single Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a base hit on which the batter stops safely at first base
    bingle.
  2. noun the smallest whole number or a numeral representing this number
    ace; I; unity; one; 1.
    • he has the one but will need a two and three to go with it
    • they had lunch at one
  3. verb hit a single
    • the batter singled to left field
  4. adjective being or characteristic of a single thing or person
    individual.
    • individual drops of rain
    • please mark the individual pages
    • they went their individual ways
  5. adjective used of flowers having usually only one row or whorl of petals
    • single chrysanthemums resemble daisies and may have more than one row of petals
  6. adjective existing alone or consisting of one entity or part or aspect or individual
    • upon the hill stood a single tower
    • had but a single thought which was to escape
    • a single survivor
    • a single serving
    • a single lens
    • a single thickness
  7. adjective not married or related to the unmarried state
    unmarried.
    • unmarried men and women
    • unmarried life
    • sex and the single girl
    • single parenthood
    • are you married or single?
  8. adjective satellite characteristic of or meant for a single person or thing
    individual.
    • an individual serving
    • single occupancy
    • a single bed
  9. adjective satellite having uniform application
    • a single legal code for all
  10. adjective satellite not divided among or brought to bear on more than one object or objective
    exclusive; undivided.
    • judging a contest with a single eye
    • a single devotion to duty
    • undivided affection
    • gained their exclusive attention

WordNet

Sin"gle adjective
Etymology
L. singulus, a dim. from the root in simplex simple; cf. OE. & OF. sengle, fr. L. singulus. See Simple, and cf. Singular.
Definitions
  1. One only, as distinguished from more than one; consisting of one alone; individual; separate; as, a single star.
    No single man is born with a right of controlling the opinions of all the rest. Pope.
  2. Alone; having no companion.
    Who single hast maintained, Against revolted multitudes, the cause Of truth. Milton.
  3. Hence, unmarried; as, a single man or woman.
    Grows, lives, and dies in single blessedness. Shak.
    Single chose to live, and shunned to wed. Dryden.
  4. Not doubled, twisted together, or combined with others; as, a single thread; a single strand of a rope.
  5. Performed by one person, or one on each side; as, a single combat.
    These shifts refuted, answer thy appellant, . . . Who now defles thee thrice ti single fight. Milton.
  6. Uncompounded; pure; unmixed.
    Simple ideas are opposed to complex, and single to compound. I. Watts.
  7. Not deceitful or artful; honest; sincere.
    I speak it with a single heart. Shak.
  8. Simple; not wise; weak; silly. Obs.
    He utters such single matter in so infantly a voice. Beau & Fl.
Sin"gle transitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Singled ; present participle & verbal noun Singling
Definitions
  1. To select, as an individual person or thing, from among a number; to choose out from others; to separate.
    Dogs who hereby can single out their master in the dark. Bacon.
    His blood! she faintly screamed her mind Still singling one from all mankind. More.
  2. To sequester; to withdraw; to retire. Obs.
    An agent singling itself from consorts. Hooker.
  3. To take alone, or one by one.
    Men . . . commendable when they are singled. Hooker.
Sin"gle intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To take the irrregular gait called single-foot;- said of a horse. See Single-foot.
    Many very fleet horses, when overdriven, adopt a disagreeable gait, which seems to be a cross between a pace and a trot, in which the two legs of one side are raised almost but not quite, simultaneously. Such horses are said to single, or to be single-footed. W. S. Clark.
Sin"gle noun
Definitions
  1. A unit; one; as, to score a single.
  2. pl. The reeled filaments of silk, twisted without doubling to give them firmness.
  3. A handful of gleaned grain. Prov. Eng. & Scot.
  4. (Law Tennis) A game with but one player on each side; -- usually in the plural.
  5. (Baseball) A hit by a batter which enables him to reach first base only.

Webster 1913