# seal

Pronunciation: say "SEEL" /siːl/

## Verb

1. To close something tightly, or shut something inside a container, so that nothing can get in or out or it cannot be opened unnoticed.
   - Simple: To close something tightly so nothing can leak in or out, or so no one can open it secretly.
   - _Workers seal the pipe joints to prevent any gas from escaping._
   - _Seal the bottle tightly before packing it so the shampoo won't leak into your suitcase._
4. To make something firmly certain or guaranteed.
   - Simple: To make something so certain that it cannot change.
   - _A handshake over dinner finally sealed the deal that both sides had been negotiating for months._
   - _A single careless mistake can seal a climber's fate on the mountain._
6. To give wood, stone, concrete or a similar surface a protective finish that water and stains cannot get through.
   - Simple: To cover wood, stone, concrete or another surface with a coat that keeps out water and stains.
   - _Seal granite countertops once a year to keep oil from soaking in._
   - _The contractor sealed the new driveway two weeks after pouring it._
10. To close off a place so that people or vehicles cannot cross it.
   - Simple: To block a place so that people or vehicles cannot get across or through.
   - _Authorities sealed the bridge to stop anyone from crossing._
   - _Guards seal the gates whenever the alarm sounds._
11. To shut court or criminal records away from public inspection by official action, typically under a court order.
   - Simple: To officially hide court or police records from the public, usually because a judge orders it.
   - _The court sealed the divorce file to protect the couple's children._
   - _Prosecutors asked the judge to seal the search warrant until the arrests were made._
13. To put a seal or official stamp on something, especially to make it valid or certify that it meets a standard.
   - Simple: To put an official stamp or seal on something to show it is real or approved.
   - _The clerk sealed the charter with hot wax and the royal stamp._
   - _Notaries seal official documents to certify them as authentic._
12. To hunt seals, especially for their fur, oil, or meat.
   - Simple: To go out hunting seals for their fur, meat, or oil.
   - _Coastal communities have sealed in these waters for generations._
   - _Crews would seal in Arctic waters through the harsh winter months._
14. To fry meat briefly at high temperature so that its surface browns, a step traditionally believed to keep the juices in.
   - Simple: To fry meat quickly at high heat so the outside turns brown before the rest of the cooking.
   - _Chefs seal the lamb in a smoking-hot skillet before transferring it to the oven._
   - _He sealed the pork chops quickly on each side._
15. To bind people together as family for eternity, according to certain religious beliefs.
   - Simple: To join people together as a family forever.
   - _Latter-day Saints believe that temple rites seal families together beyond death._
   - _The couple were sealed in the temple, joined for time and eternity._
16. In Christian teaching, of God: to mark a person out and set them apart for a sacred work or for salvation.
   - Simple: In Christian teaching, for God to choose a person and set them apart for a holy purpose or to be saved.
   - _Puritan preachers taught that God would seal the faithful for the day of redemption._
   - _The sermon reminded believers that they were sealed by the Spirit as God's own people._
17. To record one's next move in a sealed envelope at an adjournment, to be opened when play resumes.
   - Simple: To write your next move on paper and shut it in an envelope until the game restarts.
   - _When the session ended, he sealed his move and handed the envelope to the arbiter._
   - _Tournament rules require the player whose turn it is to seal a move at adjournment._
18. To secure animals, most often cattle, in their stalls by tying them. *(dialectal)*
   - Simple: To tie cows or other farm animals inside their stalls.

## Noun

2. A fin-footed sea mammal, including both true (earless) seals and eared seals such as sea lions.
   - Simple: A sea animal with flippers that usually lives in cold oceans and eats fish.
   - _A seal surfaced near the kayak, its whiskered face dripping._
   - _Harbor seals haul out on sandbars to rest between dives._
3. A part or substance, such as a rubber ring, that makes a tight closure at a joint, or the tight closure itself, keeping liquids or gases from leaking.
   - Simple: A part, often rubber, that closes a gap tightly so air or water cannot get through, or the tight closure it makes.
   - _The pump failed when its rubber seal cracked under pressure._
   - _Mechanics replaced the worn seals to stop the coolant from escaping._
5. A reproduced design serving as the official mark or symbol of an office or organization.
   - Simple: An official mark or symbol that stands for an office, group, or government.
   - _A large presidential seal decorated the wall behind the stage._
   - _The city's seal, a lighthouse framed by two ships, is painted on every police car._
7. An engraved stamp pressed into wax or another soft material, or the design it leaves.
   - Simple: A stamp with a design pressed into soft wax to close or mark a letter, or the mark it leaves.
   - _He pressed the seal into the molten wax to close the letter._
   - _Medieval nobles used personal seals engraved with their coats of arms._
8. Something that confirms, guarantees or authenticates something, or shows that it is approved, as in 'seal of approval'.
   - Simple: Something that shows that a thing is approved, real or certain, as in 'a seal of approval'.
   - _The committee's seal of approval cleared the product for sale._
   - _The film earned the critics' seal of approval within days of its release._
9. A fastening that becomes visibly damaged if a container or covering is opened, whether or not it bears an official design.
   - Simple: A strip or cover that breaks or tears if a container is opened.
   - _The shipping container's seal had been cut before it reached the port._
   - _Inspectors check that the seals on the rail cars remain intact._

## Other meanings

- (verb) To fix something, such as an iron bar, into a wall or surface using cement, plaster, or a similar material.
- (noun) An energy center within the body, equivalent to a chakra in yogic tradition.

## Origin

**Meanings 2, 12** — The word for the marine mammal comes from Middle English sele, from Old English seolh, from Proto-Germanic *selhaz (compare Danish sæl and Icelandic selur). Its ultimate source is uncertain: either Proto-Indo-European *selk- ("to pull") or an early Proto-Finnic word.
**Meanings 1, 3–11, 13–17** — Latin signum ("sign") had a diminutive, sigillum, which became Anglo-Norman seel and then Middle English sele. This sense follows that path into English. Seal, sigil and sigillum are doublets.
**Meaning 18** — This comes from Middle English *selen, perhaps from Old English sǣlan ("to bind"), suggested by Middle English sele ("harness; hame").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/seal (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).