adjective1. distinguished, set apart from, or excelling others of its kind
2. (prenominal) designed or reserved for a particular purpose
a special tool for working leather
3. not usual or commonplace
4. (prenominal) particular or primary
his special interest was music
5. denoting or relating to the education of children with special needs
a special school
noun6. a special person or thing, such as an extra edition of a newspaper or a train reserved for a particular purpose
7. a dish or meal given prominence, esp at a low price, in a café, etc
8. Australian history slang a convict given special treatment on account of his education, social class, etc
9. short for special constable
10. Australian, New Zealand, US and Canadian informal an item in a store that is advertised at a reduced price; a loss leader
verbWord forms: -cials, -cialling or -cialled (transitive)11. New Zealand informal to advertise and sell (an item) at a reduced price
we are specialling butter this week
▶ USAGE See note at especialWord origin
C13: from Old French
especial, from Latin
speciālis individual, special, from
speciēs appearance,
species