adj ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective

1. 1
   At the second level of some system; A level of felony somewhat mitigated by various factors. not-comparable

   "The jury found her guilty of second-degree murder for accidentally killing her victim as she mugged him."

2. 2
   At the second level of some system; An level of moderate damage, typically involving painful blistering of the skin. not-comparable

Example

More examples

"Apologizing isn't going to heal hundreds of second-degree burns, sir."

Related phrases

second-degree burnsecond-degree manslaughtersecond-degree murdersecond-degree relative

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.