season

[ see-zuhn ]
See synonyms for: seasonseasonedseasoningseasons on Thesaurus.com
noun

  1. one of the four periods of the year (spring, summer, autumn, and winter), beginning astronomically at an equinox or solstice, but geographically at different dates in different climates.

  2. a period of the year characterized by particular conditions of weather, temperature, etc.: the rainy season.

  1. a period of the year when something is best or available: the oyster season.

  2. a period of the year marked by certain conditions, activities, etc.: baseball season.

  3. a period of the year immediately before and after a special holiday or occasion: the Christmas season.

  4. Sports.

    • a period with reference to the total number of games to be played by a team: a 162-game season.

    • a period with reference to the won-lost record of a team after it has completed its schedule: a .700 season.

  5. any period or time: in the season of my youth.

  6. a suitable, proper, fitting, or right time: This is not the season for frivolity.

verb (used with object)

  1. to heighten or improve the flavor of (food) by adding condiments, spices, herbs, or the like.

  2. to give relish or a certain character to: conversation seasoned with wit.

  1. to mature, ripen, or condition by exposure to suitable conditions or treatment: a writer seasoned by experience.

  2. to dry or otherwise treat (lumber) so as to harden and render immune to shrinkage, warpage, etc.

  3. to accustom or harden: troops seasoned by battle.

verb (used without object)

  1. to become seasoned, matured, hardened, or the like.

Idioms about season

  1. for a season, for a time, especially a short time: He lived in Paris for a season.

  2. in good season, in enough time; sufficiently early: Applicants will be notified of our decision in good season.

  1. in season,

    • in the time or state for use, eating, etc.: Asparagus is now in season.

    • in the period regulated by law, as for hunting and fishing.

    • at the right time; opportunely.

    • (of an animal, especially female) in a state of readiness for mating; in heat.

    • in good season.

  2. in season and out of season, regardless of time or season; at all times: Misfortunes plague this family in season and out of season.

  3. out of season, not in season: The price is so high because lilacs are out of season now.

Origin of season

1
1250–1300; (noun) Middle English sesoun, seson<Old French se(i)son<Latin satiōn- (stem of satiō) a sowing (Vulgar Latin: sowing time), equivalent to sa- (variant stem of serere to sow) + -tiōn--tion; (v.) Middle English seso(u)nen<Old French saisonner to ripen, make palatable by aging, derivative of seison

Other words for season

Other words from season

  • sea·soned·ly, adverb
  • sea·son·er, noun
  • sea·son·less, adjective
  • non·sea·soned, adjective
  • o·ver·sea·son, verb (used with object)
  • post·sea·son, adjective, noun
  • pre·sea·son, noun
  • re·sea·son, verb
  • well-seasoned, adjective

Words Nearby season

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use season in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for season

season

/ (ˈsiːzən) /

noun

  1. one of the four equal periods into which the year is divided by the equinoxes and solstices, resulting from the apparent movement of the sun north and south of the equator during the course of the earth's orbit around it. These periods (spring, summer, autumn, and winter) have their characteristic weather conditions in different regions, and occur at opposite times of the year in the N and S hemispheres

  2. a period of the year characterized by particular conditions or activities: the rainy season

  1. the period during which any particular species of animal, bird, or fish is legally permitted to be caught or killed: open season on red deer

  2. a period during which a particular entertainment, sport, etc, takes place: a season at the National Theatre; the football season; the tourist season

  3. (esp formerly) a period of fashionable social events in a particular place: the London season

  4. any definite or indefinite period

  5. any of the major periods into which the ecclesiastical calendar is divided, such as Lent, Advent, or Easter

  6. (sometimes capital) Christmas (esp in the phrases compliments of the season, Season's greetings)

  7. a period or time that is considered proper, suitable, or natural for something

  8. in good season early enough

  9. in season

    • (of game) permitted to be caught or killed

    • (of fresh food) readily available

    • Also: in heat, on heat (of some female mammals) sexually receptive

    • appropriate

verb

  1. (tr) to add herbs, salt, pepper, or spice to (food)

  2. (tr) to add zest to

  1. (in the preparation of timber) to undergo or cause to undergo drying

  2. (tr; usually passive) to make or become mature or experienced: seasoned troops

  3. (tr) to mitigate or temper: to season one's admiration with reticence

Origin of season

1
C13: from Old French seson, from Latin satiō a sowing, from serere to sow

Derived forms of season

  • seasoned, adjective
  • seasoner, noun
  • seasonless, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for season

season

[ sē′zən ]

  1. One of four natural divisions of the year-spring, summer, autumn, and winter-in temperate zones. Each season has its own characteristic weather and lasts approximately three months. The change in the seasons is brought about by the shift in the angle at which the Sun's rays strike the Earth. This angle changes as the Earth orbits in its yearly cycle around the Sun due to the tilt of the Earth's axis. For example, when the northern or southern hemisphere of the Earth is at an angle predominantly facing the Sun and has more daylight hours of direct, overhead sunlight than nighttime hours, it is in its summer season; the opposite hemisphere is in then opposite condition and is in its winter season. See also equinox solstice.

  2. In some tropical climates, either of the two divisions-rainy and dry-into which the year is divided. These divisions are defined on the basis of levels of precipitation.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Other Idioms and Phrases with season

season

see in season; open season.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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