1868
'silk screen noun 1 [U] a
method of printing in which ink is forced through a design cut in a piece of
fine cloth M N £p fij'J : silk-screen
prints M ffl £p Hi] ® ^
2 [C] a picture, etc. produced by this method M N Ep H; M [KjEpiiiJ
: Warhol’s silk screen of Marilyn Monroe
►'silk-screen verb [VN]
silk-worm /‘silkw3:m;
NAmE -W3:rm/ noun a caterpillar (= a small creature like a worm with legs) that produces silk
thread Se
silky /'silki/
ad/. 1 soft, smooth and shiny like silk -#ltt; silkyfur ff
2
[usually before noun] smooth and gentle
; &§k(ft:
He spoke in a silky tone. f &it (ft o 3 made of silk or cloth that looks like silk M ( gSc
asiiky
dress ► silk-ily adv.:
'How have I changed?’
he asked silkily. silki
ness noun
[U] silky adv.: The leaves are grey and silky smooth.
sill /sil/ noun 1 = windowsill 2 a piece of metal that forms part of the frame
of a vehicle below the doors
() n«
silly (Hr /'sili/
adj., noun
■
adj. (sil-lier, sil
li est) 1 showing a lack of thought, understanding or
judgement MSS (ft; T^^JKft;
It (ft; ii (ft BCE] foolish : a
silly idea M SI W S ft 0 That was a
silly thing
to do/ ! 0 Her work is
full of silly
mistakes. M^lt <5 A J& * 18 » o ‘I can
walk home.’ ‘Don’t be
silly—it’s
much too far!’ “|ic RfUi
” “mm — mmm\ °oYousuiyboy/
! 2 stupid or embarrassing, especially in a way that
is more typical of a child than an adult ( HM'®—#
) Til/SW, BDd ridicu
lous :
a silly sense of humour # (ft ® ik/li 0 a silly game # Iff
($$$)$; 0 I feel
silly in these clothes.
O She had
a silly grin on her face. M — M % o 0
(especially BrE) I got
it for a silly price {= very cheap). 3 not
practical or
serious 7 # (ft; |1B If (ft: We had to wear
these silly
little hats. o Why
worry about
a silly thing like that?®|| # # ft if (ft
♦ ►
sil-li-ness noun [U] IT»!I71 .drink, .laugh,
.shout, etc. yourself 'silly (informal) to drink, laugh,
shout, etc. so much that you cannot behave in a sensible way m ( ) f#ftM&fy$'play
'silly
buggers (BrE, informaf) to
behave in a stupid and annoying way #J (M ; M fe. ; # # 7 — more at
game n.
■
noun (BrE also .silly 'billy) [sing.] (informal) often used when
speaking to children to say that they are not behaving in a sensible way (
fr # ) H ^ 7 , H M : No,
silly, those aren’t your shoes!
the
'silly season noun [sing.]
(BrE) the
time, usually in the summer, when newspapers are full of unimportant stories
because there is little serious news ft M ^ 1?
/itM?, apsrt,
silo/'sailau; NAmE -lou/ noun (pi -os) 1 a
tall tower on a farm used for storing grain, etc. fgf'fc 2 an
underground place where nuclear weapons or dangerous substances are kept (
^flift ) aft#; ( ) tflT
3
an underground place where silage is made and stored
silt/silt/ noun, verb
mnoun [U]
sand, mud, etc. that is carried by flowing water and is left at the mouth of a
river or in a
HARBOUR. ( ) U®,
mU,
►
silty adj.: silty
soils
mverb .silt sth^'up | .silt 'up to block sth with
silt; to become
blocked with silt ( Sand
has
silted up the
river delta. $Etj?jE&&M(ftHAiHli&&7o
0 The harbour has now silted up.
sil ver
0"w /'silva(r)/ noun, adj., verb
• noun 1 [U] (symb A$ a
chemical element. Silver is a greyish-white precious
metal used for making coins, jewellery, decorative objects, etc. HI: a
silver chain HI
HI
<> made of solid silver iflllJja 0 a silver mine HI#" 2 [U] coins that are made
of silver or a metal that looks like silver Hff5 ( ^ ) : I need £2
in silver for the
parking meter, 2
3 [U] dishes, decorative objects, etc. that are made of silver Hfg: They’ve had to
sell the family silver to pay the bills.
4
[U] a shiny greyish-white colour HI A,; HI
fife; HUfcfe
■
see also silvery(I)
5 [U, C] = silver medal: She
won silver in last
year’s championships. M###£ftlli# lliflflo'
0 The team won two silvers
and a bronze. D3S51 on a
silver platter if you are given sth on
a silver platter, you do not have to do much to get it I; ^7#
#:
These rich kids expect to have it all handed to them on a silver
platter. &
® HIC7St~~MM# A 7i£ ±0 — more
at born v., cloud n., cross
v.
■
adj. shiny greyish-white in colour ;
W : a
silver car Hi O silver
hair
■
see also silvery(I)
• verb [VN] 1 [usually
passive] to cover the surface of sth with a thin layer of silver or sth that
looks like silver ) &; ( && ) IMWMfc 2 (espe
cially literary) to
make sth become bright like silver $1 Moonlight was
silvering the
countryside,
.silver anniversary noun (especially US) 1
= silver wedding 2 = silver jubilee silver-back /'silvabsek; NAmE -verb-/ noun a male adult gorilla with white or silver hair
across its back IS##
mm ()
.silver 'band noun (BrE) a brass band which uses silver-coloured
instruments IS#^:IA (
.silver 'birch noun [c, U] a tree with
smooth, very pale grey or white bark
and thin branches, that grows in northern countries [x^H#; IS#
.silver 'disc noun a silver record in a
frame that is given to a singer or band who sells above a certain large number
of records (
w&ftsfktkm) m#
sil-ver-fish /'silvafij; NAmE -varf-/ noun (pi. sil-ver-fish)
a
small silver insect without wings that lives in houses and that can cause
damage to materials such as cloth and paper HA, )
.silver 'foil noun [u] (BrE) = foil n.( 1)
.silver 'jubilee (BrE) (
*
25 25 the silver jubilee of the Queen’s
accession 25 J§]### 0 The college celebrated
its silver jubilee
last year. 25 j§|
#
JA M tS o — compare diamond
jubilee, golden
JUBILEE
.silver 'medal noun [C] (also sil-ver[u,
C])
a medal that is given to the
person or the team that wins the second prize in a race or competition IS ® % # ; IS : an
Olympic silver medal winner f£HS#ISWf$i5z$M
■
compare bronze medal, gold medal ► .silver 'medallist (BrE) (NAmE .silver 'medalist) noun-. He’s an Olympic silver medallist, j&flHis^lSW##..
.silver 'paper noun [U] (BrE) very thin, shiny sheets
of aluminium/aluminum that are
used for wrapping chocolate, etc. (
.silver 'plate noun [U] metal that is
covered with a thin layer of silver; objects that are made of this metal
( ^ ) !S£M; 1$ ( ) IS^JSML ►.silver-'plated
adj.
the
.silver 'screen noun [sing.] (old-fashioned) the
film/ movie industry
.silver 'service noun [U] a style of serving
food at formal meals in which the person serving uses a silver fork and spoon |»# (
±m
sil-ver-side /'silvasaid; NAmE -vars-/ noun [U] (BrE) a piece of beef from the
upper outer side of the animal’s leg #W|£]