Seal Meaning
/siːl/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounA pinniped (Pinnipedia), particularly an earless seal (true seal) or eared seal.
verbTo hunt seals.
Sentence Examples
Once you break the seal, you can't return the tape.
The seal kept its balance well on the large ball.
The letter bore the president's seal.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
The cute ____ swam gracefully through the icy Arctic waters.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The conservationist photographed a grey ____ basking on the rocks at low tide.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English sel, from an inflectional form of Old English seolh, from Proto-West Germanic *selh, from Proto-Germanic *selhaz (compare Scots selch,selkie, North Frisian selich, Middle Dutch seel, zēle, Old High German selah, Danish sæl, Middle Low German sale, Icelandic selur), either from Proto-Indo-European *selk- (“to pull”) (compare dialectal English sullow (“plough”)) or from early Proto-Finnic *šülkeš (later *hülgeh, compare dialectal Finnish hylki, standard hylje, Estonian hüljes).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"She [Nature] carved thee for her seal, and meant thereby
Thou shouldst print more, not let that copy die."
— 1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 11”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC:
"So the matter rested until the Cranbrook & Paddock Wood Company was incorporated on August 8, 1877, appropriately displaying a bunch of hops on its seal, for these had become the principal cash crop in the area."
— 1960 March, H. P. White, “The Hawkhurst branch of the Southern Region”, in Trains Illustrated, page 170:
"Seals were placed on the papal apartment on the third floor of the Apostolic Palace and on the apartment on the second floor of the Casa Santa Marta, where Pope Francis lived."
— 2025 April 21, Devin Watkins, “Pope Francis has died on Easter Monday aged 88”, in Vatican News:
"Seal up your lips, and give no words but "mum"."
— 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:
"England's first-half display contained much to admire but it was a sign of their wastefulness in front of goal that it took the injury-time intervention from Kane to seal victory."
— 2018 June 18, Phil McNulty, “Tunisia 1 – 2 England”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 21 Apr 2019:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The cute ____ swam gracefully through the icy Arctic waters.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The conservationist photographed a grey ____ basking on the rocks at low tide.