1 (official stamp) sello; (m) the papal/presidential seal el sello papal/presidencial
a supply of notepaper bearing the Presidential seal In the wax you can see the faint imprint of a seal to give the one's seal of [approval] (to sth)
they have given their seal of approval to the proposed reformsapproval han dado el visto bueno a han aprobado las reformas que se planean;or it has the Royal Academy's seal of approval cuenta con la aprobación el visto bueno de la Real Academia;or
Last November the Commission gave its seal of approval to the deal to [put] [set] the seal on sth
seal of qualityquality sello marchamo de calidad;or (m) The best wines are entitled to a numbered seal of quality
this set the seal on their friendship/on her humiliationset esto selló su amistad/remató su humillación the experience set the seal on their friendship The recent floods finally put the seal on a disappointing summer seal of [office] Irish prime minister Charles Haughey handed over his seal of office last night to President Mary Robinson
under my hand and sealunder (formal) firmado y sellado por mí
2 [of envelope, parcel, exterior of bottle, jar] precinto; (m) (inside lid of jar) aro de goma; (m) (on fridge door) cierre de goma; (m) (on door, window) burlete; (m) the seal on the windows is not very good estas ventanas no cierran bien
the rubber seal on the fridge door was worn I noticed that the seals of the packet had been broken ..a sealed envelope. 'Who gave you this?' he asked before he broke the seal You shouldn't buy jars of food if the seal has been broken Protesters banged on the sides of the lorry and broke customs seals on the doors Check seals on fridges and freezers regularly It's very important to get a good seal around the edges of these attic hatches This type of cork forms a tight seal and keeps the wine fresh we would have died but for the fact there was such a good seal on the door between our sleeping accomodation and the toilet to form a [good] seal make sure the pastry forms a good seal round the edge of the pie Because the transcript is still under seal, I am precluded by law from discussing its contents the manuscripts were still under seal of confidentiality
3 (Rel) the seal of the confessional el secreto de confesión
the police would get nothing out of me and they probably wouldn't even try. They respect the seal of the confessional The rumours would be out and everybody would believe that the seal of the confessional had been broken
