SEASON

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does season mean? 

• SEASON (noun)
  The noun SEASON has 3 senses:

1. a period of the year marked by special events or activities in some field

2. one of the natural periods into which the year is divided by the equinoxes and solstices or atmospheric conditions

3. a recurrent time marked by major holidays

  Familiarity information: SEASON used as a noun is uncommon.

• SEASON (verb)
  The verb SEASON has 3 senses:

1. lend flavor to

2. make fit

3. make more temperate, acceptable, or suitable by adding something else

  Familiarity information: SEASON used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SEASON (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A period of the year marked by special events or activities in some field

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Context example:

she always looked forward to the avocado season

Hypernyms ("season" is a kind of...):

period; period of time; time period (an amount of time)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "season"):

sheepshearing (the time or season when sheep are sheared)

Whitsun; Whitsuntide; Whitweek (Christian holiday; the week beginning on Whitsunday (especially the first 3 days))

theatrical season (the season when new plays are produced)

social season (the season for major social events)

hunting season (the season during which it is legal to kill a particular species)

hockey season (the season when hockey is played)

football season (the season when football is played)

fishing season (the season during which it is legal to catch fish)

exhibition season (the time before the regular games begin when football or baseball teams play practice games)

basketball season (the season when basketball is played)

baseball season (the season when baseball is played)

preseason (a period prior to the beginning of the regular season which is devoted to training and preparation)

off-season (the season when travel is least active and rates are lowest)

high season; peak season (the season when travel is most active and rates are highest)

holiday season (a time when many people take holidays)

seedtime (the time during which seeds should be planted)

growing season (the season during which a crop grows best)

Sense 2

Meaning:

One of the natural periods into which the year is divided by the equinoxes and solstices or atmospheric conditions

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Synonyms:

season; time of year

Context example:

the regular sequence of the seasons

Hypernyms ("season" is a kind of...):

period; period of time; time period (an amount of time)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "season"):

haying; haying time (the season for cutting and drying and storing grass as fodder)

autumn; fall (the season when the leaves fall from the trees)

spring; springtime (the season of growth)

summer; summertime (the warmest season of the year; in the northern hemisphere it extends from the summer solstice to the autumnal equinox)

winter; wintertime (the coldest season of the year; in the northern hemisphere it extends from the winter solstice to the vernal equinox)

rainy season; dry season (one of the two seasons in tropical climates)

harvest; harvest time (the season for gathering crops)

Holonyms ("season" is a part of...):

year (the period of time that it takes for a planet (as, e.g., Earth or Mars) to make a complete revolution around the sun)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A recurrent time marked by major holidays

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Context example:

it was the Christmas season

Hypernyms ("season" is a kind of...):

period; period of time; time period (an amount of time)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "season"):

Allhallowtide (the season of All Saints' Day)

Lent; Lententide (a period of 40 weekdays from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday)

Shrovetide (immediately preceding Lent)

Advent (the season including the four Sundays preceding Christmas)

Christmas; Christmastide; Christmastime; Noel; Yule; Yuletide (period extending from Dec. 24 to Jan. 6)

Twelfthtide (the season of Epiphany)

Eastertide (the Easter season)

Lammastide (the season of Lammas)

Michaelmastide (the season of Michaelmas)

• SEASON (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they season    ... he / she / it seasons   
Past simple: seasoned   
Past participle: seasoned   
-ing form: seasoning   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Lend flavor to

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Synonyms:

flavor; flavour; season

Context example:

Season the chicken breast after roasting it

Cause:

savor; savour; taste (have flavor; taste of something)

Domain category:

cookery; cooking; preparation (the act of preparing something (as food) by the application of heat)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "season"):

sauce (dress (food) with a relish)

curry (season with a mixture of spices; typical of Indian cooking)

resinate (impregnate with resin to give a special flavor to)

spice; spice up; zest (add herbs or spices to)

savor; savour (give taste to)

salt (add salt to)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

seasoner (something added to food primarily for the savor it imparts)

seasoner (a cook who uses seasonings)

seasoning (the act of adding a seasoning to food)

seasoning (something added to food primarily for the savor it imparts)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Make fit

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

harden; season

Context example:

This trip will season even the hardiest traveller

Hypernyms (to "season" is one way to...):

toughen (make tough or tougher)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s somebody

Sense 3

Meaning:

Make more temperate, acceptable, or suitable by adding something else

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

moderate; mollify; season; temper

Context example:

she tempered her criticism

Hypernyms (to "season" is one way to...):

weaken (lessen the strength of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

 Context examples 

It is the Lady Eva Blackwell, the most beautiful débutante of last season.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

You will still find time to enjoy the season.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Yes, her father brought her over for this last London season.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The weather on Titan varies from season to season as well, just as it does on Earth.

(Dust Storms on Titan Spotted for the First Time, NASA)

The season was full, the room crowded, and the two ladies squeezed in as well as they could.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

One group of 22 volunteers was studied during the 2014-2015 flu season, and the second group with 11 volunteers was studied during the 2015-2016 flu season.

(Disrupting the gut microbiome may affect some immune responses to flu vaccination, National Institutes of Health)

What made him seek this quarter of the house at an untimely season, when he should have been asleep in bed?

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Uranus is now approaching the middle of its summer season, and the polar-cap region is becoming more prominent.

(Hubble Reveals Dynamic Atmospheres of Uranus, Neptune, NASA)

Cycles in daily and annual sunlight cause the familiar swings in temperatures and seasons.

(Deep-sea sediments lead to new understanding of solar system, National Science Foundation)

The season, the scene, the air, were all favourable to tenderness and sentiment.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)