Oxford Business English Dictionary for Learners of English

3 [C, usually sing.] a particular quality, product, phrase, etc. that makes sth different from other similar things and makes it easy to recognize: The simple design and bright colours became the signature of all their products, о the company's signature shoes and bags

'signature brand noun [c] (Marketing)

a range of products that is the most famous thing made by a particular company: Sales of the company's signature brand vacuum cleaners are up.

a product or range of products that have the name of a famous person on them: Calvin Klein signature brand sunglasses

'signature loannoun [c](Finance) money that is lent to sb without any security (= a valuable item that the person, company, etc. that borrows the money will lose if they cannot pay the money back) except that the borrower signs a document -» unsecured

'sign-up noun

[U] the act of saying that you want to join sth, receive sth, etc. by adding your name to a list: Go to our sign-up page to subscribe to this service, о a signup fee

[c] a person who adds their name to a list in order to join sth, receive sth, etc: new sign-ups for digital TV

.silent 'partner = sleeping partner

silicon /'silikan/ noun [U] a chemical element that is used in making transistors and glass

.Silicon 'Alleynoun [u] an area of New York where many Internet companies started in business in the 1990s

.silicon 'chipnoun [c] a very small piece of silicon used to carry a complicated electronic circuit

.Silicon 'Valleynoun [u] an area in California where there are many computer and high technology companies ГТГГП Silicon Valley is often used to refer to other similar areas or to the computer and electronics industries in general. Silicon... is also often used in a similar way, especially in newspapers: Silicon Fen (an area in the UK around Cambridge).

silver 'market = grey market (3)

1 all the circumstances and things that are happening at a particular time and in a particular place: the present economic/financial situation о We need to analyse the market situation, о Financially; the company is in a difficult situation, о I'm in a no- win situation (= whatever I do will be bad for me).

2 the kind of area or surroundings that a building or town has: The hotel is in a beautiful situation.

3 (old-fashioned or only used in written English) a job Situations Vacant

situational interviewnoun[c](HR) a type of interview for a job in which sb is asked what they would do in particular situations. Situational interviews are used especially in cases where candidates do not have much work experience.

.situ ation a.nalysis (also .situation audit) noun [c]

(Marketing) the first stage in the process of planning marketing, in which an organization collects information and examines its strengths and weaknesses, the opportunities it has and the threats it faces SWOT

having the ability, experience and knowledge to be able to do sth well: a skilled engineer/negotiator

She is highly skilled at dealing with difficult customers, о All our staff are skilled in at least two languages, о a shortage of skilled labour (= workers who have had training in a skill)

(about a job) needing special abilities or training: Furniture-making is very skilled work.

Ioppj unskilled

'skill set noun [c] a range of skills: We offer a skill set that covers all aspects of web-based programming and development.

skim /skim/ verb [+ obj] (-mm-)

(informal) to steal small amounts of money frequently over a period of time: She'd been skimming money from the store's accounts for years.

(informal) to illegally copy information that is stored electronically on a credit card in order to use it without the owner's permission: I think my credit card was skimmed at a gas station.