single
Noun pluralsingles
Pluralsingles
Formssingles, singling, singled
- 1Only one, not two or more, or made as one piece.
A single light bulb hung from the ceiling.
He answered the question with a single word: no.
UsageOften used to make a point stronger: not a single word, every single day.
- 2A song that a singer or band puts out on its own, even if it is also on an album.
Like one chapter of a book that comes out on its own before the whole book.
Her new single is playing on the radio all the time.
The band put out two singles before their first album.
Note
- 3
- 4A person who is not married or does not have a boyfriend, girlfriend, or romantic partner.
The cooking class was full of singles hoping to meet new people.
She came to the dance as a single but left with a date.
Similarsingleton
- 5A room for one person to stay in, often in a hotel, or a bed for one sleeper.
I asked the hotel for a single because I was traveling alone.
The little guest room only has space for a single against the wall.
Oppositedouble
Note
- 6Made or meant for only one person to use.
Her dorm room has a single bed and a small desk.
They rented single kayaks instead of sharing a double.
Similarindividual
- 7A game, like tennis, with one player on each side.
She likes singles better than doubles because she controls every point.
My sister and I played singles at the park on Saturday.
UsageKeep the -s, even for one game: a singles match.
Oppositedoubles
Note
- 8Done by one person alone, or by one person on each side.
The knight challenged his enemy to single combat outside the castle walls.
In the old story, two heroes fight in single combat to end the war.
UsageMostly used in single combat.
Note
- 9A hit in baseball that gets the player safely to first base.
He hit a single and stopped at first base.
Two singles in a row put runners on first and second.
Note
- 10Used about a ticket that lets you travel to a place but not back again.
I only need a single ticket, because my dad is driving me back.
The single fare to the coast was cheaper than I expected.
Similarone-way
Note
- 11A drink with one normal measure of strong alcohol, such as whisky, not two.
Can I have a single, please? I'm driving home.
A single costs a lot less than a double at this pub.
Oppositedouble
Note
Less common meanings
- 12In baseball, to make a hit that gets you to first base.
She singled in the third inning, and the runner on first moved up to second.
If you single now, we can tie the game.
UsageOften followed by where the ball went: single to left field.
- 13A piece of paper money worth one dollar.
He tipped the driver with a few singles from his pocket.
All she had left in her wallet was a single.
UsageMost often plural: a few singles.
Similarone
Note
- 14To take or consider people or things separately, or pick them out individually.
Note
- 15A ticket for a trip in one direction only, not there and back.
She bought a single to London because she did not know when she would come back.
He asked the bus driver for a single into town.
UsageSay a single to London; there and back is a return.
Oppositereturn
Note
- 16Made of one thing only, with nothing else mixed in.
simple ideas are opposed to complex , and single ideas to compound.
1725, Isaac Watts, LogickThe most that is required is, that the passage of Scripture, selected as the foundation of the sacred oration, should, like the oration itself, be single, full, and unsuperfluous in its character.
1867, William Greenough Thayer Shedd, HomileticsSimilarpure, unmixed, unblended
Note
- 17One cigarette sold by itself, not in a pack.
The corner store sells singles for fifty cents each.
She bought just a single because she was trying to quit.
- 18One run in cricket, scored when the batters run once between the wickets.
They took a quick single to keep the score moving.
She scored mostly in singles, running hard between the wickets.
Note
- 19Having one row of petals, or sometimes two, instead of many layered rows.
Wild roses are single, with just five petals around the center.
She planted single flowers because bees can reach the middle easily.
Oppositedouble
Note
- 20Honest and sincere, without any tricks or false intentions.
I speak it with a single heart.
1613, William Shakespeare, [John Fletcher]Here, single means honest and sincere.Therefore, when thyne eye is single: then is all thy boddy full off light. Butt if thyne eye be evyll: then shall all thy body be full of darknes?
1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt (Tyndale Bible)Here, single means simple and honest, true.Note
- 21Foolish, silly, or weak in the mind.
He utters such single matter in so infantly a voice.
1616, John Fletcher, Philip MassingerHere, single means foolish or silly.Note
- 22To go away from other people and be alone.
an agent singling itself from consorts
1594, Richard Hooker, Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical PolitieHere, singling means pulling away from others to be alone.Note
- 23In programming, a type of number with a decimal point that uses less memory but is less exact than a double.
- 24In a movie or TV show, a camera shot that shows just one person.
- 25In Canadian football, one point scored on certain kicks into the opponents' end zone that are not brought back out.
- 26In dominoes, a tile that shows a different number of dots on each end.
- 27To remove some young plants from a row so the rest have room to grow.
- 28To change a railroad line so it has only one track instead of two.
- 29One thin silk thread that is twisted by itself, not joined with others.
- 30A small handful of grain picked up from a field after the harvest.
- 31An old type of steam engine with only one pair of large driving wheels.
- 32Of a horse, to move fast and smoothly with each foot landing on its own.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origin
It comes from Latin "singulus," built on an old root meaning "one."
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- Single derives from Latin singulus. en.wiktionary.org
- The underlying root means one. en.wiktionary.org