second

▪ I. second sec‧ond ¹ [ˈsekənd] adjective

second half/​quarter/​period ACCOUNTING the second half, quarter etc of the financial year:

• The company expects second-quarter sales to be substantially below those of the equivalent period a year ago.

  [m0] ▪ II. second second ² verb [transitive]

to officially support a suggestion, idea etc made by another person at a formal meeting so that it can be discussed or voted on:

• Each nomination must be proposed and seconded by two members of the committee.

— seconder noun [countable] :

• His proposal failed to find a seconder, and was dropped.

  [m0] ▪ III. second se‧cond ³ [sɪˈkɒnd ǁ -ˈkɑːnd] verb [transitive] HUMAN RESOURCES

to arrange for an employee to work for another organization for a period of time:

second somebody to something

• We provide the opportunity for you to be seconded to industry to receive additional in-service training.

— secondment noun [countable, uncountable] :

• You can encourage personal contact with suppliers through seminars, site visits and short-term secondments.

• Two members of the team areon secondment from the University of Miami.

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Ⅰ.

second UK /ˈsek^ənd/ noun [C, usually plural]

► COMMERCE a product that is sold at a lower price than usual because it is damaged or not in perfect condition: »

Many goods in sales are seconds.

Ⅱ. [m1]second verb [T]

► /sɪˈkɒnd/ HR, WORKPLACE to send an employee to work somewhere else temporarily, either to increase the number of workers there, to replace another worker, or to exchange experiences or skills: be seconded to sth »

She was seconded to our department five months ago.

→ See also SECONDMENT(Cf. ↑secondment)

► /ˈsek^ənd/ MEETINGS to make a formal statement of support for a suggestion made by someone else during a meeting so that there can be a discussion or vote: second a motion »

The motion was proposed by the secretary and seconded by the treasurer.

→ Compare PROPOSE(Cf. ↑propose)