semi

Pluralsemis

1. 1
   nounAustraliaCanadaNew ZealandUScountable

   A large truck in which a powered cab unit pulls a long, detachable trailer; a tractor-trailer.

   Our little car shook every time a semi blew past in the left lane.

   Semis loaded with wheat lined up outside the grain elevator at harvest time.

   Similarrig

   Note

   In everyday use the word means the whole rig, cab and trailer together, though it was cut down from semi-trailer. Tommy Faile's "Phantom 309" (1967), sung by Red Sovine, gives it a road-song setting, with a semi's headlights appearing over the crest of a hill. The word belongs to the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

2. 2
   nouncolloquialcountable

   A semifinal: a match or round played just before the final of a competition.

   After a nervy quarterfinal, they cruised through the semi with a 3–0 win.

   Both semis are on Saturday, with the final set for the following week.

   Similarsemifinal

3. 3
   nouncolloquialAustraliaCanadaIrelandUKcountable

   A semi-detached house: one of a pair of houses built side by side that share a single wall.

   We sold the flat and moved into a semi with a proper back garden.

   Post-war semis with bay windows line both sides of the estate road.

   Note

   The prefix semi- became a noun by standing in for whole compounds, and here it stands for semi-detached house. Among house types it sits between the detached house, which stands alone, and the terrace, a row joined wall to wall. An American reader, though, will hear a big truck instead.

4. 4
   nounslangcountable

   A semiautomatic gun, one that fires a single shot with each pull of the trigger and reloads automatically.

   At the range, my uncle let me fire his semi before showing me the old revolver.

   He's been carrying a semi ever since the trouble with his old crew started.

   Similarsemiautomatic

   Note

   The clipped form of semiautomatic belongs to casual speech and rap lyrics, where someone has, carries or holds a semi. With so many other meanings, from a house that shares a wall to a big truck, the word leans on its surroundings to show that a gun is meant.

5. 5
   adverbcolloquial

   To some extent, though not completely.

   "Is the kitchen finished?" "Semi. The cabinets are in, but there's no countertop yet."

   The plan worked, well, semi: we got the permit but lost half the funding.

   Similarpartly, partially, somewhat

   Oppositefully, completely

   Note

   The adverb stands for no longer word; it is the bare prefix used as a hedge, and it often stands alone as a reply. In Mark Morris's The Secret of Anatomy (2013), asked whether a question is serious, Ralph shrugs and says, "Well ... semi."

6. 6
   nounslangcountable

   An incomplete erection, in which the penis is only partly hard.

   Just the thought of seeing her again was enough to give him a semi.

   He shifted in his seat, hoping the newspaper on his lap hid his semi.

   Note

   The word stays in casual talk among people at ease with each other; in any formal setting it would jar. It often follows get, have or give: he got a semi, the scene gave him one.

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