SPECIAL • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Special

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/spˈɛʃəl/ Listen

Special

adjective

1.

Unique or specific to a person or thing or category. Synonyms: particular, peculiar. "Has a particular preference for Chinese art" , "A peculiar bond of sympathy between them" , "An expression peculiar to Canadians" , "Rights peculiar to the rich" , "The special features of a computer" , "My own special chair"

2.

For a special service or occasion. "A special adviser to the committee" , "Had to get special permission for the event"

3.

Surpassing what is common or usual or expected. Synonyms: especial, exceptional, particular. "Exceptional kindness" , "A matter of particular and unusual importance" , "A special occasion" , "A special reason to confide in her" , "What's so special about the year 2000?"

4.

Adapted to or reserved for a particular purpose. "A special medication for arthritis"

5.

Having a specific function or scope. Synonym: limited.

6.

First and most important. Synonym: particular. "She gets special (or particular) satisfaction from her volunteer work"

7.

Added to a regular schedule. Synonym: extra. "Put on special buses for the big game"

noun

1.

A special offering (usually temporary and at a reduced price) that is featured in advertising.

2.

A dish or meal given prominence in e.g. a restaurant.

3.

A television production that features a particular person or work or topic.

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WordNet 3.0 © 2010 Princeton University

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"Special" Quotes from Famous Books

... my young countryman. All my comrades. I am glad to say, displayed a heroism, during our days of trial and suffering, which has never been surpassed by any men in any clime. But, if one man is worthy of special mention for cool bravery, for dogged perseverance, for unflinching, unwavering fortitude and unselfishness, that man is Guy Chutney. Gentlemen," he continued, raising his glass, "I ask you to drink with me to the health of the bravest man I ever ...

— The River of Darkness - Under Africa • William Murray Graydon

... was left. Or it might have flashed out in one terrible moment. But it would have been made clear. And then, Ethne? What then? You aimed at a compensation; you wanted to make up to me for the loss of what I love—my career, the army, the special service in the strange quarters of the world. A fine compensation to sit in front of you knowing you had married a cripple out of pity, and that in so doing you had crippled yourself and foregone the happiness which is ...

— The Four Feathers • A. E. W. Mason

... Dante writes—you 're right there," he said. "But when his genius is in eclipse, Dante is a dreadfully smoky lamp. By what perversity of fate," he went on, "has it come about that I am a sculptor at all? A sculptor is such a confoundedly special genius; there are so few subjects he can treat, so few things in life that bear upon his work, so few moods in which he himself is inclined to it." (It may be noted that Rowland had heard him a dozen times ...

— Roderick Hudson • Henry James

... was at top notch. Citizens hired the Gridley Band to go along with the young men and help out on noise. A special train in two sections was chartered, for some seven hundred Gridleyites had voted in favor of an evening dinner on Thanksgiving Day; they were going along to see ...

— The High School Captain of the Team - Dick & Co. Leading the Athletic Vanguard • H. Irving Hancock

... sought after, which has the virtue of converting the baser metals into gold and silver. It had remained here perhaps ever since the time of the highly-gifted St. Dunstan in the tenth century. This they carried off in triumph: but we are not told of any special use to which they applied it, till a few years after, when they were both on ...

— Lives of the Necromancers • William Godwin

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