serial

Word family

se·ri·al1 /ˈsɪəriəl $ ˈsɪr-/ noun [countableC] → cereal

SERIESa story that is broadcast or printed in several separate parts on television, in a magazine etc 电视连续剧；〔杂志等上的〕连载小说

a television serial

电视连续剧

a six-part serial

六集连续剧[连载故事]

Examples from the Corpus

serial• Their letters of planning went back and forth like installments of a serial.• What was between them was, I vaguely recall, a children's classic drama serial, i.e. Charles Dickens dramatisations etc.• And when the hospital serial finished they carried their coffee across to the set and watched the courtroom serial.• I love the old Saturday morning serials from the 1940s.• In the tradition of the old Saturday-afternoon movie serials, our melodramatic debate over the serial comma continues.• Don't miss the latest episode in our serial, "David Copperfield."• I had recorded my favourite radio serial one evening, along with twenty minutes of a programme which happened to follow it.• The BBC sells most of its successful serials to the US.• The television serial should return it there.

serial2 adjectiveadj [only before noun]

1 serial killer/murderer etc SCCsomeone who commits the same crime several times 连环杀手/谋杀犯等

a serial rapist

连续作案的强奸犯

Examples from the Corpus

serial killer/murderer etc• Ex-Ornette Coleman sideman Ronald Shannon Jackson was on drums, occasionally adding creepy blues vocals worthy of a serial killer.• She enlists the help of psychiatrist / author Sigourney Weaver, an expert on serial killers.• She escapes and later discovers that her attacker is a suspected serial killer.• Read the February issue of eve to find out, and discuss whether serial killers are born that way below.• There are a lot of courtroom drama books and serial killer tales about, but this one is special.• She is a serial killer who picks up men in the Métro.

2. serial killings/murders etc crimes that are done in the same way several times 连环杀人/谋杀案等

Examples from the Corpus

serial killings/murders etc• They're the devil, these serial murders.• What about fingerprints, copycat crimes and serial murders?• But the news of serial killings last year led to near mass hysteria.

3 ORDER/SEQUENCEarranged or happening one after the other in the correct order 顺序排列的，连续的；一连串[系列]的

Keep the questions in the same serial order.

让这些问题保持原来的顺序。

4 printed or broadcast in several separate parts 连载的；以连续剧形式播出的

cheap serial publications

廉价的系列出版物

—serially adverbadv

Examples from the Corpus

serial• There are a lot of courtroom drama books and serial killer tales about, but this one is special.• She escapes and later discovers that her attacker is a suspected serial killer.• This morning I made you out to be a serial killer!• Read the February issue of eve to find out, and discuss whether serial killers are born that way below.• Even serial killers get cost-of-living raises if they happen to have a pension adjusted for inflation.• Some computer printers - so called, serial printers - receive their information from the host computer sequentially.• The last verified rape by the serial rapist occurred last Tuesday in Mountain View.• Nearly all present-day digital computers are of the serial type, executing one program at a time.

From Longman Business Dictionary

serialse·ri·al /ˈsɪəriəlˈsɪr-/ adjectiveadj [only before a noun]

1FINANCE serial bonds etc are a set of investments which MATURE (=become due for payment) at regular intervals over a period of time

All of the issue’sserial bonds have split maturities of March 1 and Sept. 1.

The Exchange launched serial options in its sugar market yesterday.

2computing sending data one bit (=unit) at a time over a single wire

The serial transmission of data can be used over long distances.

→ compare parallel

3appearing or happening in a fixed order, one after the other

If you use the index facility on your PC, a serial search is not necessary.

We are considering serial publication (=printing parts of a book at regular intervals, for example in a newspaper or magazine).

Origin serial2