR and SR..became the all-embracing ‘British Railways’.
1908Army & Navy Gaz. 26 Dec. 1241/3 The latter officer joins the 3rd (*S.R.) Batn. 1919W. S. Churchill in M. Gilbert Winston S. Churchill (1977) IV. Compan. i. 466 The Regular Army and such SR & TF officers and men as must be retained. 1923Kipling Irish Guards in Gt. War I. 44 Major Webber, ‘S.R.’ (this is the first time that the Diary makes mention of the Special Reserve), arrived the day before. 1963Recommendations for Letter Symbols, Signs & Abbreviations (B.S.I.) vi. 26 Steradian... sr. 1977J. Narlikar Struct. Universe vii. 223 The survey is over 3 sr..in the sky.
1935C. L. Hull in Psychol. Rev. XLII. 502 A trace conditioned reaction in an *S → R relationship. 1948E. R. Hilgard Theories of Learning xii. 349 Woodworth gradually shifted from his S-R motto. 1967[see neo-behaviourism s.v. neo- 1 a]. 1977Dædalus Fall 120 When Chomsky demonstrated that the simple application of S-R learning theory to chained responses is inadequate in principle as an account of grammar, he could not be ignored.
1971Nature 23 Apr. 531/1 While investigating the interaction between antigen-antibody-complement complexes and lymphoid cells, we have noticed that sheep red blood cells (*SRBC) adhered to a surprisingly large proportion of human peripheral blood lymphocytes forming clusters (‘rosettes’). 1977Lancet 19 Feb. 394/2 These eight dilutions and two control tubes..were tested for the formation of rosettes between human lymphocytes and S.R.B.C.
1946Nursing Times 11 May p. ix/1 Mental Ward Sisters..required, *S.R.M.N., or holding R.M.P.A. Certificate. 1965Nursing Mirror & Midwives' Jrnl. 2 Apr. (Suppl.) 18/1 (Advt.), Applicants must be S.R.N., S.R.M.N.
1922Ibid. 1 July 261/1 The Scottish General Nursing Council..‘unanimously adopted’ the resolution as to the undermentioned initials..General Trained..[England] *S.R.N...[Scotland] R.G.N. 1926Ibid. 25 Dec. p. x/3 (Advt.), General, S.R.N., fever, and mental nurses Wanted for private work. 1974R. Ingham Yoris ii. 5 She was wearing her stiff white nurse's uniform with..the small brooch on her left breast bearing the initials SRN.
1957M. B. Hoagland et al. in Biochim. & Biophys. Acta XXIV. 216 This is apparently a low molecular weight RNA (*S-RNA) with different metabolic properties from the high molecular weight RNA of the ribonucleoprotein of the microsomes. 1963F. H. C. Crick in Progr. in Nucleic Acid Res. I. 196 Holley and his collaborators fractionated yeast sRNA by countercurrent distribution. 1971D. J. Cove Genetics x. 146 If the sRNAs act as adoptor molecules, recognising the codon of the amino acid they carry, then it is to be expected that they will have somewhere in their sequence, three adjacent bases which are complementary to that codon, and able therefore to specifically hydrogen bond to it. In all the sRNAs whose sequence has been analysed, this has been found to be true.
1941*SRO [see palsy n.2]. 1966Social Work Oct. 32/1 The clustering of unattached individuals, many of whom are economically dependent and chronically ill, in licensed SRO buildings is a recognizable pattern. 1977New Yorker 27 June 85/3 Queens has only nine of New York's several hundred S.R.O. buildings (the letters stand for ‘single-room occupancy’, and the tenants..are often present or former drug addicts).
1890Texas Siftings 15 Nov. 13/1 At the Grand Opera House Bobby Gaylor, in the Irish Arab, called out the *S.R.O. sign. 1903‘O. Henry’ in McClure's Mag. July 333/1 After one reading of the Declaration of Independence in New York I've known the S.R.O. sign to be hung out at all the hospitals and police stations. 1970Islander (Victoria, B.C.) 5 Apr. 16/2 The 1970 edition [of an annual concert], held on March 3,..was an SRO success.
1939*SRS [see slow-reacting substance s.v. slow adv. 2 a]. 1955W. E. Brocklehurst in Jrnl. Physiol. CXXVIII. 1 ⁋ The occurrence of a slow-reacting substance together with histamine, in the perfusate coming from the isolated lung of a guinea-pig during anaphylactic shock, has been reported previously... The substance has been provisionally named ‘SRS-A’ (slow-reacting substance in anaphylaxis) to differentiate it from the considerable number of ill-defined gut-contracting substances to which the term ‘SRS’ has been applied. 1958Pharmacol. Rev. X. 422 When egg yolk is incubated with cobra venom a slow reacting substance (SRS-C) is formed. 1964W. G. Smith Allergy & Tissue Metabolism i. 14 Evidence for the existence of chemical mediators of anaphylaxis other than histamine has existed since 1940. Recent work on one of these, the slow reacting substance of anaphylaxis (SRS-A), led to the discovery that the hypersensitive state exerts a profound influence on tissue metabolism. 1979Nature 6 Sept. 14/2 SRS has now been identified as a novel cysteinyl derivative of arachidonic acid.
1932H. Nicolson Diary 5 Jan. (1966) 105 The former would correspond to the *S.S. or Schutzstaffel organisation of the Nazis. 1938Encycl. Brit. Bk. of Year 125/1 They are known as the ‘SS’..or Élite Hitler Protective Guard, now under the command of Heinrich Himmler. 1945Daily Mirror 8 May 3/2 S.S. men went through the streets driving people out of their homes. 1958New Statesman 19 Apr. 505/2 The nature of his work compelled him to form intimate relationships with members of two rival German organisations, the Abwehr, or Counter-Intelligence, and the SS. 1968Listener 19 Sept. 359/1, I myself had only one sound-camera, and just before the opening of the Games a squad of SS men tried to take it away from me by force. 1975W. Craig Strasbourg Legacy i. 4 A short, red-faced officer, resplendent in his black SS uniform, read from a memorandum.
1933C. Mackenzie Water on Brain xviii. 276 Katzenschlosser, the American *S.S. man. 1969Sun 12 Feb. 5/5 An advance party of 60 State Department men arrived from Washington on Monday. Probably 20 of them were SS men. (They do actually call them that in the U.S.). 1979Maclean's Mag. 9 Apr. 29/1 The Trudeau government was pressuring the SS for better intelligence..about suspected FLQ cells in Quebec.
1963F. D. Fawcett Cycl. Init. & Abbrev. 140/1 *SS,..Social Security. 1973Freedom 21 July 5/2 Hardly any squatter draws SS and parasites on society. 1975New Society 20 Nov. 412/3 Tez thinks he'll be a rock star..tomorrow. Meanwhile he's having trouble getting it together and lives off the SS. 1980L. Cody Dupe xxiii. 168 The father was knocked off in a pub bombing..and..the family's been on the SS ever since.
1868Times 1 July 2/2 (Advt.), To sail 9th of July, the Liverpool and Australian Navigation Company's *s.s. Great Britain. 1870Weekly Standard (Buenos Aires) 12 Jan. 7/5 Departures. Per ss. Flamsteed on the 9th Jan. 1876W. S. Lindsay Hist. Merchant Shipping IV. xv. 558 (caption) S.S. ‘Victoria’. 1907Shipping World 16 Jan. 111 (Advt.), S.S. ‘Lusitania’ is being fitted with Passenger Lifts. 1955Times 5 July 11/3 Things have gone very wrong indeed when British vessels suffer the treatment received by the ss. Anshun. 1956*SSB [see PEP s.v. P II]. 1976S9 (N.Y.) May/June 5/2 If, however, you don't want to go for ssb, then by all means buy the best radio you can find with the largest number of features.
1969New Acronyms & Initialisms (Gale Research Co.) 389 *SSBN, Fleet Ballistic Missile Submarine (Nuclear powered). 1973Washington Post 13 Jan. a23/3 Gormley's proposals..stem from his realization that SSBN's are the only survivable, non-provocative, anti-proliferative nuclear deterrent forces, existing or planned.
1961Forward Trends V. iv. 47 The Guild Art Exhibition was in two main parts. All of it, naturally, dealing with the use of art with *S.S.N., E.S.N., and backward children. 1967Punch 19 Apr. 557/1 Down below the plimsoll line of an IQ of fifty are the erstwhile imbeciles and idiots, now classed as SSN—severely subnormal. 1972Observer 20 Aug. 7/8 A sixth of the children in the SSN (severely sub-normal) department of this school are boys like these.
1982Financial Times 26 Oct. 17/6 The Government's Statutory Sick Pay (*SSP) proposals, due to come into effect next April{ddd}Each piece of information..can..be transferred onto the SSP Assessment and Payment form to calculate the employee's entitlement. 1986Guardian 15 Nov. 28/5 SSP is not considered to be a social security benefit but is regarded as ‘earnings’.
1968Neurology XVIII. ii. 48/2 Our data suggest that *SSPE is caused by the measles virus, or a virus immunologically indistinguishable from the measles virus. 1974SSPE [see panencephalitis s.v. pan- 2].
1962Aeroplane 21 June 6/3 Secondary surveillance radar (*ssr), the so-called answer to the air traffic controller's prayer, does not appear to be so near, or as technically perfect, as one is led to believe. 1977R.A.F. News 22 June–5 July 9 (Advt.), Experience is required of approach and long range surveillance equipment plus SSR, HF, VHF and UHF radio equipments.
1926Encycl. Brit. III. 429 The population of the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics and its principal parts was, in 1924... Ukraine *S.S.R...27,700,000. 1947Whitaker's Almanack 972/1 Uzbekistan comprises the former feudal states of Bokhara and Khiva and the Kara Kalpak S.S.R. 1977R. Perry Dead End vi. 77 He elected to resume his studies in the Turkmen SSR.
1967Economist 11 Feb. 501/1 Under the direction of Dr Michael Young, the *SSRC has begun to deliver the goods. 1975M. Bradbury History Man ii. 20 He was now..a research student, with an SSRC grant. 1977Dædalus Summer 62 The major funding agencies, the NSF, NIMH, SSRC, Ford Foundation, etc., should be approached to provide the basis for a series of ‘summit’ meetings among the leaders of the various modes of ‘anthropologizing’.
1962(title) Notifications under the National Parks..Act, 1949 in East Riding, Yorkshire. Sites of Special Scientific Interest (*S.S.S.I.) notified under Section 23. 1984National Trust Spring 11/3 SSSIs of considerable importance, particularly small, isolated, herb-rich meadows becoming increasingly rare with the decline in traditional farming systems.
1961Fortune June 161/1 Now in the preliminary design stage is the supersonic transport, or *SST. 1969Listener 6 Mar. 313/2 Russia is talking about getting her SST into passenger use before the end of 1970. 1977New Yorker 27 June 86/3 The Concorde's sponsors believe that if the plane doesn't get New York landing rights the SST enterprise will end in financial disaster.
1932N. & Q. 16 July 45/2 He published seven books of airs, of which the above is the sixth, at various dates between 1604 and 1638 (*S.T.C. 7460–67). 1952J. Carter ABC for Bk.-Collectors 164 STC, a landmark in enumerative bibliography and one of the most frequently quoted of reference books, has recently been reprinted. 1962Davis & Wrenn Eng. & Medieval Stud. 270 The edition is attributed to 1550 in S.T.C. under no. 4817.
1958New Scientist 4 Dec. 1421/1 In planning a scheme for *STD it is very desirable that the dialling procedure should be simple and easy to understand. 1963Engineering 25 Jan. 176 STD is not limited to the United Kingdom—it exists on both the Continent and America. 1973J. Wainwright Pride of Pigs 169 She..picked up the receiver, waited for the S.T.D. pips to stop, said ‘Hello?’ 1977P. Strevens New Orientations Teaching Eng. viii. 105 STD code, oh-three-one.
1956Aeronaut. Engin. Rev. Mar. 48 This type, or types, of airplane can..be called Short Take-Off and Landing, or *STOL, airplanes. 1959Times Rev. Industry July 80/1 Any s.t.o.l. aircraft can use quite short airstrips. 1974Sci. Amer. Mar. 83/3 If STOL and VTOL aircraft, including helicopters, become accepted as a major means of intercity transport, traffic density will increase substantially. 1975E. Hillary Nothing venture, Nothing Win xvi. 260 The answer was to build an airfield and use STOL.
1953Batham & Thorpe To All who are interested in Democracy 14 The National Union of Teachers elects its officers and executive by the *S.T.V. 1974Times 12 Mar. 15/4 This is the single transferable vote (STV). Its effect is to ensure that every vote is of equal value, and that nearly every voter has an MP of his choice.
1955B. Higman Appl. Group-Theoretic & Matrix Methods xii. 175 (table) Special unitary [matrix group] *SU(n). 1967G. G. Hall Appl. Group Theory vi. 84 SU(n). The special unitary group is the subgroup of U(n) whose matrices have a determinant of unity. 1977Nature 4 Aug. 469/1 It provides a classification of a totally different nature to the canonical isospin, strangeness (SU(2) and SU(3)), beloved of group theorists which classifies objects of the same spin.
1956R. N. Hull et al. in Amer. Jrnl. Hygiene LXIII. 205/1 The agents isolated will be referred to as ‘Simian viruses’ (*S.V.) until such time as a definite association with some other host or identification can be established. Ibid. 214/1 A large number of production samples has not been studied for S.V. contamination but of those that have been assayed a few have been found to contain S.V.2 only. 1957Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. LXVII. 414 (caption) Agents received from other laboratories and temporarily classified as SV's. 1967, etc. [see polyoma]. 1970New Scientist 29 Jan. 194/1, SV40 occurred as a contaminant in many of the earlier batches of polio vaccine.., but has had no discernible effect on Man. 1977Time 18 Apr. 48/2 He hoped to insert a monkey virus, SV40, into E. coli.
1864N. & Q. 12 Mar. 211/2 See Richardson On the Study of Words, and Dict., *s.vv. ‘Lord’, ‘Lady’. 1962Ibid. Aug. 304/2 Lotus-eating (O.E.D. s.v. Lotus-eater). 1976Classical Q. XXVI. 310 For this incorrect form of the name of the elder Suetonius, cf. OCD s.v. Suetonius. 1981Times Lit. Suppl. 2 Jan. 6/2 One receives no help if one tries to check it sv, ‘music’.
1973Vet. Rec. 3 Mar. 234/1 On occasion some pigs have shown no abnormal behaviour although they had widespread lesions of *SVD. 1975G. P. West Black's Vet. Dict. (ed. 11) 747/1 SVD has been transmitted to laboratory workers. 1980Times 15 Sept. 14/4 SVD cannot be distinguished from foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) on the farm.
[1917Harrod's Gen. Catal. 1385/2 S. Wm's...Wm's...O.S. Wm's.] 1926–7Army & Navy Stores Catal. 674/3 White drill coat... Sizes *S.W., W. and O.S. 1974Harrods Xmas Catal. 7 Sophisticated wrap... SW, W, or WX.
1925Fraser & Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 274 SWAK, from the initials *S.W.A.K.—i.e., Sealed with a Kiss. A common superscription on the envelopes of letters to sweethearts from sailors and soldiers. 1948Partridge Dict. Forces' Slang 185 S.W.A.K. was the commonest (Sealed With a Kiss), with the variant S.W.A.L.K., the L in this case standing for ‘Loving’. 1952E. Waugh Men at Arms iii. viii. 312 The old soldiers wrote SWALK on the envelope, meaning ‘sealed with a loving kiss’. 1971R. Quest Death of Sinner xvi. 154 They [sc. the letters] might represent a sentence like S.W.A.K... Girls at school sometimes wrote it on the backs of envelopes. It means ‘sealed with a kiss’. 1973‘D. Halliday’ Dolly & Starry Bird xi. 164, I posted him a long letter with SWALK on it to make him laugh.
1968Time 19 July 18/3 Two hundred marksmen have been assigned to a squad named *S.W.A.T. (Special Weapons and Tactics), designed to pick off snipers and to eliminate..the need for indiscriminate police gunfire. 1979Tucson (Arizona) Citizen 28 Apr. 1a/1 Police said a SWAT team bombarded the vehicle with tear gas and gun blasts.
1911Motor Manual (ed. 13) ii. 50 The ‘secondary’ winding, composed of many turns of fine wire (42 or 44 *s.w.g.). 1953Electronic Engin. XXV. 66, 1200 turns 36 S.W.G. enamelled copper. a1977Harrison Mayer Ltd. Catal. 50/1 The working ends are fabricated from 15swg stainless steel which will not rust.
1938Socialist Appeal 22 Jan. 2/4 The *S.W.P. will advocate the continuance of the class struggle. 1943Fourth International Aug. 234/1 The new movement of the masses was developing outside the SWP. 1977Times 8 Sept. 12/3 In true Marxist fashion, the SWP looks forward to the withering away of the state.
1961Amateur Radio Handbk. (ed. 3) xiii. 358 The ratio of maximum to minimum voltage at the crest and trough of the standing wave, is called the voltage standing wave ratio (v.s.w.r., often abbreviated to *s.w.r.). 1976S9 (N.Y.) Feb. 62/2 The column will also contain useful information about adjusting antennas, dope about SWR (standing-wave-ratio) measurements, and all that good stuff.
b. S. = South; also S.E., SE., S.W., South-east, South-west, etc.; also used to designate a London postal district. Also S.A., South Africa(n), South America(n), South Australia(n); S.A.P., Sap, South African Party; † S.S. = South Sea (Company).
1708Lond. Gaz. No. 4418/3 The Wind was, this Morning..at 10, at S. and S.S.E. 1720De Foe Capt. Singleton xvi. (1840) 273 After that it blew..S.W. by S. then S.W. by W. 1840Marryat Olla Podr. III. 10 [The wind] is S.W. and by W. 3/4 W. 1857Punch 7 Feb. 51/2 Rowland Hill has just divided London's waste of brick by ten... Pimlico is in S.W., Brompton fast, and Chelsea mild. Ibid., Yonder dismal hole S.E., Southwark. 1884H. A. Moriarty in Encycl. Brit. XVII. 277/1 A point of destination bore W.S.W. 10 miles; a current ran S.E. by S. 4 miles an hour. 1885List of Subscribers, Classified (United Telephone Co.) (ed. 6) 62 Atkinson & Co, Westminster Bridge Road, S.E. 1934Dylan Thomas Let. Dec. (1966) 147, 5 Redcliffe Street, London, S.W.10... Dear Bert. 1968Listener 19 Dec. 810/2 In between the bombing raids, the doodle-bugs and the V2s they'd improvised a splendid life in SE20.
1864N. & Q. 6 Feb. 117/1 Cape Town, S.A. 1891W. S. Churchill Let. 27 Sept. in R. S. Churchill Winston S. Churchill (1967) I. Compan. i. v. 270 Mama has got a big map of S.A. on which she follows your route. 1933J. Cary Amer. Visitor iv. 39 We were in S.A. together—the yeomanry. 1967L. Meynell Mauve Front Door xv. 214 A bottle of S.A. sherry.
1890Webster, S.A., South America. 1930E. Pound XXX Cantos xii. 55 And the bust-up of Brazilian securities (S.A. securities).
1864South Austral. Advertiser 17 Oct. 2/4 Share List... S.A. Insurance... S.A. Gas. 1944Living off Land iv. 82 The S.A. family..could have been saved had they carried sufficient drinking water. 1971Sunday Australian 8 Aug. 11/2 Senator Hannaford of SA suffered a heart attack.
1920S. Black Dorp 9 The scornful word ‘Sappers’, which he knew to be a term of contempt applied by members of Hertzog's Party (the Nationalists) to all those of the Botha-Smuts element or ‘SAP’. 1933J. C. Smuts Let. 7 Oct. in Sel. Smuts Papers (1973) V. 567 It may be a case of Sap predominance, with a Nat prime minister with a small following of his own. 1935Ann. Reg. 1934 i. 132 Around him rallied those S.A.P. men who vowed with him that a surrender of principles was too heavy a price to pay. 1972Sunday Times (Johannesburg) 3 Sept. 2 Nats, Progs, Saps all climb in to make mischief. 1977Jrnl. Commonwealth & Compar. Politics XV. 7 The networks of rural and provincial notables originally fused together by the South African Party (SAP) gave it majorities in the Cape, Transvaal, and Orange Free State.
1768Ann. Reg. 178 Transferring 50l. new S.S. annuities,..at the S.S. house, as if it had been his own.
c. s. = L. solidus and so used for shilling(s; † = scilicet; = second (of time).
1387E.E. Wills (1882) 1 Also y be-quethe genet my dowter xl. s. a1450Myrc Festial lxxiv. 300 Ther was a man on a time þat lant to anothur man iiii s of money to an certeyn day. 1540Palsgr. Acolastus Prol. B iij b, Suche as opteyne vyctory (.s. in some great enterpryse). a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VIII 241 b, A Subsedy, of twoo .s. of landes. 1579E. K. Gloss. Spenser's Sheph. Cal. July 33 Lurdanes s. Lord Danes. 1664Pepys Diary 4 July, My wife..have lain out 25s. upon a pair of pendantes for her eares. 1702De Foe Shortest Way w. Dissenters 21 To talk of 5s. a Month for not coming to the Sacrament, and 1s. per Week for not coming to Church, this is such a way of converting People as never was known. 1848Thackeray Van. Fair xxxviii, The best coals at ― s. per chaldron. 1884H. A. Moriarty in Encycl. Brit. XVII. 274/1 The chronometer showed 9h 43m 15s·5 as a mean. 1884F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 24 It [sc. a watch] is found to have lost 8 s.
d. In Biol. S or S (also s) = Svedberg unit: used after a number to denote the (often characteristic) sedimentation coefficient of a subcellular body.
1942[see Svedberg]. 1942W. B. Bridgman in Jrnl. Amer. Chem. Soc. LXIV. 2350/2 The average values of s20..varied from 60 to 70 S (one Svedberg unit, S1 = 1 × 10-13 c.g.s. units). 1944Jrnl. Exper. Med. LXXIX. 310 Its sedimentation constant of approximately 800 S is higher than either of those associated with A virus. 1977M. W. Berns Cells iv. 71 In the eukaryotic organism, it appears that 18s and 28s cytoplasmic ribosomal RNAs are produced from a larger 45s ribosomal RNA molecule that is cleaved in a stepwise sequence that produces several intermediate size RNA molecules. 1978Nature 5 Oct. 461/1 Both reconstituted 30S and reconstituted 50S particles containing mutant 16S and (23 + 5S) RNA, respectively, could form 70S couples with their complementary native subunits only in the presence of higher Mg2+ concentration.
II. Symbolic uses.
5. s or S (Physics and Chem.) = sharp: orig. used to designate one of the four main series of lines in atomic spectra, but now more frequently applied to electronic orbitals, states, etc., possessing zero angular momentum and total symmetry.
1890J. R. Rydberg in Phil. Mag. XXIX. 335 Mg (S2) [denotes] the (whole) second sharp series of Mg. 1922A. D. Udden tr. Bohr's Theory of Spectra iii. iii. 97 He [sc. Schrödinger] assumes that the ‘outer’ electron in the states corresponding to the S terms—in contrast to those corresponding to the P and D terms—penetrates partly into the region of the orbits of the inner electrons during the course of its revolution. 1926, etc. [see L 7 b]. 1930[see K 3 f]. 1935Pauling & Wilson Introd. Quantum Mech. v. 142 Only for S states (with l = 0) is the wave function different from zero at r = 0. 1963F. A. Cotton Chem. Applic. Group Theory viii. 193 An s orbital is totally symmetric in the Oh environment. 1978P. W. Atkins Physical Chem. xiv. 433 Whereas the s-orbitals all have non-zero values at the nucleus, the p-orbitals vanish there.
6. [Initial letter of secondary.] Used, chiefly in S wave, to denote an earthquake wave which oscillates transversely to the direction of propagation, a shear wave; so named because secondary waves arrive at a given place later than primary waves. (See also P III. 3.)
1908, etc. [see P III. 3]. 1913G. W. Walker Mod. Seismol. vi. 39 A pronounced movement corresponding to the arrival of the longitudinal disturbance, and..a pronounced movement when the transversal disturbance arrives, both of which have travelled by the brachisto⁓chronic path... These are..identified with the beginning of the first phase P and the second phase S of a seismogram. 1937Wooldridge & Morgan Physical Basis Geogr. ii. 16 The velocities of both P and S waves increase with depth, to a depth of approximately three-tenths of the radius. 1955Sci. Amer. Sept. 57/1 S waves travel at about two thirds of the speed of P waves. 1971I. G. Gass et al. Understanding Earth iii. 54/1 The core is liquid..as can be shown from its inability to transmit shear waves, the S waves of earthquakes.
7. In Physics, s and S denote the quantum numbers of spin angular momentum of one electron and a group of electrons, respectively. [Introduced by F. Hund 1926, in Zeitschr. f. Physik XXXVI. 658.]
1926Bull. Nat. Res. Council (U.S.) No. 57. 5 Electronic angular momentum in units of h/2π... s. 1932Bacher & Goudsmit Atomic Energy States 6 The spin moments s of the individual electrons form, together, a definite resultant spin moment S. 1966D. H. Whiffen Spectroscopy xi. 134 One must be careful not to confuse S meaning a state with L = 0, with S the value of the total electron spin. 1970G. K. Woodgate Elem. Atomic Struct. iv. 57 There is no integration in the normalization condition.., and there is no approach to the classical limit in the sense that s → ∞ because s is confined to the value ½ only.
8. S is used to denote one of the two directions of twist (see quot. 1935); so S-spun, etc.
1935Proc. Amer. Soc. for Testing Materials XXXV. i. 448 A yard or cord has ‘S’ twist if, when held in a vertical position, the spirals conform in slope to the central portion of the letter ‘S’, and ‘Z’ twist if the spirals conform in slope to the central portion of the letter ‘Z’. 1950A. V. Pringle Theory of Flax Spinning xiii. 45 Because the outer fibrils in flax ultimates are arranged in ‘S’ twist spirals it is considered that a stronger yarn or thread can be spun when the final twist is inserted ‘Z’-wise. Hence yarns for weaving are always spun Z-wise, but yarns for twisting are commonly spun S-wise. 1964H. Hodges Artifacts ix. 129 Thus, if the threads are S-spun the ply will normally be Z-spun.
9. [Initial letter of slow.] s-process (Astr.): a process thought to occur in giant stars by which heavy atomic nuclei are produced from other nuclei over a long time scale by a combination of neutron captures and more rapid beta decays.
1956[see R III. 7]. 1971New Scientist 27 Apr. 248/2 The solar-system proportions of many heavy elements reflect the results expected from the s-process, but the lighter elements defy quantitative explanation. 1977[see R III. 7].
10. S meter: a meter on a radio that indicates the strength of a received signal.
1939A.W.A. Technical Rev. IV. 187 It is preferable that the S-meter be available for signal strength comparisons when the receiver gain is manually controlled. 1962B.B.C. Handbk. 130 The more expensive short-wave receivers include such additional features as..‘comprehensive band-spread’ and ‘S’ meter or magic eye, which facilitate accurate tuning. 1976Perkowski & Stral Joy of CB ix. 96 The output is about four times the talk power (6 dB) of AM, equivalent to a difference of one ‘S’ meter unit, or slightly better.
11. S-matrix (Physics): a scattering matrix, i.e. a matrix of probability amplitudes that occurs in the expression of the initial wave functions in a scattering process in terms of all the possible final wave functions. [After G. matrix S (W. Heisenberg 1943, in Zeitschr. f. Physik CXX. 521).]
1945C. Møller in Matematisk-Fysiske Meddelelser XXIII. i. 18 The discrete energy values are completely independent of the form of the S-matrix. 1964W. K. Heisenberg in Cambr. Rev. 24 Oct. 47/1 The S-matrix elements for complicated processes will be functions of many variables. 1974Nature 15 Mar. 265/1 He begins by developing the mathematical description starting from the Minkowski formalism of space-time, passing briefly through field theory, finally arriving at the S-matrix formalism which is to form the basis for the rest of the investigation.
12. S-band: the range of microwave frequencies between 1550 and 5200 megahertz, used for radio communication and radar.
1946Radar: Summary Rep. & Harp Project (U.S. Nat. Defense Res. Comm.) 143/2 S-band. Refers to wave⁓lengths of the order of 10 cm. 1952Reintjes & Coate Princ. Radar (ed. 3) i. 33 Radar equipment operating..in the S, X, and K bands is called microwave radar. 1965Filipowsky & Muehldorf Space Communications Techniques ii. 111 S-band high power transmitters in the 2000 to 2400 Mc range are being provided for future Earth to spacecraft deep-space communications, with power ratings from 10 KW to 100 KW. 1970N. Armstrong et al. First on Moon xi. 257, I haven't heard a word from those guys, and I thought I'd be hearing them on your S-band relay. 1974Encycl. Brit. Macropædia XV. 370/1 Early in the war, the British had developed an airborne S-band..radar for bombing, called the H2S.
13. Chem. [Abbrev. of L. sinister left.] S is used to designate (compounds having) a configuration about an asymmetric carbon atom in which the substituents, placed in order according to certain rules, form an anticlockwise sequence when viewed from a particular direction. Opp. R III. 6.
1956,1971[see R III. 6]. 1973Nature 6 Apr. 367/3 In these experiments, the R(-) isomers..were considerably more active than the alternate S(+) configuration.
14. S denotes the strangeness quantum number of sub-atomic particles.
1956M. Gell-Mann in Nuovo Cimento IV. Suppl. 852 Since we have S = 0 for ordinary particles and S ≠ 0 for ‘strange’ ones we shall refer to S as ‘strangeness’. 1965C. M. H. Smith Nuclear Physics xi. 734 In the final state the total strangeness is zero as λ° and K+ have S-values of -1 and +1 respectively. 1973L. J. Tassie Physics of Elem. Particles vi. 54 The K- is the antiparticle of the K+, and has S = -1.
15. Particle Physics. [Repr. strange; also understood as = singlet or sideways.
‘The letters u and d stood for ‘up’ and ‘down’ (that is to say, isotopic spin projection up and down) and s stood for ‘strange’, with ‘singlet’ (isotopic spin singlet) as a supplementary meaning. ‘Sideways’ was a joke that I used from time to time.’—M. Gell-Mann, let. to R.W.B.]
s is used to designate one of the three quarks originally postulated by Gell-Mann, viz. the ‘strange’ quark, which has zero isospin and charge -1/3.
1964[see quark n.]. 1964Physics I. 74 There is a triplet t of fermion fields corresponding to three spin ½ quarks: the isotopic doublet u and d, with charges 2/3 and -1/3 respectively, and the isotopic singlet s, with charge -1/3. 1973Physics Lett. XLVII. B. 365/2 Even if there is a fourth ‘charmed’ quark u′ in addition to the usual u, d, and s, there are still three colors. 1975Physics Bull. Apr. 177/1 There are two nonstrange quarks, u and d, a doublet under SU(2), and a strange quark s which is a singlet under SU(2). 1975L. H. Ryder Elem. Particles & Symmetries xi. 192 Let us..take up the suggestion of Gell-Mann in 1964 that the three basic particles, which he called quarks, do not have the same hypercharge Y as p, n and λ, but are as shown in Figure 2. (u and d stand for isospin up and down, s for singlet.) 1975Sci. Amer. Oct. 43/1 The third quark, s, is needed only to construct strange particles, and indeed it provides an explicit definition of strangeness: A strange particle is one that contains at least one s quark or s antiquark. 1977Nature 21 July 204/1 Quark model enthusiasts have been having a field day predicting..the properties of new ‘charmed’ hadrons composed of c-quarks together with the old u, d and s-quarks. Ibid. 204/2 Each flavour of quark (u, d, s or c) comes in each of the three colours, but hadrons are always combinations of quarks with no net colour.
Add:[I.] [4.] [a.] SEAQ |ˈsiːæk|, Stock Exchange Automated Quotation system, a computer system for the display of share prices and transactions on the London Stock Exchange.
1984Financial Times 18 July 40/5 The SE also plans to develop a monitoring system for share dealing—the Stock Exchange Automated Quotation System (*SEAQ)—on which prices will be disclosed. 1986Daily Tel. 28 Oct. 21 Institutions deal in larger quantities than the SEAQ minima set by market makers... The small deals rate shown on the SEAQ screen.
SETI |ˈsɛtɪ| (U.S.), search for extraterrestrial intelligence (any of a number of NASA projects investigating the possibility of intelligent life in outer space).
1976N.Y. Times Mag. 12 Sept. 64/5 Drake was deeply involved in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, which astronomers refer to as *SETI. 1977P. Morrison et al. Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (1979) i. 19 It seems clear to us that the SETI effort should be cast as a cooperative international endeavor. 1988Sunday Mail (Brisbane) 20 Nov. 4/1 Success of the SETI program depends heavily on the radio telescope at NASA's Tippinbilla complex.
SL = *Sendero Luminoso n.
1986Ann. Reg. 1985 80 An attack by the *SL on APRA headquarters on 7 October..was followed by a new state of emergency in six Departments and the first reported defections from the movement.
STEP, sixth term entrance paper (for sixth-form pupils seeking entrance to the University of Cambridge).
1985Times Higher Educ. Suppl. 22 Mar. 8/4 Candidates will take the *STEP exams in May in a maximum of two subjects. 1991Sunday Tel. 3 Feb. 6/2 [The candidate] had been asked for two As and a B, instead of the usual three As and a grade 1 in a ‘step’ paper.
Add:[4.] [a.] SAD, seasonal affective disorder (or depression).
1983Chicago Sun-Times 21 Dec. 11/1 Because of symptoms of *SAD sufferers, scientists in the Mental Health Institute wondered if our ancestors hibernated. 1987Daily Tel. 1 June 13/7 Whereas the winter depressives are helped by using bright artificial lights.., people with summer SAD may alleviate their symptoms by lowering their environmental temperature. 1990Health Guardian Nov.–Dec. 4/1 SAD is caused by a biochemical imbalance in the hypothalamus—due to a lack of sunlight.
SCID Path., severe combined immune deficiency.
1973Lancet 16 June 1393/2 Three patients with both severe combined immunodeficiency (*S.C.I.D) and adenosine-deaminase (A.D.A.) deficiency have been reported. 1983Oxf. Textbk Med. I. ix. 79 The prognosis in ADA deficiency SCID is very poor, death due to infection usually occurring in the first year of life. 1992Independent 16 Jan. 2/1 The Cleveland girl suffered from a rare inherited defect, known as severe combined immune deficiency (SCID), which crippled her immune system.
▸ SACD n. = super audio CD n. at super- prefix Additions (a proprietary name in the United Kingdom).
1997Times 5 Dec. 37/1 Whether the *SACD gets into a turf war with the audio capabilities of DVD will depend on how the companies involved can work together. 2003Pop. Sci. June 28/2 Both DVD-A and SACD promise you-are-there sound quality.
▸ SAT n. (also Sat) Brit. Educ. standard assessment task (or test); usu. in pl.
1988Guardian 11 Oct. 22/1 Contracts to develop the ‘standard assessment tasks’ (*SATs) for seven-year-olds in mathematics, science, English and Welsh, and possibly design and technology. 2002Observer 30 June (Rev. section) 2/4 The Sats results show there is no plateauing off.
▸ SBF n. orig. U.S. (in personal advertisements) single black female.
1978Washingtonian Oct. 314/2 (advt.) *SBF, attractive, babe in Christ, seeks Christian man. 2003Now 6–12 Mar. 110/2 (advt.) Fiery Redhead, SBF, 19, Sagittarius, seeks..man.
▸ SBM n. orig. U.S. (in personal advertisements) single black male.
1979Chron.-Telegram (Elyria, Ohio) 13 Sept. 31/3 (advt.) Pentecostal *SBM, 19, 6'2", understanding, outgoing, caring, attends Christian concerts. 2003Now 6–12 Mar. 110/4 (advt.) SBM, 35, is new to Toronto, originally from Kenya.
▸ SBS n. Med. = shaken baby syndrome n. at shaken adj. Additions.
1984Ann. Emergency Med. 13 104/1 With the advent of computed cranial tomography (CCT), the *SBS can be more accurately diagnosed. 1989Pediatric Emergency Care 5 181 MRI may be a valuable tool in the diagnosis of brain injury in SBS. 2000Straits Times (Singapore) (Nexis) 12 Dec. 4 SBS is probably responsible for countless previously unexplained instances of serious brain damage in later life—including child paralysis, blindness and cerebral palsy.
▸ SBS n. sick building syndrome.
1987Times 23 June 16/4 *SBS seems to be exacerbated in buildings where people have no control over their environment—which is the case in most large office buildings—particularly over air conditioning and lighting. 1991New Builder 26 Sept. 22/1 The House of Commons environment committee's recent report into indoor pollution estimates that SBS is costing the national economy between {pstlg}330M and {pstlg}650M a year. 1998Independent on Sunday 8 Feb. (Rev. Suppl.) 40/1 Both SBS and the related condition Building Related Illness (BRI) have been implicated by the US government's Environmental Protection Agency in up to 5,000 cancers a year in America.
▸ SGML n. Computing Standard Generalized Mark-up language, a portable system specifying the syntax of specific sets of tags allowed in electronic documents, which constitutes the basis of XML and has been used in the design of markup languages such as HTML.
1983Graphic Arts Monthly Nov. 83/1 What is generic coding? What is *SGML? How do they relate? Generic codes are markup codes that address a document's editorial content rather than its typographic format. 1989Lit. & Ling. Computing 4 296/1 Hypertext capabilities and optional disk products are now based on SGML. 2000Wired July 123 GLR [= Global Literature Resources] features SGML full-text versions of nearly 600 lit classics, and a custom search engine to help wordnerds navigate these texts and the rest of the Web-enabled canon.
▸ SIG n. Brit. |sɪg|, U.S. |sɪg| (also Sig) = special interest group n. at special adj. and adv. and n. Additions.
1966Minutes of Meeting Amer. Documentation Inst. Special Interest Group Classif. Res. 3 Oct. 1 The National Organization..suggested that nominations and elections be deferred by the *SIG's. 1974DECUS Fall 1973 Symp. 239 Members of SIGME discussed the objectives of the SIG. 1988Computer Weekly 14 July 26/3 Decus runs a number of special interest groups (Sigs) for users with common interests, for example VMS Sig, Large Systems Sig, Ultrix Sig. 2000Red Herring Dec. 128/1 All 2,000 member companies of the Bluetooth SIG will put their marketing muscle behind it.
▸ SIPP n. Brit. |sɪp|, U.S. |sɪp| (also Sipp) Brit. Finance. self-invested personal pension, a pension plan that allows the contributor to choose and manage the investments made.
1991Independent 15 June 22 Unit trusts are eligible for inclusion in *Sipps along with straightforward shares, insurance company funds, deposit accounts and commercial property. 2002A. Davidson How to win in Volatile Stock Market (ed. 2) xi. 146 If you have large amounts to invest in your pension you may prefer a SIPP, which is a self-invested personal pension for which you select the investments yourself.
▸ SJF n. orig. and chiefly U.S. (in personal advertisements) single Jewish female.
1975Boston Phoenix 12 Aug. ii. 26/2 (advt.) Provocative *SJF 39 brite atr gd bod sk hi minded. 2000N.Y. Press 29 Mar. ii. 68/2 (advt.) SJM seeks 30–40something SJF queen to share Shabbat, hammentashen, throne and life's adventures.
▸ SJM n. orig. and chiefly U.S. (in personal advertisements) single Jewish male.
1975Boston Phoenix 12 Aug. ii. 26/3 (advt.) *SJM seeks attr. SJF, 21-30 to share enjoyment of Vt living. 2000N.Y. Press 29 Mar. ii. 70/3 (advt.) SJM. 43, 6′3{pp}, dom/sub., switchable, healthy, very youthful and slim.
▸ SME n. Business (chiefly Brit.) a small to medium-sized enterprise; (orig. and chiefly in pl., as SMEs) small and medium-sized enterprises collectively.
1982Financial Times 21 Sept. ii. 12/8 The EEC should pursue a specific strategy for promoting small and medium sized enterprises (*SMEs). 19831983, European Year Small & Medium-sized Enterprises ii. 53 The complaints of SMEs have become increasingly urgent and numerous. 2001Retail Newsagent 7 July 3/2 The survey found that the number of known thefts per SME was doubling.
▸ SMS n. short message service; (occas. also) short messaging service, short message system; freq. attrib.
1991K. Holley in IEE Colloquium on ‘GSM & PCN Enhanced Mobile Services’ Digest No. 23. 7/1 The GSM Short Message Service (*SMS) has been designed to meet the messaging needs of the mobile telephone user over and above the real-time speech and data services. 1998What Cellphone Nov. 19/1 We think that if you make it easier for people to use SMS, more will send text. 2000Business Rev. Weekly 1 Dec. 133/3 Australians send about seven million SMS messages a week.
▸ SOH n. (also S.O.H., s.o.h.) chiefly Brit. (chiefly in personal advertisments) sense of humour; cf. GSOH n. at G n. Additions.
1980Washington Post (Nexis) 1 Nov. f1, I have three requirements for a man. He has to have compassion/kindness, he has to have intelligence/enthusiasm, and, well, good looks is in there too, and *S.O.H. 1991Re: alt.personals abbreviations in alt.personals (Usenet newsgroup) 14 Oct. There are some other abbreviations used in personal ads... These include:..SOH = Sense of Humor. 2002Derbyshire Times 19 Dec. 57/2 (advt.) Widow, 56, honest, caring and cuddly with wicked SOH, car owner, N/S, seeks similar mate to pamper.
▸ SPAD n. Brit. |spæd|, U.S. |spæd| (also Spad) Brit. Railways signal (or signals) passed at danger; an incident in which a train or driver passes a warning signal.
1988Times (Nexis) 16 Dec. British Rail said it could not explain the ‘rising trend of *Spads’ but said independent reports..have been commissioned. 2001Mod. Railways Aug. 20/2 Despite the introduction of Cab Secure Radio (CSR), none of the signallers at Slough had been trained in its use in an emergency, and none had used it in the event of a SPAD.
▸ SSRI n. Pharmacol. = selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor n. at selective adj. Additions.
1991Pharmaceutical Business News 15 Feb. 18/1 The long awaited launch of SmithKline Beecham's selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor (*SSRI) antidepressant, Seroxat (paroxetine), took place last week. 2001A. Solomon Noonday Demon (2002) i. 25 About 28 million Americans—one in every ten—are now on SSRIs. 2004Independent 14 Dec. 6/1 We have all heard stories of young people who, after just one panic attack, are bunged on SSRIs like Prozac and Seroxat, and spend weeks suffering horrible feelings of going mad.
▸ STD n. sexually transmitted disease (or diseases).
1974Brit. Jrnl. Venereal Dis. 50 412/1 The importance of sexually-transmitted diseases (*STD) in human society needs no emphasis. 1977Proc. Royal Soc. Med. 70 62/2 This book forms in fact a nucleus of recent advances in the field of STD. 1991P. J. O'Rourke Parl. of Whores (1992) 214 I'm more worried about gum disease than STDs. 2000Marie Claire (Johannesburg) Feb. 133/2 If..you show signs of sores (ulcers) or warts on your genitals, you may have an STD.
▸ STF n. (also stf., stf, StF) scientific fiction, scientifiction (cf. S.F. n. at Initialisms 1).
1931Wonder Stories May 1483/1 All those stars of science fiction (or *stf., the abbreviation for science fiction adopted by the Boys' Scientifiction Club) in the same issue. 1947Startling Stories Jan. 107/1 If you even read StF you'll do. 1951Life 21 May 130/2 ‘Fanzines’, or fan magazines, which are usually small mimeographed publications devoted to amateur STF, criticism and gossip. 1993Editor & Publisher Mag. (Nexis) 24 Apr. 112 ‘We are starting small,’..Neri said at a reception for STF writers and artists.
▸ STI n. Med. sexually transmitted infection.
1991F. N. Judson & M. E. M. Paalman in J. N. Wasserheit et al. Res. Issues in Human Behavior & Sexually Transmitted Dis. 296 *STI is a new acronym that combines an expanding list of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections including AIDS. It is intended to unify a field in which AIDS, the most important and deadly STI, often has been viewed as separate from or different from other STDs. 1998Gay Times Aug. 23 (advt.) Most STIs are easily treated. 2003Observer 23 Nov. (Mag. section) 24/3 Contracting an STI is not something one talks about readily. 2006Zest Jan. 28/1 If you're in a relationship, I would suggest that both you and your partner get tested for STIs.
▸ SUV n. N. Amer. = sport utility vehicle n. at sport n.1 Compounds 4a.
1987Metalworking News 29 June 5/4 Right now, the only four-door wagons available in the compact-size sports utility vehicle (*SUV) class are made by American Motors Corp. 2000Denver Post 26 Nov. e10/1 Thanks for letting me pull my big honking SUV in front of you, even though it blocks all sunlight in a two-lane radius.
▸ S-Video n.> adj. + video n. a method of transmitting high-quality television signals from a video recorder, video camera, computer, etc., by sending the signals for chrominance and luminance separately; freq. attrib.
1987HFD 7 Sept. 79/3 A separate *S Video (Y/C) input terminal reportedly allows the XBR-Pro to take advantage of new high-resolution half-inch VCRs. 1996VTV Aug.–Sept. 126/6 There are two common formats... The second is separated or ‘S-Video’ where the brightness and colour signals are handled separately, to prevent them interfering with each other. 2003Chicago Tribune (Midwest ed.) 13 July v. 4/6 Like the Medion [laptop computer], it features a powerful video card with S-Video television out and everything gets displayed on a sweet 15.4-inch high-resolution screen.
▸ S-VHS n. = super VHS n. at super- prefix Additions.
1987Jiji Press Ticker Service Newswire (Nexis) 8 Jan. The new format, called *S-VHS for super video home system, has horizontal resolution of about 430 lines, nearly double the existing home video systems' 230 lines. 1991OnSat 10 Feb. 123/2 Some confusion has developed between the S-Video TV format and S-VHS, an improved VHS recording method using better record heads and improved magnetic tape. 2002Which? June 27/3 Only the long-play option and sound quality have improved—you'll need to upgrade to S-VHS to find a big difference in standard picture quality.
▸ SVQ n. Educ. = Scottish Vocational Qualification n. at Scottish adj. and n. Additions.
1991Access & Opportunity (Scottish Office) Cmnd. 1530. 13 A Training Credit..buys the opportunity to obtain a Scottish Vocational Qualification (*SVQ) to level SVQ 2 or above. 1996Brit. 1997: Official Handbk. (H.M.S.O.) 458/1 Broadly compatible with the GNVQs in the rest of Britain, General SVQs are a stepping-stone to higher education or further training. 2001Mail on Sunday (Electronic ed.) 4 Feb. NVQ/SVQs in ICT-related subjects are available from Levels 1 to 4, the latter being the vocational equivalent of a first degree.
▸ SWF n. orig. U.S. (in personal advertisements) single white female.
1976Boston Phoenix 4 July ii. 28/6 (advt.) Bright, *SWF, 26,..former model now teacher,..seeks meaningful relationship with a single white..professional man. 2000Big Issue 20 Mar. 40/2 (advt.) Tall, blonde professional SWF, mature but fit.
▸ SWM n. orig. U.S. (in personal advertisements) single white male.
1974Los Angeles Free Press 26 Apr. ii./3 (advt.) Want W/F Soloists. *S/W/M Soloist, young..,wants to know all w/f soloist [sic] everywhere. 2004Vanity Fair Oct. 298/1 Twinkie Boy SWM, smooth blond brainiac has keys to WH pool.
▪ II. Sr
obs. abbrev. of sir n. |