English Explanatory Dictionary

single

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Not accompanied by anything else; one in number.
  2. Not divided in parts.
  3. Designed for the use of only one.
  4. Performed by one person, or one on each side.
  5. Not married, and (in modern times) not dating or without a significant other.
  6. Having only one rank or row of petals.
  7. Simple and honest; sincere, without deceit.
  8. Uncompounded; pure; unmixed.
  9. Simple; foolish; weak; silly.
noun
  1. A 45 RPM vinyl record with one song on side A and one on side B.
  2. A popular song released and sold (on any format) nominally on its own though usually having at least one extra track.
  3. One who is not married or does not have a romantic partner.
  4. A score of one run.
  5. A hit in baseball where the batter advances to first base.
  6. A tile that has a different value (i.e. number of pips) at each end.
  7. A bill valued at $1.
  8. A one-way ticket.
  9. A score of one point, awarded when a kicked ball is dead within the non-kicking team's end zone or has exited that end zone.
  10. A game with one player on each side, as in tennis.
  11. One of the reeled filaments of silk, twisted without doubling to give them firmness.
  12. A handful of gleaned grain.
verb
  1. To get a hit that advances the batter exactly one base.
  2. To thin out.
  3. To take the irregular gait called singlefoot.
  4. To sequester; to withdraw; to retire.
  5. To take alone, or one by one; to single out.
  6. To reduce (a railway) to single track.
name
  1. A surname from Old English.

Pronunciation

/ˈsɪŋɡl̩/ /ˈsɪŋɡəl/ En-us-single.ogg En-au-single.ogg

Word forms

single singles singling singled

Etymology

From Middle English single, sengle, from Old French sengle, saingle, sangle, from Latin singulus, a diminutive derived from Proto-Indo-European *sem- (“one”). Akin to Latin simplex (“simple”). See simple, and compare singular.

Synonyms

lone sole solitary unbroken undivided uniform unmarried unpartnered available rouge single-driver

Antonyms

album married

Related words

singular singularity singularly baseball cricket single solo double twofold triple threefold quadruple fourfold quintuple pentuple fivefold loner singleton monad pair couple twosome duo dyad trio threesome triad troika foursome quartet tetrad fivesome quintet pentad only one singlet twin one of two doublet triplet one of three quadruplet one of four quintuplet pentuplet one of five sextuple hextuple sixfold septuple heptuple sevenfold octuple eightfold ninefold nonuple tenfold decuple sixsome sextet

Derived words

a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step are you single at a single stroke better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness cheese single digital single-lens reflex digital single-lens reflex camera every single every single time I'm single nonsingle permasingle semi-single single-acting single action single and ready to mingle single angle quote single annulus single as a dollar bill single as a Pringle single bed single-blind single bond single-breasted single-cell single-celled single-celling single-chain single child single-click single combat single-course single cream single crochet single-crop single cross single crystal single currency single curve single data rate single-decker single-digit salute single dispatch singledom single-driver single-edged single-elimination single-elimination tournament single entendre single entry single-entry single-eyed single eyelid single father single-figure single file single-fingered salute single-first cousin single flower single-fold
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