P: He could hear whispering and scuffling on the other
side of the door.
scull /skAl/ noun, verb
■
noun 1 [C, usually pi.] one of a
pair of small oars used by a
single person rowing a boat, one
in each hand ( #. A)R^lS±(ft ) M'£ 2 sculls [pi.] a race between
small light boats with pairs of sculls ttU:
single/
double sculls (= with one/two people
in each boat) #.
3
[C] a small light boat used in
sculls races
m verb [V] to row a boat using sculls
sculler /'skAla(r)/ noun
a person who rows with sculls
scull-ery /'skAlari/
noun {pi. -ies) a small room next to
the kitchen in an old house, originally used for washing dishes, etc.
)
sculling /'skAlirj/
noun [U] the sport of racing with SCULLS
sculpt /skAlpt/ verb [VN] [usually passive] 1
~ sth (in/ from/out of sth) to make figures or objects by carving or shaping wood, stone, clay, metal, etc. MtH: a display of animals
sculpted in ice #K JH $ $J M 0 The
figures were sculpted from single blocks of marble, j&ti?
2 to give sth a
particular shape cl coastline sculpted by the wind
and sea
sculp tor /'skAlpta(r)/ noun
a person who makes sculptures BMW; BMW
scuIp-tress /'skAlptras/ noun a woman who makes sculptures fcBMW\ ~kBMW sculp ture /'skAlptJa(r)/ noun 1 [C, U] a work of art
that is a solid figure or object made by carving
or shaping wood, stone, clay,
metal, etc. Bi$', iin”; BWm: a marble sculpture of
Venus ^£[*l$T$jA5ij5’Mtflt 0 He collects modern
sculpture.
i&itftiPJilftMtlL 2
[U] the art of making sculptures BM
A; Ml HA: the techniques of sculpture in stone ► sculp-tural /'skAlptJaral/
adj.: sculptural decoration JUtfc sculp tured /'skAlptfad; NAmE -tjard/ adj. [usually before noun] 1 (of figures or
objects A\
$)MW) carved
or shaped from wood, stone, clay,
metal, etc. Ml
1W
2 (approving)
(of part of the body Aj£nM£) having a clear and pleasing shape Barits® (ft: sculptured
cheekbones
scum /skAm/
noun 1 [U, sing.] a layer
of bubbles or an unpleasant substance that forms on the surface of a liquid #
A; #; #i£: Skim off any scum. jf# $c0 o stinking water covered
by a thick green scum MU 2 (informal) [pi.]
an insulting word for people that you strongly disapprove of ( 5| A Don’t
waste your sympathy on scum like that. & W I? |WJ 'If 0 0 Drug dealers
are the scum of the earth (= the worst people
there are). # on US X H: ^ W o ► scummy /'skAmi/ adj.
: scummy water $ # ^ ?jc
o scummy
people dropping
Utter SlAAtnftA
scum-bag /'skAmbaeg/
noun {slang, offensive) an unpleasant person iAKtHjA;
AiPAA scunge /skAnd3/ noun {AustralE,
NZE, informal) 1 dirt f?
X±
2 an unpleasant person
i^KWA 3 a person who does not like to spend money tEHl^A
scungy /'skAnd3i/ adj. (scun-gier,
scun-gi-est) {AustralE, NZE, informal) 1 dirty and unpleasant
fl/iJjft 2 not liking to spend
money
scup-per /'skApa(r)/ verb
[VN] {BrE, informal) to cause sb/ sth to fail H771 foil: The residents’
protests scuppered his plans
for developing the land. ® is*
scurrilous /'skAralas;
NAmE 'sk3:r-/ adj. (formal) very rude and
insulting, and intended to damage sb’s reputation M&X scurrilous rumours 35ii£ >scur-ril-ous-ly adv.
scurry /'skAri;
NAmE 'sk3iri/ verb (scur-ries,
scurry-ing, scur-ried, scur-ried) [V +adv./prep.]
to
run with quick short steps HT1 scuttle: She said goodbye
and scurried back to
work.
o o Ants scurried around the pile of rotting
food.
Ao
►
scurry noun [sing.]
scurvy /'sk3:vi; NAmE ‘sk3:rvi/ noun
[u]
a
disease caused by a lack of vitamin
C from not eating enough fruit and vegetables scut tle /'skAtl/ verb, noun
m verb 1 [V +adv./prep.]
to run with quick short steps $£!!& cn71 scurry- She scuttled off when she heard the sound
of his voice. Pjf PJfife WtSLt%P , H A 7 „ o
He held his breath as a rat scuttled past. — R%$ULitI
il, 2 [VN] to deliberately cause sth
to
fail ( ) fki, lkit, |fi#& HQCI FOIL: Shareholders
successfully scuttled the deal. |]£AJAA/J&lfiit7;&l£;£ B o 3 [VN] to
sink a ship deliberately by making holes in the side or bottom of it ( IS )
■
noun = coal
scuttle
scuttle-butt /'skAtlbAt/ noun [U] {NAmE, slang)
stories about other people’s private lives, that may be unkind or not true Miill; iSW tm gossip scuzzy
/’skAzi/
adj. (scuzz-ier, scuz-zi-est) {informal, especially
NAmE) dirty
and unpleasant ; ffiilW
Scylla
and Cha-ryb-dis /.sila and ka'ribdis; NAmE also tja'r-/ noun
used to refer to a situation in which an attempt to avoid one danger increases
the risk from another danger SI # St; itt i! W BKIMI'fl From ancient Greek
stories in which a female sea creature (called Scylla) tried to catch and eat
sailors who passed between her cave and a whirlpool (called Charybdis). $?> (
Scylla (Charybdis )
7jCAo
blade 7JTJ handled
scythe /said/
noun, verb
m noun a tool with a long
handle and a slightly curved blade, used for cutting long grass, etc. AffiAW.U m verb to cut grass, etc. with
a scythe j£ A A §!]: [VN] the scent of newly
scythed grass frSJT SjAEASJ'/f # [also V]
SDI / ,es di: ’ai/ abbr. Strategic Defense Initiative the SDLP /,es
di: el 'pi:/ abbr.
(in
SE abbr. south-east;
south-eastern ( (ft
) ; Ai%rI$
( W ) : SEAsia Alt®
Sea
fH*
/si:/ noun
1 (often the sea) [U] (also literary
seas
[pi.]) {especially BrE)
the
salt water that covers most of the earth’s surface and surrounds its continents
and islands M; Mif: to travel by
sea o a cottage by the
sea
MM'hM 0 The waste was dumped in
the sea. M^fSJA M A
o O The
wreck is lying at the bottom of the sea. j/i
0
We left port and headed for the open sea {= far away from land). P , iM^itio o
the cold seas of the
Arctic #. 0 a sea
voyage 0 a hotel room with sea view #j#JEA
—see
also high seas, ocean 2 [C] (often Sea, especially as part of a
name Sea,
—
^ jf) a large area of salt
water that is part of an ocean or surrounded by land i§: the
calm sea. o The sea was very
rough. M
4 [sing.] ~ of sth a large amount of sth
that