Single
Single , adjective
[Latin singulus, a dim. from the root in simplex simple; compare Old English & Old French sengle, from Latin singulus. See Simple, and compare Singular.]
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.
2.
Alone; having no companion.
Who single hast maintained,
Against revolted multitudes, the cause
Of truth.
3.
Hence, unmarried; as, a single man or woman.
Grows, lives, and dies in single blessedness.
Single chose to live, and shunned to wed.
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.
6.
Uncompounded; pure; unmixed.
Simple ideas are opposed to complex, and single to compound.
7.
Not deceitful or artful; honest; sincere.
I speak it with a single heart.
8.
Simple; not wise; weak; silly. [Obsolete]
He utters such single matter in so infantly a voice.
Collocations (8)
Single ale or Single beer or Single drink , small ale, etc., as contrasted with double ale, etc., which is stronger. [Obsolete] — Nares
Single bill (Law) , a written engagement, generally under seal, for the payment of money, without a penalty. — Burril
Single court (Lawn Tennis) , a court laid out for only two players.
Single-cut file , See the Note under 4th File.
Single entry , See under Bookkeeping.
Single file , See under 1st File.
Single flower (Botany) , a flower with but one set of petals, as a wild rose.
Single whip (Nautical) , a single rope running through a fixed block.
Single , transitive verb
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.
His blood! she faintly screamed her mind
Still singling one from all mankind.
2.
To sequester; to withdraw; to retire. [Obsolete]
An agent singling itself from consorts.
3.
To take alone, or one by one.
Men... commendable when they are singled.
Single , intransitive verb
To take the irregular 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.
Single , noun
1.
A unit; one; as, to score a single.
2.
The reeled filaments of silk, twisted without doubling to give them firmness.
3.
A handful of gleaned grain. [Provincial English & Scottish]
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.