secondary
Noun pluralsecondaries
Pluralsecondaries
- 1Coming after the first or main one in order or rank.
Like the second choice you pick when your first one isn't there.
The secondary road was much quieter than the highway.
Her secondary goal was to save a little money each month.
Similarsubordinate, subsidiary, lesser, minor, auxiliary
Oppositeprimary, main, principal, chief
Note
- 2Less important than the main or first thing.
Like a side dish next to the main meal: nice, but not the point.
Cost was a secondary concern once safety was assured.
The color of the car is secondary to how well it runs.
Similarminor, lesser, subordinate, subsidiary, peripheral
Oppositeprimary, main, principal, chief
Note
- 3About schooling for students roughly between ages 11 and 18.
Like the next floor up after the ground floor: between the start and the top.
She started secondary school when she turned eleven.
The town built a new secondary campus last year.
Note
- 4A school for students between about 11 and 18 years old.
Like the bigger school you move on to after your first one.
She enrolled at the local secondary after finishing primary school.
Our town has only one secondary for the whole district.
Note
- 5Made by mixing two main colors together, like green from blue and yellow.
Like making a brand-new color by stirring two paints together.
Green is a secondary color you get by mixing blue and yellow.
Orange and purple are secondary shades on the color wheel.
Note
- 6Something that is less important than the main thing.
Like the things you pack last because they matter least.
Keep the main task first and treat the rest as a secondary.
For him, comfort was always a secondary, and speed mattered most.
Similarafterthought
Oppositepriority
- 7Short for secondary colour. It means a color made by mixing two main colors.
On the color wheel, each secondary sits between two primaries.
Mix blue and yellow and you get a secondary.
Note
- 8About making finished goods from raw materials, like in factories.
Like a kitchen that turns raw ingredients into a finished meal.
Factories are a key part of the secondary industry.
The secondary sector turns crops and metals into products.
Note
- 9Caused by another illness, or happening in the second stage of a disease.
Like a small leak that starts only after a bigger pipe breaks.
The infection led to a secondary illness in his lungs.
Doctors treated the secondary condition caused by the original injury.
Oppositeidiopathic
Note
- 10Coming from a deputy or someone given the power to act for another.
Like a substitute teacher who acts in place of the real one.
The secondary order came from his assistant, not the boss.
She had only secondary power to sign on the manager's behalf.
Similarderived, derivative, subordinate
Note
- 11A person who works under someone else as a helper or deputy.
Like a second-in-command who steps up when the leader is gone.
The bishop sent his secondary to handle the meeting.
As the chief's secondary, she made decisions when he was away.
Similardeputy, assistant, subordinate, understudy
Note
- 12The coil in a transformer that gets its power from another coil through magnetism.
Like a second wheel that spins because a belt connects it to the first.
The secondary in the transformer sends out a lower voltage.
Current flows in the secondary only when the primary is switched on.
Note
- 13When a company already on the stock market sells new shares to raise more money.
Like a store that is already open deciding to sell more memberships to bring in extra money.
The company launched a secondary to raise money for its new factory.
Investors worried the secondary would lower the price of their shares.
Note
- 14In football, the group of defensive players who guard against passes far behind the front line.
Like the back row of guards who stop anyone who slips past the front defenders.
The Stampeders' secondary broke up three passes in the final quarter.
Coaches drilled the secondary on covering fast receivers.
Note
- 15Showing a return to a feature that an ancestor once had.
Like a family that moved to the city, then their grandchildren move back to the old farm.
The whale's smooth skin is a secondary trait, returning to a form its land ancestors lost.
Scientists called the loss of teeth a secondary change in these birds.
Similarderived
Oppositeprimitive
Note
- 16Formed later, when changes or new material build up after the original rock was made.
Like rust that appears on an old iron gate years after the gate was built.
The cave's secondary minerals formed long after the surrounding rock.
Geologists found secondary deposits filling the cracks in the old stone.
Oppositeprimary
Note
- 17Formed later because of pressure or other forces acting on the rock.
Like creases that appear in paper after you squeeze it hard in your hand.
The slate's secondary layering came from intense pressure deep underground.
Folding created secondary cracks across the rock face.
Oppositeprimary
Note
- 18In chemistry, made by swapping two hydrogen atoms in a basic compound for groups of other atoms.
Like swapping out two parts on a bike for different ones to make a new version.
Chemists prepared a secondary alcohol for the next step.
The reaction turned the molecule into a secondary amine.
Note
- 19In astronomy, the smaller object that circles a larger one, like a moon around a planet.
Like a small ball tied to a big one, always swinging around it.
The small secondary takes thirty days to orbit its larger companion.
Astronomers measured how bright the secondary was as it passed behind the star.
Similarcompanion
Note
- 20One of the flight feathers attached to the lower arm bone of a bird's wing.
Like the inner feathers along a bird's arm, set behind the long wingtip feathers.
The bird molted a secondary from each wing.
A missing secondary made it harder for the hawk to fly smoothly.
Note
- 21Having to do with the second joint of a bird's wing.
Like the part of a bird's wing near its elbow.
The secondary feathers grow along the middle part of the wing.
Damage to the secondary area kept the bird from flying well.
Note
- 22In astronomy, an imaginary circle on the sky that crosses another main circle at a right angle.
Like the lines on a globe that run from top to bottom, crossing the middle ring.
The chart drew a secondary through the celestial poles.
Each secondary crosses the main circle to make a right angle.
Note
- 23In a hydrogen bomb, the second part that explodes by fusion after the first part sets it off.
Like a small fire that lights a much bigger one right next to it.
Engineers designed the secondary to release most of the bomb's energy.
The blast from the first stage squeezes the secondary until it ignites.
Note
- 24In radar, the reply sent back by special equipment on a plane, giving extra details like its identity.
Like a name tag that answers back when asked, instead of just a shadow on the screen.
The controller read the aircraft's secondary to confirm its flight number.
A secondary showed the plane's height and identity on the screen.
Note
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origin
From Latin secundarius, meaning "of the second class or quality," from secundus ("second").