| 释义 |
▪ I. single, n.|ˈsɪŋg(ə)l|
Also 5 sengle, 6 syngle, Sc. singill.
[Substantival use of single a.]
1. a. Falconry. The middle or outer claw on the foot of a hawk or falcon. Now only arch.
Chiefly in pl., the middle claws being called the long singles, and the outer the petty singles. In early use the singles were distinguished from the pounce and talon; later writers sometimes use the word vaguely to denote all the claws.
1486Bk. St. Albans a iiij, The clees that are upon the myddil stretchers ye shall call the longe sengles. And the uttermost clees ye shall call the pety sengles. 1575Turberv. Falconrie 123 If a falcon trusse..you muste cope his tallantes, his powlse, and his petie single. 1607Heywood Wom. killed w. Kindn. Wks. 1874 II. 99 Both her petty singles And her long singles griped her more than other. 1614Latham Falconry (1633) 134 When you do perceiue that your Hawke hath caught a straine..in any of the lesser ioynts of the singles. 1688Holme Armoury ii. 237/2 The Singles, or Petty Singles, are the Toes of the Hawk. 1820Scott Monast. xxiv, What! struggling, fluttering, aiming at me with beak and single? 1860H. Ainsworth Ovingdean Grange 61 Like the Barbary falcon, armed with strong singles and pounces. 1882Blackw. Mag. Sept. 368 Like the muirfowl quivering in the singles of a falcon.
b. Hunting. The tail of a deer.
1576Turberv. Venerie 243 The tayle of Harte, Bucke, Rowe, or any other Deare, is to be called the Syngle. 1590Cockaine Hunting D j, He will close vp his mouth as though he had not been..hunted that day, making a bragge and setting vp his single. 1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. 14 Such as want that treasure, make use of singles of Deere, beaks of Birds [etc.]. 1675Cotton Burlesque upon B. 175 That single wagging at thy Butt, Those Gambrils, and that cloven foot. 1711Puckle Club 90 His next discourse was of the tail or single of a deer. 1854A. E. Baker Northampt. Gloss., Single, the tail of a deer. Used on the north-eastern side of the county. 1865G. F. Berkeley Life & Recoll. II. 280 We found a doe... I killed her myself, and cutting off the single..I presented it to D'Anchald.
transf.1592Lyly Midas iv. iii, There was a boy leasht on the single... Licio. Whats that? Pet. Why, a boy was beaten on the taile with a leathern thong.
†c. pl. Entrails, intestines. Obs.—1
1567Golding Ovid's Met. vii. 353 She put thereto the..flesh and feathers of a Witch.., The Singles [L. prosecta] also of a Wolfe.
2. Sc. and north. dial. A handful or small bundle of gleanings.
The form current in the west midlands is songle.
1508Dunbar Flyting 116 Thow lay full prydles in the peise this somer, And fane at evin for to bring hame a single. 1615in Ritchie Churches of St. Baldred 150 He did thresh but a verie short space— twa or thre Singles—in his necessitie. 1786Har'st Rig xxvi, They're great thieves. For which they're ordered far behind, To mak such singles as they find. 1806A. Douglas Poems 123 They're fu' glad To gather singles on the shade. 1894Heslop Northumbld. Gloss. 643 Gleaning is often described as ‘gatherin singles’ or as singlin... Singles are bundled and carried home on the ‘gatherer’ and afterwards ‘bittled’.
3. In various specific or technical senses.
†a. A particular step in dancing. Obs.
1531Elyot Gov. i. xxiii, The thirde motion, called singles, is of two unities seperate in pasinge forwarde. 1611Cotgr., Simple,..a single in dauncing.
b. A simple uncompounded word.
1589Puttenham Eng. Poesie ii. xvi. (Arb.) 145 The sillable prooue..is long in all his singles and compoundes reproòue, approòue, disproòue.
†c. Sc. One half of a doubled amount. Obs.
1592Exch. Rolls Scotl. XXII. 574 He sall mak payment..for the singill of the dowbill of the few⁓ferme of the landis of Catslak.
d. A form of change in bell-ringing.
1684R. H. School Recreat. 93 Another Way of Ringing Twenty Four Changes, Doubles and Singles on Four Bells.
e. A single (as opposed to a double) flower.
1796C. Marshall Gardening v. (1813) 62 The farina of the singles transported by bee or wind will spoil the seed of the doubles.
f. A silk thread consisting of a single strand.
1831G. R. Porter Silk Manuf. 197 Raw silk, before it can be used in weaving, is made to take one of three forms, being converted into either singles, tram, or organzine. 1844G. Dodd Textile Manuf. vi. 184 There is a kind called dumb singles, which consists of silk merely wound and cleaned... Another manufactured variety, called thrown singles, is silk which has been wound, cleaned, and thrown. 1879Cassell's Techn. Educ. II. 154/2 By singles is signified one of the reeled threads twisted.
g. Cards. (See quots.)
1850Bohn's Hand-bk. Games 162 Single, (at long whist) scoring the game after your adversary has scored five or more; at short whist, after he has scored four. 1876A. Campbell-Walker Correct Card (1880) Gloss., Single, a,—making game after your adversary has scored three or four up.
h. Cricket, etc. A hit for which one run is scored; a single point. Also in Baseball, spec. = one-base hit s.v. one numeral a. 35.
1851J. Pycroft Cricket Field ii. 24 Ever and anon a single or a double are safely played away. 1858New York Tribune 25 Aug. 5/6 Smith made three by singles. 1867N.Y. Mercury 2 Aug. 6/5 The sharp fielding of the Athletics caused the retirement of their opponents for a single. 1880Chicago Inter-Ocean 29 June 8/3 Force's winning run came off a wild throw by Ward, a sacrifice and single. 1883Daily Telegr. 15 May 2/7 Mr. Hawke added another single off that bowler. 1948Herald-Press (St. Joseph, Mich.) 14 Aug. 7/2 Green also bashed out a triple and single during the game. 1974Anderson (S. Carolina) Independent 23 Apr. 6a/2 The Astros broke a scoreless tie in the fourth on Bob Watson's single, a wild pitch, and Doug Rader's double.
i. Tennis, Golf, etc. A game or match in which only one person on each side plays at one time. Usu. in pl.
1884Daily News 3 Sept. 3/5 The first rounds of the Gentlemen's Singles..were decided as follows. 1896Westm. Gaz. 26 Nov. 4/1 J. H. Taylor won the singles competition with a score of 76.
j. A locomotive engine having a single pair of driving-wheels. Now only Hist.
1901Railway Mag. Jan. 31/2 The engine hauling the 9.45 a.m. was No. 22, one of the rebuilt 8 ft. singles. 1931Times Educ. Suppl. 27 June p. iii/3 A famous locomotive,..one of the original 9 ft. singles built for the Bristol and Exeter Railway.
k. pl. Single-screened coal.
1921Glasgow Herald 7 Dec. 9 Coals used in smithwork say ‘pearls’ and ‘singles’, varied from 15s. to 18s. per ton f.o.b. 1931[see double n. 3 r].
l. U.S. Theatr. (See quot. 1923.) Cf. single act s.v. single a. 17 a.
1923N.Y. Times 7 Oct. ix. 2/1 Single, an artist working alone as an act. 1955L. Feather Encycl. Jazz (1956) 118/2 After Keaton broke up temporarily in 1949, she worked as a single, but rejoined Keaton for several tours. 1962J. McCabe Mr. Laurel & Mr. Hardy i. 26 Following the Sleeping Beauty season, he went on as a single again..for a few odd engagements. 1976National Observer (U.S.) 24 Jan. 18/5 For the past 18 years George Burns has practiced his profession as a single. He has worked..in night clubs and concert halls; he has appeared..on television talk shows.
m. A one-dollar bill (U.S.). Also occas., a one-pound note. Cf. oncer 2. slang.
1936J. Weidman in Amer. Mercury May 86/2, I took out my wallet... I pulled out two singles. 1961‘J. le Carré’ Call for Dead vii. 78 There he was..showering old singles on me like used tote tickets. 1964L. Deighton Funeral in Berlin xlii. 258 ‘Do you have a pistol or a knife or a persuader?’ ‘I have a persuader... Two hundred dollars in singles.’ 1977H. Fast Immigrants i. 35 He..took out a wad of bills, peeling off two fives and two singles.
n. A gramophone record having only one item (typically, of popular music) on each side; an item of music on such a record.
1949[see pop single s.v. pop a. 1 c]. 1958Gramophone Dec. 328/1 There is a single by Nino Rico and his Orchestra. 1965G. Melly Owning Up xi. 135 His version of ‘Rock Island Line’, originally part of a Chris Barber in Concert LP, was requested so often on the radio that it was put out as a single and rose to be top of the Hit Parade. 1981Listener 1 Jan. 31/2 A track released as a single..topped the singles chart.
o. An engine with only one cylinder; a motor-cycle or car having such an engine.
1951B. Osborne Mod. Motorcycles iii. 19 The designer of hot-stuff singles will scornfully mention Italy's Monza,..where riders of high-revving Italian ‘fours’ have been..completely licked by one of the finest single-cylinder racers ever turned out of a Birmingham factory. 1955D. Scott-Moncrieff Veteran & Edwardian Motor-Cars vi. 111 The old long-stroke singles and twins were no longer allowed [in 1911]; only four- and six-cylinder cars. 1963Bird & Hutton-Stott Veteran Motor Car Pocketbk. 189 It was soon apparent that the small 4-cylinder engine was destined to supplant the big singles and twins which had served so long for light car work. 1976New Motorcycling Monthly Oct. 24/3 It is every inch a purpose-built motorcycle, and must have been a welcome addition to a scene that still reveres our own BSA ‘Gold Star’ and Matchless singles.
4. A single thing, person, etc. in singles, each one separately, singly.
1646Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. ii. vi, If..any [trees] be so strongly constituted,..they may..perform that in some singles which is observable in whole kinds. 1826J. Wilson Noct. Ambr. Wks. 1855 I. 133 Houndin the wolves in singles or pairs or flocks. 1838Hood Clubs v, Friends dropping in at close of day To singles, doubles, rubs. 1895Scottish Antiq. X. 79 In singles or in pairs men began to put in an appearance.
5. ellipt. in general application.
a. = single ticket s.v. single a. 17 a.
1889E. Dowson Let. 1–2 Apr. (1967) 59 If I could see things..as he does I would take a first class single for La Trappe to-morrow. 1903L. Merrick Quaint Companions iv. 49 She congratulated herself on having taken only a ‘third single’ at Brighton. 1936Punch 5 Feb. 141/1 ‘Single to Liverpool Street,’ I said with easy hauteur. 1972‘R. Crawford’ Whip Hand i. ix. 55 He..booked a single on the next flight to London.
b. A single bedroom, esp. in a hotel. Cf. single a. 11 d.
1963[see double n. 3 n]. 1967A. Hunter Gently Continental ii. 12 He goes up to Clooney's room... Number 7 is a small single at the end of the landing. 1973E. Pace Any War i. 5 Yes, sir, the hotel could provide two singles with bath. 1977B. W. Aldiss in Winter's Tales 23 12 She opened a door to a narrow room... ‘It's a bit noisy, but it's the only single I've got.’
c. An unmarried or unaccompanied man or woman; a person living alone. Freq. pl.
1964W. & J. Breedlove Swap Clubs ii. 57 A single is a man or woman who swings alone, without someone to swap. 1967D. Francis Blood Sport viii. 97 Family groups, mostly, and three married couples. No singles except me. 1972P. A. Whitney Snowfire (1973) iv. 52, I had met most of the guests... Some were married, but there were a few young singles too. 1980R. L. Duncan Brimstone iii. 59 We have a club rule against singles.
6. Special combination, in pl.: singles bar U.S., a bar which caters esp. for young unmarried people in search of social companions.
1969S. M. Coy Single Girl's Bk. vii. 34 Singles bars..are generally frequented by those under thirty... The good singles bars are crowded, which provides protective covering for the girl who is timid. 1971D. E. Westlake I gave at Office 141, I looked around to find myself in a sort of New York singles' bar without people. 1974R. M. Strozier in Atlantic Monthly Mar. 44 When I visit the East Side singles bars, some of these upper-class snooty girls look down on you. 1979United States 1980/81 (Penguin Travel Guides) 228 Like the Rangoon, the Saloon draws a healthy singles-bar crowd.
▪ II. † single
obs. var. of (or error for) singlo.
1721Lond. Gaz. No. 5934/3, 35 Tubs Single Tea per Hertford. 1730Capt. W. Wriglesworth MS. Log-bk. of the ‘Lyell’ 12 Oct., 50 Chests of Bohea and 50 Chests of Single.
▪ III. single
obs. or dial. f. cingle (horse-girth, etc.).
▪ IV. single, a.|ˈsɪŋg(ə)l|
Forms: 4–5 sengle (4 seyngle), 5 sengil(l, sengell(e, cengylle, 6 sengyll; 5–6 syngle, singill (5 syngil, 6 syngyll), 5– single.
[a. OF. single, sengle (also saingle, sangle, etc.; mod.Picard dial. single, Norman sangle):—L. singulum (in class. L. only pl. singulī, etc.) one, individual, separate; the first syllable is identical with the sim- of simplus simple a.
Some of the senses placed under branch II, though less original than those of branch I, are slightly earlier and more common in Middle English.]
I.
1. In predicative use: Unaccompanied or unsupported by others; alone, solitary. a. With the substantive verb, or in constructions implying this.
1340–70Alex. & Dind. 33 We ben sengle of us silf, & semen ful bare, Nouht welde we now [etc.]. c1407Lydg. Reson & Sens. 3225 And my partye is but in veyn, So sengle that I stonde in doute; For Venus hath so gret a route Ageynes me [etc.]. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VII, 60 b, Hys eyes graye, hys teethe syngle and heare thynne. a1593Marlowe Edw. II, iv. v, Edmund away,..be not found single for suspect: Proud Mortimer pries neare into thy walkes. 1648J. Beaumont Psyche xvi. xxv, Still I'm alone, yea singler than alone; In Absent Him I from my self am gone. 1678Butler Hud. iii. i. 796 Our Noblest Senses act by Pairs,..But those that serve the Body alone, Are single and confin'd to one. 1741Middleton Cicero I. v. 392 They left Clodius single in the opposition. 1780Mirror No. 90, He is left alone, single and unsupported, like a leafless trunk. 1803–5Wordsw. Solitary Reaper i, Behold her, single in the field. 1860Mill Repr. Govt. (1865) 115/2 In the first place, each executive officer should be single, and singly responsible for the whole of the duty.
b. With other verbs, in quasi-advb. use.
13..Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 1531, I com hider sengel, & sitte. a1648Ld. Herbert Hen. VIII (1683) 342 His Birth being otherwise so obscure and mean, as no man had ever stood so single. 1673Dryden Amboyna iv. i, I desir'd that he would leave the Company and meet me single here. 1711Addison Spect. No. 7 ⁋1 My Dear, Misfortunes never come Single. 1798Webbe in Owen Wellesley's Desp. (1877) 6 All our former..exertions were made against Tippoo single, and unsupported by the French. 1841Dana Seaman's Man. 16 The royal braces go single. 1855M. Arnold Balder Dead iii. 6 See, here is Hermod, who comes single back From Hell.
†c. Unsupported by other evidence. Obs.—1
c1449Pecock Repr. iii. xii. 356 Wherfore this that Girald writith of this voice is ful sengil to be beleued.
2. a. Individual, as contrasted with larger bodies or numbers of persons or things.
c1400Destr. Troy 7867 For þere-as men are so mony,..All put in a purpos with a plain wille; Þof the syngle mon say, & it sothe be, Hit is demyt for dulle. 1641‘Smectymnuus’ Vind. Answ. iv. 56 Though these were but single men yet they were martyrs. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 713 Nor do those Ills on single Bodies prey; But oft'ner bring the Nation to decay. 1717Pope Iliad x. 196 Each single Greek..Stands on the sharpest edge of death or life. 1741Middleton Cicero I. vi. 409 Laws to inflict penalties on single persons by name. 1856Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) I. i. 68 No single mind in single contact with the facts of nature could have created out of itself a Pallas..or a Lear. 1876Mozley Univ. Serm. iv. 93 We hear sometimes of single remarkable acts of virtue, which spring from minds in which there is not the habit of virtue.
absol.1865Neale Hymns Paradise 48 There the gifts of each and single All in common right possess.
b. Of, pertaining to, or connected with, one person only. Freq. with possessive pronoun.
1592Kyd Sol. & Pers. ii. ii, With my single fist Ile combat thee. 1616R. C. Times' Whistle (1871) 58 Although he had noe other company But his sole single selfe to satisfie. 1672Marvell Corr. Wks. (Grosart) II. 397 So that I must adventure to give you my single opinion, submitting to better judgements. c1710C. Fiennes Diary (1888) 74, I observ'd their prayers were all made on the first person and single, though before the body of people. 1781Gibbon Decl. & F. xix. II. 139 Constantius..acknowledged, that his single strength was unequal to such an extent of care. 1818Scott Hrt. Midl. xxxvii, He had, almost by his single and unassisted talents, stopped the irruption of the banded force of all the Highland chiefs. 1842Tennyson ‘You ask me, why’ v, Should banded unions..induce a time When single thought is civil crime. 1878B. Taylor Deukalion ii. ii. 60 What hinders me to make my single will The world's whole law?
†c. at single hand, single-handed, unaided. Obs.
1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 575 There is hardly any Dog so couragious, as to adventure upon a Wolf at single hand.
3. Separate; distinct from each other or from others; not combined or taken together.
In the first quot. used distributively, after the Latin.
1432–50tr. Higden (Rolls) II. 309 Iacob..blessenge his childer with single benedicciones. 1573L. Lloyd Marrow of Hist. (1653) 11 The poor Greek..opened his purse and gave unto the Emperour four single halfpence. 1599B. Jonson Ev. Man out of Hum. ii. i, He might have altered the shape of his argument, and explicated them better in single scenes. 1658Sir T. Browne Hydriot. ii. (1736) 22 All Urns contained not single Ashes. a1693Urquhart's Rabelais iii. xvii, A Rams Cod stored with Single Pence. 1711Addison Spect. No. 124 ⁋1 A Man..who communicates his Writings to the World in loose Tracts and single Pieces. 1779Mirror No. 24, It will readily be admitted, that the preference, in every single object, is due to the former. 1826Art of Brewing (ed. 2) 89 Dropped by single pieces into the copper while in full boil. 1864Bowen Logic x. 316 The beginning of all Knowledge is in single acts of the Perceptive or Acquisitive Faculty. 1884tr. Lotze's Metaph. 486 Each single fibre, at the spot where it receives the stimulus, can attach to it the extra-impression described.
4. Undivided, unbroken, absolute. rare.
1590Spenser F.Q. ii. x. 21 Being consorted with Manild, For thirst of single kingdome him he kild. 1634Milton Comus 204 Yet nought but single darknes do I find. 1701Swift Contests Nobles & Commons iii, The madness of the people, who..were now wholly bent upon single and despotick slavery.
5. a. One only; one and no more. Sometimes strengthened by one.
1538Elyot, Simplus, sengle in numbre, one only. 1590Shakes. Mids. N. ii. ii. 50 Two bosomes interchanged with an oath, So then two bosomes, and a single troth. c1600― Sonn. xxxix, For this, let vs deuided liue, And our deare loue loose name of single one. 1687A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 34 He'll order the Master to take no money from them, and that with a single word. 1728Young Love Fame iii. 59 Thus all will judge, and with one single aim. 1790Paley Horæ Paul. vi. §5 Wks. 1825 III. 169 The prisoner was bound to the soldier by a single chain. 1821Scott Kenilw. xiii, He observed that Wayland purchased in each [shop] only one single drug. 1856Sir B. Brodie Psychol. Inq. I. iii. 92 In one case, the mind may be occupied with a single object, or a single idea. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) IV. 495 We have observed the tendency of Plato to combine two or more subjects..in a single dialogue.
absol.1833Mrs. Browning Prometh. Bound 94 Why how could they Draw off from thee one single of thy griefs?
b. In emphatic use after a negative, or an adv. denoting scarcity.
1709Steele Tatler No. 50 ⁋11, I will not write one single Word about any such Matters. 1743Bulkeley & Cummins Voy. S. Seas 188 What must become of the rest who have not a single Penny? 1780Mirror No. 94, Hardly a single house did I find inhabited by the same persons I left in it. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. vi. II. 123 During a whole week, not a single private letter from beyond the Tweed was delivered in London. 1857Buckle Civiliz. I. xii. 664 France had not possessed a single man who dared to think for himself.
c. With even, or implying this.
1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) V. 351 Sometimes they find a difficulty in rearing even a single nest. 1816J. Wilson City of Plague ii. iii. 25, I don't expect this Plague Will change its quarters, long as it has left A single man alive. 1879L. Stephen Hours Libr. Ser. iii. 183 From a single phrase, as from a single gesture, we can often go far to divining the character of a man's thoughts.
6. a. Sole, only, one. Also used for emphasis with a superlative. b. Mere.
1639Ld. Digby Lett. conc. Relig. (1651) 61 By the easy abuse, if not by the single use of Images. 1728R. Morris Ess. Anc. Archit. xviii, These are not the single Enemies I have to encounter with. 1748W. Melmoth Fitzosborne Lett. xlviii. (1749) II. 30 That he should not leave so important a creature as man, to the single guidance of his own precarious faculties. 1827Southey Hist. Penins. War II. 672 Heroes who carry victory with their single presence. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. iii. I. 287 The single bed of a poor family had sometimes been carried away and sold. 1862Stanley Jew. Ch. (1877) I. v. 87 To the outer world the earlier period of the race, with the single exception of Abraham, was an entire blank. 1969[see loop v.1 7]. 1972New Yorker 8 July 1 (Advt.), The single biggest travel buy to anywhere, ever. 1978Church Times 15 Dec. 11/2 Sir Ronald has also, since last September, been chairman of the Central Board of Finance in Church House, and is thus the single most powerful figure in Church finance.
7. Standing alone in comparison with other persons or things; unique, singular.
1633Ford 'Tis Pity iv. i, That you may know my single charity, Freely I here remit all interest I e'er could claim. 1658Whole Duty Man vi. §13 He will be sure to commit them [sins], rather than run the disgrace of being too single and precise. 1728R. Morris Ess. Anc. Archit. 22 Some there are who appear single in Opinion, only to be continually opposite to the common Judgment of Mankind. 1750H. Walpole Lett. (1848) II. 347, I..am almost single in not having been to see him. 1786J. Jay in Sparks Corr. Amer. Rev. (1853) IV. 131 Favor your country with your counsels on such an important and single occasion. 1815Mackintosh Sp. Ho. Comm. 27 April, Wks. 1846 III. 358 Single among representative assemblies, this House is now in the seventh century of its recorded existence. 1817H. T. Colebrooke Algebra, etc. Notes & Illustr. p. xlvii, The Rómaca and Paulisa are single of the names.
II.
8. a. Unmarried, celibate. (See also quot. 1847.) Also absol. as pl.
single man, a bachelor. single woman, a spinster; † a prostitute (quots. 1530 and 1657).
1303R. Brunne Handl. Synne 7361 Ȝyf weddyd man sengle woman takeþ. c1380Wyclif Wks. (1880) 73 And sugetis taken ensaumple at here curatis, boþe weddid men & sengle. c1449Pecock Repr. ii. iv. 155 A syngil man and a syngil womman. 1509Hawes Past. Pleas. xxxii. (Percy Soc.) 156 Who that is single and wyll have a wyfe, Right out of joy he shall be brought in stryfe. 1530Palsgr. 270/2 Syngle woman, a harlot, putayn. 1620T. Granger Div. Logike 28 The Single man committing fornication sinneth lesse than the Adulterer. 1657Howell Londinop. 337 No Stew-holder, or his Wife, should let or stay any single Woman to go and come freely at all times. 1685Baxter Paraphr. N.T. 1 Cor. vii. 26 No doubt but it is much more for their..quiet to be single, than to have a Wife or Husband. 1747Gentl. Mag. 485 A lady..thinking Mr. C. single and disengaged. 1782F. Burney Cecilia x. x, A single woman is a thousand times more shackled than a wife. 1817Byron Beppo xxxviii, The fair single part of the creation. 1847Lipscomb Buckingham I. 582 The inmates,..being..single persons, whether having been married or not. 1888Bryce Amer. Commw. xciii. III. 298 No one dreams of drawing any distinction between the single and the married.
fig.1613Shakes. Hen. VIII, i. i. 15 Men might say Till this time Pompe was single, but now married.
b. Of, pertaining to, or involving celibacy, esp. in single life.
For the phrase single blessedness, see blessedness b.
1549Coverdale, etc. Erasm. Par. 2 Cor. 55 As in my other letters I required you not to leade a syngle lyfe. 1557N.T. (Geneva) 1 Cor. Argt., He answereth to certeine pointes..touching single life. 1610Holland Camden's Brit. 596 Lawes were enacted touching the single lives of Priests. 1612Bacon Ess., Marr. & Single Life (Arb.) 266 A single life is proper for Churchmen. 1751Johnson Rambler No. 112 ⁋6 They that have grown old in a single state. 1773Foote Bankrupt i. Wks. 1799 II. 100 A single service is best suited to me. 1812Crabbe Tales viii. 251 But shall his Bride your single state reproach? 1836T. Hook G. Gurney I. iv. (1850) 62 Without having changed her state of single-unblessedness.
Comb.1597Beard Theat. God's Judgem. (1631) 410 These are the godly fruits of those single life-louers, to whom the vse of marriage is counted vnlawful.
c. Designating a person who is bringing up a child or children without the assistance of a marital partner. Chiefly in phr. single parent (family).
1969J. Sprey in B. Schlesinger One-Parent Family 16 Stigmatization of the single-parent family, and especially of single parents, does occur. 1976Women's Report Sept./Oct. 7/1 This, coupled with the fact that more women are voluntarily becoming single mothers by refusing to have their babies adopted has caused the government to set up a Cabinet Committee on Family Affairs. 1977C. Fremlin Spider-Orchid vii. 55 Peggy Summers was having teenage troubles at last, and wasn't managing so marvellously as a single parent after all. 1980Times 24 Jan. 9/8 Gingerbread caters for all categories of single parents; the divorced, separated, widowed, unmarried, or those whose partners may be in hospital or prison.
†9. In slight raiment; without cloak or armour; marked by scantiness or simplicity of clothing. Obs.
13..K. Alis. 204 (Laud MS.), Dame olympias, amonge þis pres, Sengle rood, al mantel les. 13..Coer de L. 1067 And seyngle in a kertyl he stood, Abood the lyon fers and wood. 1380Sir Ferumb. 1071 [They] ounarmede him þo anon, & wan he was sengle amoung hem þer, hy auysed is schap echon. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 353 Men of þis lond..beeþ sengle of cloþinge, scarse of mete, cruel of herte. a1450Knt. de la Tour (1868) 168 He was not so gay aourned, ne so sengle of clothes, but he had on hym good and warme gownes.
†10. Of cloth, garments, etc.: Of one thickness of material; unlined. Obs.
c1375Sc. Leg. Saints v. (John) 152 Skantly had Ilkane of þa a singill clath, fore-owtine ma. a1450Knt. de la Tour (1868) 168 A hood of scarlatte sengle & wythoute furrynge. Ibid. 169 A shorte and sengle gown withoute lynynge. 1459Paston Lett. I. 475 Item, j. gowne of blewe felwett.., slevys sengle. 1530Palsgr. 270/2 Syngle gowne, robe sengle. Ibid., Syngle kyrtell, corset simple. 1552Inv. Ch. Goods (Surtees) 24 One vestment of blewe single sattene. 1670Eachard Cont. Clergy 90 A much more sparing dyet is fitter; and a single-coat, though it be never so ancient and thin, is fully sufficient.
11. a. Composed or consisting of only one part, feature, etc.; not double, compound, or complex; also, of the ordinary or small size, as distinguished from double a. 4.
For various special uses, see 17.
1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 347 Many depe diches and castelles sengle, double, and treble, and many wardes strongliche i-walled. 1449in Cal. Proc. Chanc. Q. Eliz. (1830) II. Pref. 55 Þe sengell gistes of þe same flore at þe fronte shullen be in brede..ix inches. 1466Mann. & Househ. Exp. (Roxb.) 347, v. doble polyves and a sengelle. 1521Fisher Serm. agst. Luther Wks. (1876) 324 A sengell threde is nothynge so stronge as is a double. 1540in Greene Hist. Worcester II. App. p. ii, Item ij masers, one with a dowbilbond, the other with a sengylbond. 1592West 1st Pt. Symbol. i. §26 b, When a thing is purchased or gotten..by gift or legacie, or some other such single title. 1663Gerbier Counsel 45 Single Rafters six and three Inches. Ibid. 96 Nor do provident builders rivet locks only at the one side, for that a thief within doores..makes that single riveting of no use as to security. 1688Holme Armoury iii. xix. (Roxb.) 154/2 The maner of which beatings is performed by single and double..blows. 1711Milit. & Sea Dict. s.v. Tenaille, The Single Tenaille, a Work, the Head whereof is form'd by two Faces, making one Angle Rentrant. 1827H. Steuart Planter's G. (1828) 192, I mean single carts, or carts drawn by one horse. 1845Proc. Philol. Soc. II. 89 The vowels generally, whether single or diphthongal, are sounded as they are in Italian. 1862Smiles Engineers III. 89 A single line furnished with sidings to enable the laden waggons to pass the empty ones. 1875Knight Dict. Mech. 2480 A single whip..is the simplest tackle. It consists of one single block and a fall.
†b. Of artillery. Obs.
1546Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 54 Small artailyery sik as double falcoun, single falcoun. a1578Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 367 Collveringis, myans and doubill falcouns, singill falcouns and hagbuttis of fund.
c. Of flowers: Having only one whorl or set of petals; also, of plants: Bearing such flowers; opposed to double a. 1 d.
1551Turner Herbal (1568) 30 Ther groweth a flour like a syngle rose in the tope of thys herbe. 1594Plat Jewel-ho. iii. 33 You may also drie Paunsies, Stock-gilliflowers, and other single flowers. 1615W. Lawson Country Housew. Gard. (1626) 54 The sweet muske Rose double and single. 1664Evelyn Kal. Hort. (1729) 198 Single and double Hepatica. 1731Miller Gard. Dict. s.v. Hyacinthus Tuberosus, The Single sort is by far the fairer Flower. 1796C. Marshall Gardening v. (1813) 62 No single flowers should be suffered to grow in a garden where there are double ones. 1812New Botanic Garden I. 29 With single blue flowers, with double blue flowers. 1852G. W. Johnson Cottage Gard. Dict. 339 In double flowers..the corolla is much more durable than in single ones.
d. Intended for or accommodating one person.
a1859Macaulay Hist. Eng. xxiii. V. 73 A single bedroom. 1867A. J. Wilson Vashti xxxiii, A strip of faded carpet stretched in front of a small single bedstead. 1886Pascoe London of To-day i. (ed. 3) 34 Single bed-rooms cost from 4s. to 15s. per day.
†12.
a. Simple; plain; without further qualification or addition. Obs.
c142126 Political Poems 105 While obley in yrnes or boyst ys stoken, Hit nys but bred, and sengyl bake. c1450Lovelich Grail lii. 705 Whanne Piers vndirstood that he A kyng was Of so hy degre, and wende he hadde ben A sengle knyht [etc.]. 1453Rolls of Parlt. V. 271/1 Bynde hem..by obligation or obligations, aswell sengell as conditionell. 1600Surflet Countrie Farme iii. liv. 556 Some doe make this oile after the simplest and singlest sort. 1678Sir G. Mackenzie Crim. Laws Scot. i. xix. §vi, God Almighty intended not that single Theft should be punished by death. 1736Butler Anal. i. ii. 47 Perhaps divine goodness..may not be a bare single disposition to produce happiness.
†b. Slight, poor, trivial. Obs.
c1449Pecock Repr. ii. viii. 184 Ymagis of God..forto make bi hem sengil and leuke remembrauncis. 1585Daniel Notable Deuises Wks. (Grosart) V. 302 Hauing..maried a wife of singulare beautie, but (according to the common rumour) of single honestie. 1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, i. ii. 207 Is not your voice broken? your winde short? your wit single? a1616Beaum. & Fl. Queen of Corinth iii. i, He utters such single matter in so infantly a voice. 1638Rawley tr. Bacon's Life & Death (1650) 19 The Sect of the Essenes among the Jews..used a single or Abstemious Diet.
13. a. Of beer, ale, etc.: Weak, poor, or inferior in quality; small. Now arch. Also transf.
1485in 9th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. I. 177/2 A vessell of single bere to the gonners, xii d. 1505in 10th Rep. ibid. App. V. 392 That there be no sale bread, singill ale, nor honyed alle..mad in towne, but by ffre men. 1594Knack to Know a Knave in Collier Five Old Plays (Roxb.) 386 Your drinke is too strong... Single beere is better far both for your profit and your seruants health. a1635R. Corbet Poems (1647) 30 Although I thinke Poets were nee'r infus'd with single drinke. Ibid., Let your Channels flow with single tiffe. 1704Lond. Gaz. No. 4032/4, 11 Pieces of single French Brandy. 1820Scott Monast. xviii, An hogshead of ale at Martlemas, of the double strike, and single ale at pleasure.
b. Of whisky: pure, not mixed or blended.
1920Glasgow Herald 22 July 4 No man who knows whisky when he tastes it would prefer them [sc. advertised blends] to a ‘single’ whisky. 1958Spectator 27 June 838/1 It would have been before the days of proprietary whiskies; it would be interesting to know which ‘single’ or ‘self’ whisky he used and its strength. 1968I. C. Taylor Highland Whisky (An Comunn Gaidhealach) 5 It is an excellent dry single malt. 1977C. McCullough Thorn Birds vii. 136 Twelve-year-old single-malt Scotch.
14. a. Simple, honest, sincere, single-minded; free from duplicity or deceit.
1519W. Horman Vulg. 55 He is a good sengyll soule, and can no harme. 1595Spenser Col. Clout 727 Single Truth and simple Honestie Do wander up and downe despys'd of all. 1613Shakes. Hen. VIII, v. iii. 38, I speake it with a single heart, my Lords. 1633Ford Broken H. iv. i, Sure, he's an honest, very honest gentleman; A man of single meaning. 1682Sir T. Browne Chr. Mor. iii. §20 To single Hearts doubling is discruciating. 1809Jefferson Writ. (1830) IV. 134 To those whose views are single and direct, it is a great comfort to have to do business with frank and honorable minds. 1848Dickens Dombey xxxiii, [Such as] nothing but a pure and single heart [could have] expressed. 1873Whitney Oriental & Ling. Stud. 83 The single devotion of the Brahman student.
b. Of the eye, after Biblical use.
1526Tindale Luke xi. 34 When thine eye is single; then is all thy body full of light. 1577F. de Lisle's Legendarie I iv, Considering with a single eye the parties in this cause, ye shall finde that [etc.]. 1669N. Morton New Eng. Mem. A 2, I onely crave of thee to reade this following Discourse with a single eye. c1680Beveridge Serm. (1729) I. 63 He that looks upon these words with a single eye. 1863Kingsley Water-Bab. 343 Keep your eye single, and your hands clean. 1884Century Mag. Mar. 925 All readers of his know..how absolutely single his eye is.
15. Of a combat or fight: Between two persons; man to man. (See also combat n. 1 b.)
[1590Sir J. Smyth Disc. Weapons 46 b, If it be enemie to enemie single, they then are not to discharge their peeces.] 1592Kyd Sp. Trag. i. iii, I saw him, hand to hand, In single fight with their Lord Generall. 1610Holland Camden's Brit. 360 Who in this Iland by a single combate tried it out. 1639Fuller Holy War ii. i. (1840) 48 He..killed Rodulphus, the duke of Saxony, in single fight. 1711Addison Spect. No. 9 ⁋7 The President..was said to have killed half a dozen in single Combat. Ibid. No. 70 ⁋5 Let you and I end our Quarrel in single Fight. 1820Scott Monast. xxxvii, Reserving my right to defy my Lord of Murray and my Lord of Morton to single duel. 1838Arnold Hist. Rome I. 4 At last Ascanius met him man to man and slew him in single fight. 1867Freeman Norm. Conq. (1877) I. App. 706 That the two kings shall decide the matter by single combat.
16. In quasi-advb. use.
a1450Le Morte Arth. 1795 Non Armore he dyde hym vppon Bot A Robe All sengle wrought. a1483Liber Niger in Househ. Ord. (1790) 58 [The] Countroller..is thirde in estate..aftyr the Steward, but at no tyme..within thys courte covered in servyse, and but single served. 1681Lond. Gaz. No. 1663/4 They lye Unmored, and ride single, and intend to Sail this Afternoon. 1707Mortimer Husb. (1721) I. 83 They commonly lay twelve or fourteen loads of Chalk upon an Acre, where they lay it single. 1837Lockhart Scott III. x. 343 My venerated friend, who was—unlike, perhaps, some others of the company at that hour—able to hear accurately, and content to see single.
III. 17. a. Special collocations; single act (Theatr.), a performance (orig. in vaudeville) by one entertainer; also, an entertainer who performs unaccompanied; single anchor (see quot. 1867); also fig.; † single billet, single-stick; single bond (Chem.), a chemical bond in which the two atoms share one pair of electrons only; single care (see quot.); single change (see quot. 1688); single chant (see chant n. 2); single cream, cream with a low fat content; single crown (Naut.), a single crowning given to a knot (see crown v.1 14, crowning vbl. n. 4); single end (Sc., chiefly Glasgow), a one-roomed flat; single entry, (a) (see entry 9 b); (b) listing of a title at only one place in a catalogue, bibliography, or index, without cross-references; an entry so created; single fare, the charge for conveyance on an outward journey (but not back); single file, a line of men one behind the other; single Gloucester (see Gloucester); single house (see quot. 1818); single-jack (N. Amer.), a short hammer used in percussive hand-drilling by one person alone; single line (see quot.); † single officer (see quot.); single premium, a sum which covers the entire cost of insurance in a single payment; † single rapier, the rapier only (without dagger); single reed (Mus.), a reed or blade of other material that serves as the sounding apparatus of certain wind instruments; † single sentinel or single soldier, a private soldier (Sc.); single shot, used, usu. attrib., with reference to a facility for producing a single event where repeated action is normal, as on an automatic weapon; single side band (Telecommunication), either of the two side bands normally associated with the carrier of a broadcast transmission; freq. attrib. with reference to a method of transmission in which only one side band is transmitted, the other being suppressed along with the carrier; also short for single side band transmission; † single sword, ? singlestick; single ten, the ten of a card-suit; (see also quot. a 1700); single ticket, a ticket entitling a traveller to a single journey outward, as opp. to a return ticket (cf. return n. 1 e).
1952Granville Dict. Theatrical Terms 163 *Single act, a solo performance in vaudeville, e.g. a ballad singer, a juggler, an acrobat, an impersonator, or a raconteur. 1960B. Keaton My Wonderful World of Slapstick v. 89, I went to New York to see if I could get work there on my own. As a single act. That's what vaudeville people called it.
1822C. Arbuthnot Let. 2 Sept. (1941) 31, I wish you to keep yrself at *single anchor, for shd. the Govt. be broken up, you must hurry to me. 1839Marryat Phant. Ship viii, The Ter Schilling..lay at single anchor. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 627 Single anchor, a ship unmoored, having hove up one bower, rides by the other.
1613Beaum. & Fl. Captain ii. i, No more Than..Fighting at *single Billet with a Barge-man.
[1889G. M'Gowan tr. Bernthsen's Text-bk Org. Chem. i. 50 A double bond between two carbon atoms is looser, and therefore more easily broken than a single one.] 1903Walker & Mott tr. Holleman's Text-bk. Org. Chem. I. 150 When a *single bond between two carbon atoms is converted into a double one, the directions of the affinities of each of the two carbon atoms must undergo an appreciable alteration. 1966Williams & Fleming Spectrosc. Methods in Org. Chem. iii. 45 The stretching vibrations of single bonds to hydrogen give rise to the absorption at the high frequency end of the spectrum.
1898Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 429 The law which enables a person of unsound mind..to be placed..under what is technically designated ‘*Single Care’—that is, under certificates in the house of a medical man or other person.
1688Holme Armoury iii. 462/2 The *Single Change, is when all the Bells ring, and one is changed only from Round Ringing. 1872Ellacombe Bells of Ch. in Ch. Bells Devon iii. 39 About the year 1642..single changes were first attempted.
1861J. S. Adams 5000 Mus. Terms 91 *Single Chant, a simple harmonized melody extending only to one verse [etc.]. 1875Stainer & Barrett Dict. Mus. Terms s.v. Chant, A single chant is in two strains, the first of three, and the second of four bars in length.
1955J. G. Davis Dict. Dairying 320 The manufacture of cream was prohibited during the war but in 1951 sale was permitted for a few weeks. The standards laid down were: *single cream 18 per cent. (usually homogenised), double cream 48 per cent. 1962Listener 26 July 155/1, 1/4 pint of real single cream. 1979A. Parker Country Recipe Notebk. viii. 108 Single cream is thin cream for pouring. It will not whip.
1808*Single crown [see double wall]. 1883Man. Seamanship Boys' Training Ships (Admiralty) (1886) 121 Form a double-wall, single-crowned, then lay the strands by the sides of those in the single-crown.
1897J. Wright Scenes Sc. Life 27 ‘A *single en’, or one apartment. 1935McArthur & Long No Mean City i. 1 Cavity beds are..a feature of the Glasgow slums... The ordinary ‘room-and-kitchen’ apartment, and even the one⁓roomed ‘single-end’, always include a cavity bed or beds. 1981P. Turnbull Deep & Crisp & Even iv. 60 He took a single end in Maryhill and sent for his wife.
1826Encycl. Metrop. (1845) I. 462/2 The more obvious method.., which is called Book-keeping by *Single Entry. 1849Freese Comm. Class-Bk. 103 If my books were kept by single entry, I should simply credit Smart & Co. for the coffee. 1963Guide to Universal Decimal Classification (B.S.I.) i. 7 Generally speaking, each document gets only one entry in the classified file, and this method of ‘single entry’ is assumed for the time being. Many UDC users, however, favour a method of ‘multiple entry’, whereby a document on Harvesting of cereals, for instance, would get an entry under both Cereals and Harvesting. 1976B. Buchanan Gloss. Indexing Terms 123 Single entry systems fail to correct completely the separations caused by the application of a citation order..; for this, multiple entry systems are necessary.
1777P. Thicknesse Year's Journey I. vii. 52, I could not refrain from giving her a double fee, for a *single fare. 1841C. Dickens Let. 14 Sept. (1969) II. 383, I wish you'd take an opportunity..of asking all about the Fares—what a single fare is—what a double fare—what a cabin with child-stowage. 1972C. Fremlin Appointment with Yesterday i. 11 A small oblong of card⁓board... ‘Single fare, {pstlg}1.40’ is what it said.
1670Cotton Espernon ii. 394 He therefore commanded some Foot Companies to steal over silently, and by *single Files. 1853Sir H. Douglas Milit. Bridges 255 Sufficient only to support infantry marching in single file. 1865Tylor Early Hist. Man. v. 83 To place the different elements of a sentence in succession, in single file so to speak.
a1700Evelyn Diary 16 July 1654, The humourous old Knight has built a long *single house of 2 low stories. 1818Scott Hrt. Midl. xxvi, Dumbiedikes was what is called in Scotland a single house; that is, having only one room occupying its whole depth from back to front.
1961Press (Vancouver) 1 Sept. 11 The mechanization of mines in 1890—the replacing of hand-steel, *single-jack and double-jack, by drilling machines—had created new problems.
1875Knight Dict. Mech. 2187/2 *Single-line, a single rein leading from the hand of the driver to a strap forked a little behind the hames, and proceeding thence to the bit-rings.
1759in Eng. Historical Rev. (1897) XII. 763 We are *Single Officers, that is, only one Livetenant to a Company.
1877Cassell's Family Mag. Jan. 83/2 Net *Single and Annual Premiums. 1880Encycl. Brit. XIII. 171/2 We conclude..that the single premium at age 20 for a whole⁓term assurance of {pstlg}1 according to the Hm mortality table, reckoning interest at 3 per cent., is {pstlg}·32886 or 6s. 7d. 1975R. L. Carter Handbk. Insurance ii. §i.2.8 The single premium bond is essentially an investment contract in which a lump sum is paid to the insurance company at the inception of the policy, and..invested in units.
1709Steele Tatler No. 31 ⁋3 The historian mentions, when he attack'd Thalestris, it was only at *single Rapier.
1883Grove Dict. Mus. III. 90/1 It is possible to replace it [sc. the Double reed] in both these instruments by a *single reed of clarinet shape, beating against a small wooden mouthpiece. 1920U. Daubeny Orchestral Wind Instruments vi. 55 There are no instances of the single reed in Egyptian sculpture, but cylindrical pipes of great age fitted with single-beating reeds have been found in Greece. 1964S. Marcuse Musical Instr. 478/1 Single reeds are idioglott or heteroglott... The beating reed is the most common among Western single reeds (the clarinet reed, for example).
1721Wodrow Hist. Suff. Ch. Scot. ii. v. (1830) II. 168 A person of quality,..standing before an ensign, lieutenant, or *single sentinel.
1942R.A.F. Jrnl. 3 Oct. 29 We fired three rounds with the Tommy gun from the hip (with the *single⁓shot mechanism). 1971J. M. Smith Digital Logic iv. 67 The one-shot or single-shot generator is a device for producing a pulse output from a trigger signal input. 1977‘J. McVean’ Bloodspoor xx. 263 Hanson switched the Schmeisser regulator to single-shot and started to fire back.
1923Proc. IRE XI. 40 It is of particular importance for long wave radio telephone transmission where the width of a *single side-band is so large a fraction of the total frequency range available that the number of independent channels is at best very limited. Ibid. 41 The use of single side-band transmission has probably progressed farthest in connection with carrier telephony over wires. 1959K. Henney Radio Engin. Handbk. (ed. 5) xviii. 8 In most commercial single-side-band transmitters the SSB signal is generated in an SSB generator at a frequency in the range of 100 to 500 kc. 1976Electronics Today Internat. July 10/3 In areas around cities, these channels are congested and so many stations have changed over to Single Sideband, which gives higher communications efficiency and an extra 48 channels.
1816Scott Antiq. xxvii, Not knowing..how far the manners of a *single soldier might have been corrupted by service in a great house.
1688Holme Armoury iii. xix. (Roxb.) 159/1 Two Fencers,..makeing triall of their skill, with back-sword or *single sword, sword and buckler and the like.
1593Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, v. i. 43 Whiles he thought to steale the *single Ten, The King was slyly finger'd from the Deck. a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Single-ten, a very foolish, silly Fellow; also Nails of that size. 1829Hunter Hallamshire Gloss., Single-ten, A person playing at Whist may be heard to say: I have neither ace, face, nor single-ten.
1859A.B.C. or Alphabetical Railway Guide Aug. 121 London, Paris, and the Continent... Fares throughout (*Single Tickets, available for four days), First Class, 28/0; Second Class, 20/0. 1979‘J. le Carré’ Smiley's People (1980) xvii. 212 He bought a second-class single ticket to Hamburg.
b. With ns. in -er, as single-driver, single-hander, single-loader, single-peeper, single-roomer, single-seater (see also attrib. uses at 18), single-sticker, single-striker, etc.; single-boater (see quot. 1933); single-decker, † (a) U.S. (see quot. 1896); (b) an aircraft, tramcar, etc., having only one deck; now. usu. a single-decked bus; freq. attrib.; single-hander, (a) an action performed single-handedly or without assistance (in quot. 1877, a chase) (rare); (b) one who sails a boat single-handed; a single-handed yachtsman.
1933S. Bradford Shell-backs 70 A *single boater is a trawler not fishing with a fleet but on its own. 1934W. Wood Fleeters iv. 59 The single-boaters..far outnumbered the fleeters.
1896C. H. Haswell Reminisc. Octogenarian in N.Y. xv. 332 James P. Allaire had constructed..a four-story house designed for many tenants... It is what is now termed a ‘*single-decker’, that is, but one suite of rooms on a floor. 1910Sphere 20 Aug. 176/1 The first aeroplane illustrated is the Santos Dumont aeroplane or single-decker. 1930Aberdeen Press & Jrnl. 12 Feb. 6/3, I see that the L.C.C. has been selling off old single-decker tramcars at {pstlg}5 apiece. 1935S. Beckett Echo's Bones, The little single-decker. 1935Discovery Feb. 58/2 In these vehicles the main entrance is in front, beside the driver as in many single-decker coaches already on the road. 1954M. Procter Hell is City i. i. 11 A red-and-white bus..was approaching... It was a..single decker. 1962L. Deighton Ipcress File xxx. 196 At the bottom of the street was a single-decker bus. 1976P. R. White Planning for Public Transport iii. 56 The rear-engine layout was also adopted for single-deckers.
1897Pall Mall Mag. Mar. 347 The ‘*single driver’ is the familiar name applied to locomotives propelled by one pair of driving-wheels.
1877Coursing Calendar Autumn 1876 217 War Note never seeing the hare, Adventurer fell in for a *single-hander of great length, the first-named being drawn ultimately. 1893Outing XXII. 145/2 The cost of a single-hander depends on the size of the boat. 1954H. Innes Strange Land i. 18 ‘There should be two men on board her.’ ‘Well, this bloke was single-handed.’..‘He was a single-hander all right.’ 1976P. Heaton Single⁓handers i. 26 Alain Colas..is a racing singlehander, a competitor.
1887Daily News 6 Oct. 6/2 The rifle can then be used as a *single-loader.
1785Grose Dict. Vulgar T., *Single peeper, a person having but one eye. 1889Gretton Memory's Harkback 305 They are recorded as ‘single peepers’,..having lost an eye.
1916H. Barber Aeroplane Speaks Pl. xxvi, A 50 h.p. Gnome *single-seater. 1972‘M. Yorke’ Silent Witness ii. ii. 19 Twin chairs were not so bad... But this chair-lift was a single-seater and you rode alone.
1887Daily Telegr. 10 Sept. 2/5 None of the big *single-stickers..showed any signs.
1898Cycling 62 Repeating bells are preferable to *single-strikers.
188920th Cent. (N.Y.) Apr. 6 He says that is a fair question which no *Single-taxer ever answers, but that if it is evaded the whole single-tax theory vanishes.
18. With ns., forming combs. used attributively, as single-action, single-bar, single-beat, single-cell, single-channel, single-coil, single-colour, single cylinder, etc.; single-cell protein, protein derived from a culture of single-celled organisms; single-electrode (Chem.), with reference to a half-cell considered in isolation; single-lens reflex (camera) (Photogr.), a reflex camera in which the lens that forms the image on the film is also used to provide the image in the viewfinder (by means of a mirror behind the lens that is automatically moved out of the way when the shutter release is operated) (cf. SLR s.v. S 4 a); single-plate clutch (see quot. 1940); single-start (Engin.), designating a screw-thread or worm gear that has one continuous thread along its entire length; single-vision (Ophthalm.), (of spectacles) of which each lens is a single optical element; not bifocal, etc.; single-wire, designating an electrical wiring system in which current is carried by one wire, the return being provided by the chassis or frame of the apparatus or installation or the earth.
Combs. of this type have been very frequent in recent use. For a number of technical examples, see Knight Dict. Mech. (1875) and Suppl. (1884).
1852Seidel Organ 36 *Single-action bellows..is generally very small. 1863A. Young Naut. Dict. 20 Atmospheric, or Single Action, Engine.
1964Amer. Speech XXXIX. 104 There is a break—in speech, a *single-bar juncture; in writing, a comma or dash—between the noun and its juncture. 1966‘M. Halliday’ Wicked as Devil iv. 36 Helen switched on a single-bar electric fire.
1688Holme Armoury iii. 398 A *Single Beak Pellican with a screw, of some..called a Screw'd tooth Forcer.
1884F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 241 The chronometer and duplex are the best known examples of *single-beat escapements.
1838Bell Dict. Law Scot. 867 In the *Single Bill roll is inserted all petitions..and other notes or applications to either Division of the Court.
1977P. Johnson Enemies of Society ix. 127 Marx, by contrast, has a *single-cause theory: all the evils of society arise from private property; abolish that, and they will disappear.
1849Noad Electricity (ed. 3) 228, Fig. 152 represents the *single-cell apparatus.
1968Mateles & Tannenbaum Single-Cell Protein i. 7 Some may wonder where the name ‘*Single-Cell Protein’ came from and why it was adopted. It was invented at M.I.T. in May 1966, as a result of the insistent prodding of Professor Carroll Wilson. 1970Daily Tel. (Colour Suppl.) 19 June 14 Single cell protein is one of the most ‘exotic’ of various new food sources. 1977Single cell protein [see single-celled, sense 19 below].
1962A. Nisbett Technique Sound Studio ii. 33 *Single-channel ‘monophonic’ recordings. 1977Proc. R. Soc. Med. LXX. 382/1 Single-channel extracochlear stimulation will only provide low frequency information.
1967N.Y. Herald Tribune (Internat. ed.) 11–12 Feb. 3/7 (Advt.), Walk on or drive on to one of these fine ultra-modern *single-class ships for an overnight crossing in absolute comfort. 1977Listener 17 Mar. 347/3 They built..for the propagation of middle-class values..a vast process of specialised, single-class development.
1962Simpson & Richards Physical Princ. Junction Transistors iii. 38 One pass of the specimen is then equivalent to several passes in a *single-coil apparatus and the removal of impurities is accelerated.
1935B. Rackham in Chinese Art (Burlington Mag. Monographs) 20 The beauty of celadon, turquoise, crackled white and other *single-colour glazes. 1964Gloss. Letterpress Rotary Printing Terms (B.S.I.) 19 Single colour unit, a section of the press embodying one printing couple to print one side of the web in one colour.
1960Guardian 9 Nov. 8/3 The ‘News Chronicle’..charged for display advertising at the rate of {pstlg}13 per *single column inch. 1976J. Bingham God's Defector iv. 43 A single-column picture of himself at the church door.
1955Notes on Science in USA 1954 (Brit. Commonwealth Scientific Office, N. Amer.) 29 The large number of experiments that are now being performed on *single crystal specimens. 1956Nature 14 Jan. 77/2 In fundamental research, much work is being done on single-crystal specimens, whereby grain-boundary effects and some other variables are eliminated.
1888Jacobi Printers' Vocab. 125 *Single cylinder machines, machines for printing one side at a time only.
1929Times 2 Nov. 4/7 The chassis, with rather lighter driving axles and springs is sold for *single-deck and coach operation. 1967M. Chandler Ceramics in Mod. World ii. 84 Single-deck tunnel kilns.
1860All Year Round No. 66. 382 ‘Which knot?’ asked Toby. ‘Single or double wall, *single or double diamond?’
1913Jrnl. Amer. Chem. Soc. XXXV. 24 No satisfactory method has been found for determining the absolute magnitude of any *single electrode potential. 1965Phillips & Williams Inorg. Chem. I. ix. 312 It has proved very difficult, some believe impossible, to measure absolute single-electrode potentials.
1944Stewart & Wilson Rec. Adv. Physical & Inorg. Chem. (ed. 7) 384 It is probable that *single electron bonds..enter into the average final structure for diborane. 1968M. S. Livingston Particle Physics iii. 39 The spectra of single-electron atoms such as He+ and Li+7.
1942R.A.F. Jrnl. 27 June 1 A service between London and Paris with *single-engine modified Service aircraft. 1978R. Ludlum Holcroft Covenant xxxvii. 423 A small single-engine plane circled in the night sky above the flat pasture in Chambéry.
1868Rep. U.S. Comm. Agric. (1869) 238 One and three-quarters pound of *single-eye pieces produced ten pounds.
1967R. Ardrey Territorial Imperative iii. 93 Unlike any other ape and like few monkeys, the gibbon lives in a *single-family group, paired on a territory usually for life. 1980Washington Post 4 Dec. dc1, 49 buildings containing about 600 units are being transfered from rental status or private single⁓family ownership to condominiums.
1899Morrow Bohem. Paris 138 A *single-file march round the room is started.
1857Miller Elem. Chem., Org. i. §1 (1862) 15 An additional screen of *single iron plate. 1892Greener Breech Loader 6 The cheaper quality laminated steel,..known in the trade as single-iron Damascus.
1977Time 19 Dec. 29/3 The right-to-lifers are *single-issue individuals... They vote on what he or she says about abortion.
1946H. Jacob On Choice of Common Lang. 39 Four *single-language frequency lists. 1978Language LIV. 8 Table 2 shows the number of entries which fulfill the structural conditions for apical displacement, after we eliminate single-language entries and the disqualified ones.
1940Chambers's Techn. Dict. 772/1 *Single-layer winding, a type of armature winding in which there is only one coil⁓side per slot. 1946Nature 21 Sept. 422/1 The reflectors consist of single-layer and multiple-layer films.
1936Discovery Aug. 237/1 The camera..has 4½ times the stereoscopic parallax of the *single-lens and five-lens cameras. 1940A. L. M. Sowerby Wall's Dict. Photogr. (ed. 15) 547 In a single-lens reflex, pressure on the release first lifts the mirror.., and then releases the focal-plane shutter. 1955T. A. Longmore Med. Photogr. (ed. 5) iii. 374 Being a single lens reflex camera there is a complete absence of parallax, so that the image seen on the focusing screen is exactly the same as that which will be recorded on the film. 1957Encycl. Brit. XVII. 825/2 A single-lens camera may be provided with a beam splitter.., giving two adjacent photographs on the normal picture area. 1962L. S. Sasieni Optical Dispensing xiii. 334 Apart from the single-lens magnifiers..there are a number of telescopic units. 1977L. Gaunt Olympus Bk. 8 The final part of the 35 mm single-lens reflex viewing system is the eye⁓piece lens, focused on the viewfinder screen via the reflecting surfaces of the prism.
1771Luckombe Hist. Print. 271 Neat Workmen prevent a division of a *single-letter syllable at the end of lines. 1878H. MacColl in Proc. Lond. Math. Soc. X. 26 The monomial (or single-letter) statements. 1964D. Ward in D. Abercrombie et al. Daniel Jones 393 For the convenience of readers not familiar with Cyrillic a single-letter transliteration system is given.
1876Voyle & Stevenson Milit. Dict., *Single lever bridge, composed of two frames locking into each other, and not meeting at a greater angle than 120°.
1886Willis & Clark Cambridge I. 330 Each chamber had a lofty narrow *single-light window.
1846Holtzapffel Turning II. 543 The shaft of..the *single-lip auger.
1880Grove Dict. Mus. II. 591/2 Soon after the Restoration, Ralph Dallam built an organ for St. George's Chapel, Windsor... It was a *single-manual organ only. 1978Early Music Oct. 585/1 An Italian single-manual harpsichord bearing a spurious inscription dated 1740 but actually of earlier date.
1884E. W. Hamilton Diary 2 Dec. (1972) II. 746 Lord Hampden..likes the system of *single-member Districts, for which he has long been an advocate. 1889Pall Mall G. 29 Oct. 2/1 In 1885, the country was practically divided into single-member electoral districts.
1956J. Lotz in L. White Frontiers of Knowl. xiv. 221 The single-word, or better, *single-morpheme sentences of the young child..cannot be analyzed into phonemes nor combined into sentences.
1860G. B. Prescott Elect. Telegr. 108 The double-needle telegraph may easily be arranged so that it shall act as a *single-needle telegraph only.
1949L. Feather Inside Be-bop i. 6 The *single-note solo style was a complete departure from the pattern of solos in chords established by..conventional jazz guitarists.
1922Joyce Ulysses 698 Water closet..with opaque *singlepane oblong window.
1892A. M. Worthington Dynamics of Rotation ii. 20 Any rigid body may be regarded as made up of such ideal *single-particle systems. 1970G. K. Woodgate Elem. Atomic Struct. v. 87 For N non-interacting electrons with no spin–orbit interaction we find it convenient to go back to the single-particle representation.
1941Pacific Affairs XIV. 76 The emergence of a fully totalitarian ‘*single-party State’. 1979E. Norman Christianity & World Order v. 66 Tanzania—a country with a rigidly enforced socialist collectivization and a single-party constitution.
1964S. Crawford Basic Engin. Processes iii. 93 The vertical plate is tack-welded in position..and then finally welded by either the *single-pass or the multiple-pass techniques. 1969Computers & Humanities IV. 43 Clearly, there should be much less occasion for careless errors and omissions in a multiple-pass system like Regener's than in a single-pass system like iml.
1957Loneliness (Women's Group on Public Welfare) iii. 41 The number of *single-person households..increased by 104 per cent between 1931 and 1951.
1900Jrnl. Brit. Inst. Electr. Engin. XXIX. 246 The motor is being supplied with *single-phase currents. 1946Nature 31 Aug. 307/2 The electrolytic polishing of multi-phase metals is usually more difficult than that of single-phase metals owing to differing properties..of the different phases.
1979Dictionaries I. 31 Editors are not restricted to *single-phrase descriptions.
1843Holtzapffel Turning I. 31 The ‘*single-piece bow’ is made of one rod of hickory, lancewood, or yew-tree.
1926Motor Man. (ed. 26) iii. 49 (caption) *Single-plate clutch, showing internal details. 1940Chambers's Techn. Dict. 772/2 Single-plate clutch, a friction clutch..in which the disc-shaped or annular driven member, fabric-faced, is pressed against a similar face on the driving member by springs. 1970K. Ball Fiat 600, 600D Autobk. v. 45/1 The clutch, common to both the 600 and 600D series engines, is a conventional dry, single plate type with a spring cushioned hub as part of the driven plate.
1957Simpson & Weir Weaver's Craft iii. 25 A tightly packed weft of thick hand-spun or *single-ply rug wool. 1967Jane's Surface Skimmer Systems 1967–68 13/2 A segmented skirt of single-ply neoprene⁓nylon fabric.
1935,1959*Single-point [see instantaneous a. 1 d]. 1979North Sea Progress (Shell Internat. Petroleum Co.) 6 The field will be served by tankers at single-point mooring buoys to take the oil production.
1931Illustr. London News 29 Aug. 342/3 The electrical system is 12 volts, with *single-pole wiring. 1975G. J. King Audio Handbk. x. 223 The slope of a single pole RC network always ultimately assumes a rate close to 6 dB/octave.
1832Babbage Econ. Manuf. xv. (ed. 3) 138 A kind of lace, called ‘*single-press’, was manufactured.
1919Daily Mail Year Bk. 112/2 Many thousands of these are in service; to which the term ‘*single-purpose machines’ is applied. 1943J. S. Huxley TVA v. 27 The single-purpose costs which can be directly allocated to one or other of the functions. 1971Fremdsprachen XV. 46 Each single-purpose use may be justified on its own, but the complete effect of piecemeal development can be chaos.
1931G. Jacob Orchestral Technique iii. 23 The Clarinet (*single-reed instrument). 1976D. Munrow Instr. Middle Ages & Renaissance vi. 39/4 The French word chalumeau has been applied to the shawm as well as a detached double-reed bagpipe chanter..and the single-reed precursor of the clarinet.
1856‘Stonehenge’ Brit. Rur. Sports ii. ii. xi. 363/2 One pound is the usual allowance for *single-rein bridles.
1868Rep. U.S. Comm. Agric. (1869) 251 Neither neat nor efficient *single-row hedge can be made without the aid of stakes.
1946Nature 5 Oct. 469/1 The aircraft rocket enabling a *single-seat fighter to deliver a salvo equal in hitting power to the broadside from a small cruiser. 1967Jane's Surface Skimmer Systems 1967–68 8/1 It has built a single-seat vehicle designated Naviplane N 101.
1910R. Loraine Diary 10 Apr. in W. Loraine Robert Loraine (1938) vi. 104 A small *single-seater monoplane. 1930Engineering 7 Mar. 316/1 Following upon a recent order for five Bristol Bulldog all-steel single-seater fighter aeroplanes, the Latvian Government has placed a further order..for seven additional Bulldog machines. 1973J. Leasor Host of Extras i. 21 In 1911..with a single-seater body..a Rolls-Royce covered a quarter-mile stretch at Brooklands at 101 miles an hour.
1845–50A. H. Lincoln Lect. Bot. v. 166/2 Sicyos angulata, *single-seed cucumber.
1961Guardian 11 Dec. 7/7 Higher salaries..have made a *single-set drama..cost more nearly $100,000. 1971J. Elsom Theatre outside London x. 181 Low-cast, single-set comedies, with the occasional mystery play or classic revival.
1939A. H. Whipple Educ. up to Fifteen Years 36 Experiments should be conducted in *single-sex schools to ascertain.. whether or not the education of girls should differ in important respects from that of boys. 1980Times 19 Feb. 2 Applications to Oriel, the only remaining men's single-sex college, are down again.
1892Brighton Sir P. Wallis 278 One of the finest *single-ship actions ever fought.
1841Penny Cycl. XXI. 410/2 *Single-sole shoes or ‘pumps’.
1577Stanyhurst Descr. Irel. in Holinshed I. 23/2 A meaner tower might serue such *single soule kings as were at those daies in Ireland. 1622Mabbe tr. Aleman's Guzman d' Alf. i. 105 To see what a single-sole Gentleman I was, and how like a naked cottage I lookt.
1872Dublin Rev. Apr. 444 What can be done in the way of *single-span Gothic churches.
1958M. L. Hall Newnes Compl. Amat. Photogr. ii. 32 *Single-speed rotary or single-leaf shutters, placed either in front of or behind the lens. 1975Language for Life (Dept. Educ. & Sci.) vi. 95 Unfortunately, if most of their reading is of the single-speed kind, children will be habituated to becoming single-speed readers.
1922Glazebrook Dict. Appl. Physics II. 891/2 *Single-stage amplifiers. 1945H. D. Smyth Gen. Acct. Devel. Atomic Energy Mil. Purposes iv. 40 Single-stage separators had effected the enrichment of the U-235 on a laboratory scale to about the degree predicted theoretically.
1956Spaceflight I. 24/1 The first stage resembles the Viking rocket which attained a record altitude (for single-stage rockets) of 158·4 miles in 1954.
1964S. Crawford Basic Engin. Processes xiv. 301 On a *single-start thread the lead and the pitch are identical. 1975Bram & Downs Manuf. Technol. iv. 120 The depth of a single-start thread stands in a definite relationship to its pitch.
1947A. Waring Approach to Better Housing ii. 33 While not advocating the provision of *single-storey dwellings for large families..nevertheless these can be planned for small families and aged people..quite as successfully as the two-storey dwelling. 1970D. Goldrich et al. in I. L. Horowitz Masses in Lat. Amer. v. 183 They are housed predominantly in single-story dwellings on individual plots.
1964C. Barber Linguistic Change in Present-Day Eng. iv. 86 The word greatcoat is a modern example of a transitional state between a double-stress and a *single-stress form.
1825J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 47 When a *single-stroke steam-engine is made to turn a mill.
1959Wimsatt & Beardsley in Publ. Mod. Lang. Assoc. Amer. LXXIV. 595 The *single-syllable foot occurs in lines that sound like this: ‘Weave, weave, the sunlight in your hair’.
1959Daily Tel. 6 Mar. 21/3 The Ministry has suggested that *single-tier highway authorities with less than 200,000 people in their areas should be set up in Greater London. 1977Whitaker's Almanack 1978 624 For the purpose of local government Northern Ireland has a system of 26 single-tier district councils.
1688Holme Armoury iii. 398 The second [instrument]..is termed a *Single tooth Pincer, of some a Forcer.
c1860H. Stuart Seaman's Catech. 74 The top⁓masts are made in one spar, and are called *single tree. 1865Lubbock Preh. Times 345 They have single-tree canoes.
1904A. B. F. Young Compl. Motorist xi. 247 There are some *single-tube pneumatic tyres in which the whole of the fabric is constructed in one piece. 1935Discovery Feb. 44/1 (caption) Guide-cradle for launching single-tube rockets. 1963Gloss. Mining Terms (B.S.I.) iii. 13 Single-tube core barrel, the simplest core barrel, having only a single cylindrical tube.
1940Chambers's Techn. Dict. 772/2 *Single-turn coil, an armature coil consisting of a single turn of copper bar. 1962Corson & Lorrain Introd. Electromagn. Fields vi. 236 We consider single-turn coils for simplicity.
1883Whitaker's Alm. 445/1 The Huascar is an iron low freeboard *single-turret ram. 1860*Single wall knot [see single diamond knot].
1936Discovery Aug. 237/1 The world's largest *single unit multi-lens aerial mapping camera. 1973Tucson (Ariz.) Daily Citizen 22 Aug. 27/2 We have passed the time when we can afford the luxury of building single-unit homes.
1959Gloss. Terms Packaging (B.S.I.) 43 *Single-use tube, a tube with sufficient contents for one use only. 1969Computers & Humanities III. 138 The heavy-duty Selectric typewriter also requires frequent adjustments for uniform impressions, plus a single-use ribbon for publication output.
1962L. S. Sasieni Optical Dispensing vii. 174 Logically a *single-vision lens prescribed for reading would be the most comfortable. 1971Optometry Today 24 This team is capable of examining, prescribing, fabricating and dispensing single-vision lenses, mounted in frames, on the spot.
1707Mortimer Husb. (1721) I. 48 In Sussex they use much the *single Wheel-plough.
1902Encycl. Brit. XXXIII. 228/2 In 1892..he established communication between Lavernock Point and an island called Flat Holme..by placing at these positions insulated *single-wire circuits, earthed at both ends. 1913V. B. Lewes Oil Fuel iv. 108 The single-wire system must not be adopted for any part of the electric lighting installation in vessels carrying petroleum.
1907W. James Pragmatism vii. 239 All the great *single-word answers to the world's riddle, such as God, the One, Reason, Law, [etc.]. 1964R. H. Robins Gen. Linguistics 284 Compound verbal expressions..fulfil some of the semantic functions of the single-word tense forms of other languages.
1825J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 497, B, the *single worm screw.
19. Parasynthetic, as single-banked, single-barrelled, single-bedded, single-blossomed, single-celled, single-coloured, single-decked, single-edged, single-ended, single-engined, etc. Also single-seatedness n.; single-stranded (Biochem.), (of a nucleic acid) consisting of only one sequence of nucleotides; hence single-strandedness.
Many examples of this type occur in recent use.
1861Illustr. Lond. News 13 July 35 One of its best *single-banked life-boats.
1821E. Baker Remarks on Rifle Guns (ed. 8) 114 The average weight of a *single-barrelled gun should be from 6lbs to 6lbs 4oz. 1850R. G. Cumming Hunter's Life S. Afr. (1902) 83/1, I took my heavy single-barrelled rifle. 1880‘Mark Twain’ Speeches (1923) 83 He possessed a single-barrelled fame before; he will possess a double-barrelled fame now.
1788J. Woodforde Diary 20 May (1927) III. 27, I had a very good *single bedded Room to night. 1892I. Zangwill Childr. Ghetto III. 188 Here single-bedded cabins could be had as low as fourpence a night. 1972‘G. North’ Sergeant Cluff rings True xix. 146 The single-bedded ward had its memories... A constable..watched the bed in which the Sergeant had once lain wounded.
1762Phil. Trans. LII. 660 Some *single blossomed plants..of the Gardenia.
1899W. James Talks to Teachers xiv. 163 In biology, we used to have interminable discussion as to whether certain *single-celled organisms were animals or vegetables, until Haeckel introduced the new apperceptive name of Protista, which ended the disputes. 1977G. Scott Hot Pursuit xii. 105 Single cell protein is produced by single-celled animals: bacteria, yeasts, fungi, that sort of thing.
1703tr. H. van Oosten Dutch Gardener ii. iv. 60, I think the *single colour'd to be the best..because the tulip that is already changed and striped, doth easily mix her colours together; and this is the reason why the single colours that come from them, have not so strong a colour as those from the single coloured ones. 1940W. Stevens in Accent Autumn 12 The single-colored, colorless, primitive.
1869*Single-decked [see double-deck]. 1972‘G. North’ Sergeant Cluff rings True xiv. 112 The single-decked bus..laboured up the hill.
1598Hakluyt Voy. I. 62 The richer sort haue *single edged swords with sharpe points. 1817Miller Bampt. Lect. 40 The single-edged sword of temporal visitation fell blunted from the hearts of stone.
1952Proc. IRE XL. 11/1 Since the output is *single ended, the feedback can be made directly from the midpoint of the output stage to a preceding single-ended stage. 1975Official Transcript Techn. Papers Ann. Nat. Cable Television Assoc. Convention (New Orleans) 24 Investigations were conducted on an operating cable television system to explore methods of increasing the channel capacity of broadband single-ended amplifiers.
1964Oceanogr. & Marine Biol. II. 47 Transportation was by means of *single-engined aircraft. 1978R. V. Jones Most Secret War xxxiv. 301 It happened that a unit of single-engined fighters had been formed in the preceding weeks by Major Hajo Herrmann.
1803Shaw Gen. Zool. IV. ii. 265 *Single-finned Bullhead... The gill-covers consist of a single lamina.
1707Mortimer Husb. (1721) II. 209 Of both which sorts there are great Variety of Colours, some being double, and others *single Flowered. 1756Hill Brit. Herbal 440 Great single-flowered Mountain Hawkweed.
1840Hodgson Hist. Northumb. III. ii. 361/2 Orthotrichum cupulatum, *Single-fringed sessile fruited Bristle-moss.
1846Grote Greece i. xxi. II. 261 The case..against *single-headed authorship of the Odyssey. 1847Ld. Lindsay Chr. Art I. 130 A black single-headed, hoary-haired giant. 1889G. Findlay Eng. Railway 48 The steel rails..are of the single-headed section.
1721R. Bradley Philos. Acc. Wks. Nature 91 Some of the Pigs will be Cloven-footed, and others *single-hoof'd.
1777Pennant Brit. Zool. IV. 16 Claws with a *single-hooked moveable fang.
1800Shaw Gen. Zool. I. i. 198 *Single-horned Rhinoceros.
1721Lond. Gaz. No. 6012/6 A Man and a Woman in a Lane, *single Hors'd. 1899Westm. Gaz. 8 Sept. 5/3 He was driven in a single-horsed brougham.
1725Fam. Dict. s.v. Colchicum, A yellow, *single-leav'd Flower.
1829Marryat F. Mildmay v, They were *single-masted.
1884Bower & Scott De Bary's Phaner. 300 Many have certainly a reticulum of bundles, even when they are ‘*single-nerved’.
1840J. W. Bowden Life Gregory VII. I. 60 The long *single-pointed mitre.
1905J. London Let. 4 Apr. (1966) 169 You and I are both fighters, and *single-purposed fighters too. 1933‘R. Crompton’ William—the Rebel viii. 164 They were all large, single-purposed, unsmiling men.
1920U. Daubeny Orchestral Wind Instruments vi. 55 Somewhat similar rude *single-reeded pipes are still used by Italian shepherds and Roman pifferari.
1911G. B. Shaw Getting Married 129 Very few couples can live in a *single-roomed tenement without exchanging blows quite frequently.
1808Bentham Sc. Reform 36 The many-seated has given place to *single-seated judicature.
1830― Corr. Wks. 1843 XI. 40 In this sub-department..you find..many-seatedness established—by you, *single-seatedness, I see, is preferred.
1753Chambers' Cycl. Suppl. s.v. Sicyoides, The *single-seeded Canada cucumber. 1870Garrod Mat. Med. (ed. 3) 272 The olive fruit..is a smooth, elliptical, single-seeded drupe.
a1834Coleridge in Lit. Rem. (1839) IV. 165 This is not quite so perspicuous and *single-sensed as Archbishop Leighton's sentences in general are.
1903G. B. Shaw Man & Superman iii. 112 She [sc. Nature] created him in order to produce something better than the *single-sexed process can produce. 1934L. B. Pekin Progressive Schools iv. 62, I cannot imagine any teacher who has given co-education a fair trial..ever returning to a single-sexed school.
1851H. Melville Whale lxxviii. A whip..travelling through a *single-sheaved block.
1679Lond. Gaz. No. 1403/4 A Silver hilted *single sheld Sword.
1937Discovery Sept. 284/1 *Single-sided, long-playing, unbreakable durium-type records so popular a few years ago. 1977Gramophone Aug. 262/3 Frank Andrews (London, NW10) points out that Zonophones were single-sided until June 1911.
1956Nature 18 Feb. 334/2 A number of strains [of lucerne] planted as *single-spaced plants in the field. 1959J. Thurber Years with Ross xi. 191 Ross sat down at his typewriter..and wrote..a remarkable five-page single-spaced letter. 1975T. Allbeury Special Collection xv. 99 A foolscap sheet in single-spaced typing.
1803Shaw Gen. Zool. IV. ii. 335 *Single-spotted Chætodon.
1835J. E. Alexander Sk. in Portugal v. 113 By the side of the road to Santarem was the quarter of Colonel Shaw, a long *single-storied peasant's house in a vineyard. 1967Antiquaries Jrnl. XLVII. 275 The hall probably rose clear above this east room, which may have been roofed as a single-storeyed lean-to.
1954Proc. R. Soc. A. CCXXIII. 94 Most of these earlier formulations..have involved *single stranded structures and must be rejected. 1964G. H. Haggis et al. Introd. Molecular Biol. iv. 79 The RNA component of the virus is a long single-stranded nucleic acid chain. 1978BioSystems X. 102/1 Double stranded DNA would be unsuitable because, unlike single-stranded RNA it cannot fold up on its own to form specific and complex 3D structures.
1974Nature 5 Apr. 507/1 They..exhibit greater buoyant densities due to the presence of RNA sequences and/or some degree of *single strandedness.
1890W. James Princ. Psychol. I. xiv. 558 The ‘cue’ was given by *single-syllabled words called out by an assistant. 1948E. Sitwell Notebk. on Shakespeare vi. 72 In such lines [from King Lear]..the single-syllabled words take on the hugeness of those new-made stones that Deucalion and Pyrrha, the Deluge being over, found and cast behind their backs.
1856Meredith Shav. Shagpat (1909) 245 The Queen..being now the mistress of the *single-thoughted.
1603J. Davies (Heref.) Sonn., To Univ. of Oxford, With double lines of *single-twisted Rime. 1702Lond. Gaz. No. 3840/4 A black Hat with a single-twisted white Hatband.
1796W. H. Marshall W. England II. 211 *Single-wheeled plows.
a1832J. Bentham Logic vii, in Wks. (1843) VIII. 252/1 Finding a more appropriate *single-worded denomination for the species. 1893W. Minto Logic i. ii. 68 Whether this is single-worded or many-worded is..a grammatical question.
20. a. With pa. pples. and ppl. adjs., as single-cut (of files), single-dyed, single-filed, single-grown, single-hung, single-lanted, single-reefed, single-refined, single-riveted; single-tuned (Electronics), having a single tuned circuit between two active devices.
1831J. Holland Manuf. Metal I. 302 In this state the file is what is called a *single-cut. 1846Holtzapffel Turning II. 819 When the file is spoken of, a double-cut file is always implied, unless a single-cut file, or a rasp, is specifically named. 1875Knight Dict. Mech. 2187/1 Single-cut File, a file having but a single rank of teeth.
1696J. F. Merch. Wareho. laid open 9 Pillow Fustians,..some of them *single dyed.
1853G. Johnston Nat. Hist. E. Bord. I. 107 Let us walk on, *single-filed.
1833Tennyson Pal. Art I, Muskscented blooms.., In bunch or *singlegrown.
1823P. Nicholson Pract. Build. 593 *Single-hung; in window-sashes, when one only is moveable.
1630Tincker of Turvey Ep. Ded., I have drunke double-lanted ale, and *single-lanted.
1860Merc. Mar. Mag. VII. 173 The topsails were *single reefed.
1718M. Eales Receipts 28 A Pound of *single-refin'd Sugar.
1869Rankine Machine & Hand-tools App. 44 In *single-rivetted joints there is but one row of rivets.
1947F. E. Terman Radio Engin. (ed. 3) vii. 346 The band width in the case of an amplifier system employing double-tuned circuits is defined in the same manner as for a system employing *single-tuned circuits. 1975D. G. Fink Electronics Engineers' Handbk. xiii. 43 The two common types [of tuned interstage] are the single- and double-tuned interstage.
b. With pres. pples., as single-cutting, single-driving, single-living, single-shooting. Also with vbl. ns., as single-boating, single-manning, single-spacing.
1563in Strype Ann. Ref. (1709) I. xxxv. 349 Single-living men, that is to say, unmaried, and especially unmaried priests. 1846Holtzapffel Turning II. 549 The cone countersink may be viewed as a multiplication of the common single-cutting drill. 1888Encycl. Brit. XXIII. 559 Single-driving rear-steerers were at this time [1877] very common. 1891Daily News 4 Feb. 3/3 All magazine rifles must be more costly than single-shooting rifles. 1934W. Wood Fleeters iv. 59 Men who are only used to Iceland and single-boatin' aren't any good at this fleetin' job. 1956F. C. Avis Bookman's Conc. Dict. 273/1 Single spacing, the style of typewriting in which the lines of characters follow immediately after each other without any interlinear spacing, equivalent to ‘Solid’ typesetting. 1958E. Newby Short Walk in Hindu Kush ii. 21 A great spate of letters..neatly typed in single spacing. 1965Times 22 Oct. 8/7 The proposal that single manning of locomotives should be introduced within a year or two. 1973Guardian 31 Dec. 13/8 London Transport..has launched..single-manning... But the single⁓manned buses..take up to five times as long at stops. 1978Church Times 21 July 5/4 A letter of more than two pages in single-spacing.
c. With vbs., as single-knock, single-plate, single-rivet, single-space.
1834Tait's Mag. I. 735/1 The original plotter.., who has single-knocked at so many mansions in Grosvenor Square [etc.]. 1839Ure Dict. Arts 998 The ingot is now dressed carefully with the file on one or two faces, according as it is to be single or double plated. 1874Thearle Naval Archit. 103 The edges of the plating above this height..may be single riveted. 1961Guardian 6 Feb. 9/5 Press releases would be single-spaced to save paper. 1963D. Heyes 12th of Never (1964) i. 8 He..continued typing..and..single-spaced the final line to squeeze it in.
Add:[III.] [17.] [a.] single (European) market, a free trade association allowing for increasing alignment of fiscal policy and unrestricted movement of goods, capital, etc., between the member states of the European Union (fully implemented from 1 Jan. 1993).
1966Bull. European Econ. Community iv. 20 (heading) III. Internal Activities. Establishment of a Single Market. 1979Dun's Rev. Sept. 117/2 The EEC's prime mandate is to create a *single European market, and companies in countries with lax liability laws have a cost advantage over rival members subject to stronger laws. 1987Financial Times 24 Mar. 3/4 The development of the single European market, with the further opening of frontiers providing an important spur to economic growth. 1990Marketing 17 May 1/4 In favour of a total ban are the state monopoly producers—Italy, France, Spain and Portugal. It is in their interests to block tobacco imports and protect their national products, against the spirit of the Single Market.
▪ V. single, v.1|ˈsɪŋg(ə)l|
[f. the adj.]
1. trans. To separate or part from each other; to take asunder. Now rare.
1570–6Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 114 For as much as the office[s]..of later daies have been united inseparably, I wil not lose the labour in going about to single them againe. 1584D. Fenner Def. Ministers (1587) 11 Wee will..single them a little, and deale with them seuerallie. a1600Hooker Eccl. Pol. vii. i. §2 Not..to offer the edge of the axe unto all three boughs at once, but rather to single them, and strike at the weakest first. 1828Trial W. Dyon & his Son at York 20 The reports were so near together, that I could scarcely single them.
refl.1596Danett tr. Comines 144 Whensoeuer his men scattered & singled themselues, some of them came short home. 1600Breton Strange Fort. Two Princes Wks. (Grosart) II. 11/2 Spying certaine Ladies..comming into the garden, they singled themselues one from another. 1623Bingham Xenophon 115 That the Army should more easily passe singling themselues..than if they clustred and thronged at a Bridge.
2. Hunting. To separate (one deer, etc.) from the herd; to pick out and chase separately. Also with forth or out.
1575Gascoigne Flowers Wks. 1907 I. 109 The meanes to single forth The stricken Deare which doth in heard remaine. 1590Cokaine Treat. Hunting D j, Then the Huntsmans part is to applie the hounds well vntill they haue singled the wearie Deere againe. 1674N. Cox Gentl. Recreat. (1677) 60 Follow the largest Head of the whole Herd, which you must endeavour to single out for the Chase. 1735Somerville Chase iii. 324 The grisly Boar is singled from his Herd As large as that in Erimanthian Woods. 1841Lane Arab. Nts. I. 127 From the moment he singles out an Antelope the whole body are in motion. 1873Black Pr. Thule xiii. 202 The hound had at length singled out a particular deer.
fig.1579Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 35 He behaued himselfe so warily, that hee singled his game wiselye. 1588Shakes. Tit. A. ii. i. 117 Single you thither then this dainty Doe, And strike her home by force, if not by words. 1593― 3 Hen. VI, ii. iv. 12 Nay Warwicke, single out some other Chace, For I my selfe will hunt this Wolfe to death. 1711Addison Spect. No. 125 ⁋8 We should then single every Criminal out of the Herd, and hunt him down.
3. a. To separate (one person or thing) from others; to draw or take aside or apart.
1593Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, ii. iv. 1 Now Clifford, I haue singled thee alone. 1632Heywood Four Prentises i. Wks. 1874 II. 216 Why have you singled me alone? a1658Rowley et al. Witch Edmonton iii, I have not shewn this cheek in company, Pardon me now: thus singled with your self [etc.]. a1672Sterry Freed. Will (1675) 25 Singling every thought, setting it naked in its own proper form.
refl.1588–9Greene Metam. Wks. (Grosart) IX. 73 When wee were in the greene meades, Meribates and my daughter had singled themselues. 1602Breton Wonders Worth Hearing Wks. (Grosart) II. 9/1 A couple..for serious cause of conference had singled themselues together.
b. Const. from.
1582Stanyhurst æneis ii. (Arb.) 58 Theare stood an od corner from vulgar companye singled. 1587Fleming Contn. Holinshed III. 401/2 Sir Richard Greenefield being singled from his fleet, all alone arriued in the Iland of Hispaniola. 1697Dryden æneid xi. 901 Him soon she singled from the flying Train, And slew with ease.
refl.a1639Spottiswood Hist. Ch. Scot. vi. (1677) 320 He singled himself from his company. 1698Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 2 That our Ships might have the Liberty that Night to single themselves from the Crowd of other Ships.
†c. With forth (cf. 5). Obs.
1593Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, ii. i. 12, I..watcht him how he singled Clifford forth. 1599B. Jonson Ev. Man out of Hum. v. i, If wee can, [let us] single her forth to some place. 1636tr. Florus' Hist. 10 Horatius..faynes himselfe to flie, so to single forth the enemie.
4. To pick out or distinguish from others.
In quot. 1671 with allusion to a challenge.
1588Shakes. L.L.L. ii. i. 28 In that behalfe..we single you, As our best mouing faire soliciter. 1604T. Wright Passions vi. 304 How, when we would remember, can we single a Flye from the vniversity of beastes, foules and fish. 1671Milton Samson 1092 Dost thou already single me? I thought Gives and the Mill had tam'd thee. 1701Stanhope St. Aug. Medit. ii. vii. (1720) 129 He singled thee from the rest. 1749Smollett Regicide iv. ii, He, whom my jealousy..Hath singled for destruction! 1805Southey Madoc i. v, Up the side he sprang, And look'd among the crew, and singling me Fell at my feet. 1822Shelley ‘We meet not as we parted’ iii, That moment from time was singled As the first of a life of pain.
refl.1812Coleridge in Lit. Rem. (1836) I. 383 The instinct..in each man of declaring his particular existence, and thus of singling or singularizing himself.
5. a. With out. To choose or select from a number of persons or things, esp. (in later use) in order to distinguish by particular notice or attention; to pick or mark out, to destine.
1629Baker in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. ii. III. 258 This bearer will convey hether such bookes as it shall please you to single out and deliver to him. 1697Dryden Virg. Past. iv. 74 Begin, auspicious Boy,..and with a smile thy Mother single out. 1710Addison Tatler No. 120 ⁋ 2 Every Man singled out some Woman to whom he offered his Addresses. 1782F. Burney Cecilia v. i, Having singled her out, he was regarding her. 1846Trench Mirac. xxx. (1862) 434 The man..now singles out the blessing which he craves. 1888Burgon Lives 12 Gd. Men II. v. 18 Singling out..from the entire body of the Clergy a man under suspicion of heresy.
b. Const. as, for, or with inf.
1633Bp. Hall Occas. Medit. (1851) 88 The want whereof dejects us beyond measure, as men singled out for patterns of misery. 1662Pepys Diary 10 May, I find that he do single me out to join with me apart from the rest. 1692Bentley Boyle Lect. vi. 186 This is the Passage which Lucilio Vanino singled out for his Text. 1726De Foe Hist. Devil i. xi. (1840) 159 Satan saw God had evidently singled out the Israelites..to favour them. 1780Mirror No. 88, I doubted not that they would single me out as a prodigy of learning and genius. 1833H. Martineau Manch. Strike viii. 85 This woman having been singled out as an example. 1856Bond Russia at Close of 16th c. (Hakl. Soc.) Introd. 61 The Protector..had singled him out for the execution of a secret commission. 1869Trollope He knew, etc. xxxi, The one she has singled out as the recipient of her kindness.
c. To select for special mention or comment.
1628Prynne Cens. Cozens 66, I will onely single out some three or four of his chiefe absurdities. 1672Sir G. Mackenzie Pleadings Pref. A iij b, Pointed and short pleading, wherein the Speaker singles out a point, and presses it. 1711Addison Spect. No. 35 ⁋11, I shall not scruple..to single out any of the small Wits, that infest the World with such Compositions. 1872Black Adv. Phaeton xxx. 404 America and not Germany had been singled out by the poet. 1891Spectator 5 Dec. 809 It is time to single out one or two works by members.
d. refl. To separate (oneself) from a number of others.
1885Pascoe London of To-day xiii. 120 Two or three horses at last emerge again, and single themselves out.
6. To bestow singly. rare—1.
1652Fuller Holy & Prof. St. (ed. 3) 498 Wishing that..whatsoever good was singl'd on them, may joyntly be heaped upon you.
7. To thin (seedling plants), so as to leave each plant separate; to pick off (shoots). Also const. out.
1731Miller Gard. Dict. s.v. Dipsacus, Singling out the Plants to about six or eight Inches Distance. 1801Farmer's Mag. Jan. 51 The turnip being singled by the hand⁓hoe. 1846J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4) II. 196 As they grow up in the spring the young shoots should be singled off to one. 1884F. J. Lloyd Sci. Agric. 255 When the turnip plants are tolerably advanced, or rough leaved, they are singled.
transf.1858–61J. Brown Horæ Subs. ii. 42 He has not the art of ‘singling’ his thoughts, an art..as necessary for young fancies as young turnips.
absol.1886[see singler n.]. 1896P. A. Graham Red Scaur xii. 175 This'll never do, singlin' wi' your best things on.
8. a. To render single, to reduce to one; to concentrate. Also refl.
1824Blackw. Mag. XVI. 29 The acquisition of knowledge..is best..made, by limiting, almost by singling to the mind, the objects of attainment. 1836Landor Pericles & Aspasia Wks. 1846 II. 371 This reproof..singled his aim.
b. Naut. (See quot.)
1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 627 To Single, to unreeve the running part of topsail sheets, &c., to let them run freely, or for harbour duty.
c. Naut. With up: to cast off all turns of rope except one. Also intr.
1900J. C. Cantwell Diary 17 May in Rep. Operations U.S. Revenue Steamer Nunivak (1904) iv. 57 The lines by which the Nunivak was held to the shore were singled up. 1925R. Clements Gipsy of Horn vi. 103 Our moorings had been singled up. 1959C. S. Forester Hunting Bismarck 8 Already sailors at the lines were singling up and then casting off. 1966T. Pynchon Crying of Lot 49 ii. 31 The little submarine..was at the quai, singling up all lines.
9. intr.
a. To go singly; to separate from others. Also with out and off.
1616J. Lane Contn. Sqr.'s T. v. 338, Theare them he findes in martial discipline well ordred,..taught..to double ranckes, and singel backe in place. 1676Hobbes Iliad iv. 292 Let..all go on At once. To single is to weaken you. 1759Goldsm. Polite Learn. viii. Wks. (Globe) 435/1 A reflection somewhat mortifying to the author who breaks his ranks, and singles out for public favour. 1769― Hist. Rome (1786) I. 204 Titus Manlius.., burning with shame to see the whole body of the Romans intimidated, boldly singled out against Metius. 1904in Eng. Dial. Dict. s.v., Single off, as cattle do when they are sick, or going to calve, &c.
b. U.S. (See quot. and cf. single-foot.)
a1864W. S. Clarke (Webster), Many very fleet horses, when overdriven, adopt a disagreeable gait,..in which the two legs of one side are raised almost..simultaneously. Such horses are said to single, or to be single-footed.
c. Of a railway track: To become single.
1899Daily News 19 Sept. 6/7 Just before Penybont the track singles for a short tunnel.
d. Baseball. Of a batter: to hit a single (sense 3 h); to make a one-base hit. Also trans., by singling to enable (another player) to reach home base.
1916Chicago Tribune 7 Oct. 13/1 In the ninth, the first man up singled. 1949Clarke County Democrat (Grove Hill, Alabama) 22 Sept. 2/5 The first St. Michael batter singled. 1966N.Y. Times (Internat. ed.) 22 Apr. 12/1 Felipe Alou singled in the first inning off Ray Culp. 1970Globe & Mail (Toronto) 28 Sept. 19/3 Adolfo Phillips singled home Ron Brand in the 11th inning. 1978N.Y. Times 30 Mar. d 19/4 In the third, Ken Henderson doubled, John Stearns singled and it was 4–0.
Hence ˈsingled ppl. a., selected.
1870Swinburne Ess. & Stud. (1875) 108, I take to witness four singled poems.
▪ VI. † ˈsingle, v.2 Obs. rare.
[ad. F. singler (now cingler), nasalized form of OF. sigler, ad. ON. sigla to sail.]
intr. To sail. Also † ˈsingling ppl. a.
1584Hudson Du Bartas' Judith iv. 122 The perfite pylot..with singling sheet doth shunne Cyanes straits. 1587Greene Euphues his Censure Wks. (Grosart) VI. 189 The Maryners ready with a Cockboate to set them aboorde hoysed sayles, and singling into the mayne, bad farewell to Ithaca. |