road accidents the police pleaded for sanity among drivers.     fc&M, WAM^AM

il-RSgXo rrnn insanity — see also sane sank pt of sink

sans /saenz/ prep. {literary or humorous) without ft; 'A A : There were no potatoes so we had fish and chips sans the chips. IWM±I, mM&o

sansa /‘saensa/ noun = thumb piano San-skrit /'saenskrit/ noun [u] an ancient language of India belonging to the Indo-European family, in which the Hindu holy texts are written and on which many modern languages are based    JKi«, flX^P

iww

*5iH )

sans serif (also sanserif) /,saen ‘serif/ noun [U] (technical Aifl) (in printing Bp JgiJ) a typeface in which the letters have no serif

Santa Claus /'saenta klo:z/ (also Santa) noun = Father Christmas sap /saep/ noun, verb

ra noun 1 [U] the liquid in a plant or tree that carries food to all its parts (       Aliil^Aft ) JR, ft: Maple

syrup is made from sap extracted from the sugar maple tree.     MtfU&'o 2 [C]

{informal, especially NAmE) a stupid person that you can easily trick, or treat unfairly ; || ± ^ ft A « verb (-pp-) [VN] ~ sth | ~ sb (of sth) to make sth/sb weaker; to destroy sth gradually f<£ j£|§; M sfi; ft: The hot sun sapped our energy.

0 Years of failure have sapped him of his confidence.      gff „

sapient /'seipiant/ adj. (literary) having great intelli­gence or knowledge ft; tf^ft ► sapience /-ans/ noun [U] sapi-ent-ly adv.

Sapir-Whorf hypothesis /sa.pia wo:f haipD0asis; NAmE sa.pir 'wo:rf haipa:0asis/ noun [sing.] (linguistics ig- W) the theory that the language that you speak has an important effect on the way you think        —XXA

sap-ling /'saeplir)/ noun a young tree sapo-dilla /.saepa'dila/ noun a large tropical American tree that produces a fruit that can be eaten and chicle (= a substance used in chewing gum) A>l>^ (

mm,

sap per /’saepa(r)/ noun {BrE) a soldier whose job is to build or repair roads, bridges, etc.X^; .X^e^ sapphic /'saefik/ noun {formal) relating to lesbians A mm&to ►sap-phism /'saefizam/ noun [U] sap phire /'saefaia(r)/ noun 1 [C, U] a clear, bright blue precious stone    2 [u] a bright blue colour SI

fe; ASSfe ► sapphire adj.: sapphire eyes XM'feft BSB# sappy /‘saepi/ adj. (sap-pier, sap-piest) 1 {NAmE, informal) — soppy 2 (of plants ^t#j) full of sap (= liquid) f+fRX

^ft

sap-wood /‘saepwud/ noun [U] the soft younger outer layers of the wood of a tree, inside the bark If,

If (   ) —compare heartwood

sara band (also sara-bande) /‘saerabaend/ noun a slow elegant Spanish dance; a piece of music for this dance

mmnn <)-, wmmm&

Saran Wrap1M /sa‘raen raep/ noun [U] {NAmE) = cling film

sarcasm /■ saikaezam; NAmE ‘sairk-/ noun [U] a way of using words that are the opposite of what you mean in order to be unpleasant to sb or to make fun of them •M M ; ^iK,;  ^: ‘That will be useful, ’ she snapped

with heavy sarcasm (= she really thought it would not be useful at all).   o a

hint/touch/trace of sarcasm in his voice       XBfA /

sarcas tic /sar'kaestik; NAmE sair'k-/ (also BrE informal sarky) adj. showing or expressing sarcasm i&JfPj ft ; iMft; j^^ft: sarcastic comments   fto a

sarcastic manner ift ft jS if; 0 ‘There’s no need to be sarcastic,’she said.        ►sar-cas-

tic-al-ly /-kli/ adv.

| 1767      sarsaparilla

sarcoma /sai'kauma; NAmE sair'koume/ noun {medical |§l) a harmful (= malignant) lump (= a tumour) that grows in certain parts of the body such as muscle or bone $|fg

sarcopha gus /sai'knfagas; NAmE sa:r'ka:f-/ noun {pi. sar-coph-agi /sai'kDfagai; NAmE sair'karf-/) a stone coffin (=? box that a dead person is buried in), espe­cially one that is decorated, used in ancient times ( jt

■> mm

sardine /,sa:'di:n; NAmE ,sa:r'd-/ noun a small young sea fish (for example, a young pilchard) that is either eaten fresh or preserved in tins/cans & X & ITSTm (packed, crammed, etc.) like sar'dines {informal) pressed tightly together in a way that is uncomfortable or unpleasant

sardon ic /sai'dnmk; NAmE sair'daimk/ adj. {disap­proving) showing that you think that you are better than other people and do not take them seriously $51! ft; %k H ft;      # ft POTl mocking : a sardonic smile iilj %

► sardonically /-kli/ adv.

sarge /sa:d3; NAmE sa:rd3/ noun {informal) used to talk

to or about a sergeant AX; Mffc;

sari ?£br

sari /'sairi/ noun a long piece of cloth that is wrapped around the body and worn as the main piece of clothing by women in S Asia        AliAflXft

)

sarin /'sairm/ noun [U] a type of poisonous gas used in chemical weapons   ( iliXX^^flft—)

sarky /'sa:ki; NAmE 'sairki/ adj. (sark-ier, sarki-est) {BrE, informal) = sarcastic

sarnie /'saini; NAmE 'saimi/ noun {BrE, informal)

= SANDWICH /1.(1)

sarong /sa'rpn; NAmE -'roirj; -’rail)/ noun a long piece of cloth wrapped around the body from the waist or the chest, worn by Malaysian and Indonesian men and women      AffXPJtMMAaMi»m

J,     )

sar-panch /'saipAntJ; NAmE 'sa:rp-/ noun (in some S Asian countries) the head of a village or of a PANCHAYAT ( — #fgMS^ft ) IfX:,

SARS /sa:z; NAmE sairz/ noun [U] the abbreviation for ‘severe acute respiratory syndrome’ (an illness that is easily spread from person to person, which affects the lungs and can sometimes cause death)

H      A severe acute respiratory syndrome,

JipTit^ftfmm ) : No new SARS cases have been reported in the region.

sar-sa par-ilia /.saispa'rila; ,sa:sapa-; NAmE ,sa:rs-/ noun 1 [U] a dried substance that is used to flavour drinks and medicines, obtained from a plant also called sarsaparilla  iw* ) 2 [U, C]