1486 Bk. 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.

1575 G. Turberville Bk. Faulconrie 123 If a Falcon trusse..you muste cope hir tallantes, hir powlse, and hir petie single.

1607 T. Heywood Woman Kilde with Kindnesse sig. B2^v Both her petty singles And her long singles, gript her more than other.

1614 S. Latham Falconry ii. xxxvi. 134 When you doe perceiue that your Hawke hath caught a straine..in anie of the lesser ioints of the singles,..then doe you take a little of the oile of excetor.

1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. 237/2 The Singles, or Petty Singles, are the Toes of the Hawk.

1820 W. Scott Monastery II. x. 293 What! struggling, fluttering, aiming at me with beak and single?

1860 W. H. Ainsworth Ovingdean Grange 61 Like the Barbary falcon, armed with strong singles and pounces.

1882 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Sept. 368 Like the muirfowl quivering in the singles of a falcon.

1567 A. Golding tr. Ovid Metamorphosis (new ed.) vii. f. 84^v She put thereto the..flesh and feathers of a Witch.., The singles [L. prosecta] also of a Wolfe.

1531 T. Elyot Bk. named Gouernour i. xxiii. sig. Lv^v The thirde motion, called singles, is of two vnities seperate in pasinge forwarde.

1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Simple,..a single in dauncing.

1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie ii. xvii. 111 The sillable [prooue]..is long in all his singles and compoundes [reproòue], [approòue], [disproòue].

1592 Exch. Rolls Scotl. XXII. 574 He sall mak payment..for the singill of the dowbill of the few~ferme of the landis of Catslak.

1684 R. Howlett School Recreat. 93 Another Way of Ringing Twenty Four Changes, Doubles and Singles on Four Bells.

1796 C. Marshall Introd. Knowl. & Pract. Gardening xviii. 381 Through the double sort [sc. of tuberose] be more curious, the single is (on the whole) the best flower.

1831 G. R. Porter Treat. 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.

1844 G. Dodd Textile Manuf. Great Brit. 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.

1879 Cassell's Techn. Educator (new ed.) II. 154/2 By singles is signified one of the reeled threads twisted.

1888 Encycl. Brit. XXIV. 659/2 Yarn, as delivered from the mule in woollen-spinning, or from the throstle in the case of worsteds, is in the condition known as singles.

1850 H. G. Bohn et al. 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.

1876 A. Campbell-Walker Correct Card Gloss. p. xiv Single, a, making game after your adversary has scored three or four up.

1851 J. Pycroft Cricket Field ii. 24 Ever and anon a single or a double are safely played away.

1858 N.Y. Tribune 25 Aug. 5/6 Smith made three by singles.

1867 N.Y. Mercury 2 Aug. 6/5 The sharp fielding of the Athletics caused the retirement of their opponents for a single.

1880 Daily Inter Ocean (Chicago) 29 June 8/3 Force's winning run came off a wild throw by Ward, a sacrifice and single.

1883 Daily Tel. 15 May 2/7 Mr. Hawke added another single off that bowler.

1948 Herald-Press (St. Joseph, Mich.) 14 Aug. 7/2 Green also bashed out a triple and single during the game.

1974 Anderson (S. Carolina) Independent 23 Apr. 6 a/2 The Astros broke a scoreless tie in the fourth on Bob Watson's single, a wild pitch, and Doug Rader's double.

1884 Daily News 3 Sept. 3/5 The first rounds of the Gentlemen's Singles..were decided as follows.

1896 Westm. Gaz. 26 Nov. 4/1 J. H. Taylor won the singles competition with a score of 76.

1901 Railway Mag. Jan. 31/2 The engine hauling the 9.45 a.m. was No. 22, one of the rebuilt 8 ft. singles.

1931 Times Educ. Suppl. 27 June p. iii/3 A famous locomotive,..one of the original 9 ft. singles built for the Bristol and Exeter Railway.

1904 R. S. Clouston in Burlington Mag. July 381/2 Fine specimens, even if ‘singles’, have been added where-ever possible.

1913 Rep. Brit. Assoc. 670 The relative profitableness of a crop of twin lambs, compared with a fall of ‘singles’.

1921 Glasgow Herald 7 Dec. 9 Coals used in smithwork say ‘pearls’ and ‘singles’, varied from 15s. to 18s. per ton f.o.b.

1931 Times 16 Mar. 19/7 Lanarkshire [coal]..trebles..doubles..singles.

1923 N.Y. Times 7 Oct. ix. 2/1 Single, an artist working alone as an act.

1955 L. Feather Encycl. Jazz (1956) 118/2 After Keaton broke up temporarily in 1949, she worked as a single, but rejoined Keaton for several tours.

1962 J. McCabe Mr. Laurel & Mr. Hardy i. 26 Following the Sleeping Beauty season, he went on as a single again..for a few odd engagements.

1976 National 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.

1936 J. 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.

1964 L. 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.’

1977 H. Fast Immigrants i. 35 He..took out a wad of bills, peeling off two fives and two singles.

1949 Billboard 8 Oct. 26/1 (heading) Best-selling pop singles.

1958 Gramophone Dec. 328/1 There is a single by Nino Rico and his Orchestra.

1965 G. 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.

1981 Listener 1 Jan. 31/2 A track released as a single..topped the singles chart.

1951 B. 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.

1955 D. 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.

1963 A. Bird & F. 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.

1976 New 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.

1889 E. 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.

1903 L. Merrick Quaint Companions iv. 49 She congratulated herself on having taken only a ‘third single’ at Brighton.

1936 Punch 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.

1963 New Yorker 29 June 46/3 (advt.) The famous hotel Astor Singles from $9, doubles from $14.

1967 A. Hunter Gently Continental ii. 12 He goes up to Clooney's room... Number 7 is a small single at the end of the landing.

1973 E. Pace Any War will Do i. 5 Yes, sir, the hotel could provide two singles with bath.

1977 B. 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.’

1964 W. & J. Breedlove Swap Clubs ii. 57 A single is a man or woman who swings alone, without someone to swap.

1967 D. Francis Blood Sport viii. 97 Family groups, mostly, and three married couples. No singles except me.

1972 P. A. Whitney Snowfire (1973) iv. 52 I had met most of the guests... Some were married, but there were a few young singles too.

1980 R. L. Duncan Brimstone iii. 59 We have a club rule against singles.

1952 W. Granville Dict. Theatr. Terms 163 Single act, a solo performance in vaudeville, e.g. a ballad singer, a juggler, an acrobat, an impersonator, or a raconteur.

1960 B. 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.

1803 in Naval Documents U.S. Wars Barbary Powers (U.S. Office Naval Records) (1941) III. 39 When at Single Anchor, he is to attend the ship at the turnings of the tide and be careful that in little winds the cable be shortened in.

1822 C. 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.

1839 F. Marryat Phantom Ship I. viii. 162 The Ter Schilling..lay at single anchor.

1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. 627 Single anchor, a ship unmoored, having hove up one bower, rides by the other.

a1625 F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Captaine ii. i, in Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Gg3/1 No more Then..Fighting at single billet with a Barge-man.

1889 G. M'Gowan tr. A. Bernthsen Text-bk. Org. Chem. i. 50 A double bond between two carbon atoms is looser, and therefore more easily broken than a single one.]

1903 A. J. Walker & O. E. Mott tr. A. F. Holleman 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.

1966 D. H. Williams & I. 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.

1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. 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.

1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. 462/2 The Single Change, is when all the Bells ring, and one is changed only from Round Ringing.

1872 H. T. Ellacombe Bells of Church in Church Bells Devon iii. 39 About the year 1642..single changes were first attempted.

1861 J. S. Adams 5000 Mus. Terms 91 Single Chant, a simple harmonized melody extending only to one verse [etc.].

1876 J. Stainer & W. A. Barrett Dict. Musical Terms 84/2 A single chant is in two strains, the first of three, and the second of four bars in length.

1890 C. G. Heathcote Lawn Tennis in J. M. Heathcote et al. Tennis (Badminton Libr. of Sports & Pastimes) 195 The single court may be marked in the same way.

1897 Earl of Suffolk et al. Encycl. Sport I. 611/2 The double court should be 12 yards wide, thereby permitting the inclusion of the single court in it.

1955 J. G. Davis Dict. Dairying (ed. 2) 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.

1962 Listener 26 July 155/1 ¼ pint of real single cream.

1979 A. Parker Country Recipe Notebk. viii. 108 Single cream is thin cream for pouring. It will not whip.

1808 D. Lever Young Sea Officer's Sheet Anchor 5 To Double Wall this Knot... The knot will appear..having a double wall, and single crown.

1883 Man. Seamanship for Boys' Training Ships Royal Navy (1886) 121 Form a double-wall, single-crowned, then lay the strands by the sides of those in the single-crown.

1897 J. Wright Scenes Sc. Life 27 ‘A single en’, or one apartment.

1935 A. MacArthur & H. K. 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.

1981 P. Turnbull Deep & Crisp & Even iv. 60 He took a single end in Maryhill and sent for his wife.

a1831 Encycl. Metrop. (1845) I. 462/2 The more obvious method.., which is called Book-keeping by Single Entry.

1849 J. H. Freese Commerc. Class-bk. 103 If my books were kept by single entry, I should simply credit Smart & Co. for the coffee.

1963 Guide 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.

1976 B. 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.

1777 P. Thicknesse Year's Journey France & Spain I. vii. 52 I could not refrain from giving her a double fee, for a single fare.

1841 C. 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.

1972 ‘C. Fremlin’ Appointment with Yesterday i. 11 A small oblong of card~board... ‘Single fare, £1.40’ is what it said.

1670 C. Cotton tr. G. Girard Hist. Life Duke of Espernon ii. 394 He therefore commanded some Foot Companies to steal over silently, and by single Files.

1832 H. Douglas Ess. Mil. Bridges (ed. 2) v. 249 Sufficient only to support infantry marching in single file.

1865 E. B. Tylor Res. Early Hist. Mankind v. 83 To place the different elements of a sentence in succession, in single file so to speak.

1899 W. C. Morrow Bohemian Paris 138 A single-file march round the room is started.

1881 Sportsman's Year-bk. 71 Single hair is greatly used in the trout streams in the north of England with the artificial fly.

1902 Encycl. Brit. XXVII. 584/1 For bipolar machines the single horse-shoe, which is the lineal successor of the permanent magnet employed in the first magneto-electric machines, has been very largely used.

a1684 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1654 (1955) III. 112 The humorous old knight, has built a long single house of 2 low stories.

1818 W. Scott Heart of Mid-Lothian i, in Tales of my Landlord 2nd Ser. III. 4 Dumbiedikes was what is called in Scotland a single house; that is, having only one room occupying its whole breadth.

1961 Press (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.

1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. III. 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.

1591 R. Greene Second Pt. Conny-catching sig. E^v There came an other and bought a knife and should haue single money againe.

1611 J. Donne Anat. World sig. B And that rich Indie which doth gold interre, Is but as single money coyn'd from her.

1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) (at cited word) Single Multiplication is when the Numbers given, consist each of them of one only Figure; as if 5 were to be multiply'd by 3, 9 by 6.

1759 in Eng. Hist. Rev. (1897) 12 763 We are Single Officers, that is, only one Livetenant to a Company.

1881 E. Ingersoll Oyster-industry (10th Census U.S.: Bureau of Fisheries) 248 Single Oysters.—In the south ‘single oyster’ means an edible oyster in contradistinction from the raccoon oyster.

1870 Routledge's Every Boy's Ann. Apr. 243 The most simple shortening for all descriptions of small cords is that known to boys as the single plait, but which seamen know as the chain knot.

1877 Cassell's Family Mag. Jan. 83/2 Net Single and Annual Premiums.

1880 Encycl. Brit. XIII. 171/2 We conclude..that the single premium at age 20 for a whole~term assurance of £1 according to the H^m mortality table, reckoning interest at 3 per cent., is £·32886 or 6s. 7d.

1930 Times 27 Mar. 22/1 Single premium (with loan) business.

1975 R. 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.

1897 W. S. Taggart Cotton Spinning II. 24 All draw-frames are now made with what is generally termed a ‘single preventer’ motion.

1709 R. Steele Tatler No. 31. ⁋3 The historian mentions, when he attack'd Thalestris, it was only at single Rapier.

1883 G. Grove Dict. Music 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.

1920 U. 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.

1931 G. Jacob Orchestral Technique iii. 23 The Clarinet (single-reed instrument).

1964 S. Marcuse Musical Instruments 478/1 Single reeds are idioglott or heteroglott... The beating reed is the most common among Western single reeds (the clarinet reed, for example).

1976 D. Munrow Instruments 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.

1721 R. Wodrow Hist. Sufferings Church of Scotl. (1830) II. ii. v. 168 A person of quality,..standing before an ensign, lieutenant, or single sentinel.