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seal

noun · verb

Simple meaning

A pinniped, particularly an earless seal or eared seal.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

seel
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈsil

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. A pinniped (Pinnipedia), particularly an earless seal (true seal) or eared seal.

  2. An impression of such stamp on wax, paper or other material used for sealing.

  3. A stamp used to impress a design on a soft substance such as wax.

  4. A facsimile of an impression of such stamp that is a mark or symbol of an office or organisation.

  5. Anything that secures or authenticates.

  6. Something which will be visibly damaged if a covering or container is opened, and which may or may not bear an official design.

verb

  1. transitive

    To fasten (something) so that it cannot be opened without visible damage.

  2. transitive

    To prevent people or vehicles from crossing (something).

  3. transitive

    To close securely to prevent leakage.

  4. transitive

    To guarantee.

  5. To fix, as a piece of iron in a wall, with cement or plaster, etc.

  6. Hunt seals

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: A pinniped (Pinnipedia), particularly an earless seal (true seal) or eared seal.

Used this way, seal is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use seal

  • “She sealed the letter with hot wax.”verb

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

privy sealcommon sealfur sealofficial sealoil sealroyal sealwater sealseventh seal

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • sealedadjectiveInflected form

    Established irrevocably.

  • sealingnounInflected form

    The act of treating something to make it repel water.

  • sealernounInflected form

    A kind of sealing material that is used to form a hard coating on a porous surface (as a coat of paint or varnish used to size a surface).

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • seal ringnounCompound term

    A ring bearing a signet.

  • seal bombnounCompound term

    A small explosive device (resembling a firecracker) that is used underwater in order to frighten mammals away from fishing grounds.

  • sealed instrumentnounCompound term

    A contract that is signed and has the (wax) seal of the signer attached.

  • sealing materialnounCompound term

    Any substance used to seal joints or fill cracks in a porous surface.

  • sealing waxnounCompound term

    Fastener consisting of a resinous composition that is plastic when warm.

  • seal inverbCompound term

    Close with or as if with a tight seal.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

  • sealantnounRelated term

    A kind of sealing material that is used to form a hard coating on a porous surface (as a coat of paint or varnish used to size a surface).

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Antonyms

Sense: to fasten (something) so that it cannot be opened without visible damage

unsealRare

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.