Part 217

Search"light` (?), n. (a) An apparatus for projecting a powerful beam of light of approximately parallel rays, usually devised so that it can be swiveled about. (b) The beam of light projecting by this apparatus.

Se"cret serv"ice. The detective service of a government. In the United States, in time of peace the bureau of secret service is under the treasury department, and in time of war it aids the war department in securing information concerning the movements of the enemy.

See, v. t. In poker and similar games at cards, to meet (a bet), or to equal the bet of (a player), by staking the same sum.

See"catch (?), n. [Russ. siekach.] (Zoöl.) A full-grown male fur seal. [Alaska]

Seep"age, n. The act or process of seeping; percolation.

Seis"mo*gram (?), n. [Gr. &?; earthquake + -gram.] (Physics) The trace or record of an earth tremor, made by means of a seismograph.

Self (?), a. Having its own or a single nature or character, as in color, composition, etc., without addition or change; unmixed; as, a self bow, one made from a single piece of wood; self flower or plant, one which is wholly of one color; self-colored.

Self`-bind"er (?), n. A reaping machine containing mechanism for binding the grain into sheaves.

Self`-ex*cite", v. t. (Elec.) To energize or excite (the field magnets of a dynamo) by induction from the residual magnetism of its cores, leading all or a part of the current thus produced through the field-magnet coils.

Self`-hard"en*ing, a. (Metal.) Designating, or pert. to, any of various steels that harden when heated to above a red heat and cooled in air, usually in a blast of cold air with moderate rapidity, without quenching. Such steels are alloys of iron and carbon with manganese, tungsten and manganese, chromium, molybdenum and manganese, etc. They are chiefly used as high-speed steels. -- Self`-hard"en*ed, a.

Self`-help", n. (Law) The right or fact of redressing or preventing wrongs by one's own action without recourse to legal proceedings, as in self-defense, distress, abatement of a nuisance, etc.

Self`-in*duc"tion, n. (Elec.) Induction in a circuit due to the action of one portion of a current upon an adjacent portion during periods of varying current strength. The nature of the induction is such as to oppose the action which produces it.

Self`-start"er, n. A mechanism (usually one operated by electricity, compressed air, a spring, or an explosive gas), attached to an internal-combustion engine, as on an automobile, and used as a means of starting the engine without cranking it by hand.

Se*ma`si*ol"o*gy (?), n. [Gr. &?; signification + -logy.] (Philol.) The science of meanings or sense development (of words); the explanation of the development and changes of the meanings of words. -- Se*ma`si*o*log"ic*al (#), a.

Se*mat"ic (?), a. [Gr. &?;, &?;, sign, token.] Significant; ominous; serving as a warning of danger; -- applied esp. to the warning colors or forms of certain animals.

Sem`i-Die"sel (?), a. Designating an internal-combustion engine of a type resembling the Diesel engine in using as fuel heavy oil which is injected in a spray just before the end of the compression stroke and is fired without electrical ignition. The fuel is sprayed into an iron box (called a hot bulb or hot pot) opening into the combustion chamber, and heated for ignition by a blast-lamp until the engine is running, when it is, ordinarily, kept red hot by the heat of combustion.

Sem`i*nar" (?), n. [G. See Seminary, n.] A group of students engaged, under the guidance of an instructor, in original research in a particular line of study, and in the exposition of the results by theses, lectures, etc.; -- called also seminary.

Sem`i*ra"di*al (?), a. Half radial.

Semiradial engine. (Mach.) See Radial engine, above.

Sem`i*ton*tine" (?), a. (LIfe Insurance) Lit., half-tontine; -- used to designate a form of tontine life insurance. See Tontine insurance. -- Sem`i*ton*tine", n.

||Se*nhor" (?), n. [Pg. Cf. Señor, Senior.] A Portuguese title of courtesy corresponding to the Spanish señor or the English Mr. or sir; also, a gentleman.

||Se*nho"ra (?), n. [Pg. Cf. Señora.] A Portuguese title of courtesy given to a lady; Mrs.; Madam; also, a lady.

Sen`si*tom"e*ter (?), n. [See Sensitive; -meter.] (Photog.) An instrument or apparatus for comparing and grading the sensitiveness of plates, films, etc., as a screen divided into squares of different shades or colors, from which a picture is made on the plate to be tested.

Sen"tence meth`od. (Education) A method of teaching reading by giving first attention to phrases and sentences and later analyzing these into their verbal and alphabetic components; -- contrasted with alphabet and word methods.

Se*phar"dic (?), a. [From Sephardim, a name applied to the Spanish Jews, fr. Sephard, name of a place where Jews were held in captivity (Ob. 20).] Of, pertaining to, or designating, the Jews (the Sephardim, also called Spanish or Portuguese Jews) descended from Jewish families driven from Spain by the Inquisition.

Se*phar"dim (?), n. pl. [NHeb.; orig. uncert.] Jews who are descendants of the former Jews of Spain and Portugal. They are as a rule darker than the northern Jews, and have more delicate features.

||Sé`rac" (?), n. [F. (in the Alps), orig., a kind of solid cheese.] A pinnacle of ice among the crevasses of a glacier; also, one of the blocks into which a glacier breaks on a steep grade.

Se"ries (?), n. 1. (Bot.) In Engler's system of plant classification, a group of families showing certain structural or morphological relationships. It corresponds to the cohort of some writers, and to the order of many modern systematists.