| / English Dictionary |
SINGLE
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A base hit on which the batter stops safely at first base
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("single" is a kind of...):
base hit; safety ((baseball) the successful act of striking a baseball in such a way that the batter reaches base safely)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "single"):
line-drive single; line single (a single resulting from a line drive)
Derivation:
single (hit a single)
Sense 2
Meaning:
The smallest whole number or a numeral representing this number
Example:
they had lunch at one
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure
Hypernyms ("single" is a kind of...):
digit; figure (one of the elements that collectively form a system of numeration)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "single"):
monad; monas (a singular metaphysical entity from which material properties are said to derive)
singleton (a single object (as distinguished from a pair))
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Being or characteristic of a single thing or person
Example:
they went their individual ways
Synonyms:
individual; single
Classified under:
Similar:
singular (being a single and separate person or thing)
respective; several; various (considered individually)
man-to-man; one-on-one (being a system of play in which an individual defensive player guards an individual offensive player)
individualist; individualistic (marked by or expressing individuality)
idiosyncratic (peculiar to the individual)
Also:
separate (independent; not united or joint)
Attribute:
individualism; individuality; individuation (the quality of being individual)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Not divided among or brought to bear on more than one object or objective
Example:
gained their exclusive attention
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Similar:
concentrated (gathered together or made less diffuse)
Derivation:
singleness (the quality of concentrating on one central objective)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Not married or related to the unmarried state
Example:
are you married or single?
Synonyms:
single; unmarried
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
widowed (single because of death of the spouse)
unwed; unwedded (of someone who has not been married)
mateless (of someone who has no marriage partner)
divorced (of someone whose marriage has been legally dissolved)
Also:
unmated (not mated sexually)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Having uniform application
Example:
a single legal code for all
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
uniform; unvarying (always the same; showing a single form or character in all occurrences)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Characteristic of or meant for a single person or thing
Example:
a single bed
Synonyms:
individual; single
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
unshared (not shared)
Sense 6
Meaning:
Existing alone or consisting of one entity or part or aspect or individual
Example:
a single thickness
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
azygos; azygous (occurring singly; not one of a pair)
one-man; one-person; one-woman (designed for or restricted to a single person)
lone; lonesome; only; sole; solitary (being the only one; single and isolated from others)
singular; unique (the single one of its kind)
sui generis (constituting a class of its own; unique)
unary (consisting of or involving a single element or component)
one-member; uninominal (based on the system of having only one member from each district (as of a legislature))
Antonym:
multiple (having or involving or consisting of more than one part or entity or individual)
Sense 7
Meaning:
Used of flowers having usually only one row or whorl of petals
Example:
single chrysanthemums resemble daisies and may have more than one row of petals
Classified under:
Adjectives
Domain category:
botany; phytology (the branch of biology that studies plants)
Antonym:
double (used of flowers having more than the usual number of petals in crowded or overlapping arrangements)
III. (verb)
Verb forms
Present simple: I / you / we / they single ... he / she / it singles
Past simple: singled
Past participle: singled
-ing form: singling
Sense 1
Meaning:
Hit a single
Example:
the batter singled to left field
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Hypernyms (to "single" is one way to...):
hit (cause to move by striking)
Domain category:
ball; baseball; baseball game (a ball game played with a bat and ball between two teams of nine players; teams take turns at bat trying to score runs)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s
Derivation:
single (a base hit on which the batter stops safely at first base)
Context examples:
My mother had much desired to have a daughter, but I continued their single offspring.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
And there on the deck was a single stick of timber to show for a whole morning’s work.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
But do you never single one from the rest—or it may be, two?
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
She assumed an injured air as they came in, never lifted her eyes from her book, or asked a single question.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
EXAMPLE(S): intermittent, continuous, single event
(Adverse Event Occurrence Pattern Code, NCI Thesaurus/BRIDG)
I never could have kept out of it a single winter's night, if I had not been free of any share in that!
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
His expression again changed as, with a single impulse, we all advanced upon him.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
The team then tested the most effective single agents in various combinations.
(Scientists find promising drug combination against lethal childhood brain cancers, National Institutes of Health)
“It must make you better satisfied that your other four are single.”
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
Sir Lothian has been plunging also—he made a single bye-bet of five thousand to three upon Wilson in Limmer’s yesterday.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
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