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Glossary of Civil Engineering Terms
beginning with letter S
Browse the Civil Engineering Glossary
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saddle Tweet Definition of saddle Like Definition of saddle on Facebook
noun 
  1. A seat (tack) for a rider placed on the back of a horse or other animal
  2. A seat on a bicycle, motorcycle etc
  3. A cut of meat that includes both loins and part of the backbone
  4. A ridge, in the shape of a saddle, between two hills
  5. The raised floorboard in a doorway.
verb (saddl, es)
  1. to put a saddle on an animal
  2. to get into a saddle
  3. (idiomatically) to burden or encumber
     
scarify Tweet Definition of scarify Like Definition of scarify on Facebook
verb (scarifies, scarifying, scarified, scarified)
  1. To scar.
  2. denude, Denude, or lay waste to.
     
scour Tweet Definition of scour Like Definition of scour on Facebook
verb 
  1. To clean, polish, or wash something by scrubbing it vigorously.
He scoured the burner pans, to remove the burnt spills.
  1. To search an area thoroughly.
They scoured the scene of the crime for clues.
  1. (veterinary medicine) Of livestock, to suffer from diarrhea.
If a lamb is scouring, do not delay treatment.
  1. To move swiftly.
     
scrape Tweet Definition of scrape Like Definition of scrape on Facebook
noun 
  1. A broad, shallow injury left by scraping (rather than a cut or a scratch).
He fell on the sidewalk and got a on his knee.
  1. A fight; especially a fist fight without weapons.
He got in a with the school bully.
  1. An awkward set of circumstances.
I'm in a bit of a — I've no money to buy my wife a birthday present.
  1. (context, UK, slang) A D and C or abortion; or, a miscarriage.
    • 1972, in U.S. Senate Subcommittee to Investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act and Other Internal Security Laws, Abuse of psychiatry for political repression in the Soviet Union. Hearing, Ninety-second Congress, second session, United States Government Printing Office, page 127,
    • :It"s quite possible, in view of the diagnosis "danger of miscarriage", that they might drag me off, give me a and then say that the miscarriage began itself.
    • 1980, John Cobb, Babyshock: A Mother"s First Five Years, Hutchinson, page 232,
    • :In expert hands abortion nowadays is almost the same as having a (D & C) and due to improved techniques such as suction termination, and improved lighter anaesthetic, most women feel no worse than having a tooth out.
    • 1985, Beverley Raphael, The Anatomy of Bereavement: a handbook for the caring professions, Routledge, ISBN 0415094542, page 236,
    • :The loss is significant to the woman and will be stated as such by her. For her it is not "nothing," "just a ," or "not a life." It is the beginning of a baby. Years later, she may recall it not just as a miscarriage but also as a baby that was lost.
    • 1999, David Jenkins, Listening to Gynaecological Patients\ Problems, Springer, ISBN 1852331097, page 16,
    • :17.Have you had a or curettage recently?
      1. A shallow depression used by ground birds as a nest; a nest scrape.
    • 1948, in Behaviour: An International Journal of Comparative Ethology, E. J. Brill, page 103,
    • :We knew from <span style="font-variant:small-caps">U. Weidmann</span>"s work (1956) that Black-headed Gulls could be prevented from laying by offering them eggs on the empty veil before &hellip;
    • 2000, Charles A. Taylor, The Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia, Kingfisher Publications, ISBN 0753452693, page 85,
    • :The plover lays its eggs in a on the ground. &para; &hellip; &para; Birds" nests can be little more than a in the ground or a delicate structure of plant material, mud, and saliva.
    • 2006, Les Beletsky, Birds of the World, Johns Hopkins University Press, ISBN 0801884292, page 95,
    • :Turkey females place their eggs in a shallow in a hidden spot on the ground. Young are born ready to leave the nest and feed themselves (eating insects for their first few weeks).
verb (scrapes, scraping, scraped)
  1. To draw a sharp or angular object along (something) while exerting pressure.
Her fingernails scraped across the blackboard, making a shrill sound.
  1. (italbrac, followed by an adverb) To cause something to be in the state implied by the adverb by scraping.
Scrape the chewing gum off with a knife. (= "remove the chewing gum with a knife by scraping")
  1. To injure by scraping.
She tripped on a rock and scraped her knee.
     
sewage Tweet Definition of sewage Like Definition of sewage on Facebook
noun (uncountable)
  1. A suspension of liquid and solid waste, and water runoff, transported by sewers to be disposed of or processed.
  2. (Obsolete usage) w:sewerage, sewerage.
     
sewer Tweet Definition of sewer Like Definition of sewer on Facebook
noun 
  1. A pipe or system of pipes used to remove human waste and to provide drainage.
     
shell Tweet Definition of shell Like Definition of shell on Facebook
noun 
  1. A hard outside covering, as of a fruit or an animal:
    • The covering, or outside part, of a nut; as, a hazelnut shell.
    • A pod.
    • The hard covering of an egg.
    • The hard calcareous or chitinous external covering of mollusks, crustaceans, and some other invertebrates. In some mollusks, as the cuttlefishes, it is internal, or concealed by the mantle. Also, the hard covering of some vertebrates, as the armadillo, the tortoise, and the like.
    • The husks of cacao seeds, a decoction of which is often used as a substitute for chocolate, cocoa, etc.
      1. Hence, by extension, any mollusks having such a covering.
      2. (plural: ) An artillery projectile or charge case:
    • A hollow projectile, of various shapes, adapted for a mortar or a cannon, and containing an explosive substance, ignited with a fuze or by percussion, by means of which the projectile is burst and its fragments scattered. See Bomb.
    • The case which holds the powder, or charge of powder and shot, used with breechloading small arms.
      1. Any slight hollow structure; a framework, or exterior structure, regarded as not complete or filled in; as, the shell of a house.
      2. (garment) A top, usually worn by women, with short or no sleeves that fastens, if it does, in the rear.
      3. A coarse kind of coffin; also, a thin interior coffin inclosed in a more substantial one.
      4. (music) An instrument of music, as a lyre, -- the first lyre having been made, it is said, by drawing strings over a tortoise shell.
      5. An engraved copper roller used in print works.
      6. The outer frame or case of a block within which the sheaves revolve.
      7. (nautical) A light boat the frame of which is covered with thin wood or with paper; as, a racing shell.
      8. A drum shell; the usually wooden, cylindrical acoustic chamber, with or without rims added for tuning and attaching drum heads.
      9. (computing) A general-purpose environment, usually CLI, command-line-oriented, within which other commands are invoked and their interactions controlled.
      10. (context, chemistry) A set of atomic orbitals that have the same principal quantum number.
verb 
  1. To remove the outer covering or shell of something. See sheller.
  2. To bombard, to fire projectiles at.
  3. (informal) To disburse or give up money, to pay. (Often used with out).
     
shovel Tweet Definition of shovel Like Definition of shovel on Facebook
noun 
  1. A hand tool with a handle for moving portions of material such as earth, snow, grain, etc from one place to another. Not to be confused with a spade which is for digging.
  2. A spade.
verb (shovels, shoveling or shovelling, shoveled or shovelled)
  1. To move materials with a shovel.
The workers were shovelling gravel and tarmac into the pothole in the road.
After the blizzard, we shoveled the driveway for the next two days.
I don't mind shoveling, but using a pickaxe hurts my back terribly.
     
sink Tweet Definition of sink Like Definition of sink on Facebook
noun 
  1. A basin used for holding water for washing.
  2. (baseball) The motion of a sinker pitch.
Jones' has a two-seamer with heavy .
verb (sinks, sinking, sank, sunk or sunken)
  1. (intransitive) To descend into a liquid or other substance or material.
  2. (transitive) To submerge (something) in a liquid or other substance or material.
  3. (transitive) To cause (a ship, etc) to sink.
  4. (transitive) To push (something) into something.
The dog sank its teeth into the delivery man's leg.
     
skinner Tweet Definition of skinner Like Definition of skinner on Facebook
noun 
  1. Someone who skins animals as a job.
     
sludge Tweet Definition of sludge Like Definition of sludge on Facebook
noun 
  1. unpleasant viscous oozy sewage ejection
     
sluice Tweet Definition of sluice Like Definition of sluice on Facebook
noun 
  1. An artifical passage for water, fitted with a valve or gate, as in a mill stream, for stopping or regulating the flow; also, a water gate of flood gate.
  2. Hence, an opening or channel through which anything flows; a source of supply.
Each of affluent fortune opened soon. -Harte.
This home familiarity . . . opens the sluices of sensibility. -I. Taylor.
  1. The stream flowing through a flood gate.
  2. (Mining): A long box or trough through which water flows, -- used for washing auriferous earth.
verb (sluic, ing)
  1. To emit by, or as by, flood gates. R. Milton.
  2. To wet copiously, as by opening a sluice; as, to sluice meadows. Howitt.
He dried his neck and face, which he had been sluicing with cold water. -De Quincey.
  1. To wash with, or in, a stream of water running through a sluice; as, to sluice eart or gold dust in mining.
     
sluiceway Tweet Definition of sluiceway Like Definition of sluiceway on Facebook
noun 
  1. a man-made channel designed to redirect excess water
     
spill Tweet Definition of spill Like Definition of spill on Facebook
noun 
  1. (countable) A mess of something that has been dropped.
  2. A fall or stumble.
The bruise is from a bad he had last week.
  1. A small piece of paper used to light a candle, cigarette etc by transfer a flame from a fire.
verb (spills, spilling, spilled or spilt)
  1. (transitive) To drop something so that it spreads out or makes a mess; to pour.
I spilled some sticky juice onto the kitchen floor.
  1. (intransitive) To spread out or fall out, as above
Some sticky juice spilled onto the kitchen floor.
     
splash Tweet Definition of splash Like Definition of splash on Facebook
noun 
  1. (onomatopoeia) The sound made by an object hitting a liquid.
  • heard a in the pond
    1. An impact or impression.
  • make a
    • verb (splash, es)
    1. To hit or agitate liquid.
    • sit and in the bathtub
    2. 1990 October 28, w:Paul Simon, Paul Simon, "She Moves On", w:The Rhythm of the Saints, The Rhythm of the Saints, Warner Bros.
    4. : I know the reason I feel so blessed / My heart still splashes inside my chest
      1. To splatter or spread around suddenly.
    5. water splashed everywhere
      1. To create an impact or impression; to print, post or publicize prominently.
    6. The headline was splashed across newspapers everywhere.
         
    spur Tweet Definition of spur Like Definition of spur on Facebook
    noun 
    1. A rigid implement, often roughly y-shaped, that is fixed to one's heel for purpose of prodding a horse. Often worn by, and emblematic of, the cowboy or the knight.
    2. (slang) Fan or member of Tottenham Hotspur F.C
    Quotations
    • 1598: Lives he, good uncle? Thrice within this hour I saw him down; thrice up again, and fighting; From helmet to the spur all blood he was. &mdash; William Shakespeare, Henry V, Act IV, Scene VI, line 4.
  • 1786: Two sorts of spurs seem to have been in use about the time of the Conquest, one called a pryck, having only a single point like the gaffle of a fighting cock; the other consisting of a number of points of considerable length, radiating from and revolving on a center, thence named the rouelle or wheel spur. &mdash; Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, page 22.
    • See also
  • rowel
  • pryck, prick
    • External links
  • Wikipedia article on w:spur, spur.
    1. Anything that inspires or motivates, as a spur does to a horse.
    • Quotations
  • 1601: But, worthy Hector, She is a theme of honour and renown, A spur to valiant and magnanimous deeds... &mdash; William Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida, Act II, Scene II, line 198.
    1. An appendage or spike pointing rearward, near the foot, for instance that of a rooster.
    2. Any protruding part connected at one end, for instance a highway that extends from another highway into a city.
    3. Roots. (As in genealogical?). Spurs are symbolic of knighthood, so perhaps spurs in this context is an allusion to the hereditary aspect of knighthood. Any insights would be appreciated.
    • Quotations
  • 1609: I do note That grief and patience, rooted in them both, Mingle their spurs together. &mdash; William Shakespeare, Cymbeline, Act IV, Scene II, line 57.
    • verb (spur, r, ed)
    1. To prod (esp. a horse) in the side or flank, with the intent to urge motion or haste, to gig.
    Quotations
    • 1592: Draw, archers, draw your arrows to the head! Spur your proud horses hard, and ride in blood; Amaze the welkin with your broken staves! &mdash; William Shakespeare, Richard III, Act V, Scene III, line 339.
      1. To urge or encourage to action, or to a more vigorous pursuit of an object; to incite; to stimulate; to instigate; to impel; to drive.
    Quotations
  • 1599: My desire (More sharp than filed steel) did spur me forth... &mdash; William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, Act III, Scene IV, line 4.
    1. To put spurs on; as, a spurred boot.
    •      
    Starling Tweet Definition of Starling Like Definition of Starling on Facebook
    proper noun 
    1. An English surname, from a nickname for a gregarious person.
         
    stop sign Tweet Definition of stop sign Like Definition of stop sign on Facebook
    noun 
    1. A red sign on the street telling cars to stop.
         
    storm sewer Tweet Definition of storm sewer Like Definition of storm sewer on Facebook
    noun 
    1. An underground sewer or open canal for channeling surface runoff (as from a rain storm); distinct from a sanitary sewer.
         
    stringer Tweet Definition of stringer Like Definition of stringer on Facebook
    noun 
    1. Someone who threads something.
    2. Someone who leads someone along.
    3. A horizontal timber that supports upright posts.
    4. A local freelance reporter for a national or regional newspaper.
    5. (surfing) Wooden strip running lengthwise down the centre of a surfboard, for strength.
    Line up the 1/2 template with the (or draw a center line) &mdash; Stephen Pirsch http://www.surfersteve.com/shaping.htm
    1. (baseball, slang) An 1800s baseball term meaning a hard-hit ball.
    2. (fishing) A cord or chain, sometimes with additional loop, loops, that is threaded through the mouth and gills of caught fish.
    Janice pulled the bluegill out of the water and added it to her .
         
    substructure Tweet Definition of substructure Like Definition of substructure on Facebook
    noun 
    1. The supporting part of a structure (either physical or organizational; the foundation).
    2. The earth or gravel that railway sleepers are embedded in.
         
    superstructure Tweet Definition of superstructure Like Definition of superstructure on Facebook
    noun 
    1. (nautical) Any structure built above the top full deck. (FM 55-501).
    2. Any material structure or edifice built on something else; that which is raised on a foundation or basis
    3. all that part of a building above the basement. Also used figuratively.
    4. (British) Railroad The sleepers, and fastenings, in distinction from the roadbed.
         
    suspender Tweet Definition of suspender Like Definition of suspender on Facebook
    noun (Plural: suspenders)
    1. Something or someone who suspends.
    2. An item of apparel consisting of a strap worn over the shoulder and used hold up trousers. Called braces in other parts of the world.
    3. An item of apparel consisting of a band of elastic material, worn around the thigh and used to hold up a stocking; a garter
         
    suspension bridge Tweet Definition of suspension bridge Like Definition of suspension bridge on Facebook
    noun 
    1. A bridge where the deck or roadway is suspended from cables that pass over two towers.
         
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