second hand
6
2.6
- noun
- /ˈsɛkənd hænd/
:
segundero
- The second hand on a large, impersonal clock swept slowly around its smooth white face.
Examples
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I'm waiting for the second hand to reach 60.
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It's may 3, 1993, and the second hand is ticking on towards 5:03 in the afternoon.
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And then before we put the second hand, we should just wind on.
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Now, has anybody here got a second hand on their watch? - I have.
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"Thanks," he said, looking at the face, the sweep of the second hand.
Fiction book (1997) -
I could hear the second hand on the clock above the sink ticking.
Fiction book (1997) -
The sweep second hand of the Hudsucker Clock is approaching 12 midnight, the New Year.
Fiction book (1994) -
The huge clock's sweep second hand is just approaching the position that will make the time 12:00 sharp.
Fiction book (1994) -
PULL BACK TO REVEAL—it’s the second hand on a massive rusted metal clock.
Fiction book (1998) -
I could hear the second hand on the clock above the sink ticking.
Synonyms
1
5.5
A long hand on a watch or clock that shows seconds and moves smoothly
A thin hand on a clock or watch attached at the middle that goes around every minute and moves smoothly
Surface Forms
Morphology
2nd + hand
A learner who knows 'second' (another, following the first) and 'hand' (source/possession/agency) can partially infer that 'second hand' involves something coming via another person rather than directly. However, the specific idiomatic sense 'indirectly; not firsthand' (and the related sense 'used' for goods) is lexicalized and somewhat conventional, so the exact meaning is not fully predictable from the parts alone.
Etymology
Second hand is the thin hand on a clock or watch that moves once each second. It marks the passing of seconds, so the name means the pointer that shows seconds.