S

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does S mean? 

• S (noun)
  The noun S has 6 senses:

1. 1/60 of a minute; the basic unit of time adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites

2. an abundant tasteless odorless multivalent nonmetallic element; best known in yellow crystals; occurs in many sulphide and sulphate minerals and even in native form (especially in volcanic regions)

3. the cardinal compass point that is at 180 degrees

4. a unit of conductance equal to the reciprocal of an ohm

5. the 19th letter of the Roman alphabet

6. (thermodynamics) a thermodynamic quantity representing the amount of energy in a system that is no longer available for doing mechanical work

  Familiarity information: S used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• S (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

1/60 of a minute; the basic unit of time adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Synonyms:

s; sec; second

Hypernyms ("s" is a kind of...):

time unit; unit of time (a unit for measuring time periods)

Meronyms (parts of "s"):

millisecond; msec (one thousandth (10^-3) of a second)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "s"):

leap second (a second (as measured by an atomic clock) added to or subtracted from Greenwich Mean Time in order to compensate for slowing in the Earth's rotation)

Holonyms ("s" is a part of...):

min; minute (a unit of time equal to 60 seconds or 1/60th of an hour)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An abundant tasteless odorless multivalent nonmetallic element; best known in yellow crystals; occurs in many sulphide and sulphate minerals and even in native form (especially in volcanic regions)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

atomic number 16; S; sulfur; sulphur

Hypernyms ("S" is a kind of...):

chemical element; element (any of the more than 100 known substances (of which 92 occur naturally) that cannot be separated into simpler substances and that singly or in combination constitute all matter)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "S"):

brimstone; native sulfur; native sulphur (an old name for sulfur)

Holonyms ("S" is a substance of...):

sulfide; sulphide (a compound of sulphur and some other element that is more electropositive)

oil of vitriol; sulfuric acid; sulphuric acid; vitriol ((H2SO4) a highly corrosive acid made from sulfur dioxide; widely used in the chemical industry)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The cardinal compass point that is at 180 degrees

Classified under:

Nouns denoting relations between people or things or ideas

Synonyms:

due south; S; south; southward

Hypernyms ("S" is a kind of...):

cardinal compass point (one of the four main compass points)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A unit of conductance equal to the reciprocal of an ohm

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Synonyms:

mho; reciprocal ohm; S; siemens

Hypernyms ("S" is a kind of...):

conductance unit (a measure of a material's ability to conduct an electrical charge)

Sense 5

Meaning:

The 19th letter of the Roman alphabet

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("S" is a kind of...):

alphabetic character; letter; letter of the alphabet (the conventional characters of the alphabet used to represent speech)

Holonyms ("S" is a member of...):

Latin alphabet; Roman alphabet (the alphabet evolved by the ancient Romans which serves for writing most of the languages of western Europe)

Sense 6

Meaning:

(thermodynamics) a thermodynamic quantity representing the amount of energy in a system that is no longer available for doing mechanical work

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

entropy; randomness; S

Context example:

entropy increases as matter and energy in the universe degrade to an ultimate state of inert uniformity

Hypernyms ("S" is a kind of...):

physical property (any property used to characterize matter and energy and their interactions)

Domain category:

thermodynamics (the branch of physics concerned with the conversion of different forms of energy)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "S"):

conformational entropy (entropy calculated from the probability that a state could be reached by chance alone)

 Context examples 

The days were not many after that when he sat at table with the scientific men and ship's officers.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

The mate’s gone, so I can’t afford to lose you too.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Having answered the Count's salutation, I turned to the glass again to see how I had been mistaken.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

From the moment of this girl's birth, child, I intend to be her friend.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Judge Miller’s place, it was called.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

“And Mademoiselle’s address?” he asked.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

To Dartmoor; to King’s Pyland.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“The man’s career is that of an honourable soldier.”

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"Don't know. Unless One Ear gnawed 'm loose. He couldn't a-done it himself, that's sure."

(White Fang, by Jack London)

He gave an interview to Reuter's, and there was such a howl that he saw it wouldn't do.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)