seal

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A die or signet having a raised or incised emblem used to stamp an impression on a receptive substance such as wax or lead.
2. n. The impression so made.
3. n. The design or emblem itself, belonging exclusively to the user: a monarch's seal.
4. n. A small disk or wafer of wax, lead, or paper bearing such an imprint and affixed to a document to prove authenticity or to secure it.
5. n. Something, such as a commercial hallmark, that authenticates, confirms, or attests.
6. n. A substance, especially an adhesive agent such as wax or putty, used to close or secure something or to prevent seepage of moisture or air.
7. n. A device that joins two systems or elements in such a way as to prevent leakage.
8. n. An airtight closure.
9. n. A closure, as on a package, used to prove that the contents have not been tampered with.
10. n. A small decorative paper sticker.
11. v. To affix a seal to in order to prove authenticity or attest to accuracy, legal weight, quality, or another standard.
12. v. To close with or as if with a seal.
13. v. To close hermetically.
14. v. To make fast or fill up, as with plaster or cement.
15. v. To apply a waterproof coating to: seal a blacktop driveway.
16. v. To grant, certify, or designate under seal or authority.
17. v. To establish or determine irrevocably: Our fate was sealed.
18. v. Mormon Church To make (a marriage, for example) binding for life; solemnize forever.
19. seal off To close tightly or surround with a barricade or cordon: An unused wing of the hospital was sealed off.
20. n. Any of various aquatic carnivorous mammals of the families Phocidae and Otariidae, found chiefly in the Northern Hemisphere and having a sleek, torpedo-shaped body and limbs that are modified into paddlelike flippers.
21. n. The pelt or fur of one of these animals, especially a fur seal.
22. n. Leather made from the hide of one of these animals.
23. v. To hunt seals.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A marine car nivorous mammal of the order Feræ, suborder Pinnipedia, and family Phocidæ or Otariidæ; any pinniped not a walrus—for example, a hair-seal, a fur-seal, an eared seal, of which there are numerous genera and species. Seals are regarded as carnivores modified for aquatic life. The modification is profound, and somewhat parallel with that which causes certain other mammals, the cetaceans and sirenians, to resemble fishes in the form of the body and in the nature of the limbs. But seals retain a coat of hair or fur like ordinary quadrupeds, and an expression of the face like that of other carnivores. The body is more or less fusiform, tapering like that of a fish. It is prone, and can scarcely be lifted from the ground, so short are the limbs. These are reduced to mere flippers, especially iu the true Phocidæ, in which the hind legs extend backward and cannot be brought into the position usual to mammals, but resemble the flukes of a cetacean. In the otaries (Otariidæ) the limbs are freer and less constrained. The latter have small but evident external ears, wanting in the former. The monk-seal, Monachus albiventer, lives in the Mediterranean and neighboring Atlantic, and a related species, Monachus tropicalis, is found between the tropics in Central American and West Indian waters. Another seal, Phoca cospica, inhabits inland waters of the Caspian, Aral, and Baikal. But with few exceptions all seals are maritime and also extratropical. They are especially numerous in high latitudes of the northern hemisphere. Among the Phocidæ may be noted Phoca vitulina, the ordinary harbor-seal or sea-calf, common in British waters and along the Atlantic coast of the United States; it is often tamed and exhibited in aquaria, being gentle and docile, and capable of being taught to perform some amusing tricks; it is one of the smaller species, usually from 3 to 5 feet long, and being the best-known, as well as wide-ranging, it has many local and fanciful names. Phoca grœnlandica (Pagophilus grœnlandicus) is the Greenland seal, or harp-seal or saddleback, peculiarly colored, of large size, and an important object of the chase. Pagomys fœtidus is a smaller species, the ringed seal or floe-rat of Greenland. Erignathus barbatus is the great bearded or squareflippered seal of Greenland, attaining a length of 8 or 10 feet. Halichœrus gryphus is a great gray seal of both coasts of the North Atlantic, of about the dimensions of the last named. Histriophoca is a genus containing the banded seal or ribbon-seal, H. fasciata or H. equestris. All the foregoing are members of the subfamily Phocinæ. Cystophora cristata is the hooded, crested, or bladder-nosed seal; this is a large seal, but the largest is the sea-elephant, Macrorhinus proboscideus, of southern seas; and these two genera form the subfamily Cystophorinæ. Certain seals of the southern hemisphere, of the genera Lobodon, Stenorhynchus (or Ogmorhinus), Leptonychotes (formerly Leptonyx), and Ommatophoca, form the subfamily Stenorhynchiæ; some of these are known as sea-leopards from their spotted coloration, and others as sterrincks. All the foregoing are Phocidæ, or earless seals, and they are also hair-seals. But the distinction between hair-seals and fur-seals is not, properly, that between Phocidæ and Otariidæ, but between those members of the latter family which do not and those which do have a copious under-fur of commercial value. The larger otaries are of the former character; they belong to the genera Otaria, Eumetopias, and Zalophus, are of great size, and are commonly called sea-lions; they are of both the northern and the southern hemisphere, chiefly in Pacific waters, and do not occur in the North Atlantic. The southern fur-seals or sea-bears are species of Arctocephahus, and among the smallerotaries. The fur-seal of most economic importance is the North Pacific sea-hear, Callorhinus ursinus. Some genera of fossil seals are described. See cuts under Cystophorinæ, Erignathus, Eumetopias, fur-seal, harp-seal, otary, Pagomys, Phoca, ribbon-seal, sea-elephant, sea-leopard, sea-lion, and Zalophus.
2. n. In heraldry, a bearing representing a creature something like a walrus, with a long fish-like body and the head of a carnivorous animal.
3. To hunt or catch seals.
4. n. An impressed device, as of a letter, cipher, or figure, in lead, wax, paper, or other soft substance, affixed to a document in connection with or in place of a signature, as a mark of authenticity and confirmation, or for the purpose of fastening up the document in order to conceal the contents. In the middle ages seals were either impressed in wax run on the surface of the document, or suspended by cord or strips of parchment, as in the papal bulls. (See bull, 2.) In some jurisdictions an impression on the paper itself is now sufficient, and in others the letters L. S. (locus sigilli, the place of the seal) or a scroll or a mere bit of colored paper (see def. 3) are equivalent. In the United States the seal of a corporation or of a public officer may be by impression on the paper alone.
5. n. The engraved stone, glass, or metal stamp by which such an impression is made. Seals are sometimes worn as rings, and frequently as pendants from the watch-chain or fob.
6. n. A small disk of paper, or the like, attached to a document after the signature, and held to represent the seal of wax, which is in this case dispensed with.
7. n. That which authenticates, confirms, or ratifies; confirmation; as surance; pledge.
8. n. A sealed instrument; a writ or warrant given under seal.
9. n. The office of the sealer or official who authenticates by affixing a seal.
10. n. The wax or wafer with which a folded letter or an envelop is closed; also, any other substance similarly used to assure security or secrecy, as lead for sealing bonded cars, etc. See leaden seal, below.
11. n. Figuratively, that which effectually closes, confines, or secures; that which makes fast.
12. n. In plumbing, a small quantity of water left standing in a trap or curve of tubing connected with a drain or sewer in order to prevent the escape of gas from below.
13. n. Eccles.:
14. n. The sign of the cross.
15. n. Baptism.
16. n. Confirmation.
17. n. Same as holy lamb (which see, under lamb).
18. n. In old medicine, the so-called sigil or signature of a plant, mineral, etc. See signature.
19. n. [caps.] Same as Lord Privy Seal.
20. n. In English history, an instrument imposing a forced loan: so called because it was authenticated by the clerk of the privy seal.
21. To set or affix a seal to, as a mark of authenticity, confirmation, or execution: as, to seal a deed.
22. To stamp, as with a seal.
23. Specifically.
24. To certify with a stamp or mark; stamp as an evidence of standard exactness, legal size, or merchantable quality: as, to seal weights and measures; to seal leather.
25. To attest; affirm; bear witness to the truth or genuineness of, by some outward act: as, to seal one's loyalty with one's life; hence, to confirm; ratify; establish; fix.
26. To grant authoritatively or under seal.
27. To fasten or secure with a seal, or with some fastening bearing a seal; close or secure with sealing-wax, a wafer, or the like: as, to seal a letter.
28. To shut up or close: as, to seal a book; to seal one's lips or eyes; hence, to establish; determine irrevocably.
29. To mark; designate; appoint.
30. To set apart or give in marriage, according to the system of plural marriages prevalent among the Mormons of Utah. This use is apparently derived from such phrases as—“I pronounce you legally and lawfully husband and wife for time and for all eternity; and I seal upon you the blessings of the holy resurrection,” etc., in the Mormon formula for marriage.
31. To inclose; confine; imprison.
32. In hydraul., sanitary engin., etc., to secure against a flow or escape of air or gas, as by the use of a dip-pipe in any form. A vessel is thus sealed when a shallow channel formed around the neck is filled with water, into which dips the rim of a cover or cap inclosing the orifice. Such a device is said to form a water-seal. The principle has many and various applications, as in the different forms of plumbers' traps.
33. In architecture, to fix, as a piece of wood or iron in a wall, with cement, plaster, or other binding material for staples, hinges, etc.
34. To close the chinks of, as a log house, with plaster, clay, or the like.
35. To aceept; adopt: as, to seal a design.
36. Eccles.:
37. To sign with the cross.
38. To baptize.
39. To confirm.
40. To make the impression of a seal; attach a seal.
41. See seel.
42. n. Sealskin; leather made from the skin of the seal.
43. n. The amount of lap over the edge of an opening by which a lid or valve projects to make a tight joint and prevent leakage past it.
44. n. See day.

Wiktionary

1. n. A pinniped, particularly an earless seal (true seal) or eared seal.
2. v. intransitive To hunt seals
3. n. A stamp used to impress a design on a soft substance such as wax.
4. n. An impression of a stamp on wax or paper.
5. n. this sense) A design or ensignia usually associated with an organization or an official role.
6. n. Anything that secures or authenticates.
7. n. this sense) Something which will be visibly damaged if a covering or container is opened, and which may or may not bear an official design.
8. n. Confirmation or an indication of confirmation.
9. n. Something designed to prevent liquids or gases from leaking through a joint.
10. n. A tight closure, secure against leakage.
11. n. A chakra.
12. v. transitive To place a seal on (a document).
13. v. transitive To fasten (something) so that it cannot be opened without visible damage.
14. v. transitive To prevent people or vehicles from crossing (something).
15. v. transitive To close securely to prevent leakage.
16. v. transitive To place in a sealed container.
17. v. transitive, chess To place a notation of one's next move in a sealed envelope to be opened after an adjournment.
18. v. transitive To guarantee
19. v. dialectal To tie up animals (especially cattle) in their stalls.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. (Zoöl.) Any aquatic carnivorous mammal of the families Phocidæ and Otariidæ.
2. n. An engraved or inscribed stamp, used for marking an impression in wax or other soft substance, to be attached to a document, or otherwise used by way of authentication or security.
3. n. Wax, wafer, or other tenacious substance, set to an instrument, and impressed or stamped with a seal.
4. n. That which seals or fastens; esp., the wax or wafer placed on a letter or other closed paper, etc., to fasten it.
5. n. That which confirms, ratifies, or makes stable; that which authenticates; that which secures; assurance.
6. n. An arrangement for preventing the entrance or return of gas or air into a pipe, by which the open end of the pipe dips beneath the surface of water or other liquid, or a deep bend or sag in the pipe is filled with the liquid; a draintrap.
7. v. To set or affix a seal to; hence, to authenticate; to confirm; to ratify; to establish.
8. v. To mark with a stamp, as an evidence of standard exactness, legal size, or merchantable quality.
9. v. To fasten with a seal; to attach together with a wafer, wax, or other substance causing adhesion.
10. v. Hence, to shut close; to keep close; to make fast; to keep secure or secret.
11. v. To fix, as a piece of iron in a wall, with cement, plaster, or the like.
12. v. To close by means of a seal. See 2d Seal, 5.
13. v. Utah, U.S. Among the Mormons, to confirm or set apart as a second or additional wife.
14. v. obsolete To affix one's seal, or a seal.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. fastener that provides a tight and perfect closure
2. n. a member of a Naval Special Warfare unit who is trained for unconventional warfare
3. n. a device incised to make an impression; used to secure a closing or to authenticate documents
4. v. affix a seal to
5. v. decide irrevocably
6. n. a finishing coat applied to exclude moisture
7. v. make tight; secure against leakage
8. n. the pelt or fur (especially the underfur) of a seal
9. v. close with or as if with a seal
10. v. cover with varnish
11. v. hunt seals
12. n. an indication of approved or superior status
13. n. fastener consisting of a resinous composition that is plastic when warm; used for sealing documents and parcels and letters
14. n. any of numerous marine mammals that come on shore to breed; chiefly of cold regions
15. n. a stamp affixed to a document (as to attest to its authenticity or to seal it)