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seal

 - 16 dictionary results
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seal

1  [seel]
Use seal in a Sentence
–noun
1. an embossed emblem, figure, symbol, word, letter, etc., used as attestation or evidence of authenticity.
2. a stamp, medallion, ring, etc., engraved with such a device, for impressing paper, wax, lead, or the like: The king took the seal from his finger and applied it to the document.
3. the impression so obtained: It was unmistakably the royal seal on the document.
4. a mark or symbol attached to a legal document and imparting a formal character to it, originally wax with an impression.
5. a piece of wax or similar adhesive substance so attached to an envelope, folded document, etc., that it must be broken when the object is opened, insuring that the contents have not been tampered with or altered.
6. anything that tightly or completely closes or secures a thing, as closures or fastenings for doors and railroad cars, adhesive stamps and tapes used to secure the flap of an envelope, etc.
7. something that keeps a thing secret: Her vow was the seal that kept her silent.
8. a decorative stamp, esp. as given to contributors to a charitable fund: a Christmas seal.
9. a mark, sign, symbol, or the like, serving as visible evidence of something.
10. anything that serves as assurance, confirmation, or bond: She gave the plan her seal of approval.
11. Plumbing.
a. a small amount of water held by a trap to exclude foul gases from a sewer or the like.
b. the depth of the part of the water that actually excludes the gases.
12. the seals, British. the tokens or signs of public office.
–verb (used with object)
13. to affix a seal to in authorization, testimony, etc.
14. to assure, confirm, or bind with or as if with a seal: They sealed the bargain with a handshake.
15. to impress a seal upon as evidence of legal or standard exactness, measure, quality, etc.
16. to close by any form of fastening that must be broken before access can be gained.
17. to fasten or close tightly by or as if by a seal: She was sealing envelopes. My lips are sealed.
18. to decide irrevocably: to seal someone's fate.
19. to grant under one's seal or authority, as a pardon.
20. Mormon Church. to make (a marriage or adoption) forever binding; solemnize.
21. Electricity. to bring (a plug and jack or socket) into locked or fully aligned position.
—Verb phrase
22. seal off,
a. to close hermetically: to seal off a jar.
b. to block (an entrance, area, etc.) completely so as to prevent escape or entrance: The police sealed off the area after the bomb threat was received.
—Idiom
23. set one's seal to, to give one's approval to; authorize; endorse: Both families have set their seal to the marriage.
Origin:
1175–1225; (n.) ME seel, seil(e), seale mark on a document, token < OF seel (F sceau) < LL *sigellum, L sigillum, dim. of signum sign; r. ME seil, OE (in)segel seal < LL, as above; (v.) sealen, seilen < OF seeler, seieler, deriv. of seel

Related forms:
seal⋅a⋅ble, adjective
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seal

2  [seel] noun, plural seals, (especially collectively for 1) seal, verb
–noun
1. any of numerous marine carnivores of the suborder Pinnipedia, including the eared or fur seals, as the sea lion, and the earless or hair seals, as the harbor seal.
2. the skin of such an animal.
3. leather made from this skin.
4. the fur of the fur seal; sealskin.
5. a fur used as a substitute for sealskin.
6. a dark, gray brown.
–verb (used without object)
7. to hunt, kill, or capture seals.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME sele, OE seolh; c. ON selr

Related forms:
seallike, adjective

seal

3  [seel]
–verb (used with object) Falconry.
seel (def. 1).
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To seal
seal 1   (sēl)   
n.  

    1. A die or signet having a raised or incised emblem used to stamp an impression on a receptive substance such as wax or lead.

    2. The impression so made.

    3. The design or emblem itself, belonging exclusively to the user: a monarch's seal.

    4. A small disk or wafer of wax, lead, or paper bearing such an imprint and affixed to a document to prove authenticity or to secure it.

    5. An airtight closure.

    6. A closure, as on a package, used to prove that the contents have not been tampered with.

  2. Something, such as a commercial hallmark, that authenticates, confirms, or attests.

  3. A substance, especially an adhesive agent such as wax or putty, used to close or secure something or to prevent seepage of moisture or air.

  4. A device that joins two systems or elements in such a way as to prevent leakage.

    1. An airtight closure.

    2. A closure, as on a package, used to prove that the contents have not been tampered with.

  6. A small decorative paper sticker.

tr.v.   sealed, seal·ing, seals

  1. To affix a seal to in order to prove authenticity or attest to accuracy, legal weight, quality, or another standard.

    1. To close with or as if with a seal.

    2. To close hermetically.

    3. To make fast or fill up, as with plaster or cement.

    4. To apply a waterproof coating to: seal a blacktop driveway.

  3. To grant, certify, or designate under seal or authority.

  4. To establish or determine irrevocably: Our fate was sealed.

  5. Mormon Church To make (a marriage, for example) binding for life; solemnize forever.

Phrasal Verb(s):
seal offTo close tightly or surround with a barricade or cordon: An unused wing of the hospital was sealed off.

[Middle English, from Old French seel, from Vulgar Latin *sigellum, from Latin sigillum, diminutive of signum, sign, seal; see sekw-1 in Indo-European roots.]
seal'a·ble adj.
seal 2   (sēl)   
n.  

  1. Any of various aquatic carnivorous mammals of the families Phocidae and Otariidae, found chiefly in the Northern Hemisphere and having a sleek, torpedo-shaped body and limbs that are modified into paddlelike flippers.

  2. The pelt or fur of one of these animals, especially a fur seal.

  3. Leather made from the hide of one of these animals.

intr.v.   sealed, seal·ing, seals
To hunt seals.

[Middle English sele, from Old English seolh.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

seal  (n.1)
"design stamped on wax," c.1230, from O.Fr. seel (Fr. sceau), from V.L. *sigellum (cf. It. suggello, Sp. sello, also O.Fris., M.H.G. sigel, Ger. Siegel), from L. sigillum "small picture, engraved figure, seal," dim. of signum "mark, token" (see sign). An earlier borrowing directly from L. is represented by O.E. insigel. Sealing-wax is attested from c.1300. Seal point "dark brown marking on a Siamese cat" is recorded from 1934.

seal  (n.2)
"mammal with flippers," O.E. seolh "seal," from P.Gmc. *selkhaz (cf. O.N. selr, Swed. sjöl, M.L.G. sel, M.Du. seel, O.H.G. selah), of unknown origin, perhaps a borrowing from Finnic.

seal  (v.)
"to fasten with (or as with) a seal," c.1225, from seal (n.1). Meaning "to place a seal on (a document)" is recorded from 1338; sense of "to close up with wax, lead, cement, etc." is attested from 1661, from the notion of wax seals on envelopes. To seal one's fate (1810) probably reflects the notion of a seal on an execution warrant.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: seal
Function: noun
Etymology: Old French seel, from Latin sigillum, from diminutive of signum mark, sign
: a device (as an emblem, symbol, or word) used to identify or replace a signature and to authenticate (as at common law) written matter —see also contract under seal at CONTRACT—under seal : with an authenticating seal affixed

Main Entry: seal
Function: transitive verb
1 : to authenticate or approve by or as if by a seal
2 : to close off (as records) from public access
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: seal
Pronunciation: 'sEl
Function: transitive verb
: to apply dental sealant to sealed are surrounded by cottonrolls and dried thoroughly —J. W. Friedman> sealing molars>
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Science Dictionary
seal   (sēl)  Pronunciation Key 
Any of various aquatic carnivorous mammals of the families Phocidae and Otariidae, having a sleek, torpedo-shaped body and limbs that are modified into paddlelike flippers. Seals live chiefly in the Northern Hemisphere and, like walruses, are pinnipeds.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Computing Dictionary

SEAL
Semantics-directed Environment Adaptation Language.
(ftp://ftp.cwi.nl/pub/gipe/0092b.ps.Z).

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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Bible Dictionary

Seal

commonly a ring engraved with some device (Gen. 38:18, 25). Jezebel "wrote letters in Ahab's name, and sealed them with his seal" (1 Kings 21:8). Seals are frequently mentioned in Jewish history (Deut. 32:34; Neh. 9:38; 10:1; Esther 3:12; Cant. 8:6; Isa. 8:16; Jer. 22:24; 32:44, etc.). Sealing a document was equivalent to the signature of the owner of the seal. "The use of a signet-ring by the monarch has recently received a remarkable illustration by the discovery of an impression of such a signet on fine clay at Koyunjik, the site of the ancient Nineveh. This seal appears to have been impressed from the bezel of a metallic finger-ring. It is an oval, 2 inches in length by 1 inch wide, and bears the image, name, and titles of the Egyptian king Sabaco" (Rawlinson's Hist. Illus. of the O.T., p. 46). The actual signet-rings of two Egyptian kings (Cheops and Horus) have been discovered. (See SIGNET.) The use of seals is mentioned in the New Testament only in connection with the record of our Lord's burial (Matt. 27:66). The tomb was sealed by the Pharisees and chief priests for the purpose of making sure that the disciples would not come and steal the body away (ver. 63, 64). The mode of doing this was probably by stretching a cord across the stone and sealing it at both ends with sealing-clay. When God is said to have sealed the Redeemer, the meaning is, that he has attested his divine mission (John 6:27). Circumcision is a seal, an attestation of the covenant (Rom. 4:11). Believers are sealed with the Spirit, as God's mark put upon them (Eph. 1:13; 4:30). Converts are by Paul styled the seal of his apostleship, i.e., they are its attestation (1 Cor. 9:2). Seals and sealing are frequently mentioned in the book of Revelation (5:1; 6:1; 7:3; 10:4; 22:10).

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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Idioms & Phrases

seal

In addition to the idioms beginning with seal, also see lips are sealed; set one's seal on; signed, sealed and delivered.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Abbreviations & Acronyms
SEAL
sea, air, land [team]
The American Heritage® Abbreviations Dictionary, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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