sec
sec
2
American
[sek]
/ sɛk /
adjective
sec
3
American
[sek]
/ sɛk /
noun
Informal.
-
secs
plural
SEC
4
American
Or
S.E.C.
U.S. Government.
sec.
5
American
abbreviation
-
second.
-
secondary.
-
secretary.
-
section.
-
sector.
-
according to.
SEC
1
British
abbreviation
sec
2
British
/ sɛk /
adjective
-
(of wines) dry
-
(of champagne) of medium sweetness
sec
3
British
/ sɛk /
abbreviation
sec
4
British
/ sɛk /
noun
sec.
5
British
abbreviation
-
second (of time)
-
secondary
-
secretary
-
section
-
sector
sec
Scientific
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of sec2
From French, dating back to 1885–90; see origin at sack 3
Origin of sec3
First recorded in 1955–60; by shortening
Origin of sec.5
From the Latin word secundum
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Mir became the pace setter after the 28-year-old clocked 1 min 56.874 sec on his Honda machine after 11 laps, to become the fastest rider over two days of testing in Malaysia.
From Barron's ● Feb. 4, 2026
Caporale suggests adding agave nectar to sweeten the lime juice base, along with orange juice or orange peel to compensate for the lack of triple sec.
From Salon ● Jan. 18, 2026
Back up for a sec: Koufax pitched a shutout in Game 5 on Oct.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 21, 2024
However Caddick and Murray held on to finish in second by 0.12 sec.
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2024
I stared down at the guy for a sec, shaking my head.
From "We Were Here" by Matt De La Peña
Musk holds a 48.4% equity stake in SpaceX, which represents approximately 6.42 billion shares across common stock, options and unvested performance awards, according to an August SEC filing.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 9, 2026
There is then a 30-day period where companies can opt out, and the SEC is doing this on a limited basis.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
Musk also owns 20% of Tesla, according to a June SEC filing.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 9, 2026
While Atkins now runs the SEC, Bankman-Fried is serving a 25-year stretch in federal prison for fraud.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 1, 2026
In its lower Manhattan office, the SEC met with them and listened, but politely.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
Photographer’s description: “Cute, cute, cute … young barred owls cuddling in between feeding time. Canon EOS 7D Mark II camera, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L lens, 1/500 sec., f5.6, ISO 6400.”
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 1, 2021
Politico's Natasha Bertrand, on June 24, tweeted, "Barr will testify before House Judiciary on July 28th, per DOJ press sec. Nadler had been preparing a subpoena."
From Salon ● Jun. 25, 2020
“Hold on a sec. How do you know about this? GoogleTime didn’t exist in 2018.”
From Nature ● Jan. 28, 2020
Glover’s piece was blasted on Twitter by constitutional scholars—here is a tweetstorm by Josh Chafetz—pointing out that “this proposal has a big Article I, sec. 5, cl. 3 problem.”
From Slate ● Nov. 18, 2019
“Just a sec. I’ve got to get something,” I said.
From "Hope Springs" by Jaime Berry
Backstedt, who started third from last, set the time to beat as she came home 5.43 secs quicker than Germany's Franziska Koch, who eventually finished third.
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026
“Fam we were 1.1 secs away from being down thousands lol,” one defendant wrote in a group text to his alleged conspirators.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026
I've just crossed the line at parkrun and stopped my watch - 22 mins and 28 secs.
From BBC ● Dec. 5, 2025
Amy Hunt finished fifth in her women's 60m heat in 7.29 secs as she continued her comeback from a long-term injury, missing out on a place in the next round.
From BBC ● Mar. 2, 2024
To keep the three other types of series comparable with the movement series, if possible, their exposure was also increased from 3 to 5 secs.
From Harvard Psychological Studies, Volume 1 Containing Sixteen Experimental Investigations from the Harvard Psychological Laboratory. by Hugo Münsterberg
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
