Dictionary
Thesaurus
Encyclopedia
Translator
Web
Related Searches
Synonyms
Nearby Words

sos

 - 19 dictionary results

SOS

 
Use sos in a Sentence
1. the letters represented by the radio telegraphic signal (⋅⋅⋅ – – – ⋅⋅⋅) used, esp. by ships in distress, as an internationally recognized call for help.
–noun
2. any call for help: We sent out an SOS for more typists.
–verb (used without object)
3. to send an SOS.
Origin:
1905–10

SOS

 
shit on a shingle.

s.o.s.

 
(in prescriptions) if necessary.
Origin:
< L sī opus sit

so

2  [soh]
–noun Music.
sol 1 .

sol

1  [sohl]
–noun Music.
1. the syllable used for the fifth tone of a diatonic scale.
2. (in the fixed system of solmization) the tone G.
Also, so.
Compare sol-fa (def. 1).

Origin:
1275–1325; ME < L solve; see gamut
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To sos
sol 1   (sōl)   
n.   Music
The fifth tone of the diatonic scale in solfeggio.

[Middle English, from Medieval Latin; see gamut.]
SOS   (ěs'ō-ěs')   
n.  

  1. The letters represented by the Morse Code signal · · · - - - · · ·, used as an international distress signal, especially by ships and aircraft.

  2. A call or signal for help.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Slang Dictionary
shit out of luck

and SOL
  1. phr. & comp. abb.
    Completely out of luck. (Usually objectionable.) : Sorry. U R SOL.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
so

  1. mod.
    very. (An intensifier that can appear before prepositional phrases and other selected adjectives that typically are not intensified.) : I was so toasted that I said, “I'm so out of here!”
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

so 
O.E. swa, swæ "in this way," from P.Gmc. *swa (cf. O.S., M.Du., O.H.G. so, O.N. sva, Dan. saa, Swed. sa, O.Fris. sa, Du. zo, Ger. so "so," Goth. swa "as"), from PIE reflexive pronomial stem *s(w)o- (cf. Gk. hos "as," O.Latin suad "so," L. se "himself"). So? as a term of dismissal is attested from 1886 (short for is that so?); so what as an exclamation of indifference dates from 1934. So-so "mediocre" is from 1530; so-and-so is from 1596 meaning "something unspecified;" first recorded 1897 as a euphemistic term of abuse.
"The adverb so at the beginning of a sentence ('So I'll pay for it!'), probably of Yiddish origin, occurs frequently in conversation." [M.Pei, "Story of English," 1952]

Sol 
"the sun," c.1450, from L. sol "the sun," from PIE *s(e)wol-, from base *saewel- "to shine, the sun" (cf. Skt. suryah, Avestan hvar "sun, light, heavens;" Gk. helios; Lith. saule; O.C.S. slunice; Goth. sauil, O.E. sol "sun," swegl "sky, heavens, the sun;" Welsh haul, O.Cornish heuul, Breton heol "sun;" O.Ir. suil "eye"). The PIE element -*el- in the root originally was a suffix and had an alternate form -*en-, yielding *s(u)wen-, source of Eng. sun (q.v.).

SOS 
1910, from International Morse code letters, chosen arbitrarily as being easy to transmit and difficult to mistake. Not an acronym for "save our ship" or anything else. Won out over alternate suggestion C.Q.D., which is said to mean "come quickly, distress," or "CQ," general call for alerting other ships that a message follows, and "D" for danger. SOS is the telegraphic distress signal only; the oral equivalent is mayday.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Financial Dictionary

SOS

In currencies, this is the abbreviation for the Somali Shilling.

Investopedia Commentary

The currency market, also known as the Foreign Exchange market, is the largest financial market in the world, with a daily average volume of over US $1 trillion.

See also: Currency, FOREX, Hard Currency, Money

Also spelled: SOS

Investopedia.com. Copyright © 1999-2005 - All rights reserved. Owned and Operated by Investopedia Inc.
Cite This Source
Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: sol
Pronunciation: 'säl, 'sol
Function: noun
: a fluid colloidal system; especially : one in which the dispersion medium isa liquid

Main Entry: SOS
Function: abbreviation
Etymology: Latin si opus sit
if occasion require; if necessary —used in writing prescriptions
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
Cite This Source
Medical Dictionary

sol (sôl, sōl)
n.
A colloidal dispersion of a solid in a liquid.

s.o.s. abbr.
Latin si opus sit (if needed)

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
Computing Dictionary

SOS
1. Scheme Object System.
2. An infamously losing text editor. Once, back in the 1960s, when a text editor was needed for the PDP-6, a hacker crufted together a quick-and-dirty "stopgap editor" to be used until a better one was written. Unfortunately, the old one was never really discarded when new ones (in particular, TECO) came along. SOS is a descendant ("Son of Stopgap") of that editor, and many PDP-10 users gained the dubious pleasure of its acquaintance. Since then other programs similar in style to SOS have been written, notably the early font editor BILOS /bye'lohs/, the Brother-In-Law Of Stopgap (the alternate expansion "Bastard Issue, Loins of Stopgap" has been proposed).
3. The PDP-10 instruction to decrease a value. Oppose AOS.
[The Jargon File]

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
Cite This Source
Abbreviations & Acronyms
SOS

  1. a signal of distress in Morse code

  2. chipped beef on toast (from "shit on a shingle")

  3. same old shit

  4. Somalia—shilling

The American Heritage® Abbreviations Dictionary, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Search another word or see sos on Thesaurus | Reference
FacebookTwitterFollow us:
Partner Sites:
Ask AnswersEviteExpediaHotelsHotwireLife123LiveDailyMy Way