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1 VERB If the amount, value, level, or volume of something soars , it quickly increases by a great deal. [JOURNALISM ] □ [V ] Insurance claims are expected to soar. □ [V prep/adv] Figures showed customer complaints had soared to record levels and profits were falling.

2 VERB If something such as a bird soars into the air, it goes quickly up into the air. [LITERARY ] □ [V prep/adv] If you're lucky, a splendid golden eagle may soar into view. □ [V n] The two sheets of flame clashed, soaring hundreds of feet high.

3 VERB If your spirits soar , you suddenly start to feel very happy. [LITERARY ] □ [V ] For the first time in months, my spirits soared.

soar|away /sɔː rəwe I / ADJ [ADJ n] If you describe something as a soaraway success, you mean that its success has suddenly increased. [BRIT , JOURNALISM , INFORMAL ] □  …soaraway sales.

sob /sɒ b/ (sobs , sobbing , sobbed )

1 VERB When someone sobs , they cry in a noisy way, breathing in short breaths. □ [V ] She began to sob again, burying her face in the pillow. □ [V ] Her sister broke down, sobbing into her handkerchief. ●  sob|bing N‑UNCOUNT □  The room was silent except for her sobbing.

2 VERB If you sob something, you say it while you are crying. □ [V with quote] 'Everything's my fault,' she sobbed.

3 N‑COUNT A sob is one of the noises that you make when you are crying.

so|ber /soʊ bə ^r / (sobers , sobering , sobered )

1 ADJ [usu v-link ADJ ] When you are sober , you are not drunk. □  When Dad was sober he was a good father.

2 ADJ A sober person is serious and thoughtful. □  We are now far more sober and realistic. □  The euphoria is giving way to a more sober assessment of the situation. ●  so|ber|ly ADV [usu ADV with v] □  'There's a new development,' he said soberly.

3 ADJ Sober colours and clothes are plain and rather dull. □  He dresses in sober grey suits. □  …sober-suited middle-aged men. ●  so|ber|ly ADV [ADV with v] □  She saw Ellis, soberly dressed in a well-cut dark suit.

4 → see also sobering

5stone-cold sober → see stone-cold

▸  sober up PHRASAL VERB If someone sobers up , or if something sobers them up , they become sober after being drunk. □ [V P ] He was left to sober up in a police cell. □ [V n P ] …the idea that a cup of strong black coffee sobers you up.

so|ber|ing /soʊ bər I ŋ/ ADJ [usu ADJ n] You say that something is a sobering thought or has a sobering effect when a situation seems serious and makes you become serious and thoughtful. □  Statistics paint a sobering picture–unemployment, tight credit, lower home values.

so|bri|ety /səbra I I ti/

1 N‑UNCOUNT Sobriety is the state of being sober rather than drunk. [FORMAL ]

2 N‑UNCOUNT Sobriety is serious and thoughtful behaviour. [FORMAL ] □  …the values society depends upon, such as honesty, sobriety and trust.

so|bri|quet /soʊ br I ke I / (sobriquets ) also soubriquet N‑COUNT [usu sing] A sobriquet is a humorous name that people give someone or something. [WRITTEN ] □  From his staff he earned the sobriquet 'Mumbles'.

so b sto|ry (sob stories ) N‑COUNT You describe what someone tells you about their own or someone else's difficulties as a sob story when you think that they have told you about it in order to get your sympathy. □  Any sob story moved Jarvis to generosity.

Soc. /sɒ k/ Soc. is the written abbreviation for society .

so -ca lled ◆◇◇ also so called