lonelone /ləʊn $ loʊn/ adjective [only before noun] 
A lone figure was standing at the bus stop. He was by no means a lone voice criticizing the government. a lone gunman the lone survivor of a shipwreck2lone mother/father/parent etc British English someone who looks after their children on their own SYN single: a lone-parent family3lone wolf someone who prefers to be alone
WORD ORIGINlone
Origin:
1300-1400 aloneEXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- a lone figure in the snow
- A lone gunman burst into his house and shot him dead.
- Councilman Dexter cast the lone "no" vote.
- Out of the stillness, a lone bird began to sing.
- A lone naked bulb dangled from the ceiling.
- Apparently, the murder of the lone black, Penn, was unworthy of note.
- Family graves may occasionally receive a visit by a lone person shouldering a glum aura.
- For start-ups it was the lone inventor in a garage.
- He suffered from post-traumatic stress because of a lone confrontation with eight youths two years earlier.
- It never bothered her before to be a lone voice.
- Sheila is a lone parent with two children, aged 13 and 15.
- This was the time when the lone and often despairing voice of dissent was heard from the terraces.
THESAURUS
without help from anyone else: · I can’t move the bed on my own.· See if you can work out the answer by yourself.all on your own/all by yourself (=used when you feel impressed or feel sympathy for someone): · Did you paint this picture all on your own?· It’s not fair that she does everything all by herself.
without any help from anyone else. Alone is more formal and less common than on your own or by yourself: · Police believe the killer acted alone.
without asking for help or advice from anyone: · Students are taught to work independently.· One day she will have to live independently without the support of her family.
without the help of anyone or anything – used especially about people who are very weak, ill etc: · He is unable to breathe unaided.· After treatment, he was able to go up and down stairs unaided.
doing something difficult or impressive without help from anyone else: · She single-handedly reformed the entire system.
by one person, not a group: · Lindbergh’s solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean· She is planning to release a solo album.· He sang and played the song solo.
adjective [only before noun] doing something alone – used especially in the following phrases: a lone gunman: · Police say the attack was carried out by a lone gunman.· The government should do more to help lone parents (=who raise a child alone).
adjective someone who has become very rich or successful without help from anyone else: a self-made man/millionaire/businessman etc: · Like most self-made men, he was extremely self-confident.
Longman Language Activatoronly one, or only a small number only one person or thing, or only a small number of people or things, and not anyone or anything else: · There was only one dress that she really liked.· Only rich people were able to travel abroad in those days.· You can only take one piece of hand baggage onto the plane.· You get only two chances - if you fail the exam twice you can't take it again.the only person/thing/place etc: · She's the only woman I've ever loved.be only for somebody (=only one person or group can use something): · These seats are only for first class passengers.
especially spoken only one person, thing, type, or group, or only a small number of them, especially when this is surprising: · "Were there a lot of people there?" "No, just me and David."· He started his own small shop - at first just selling newspapers, then books and magazines.· "Does everyone have to wear uniform?" "No, just the first year students."
the only thing or things, especially when this is disappointing, annoying, or surprising: · All Kevin ever talks about is football.· We were really hungry, but all we could find was some stale bread.· All I wanted was a bit of sympathy.
use this especially when you feel disappointed, annoyed, or surprised that something is the only thing there is or the only thing someone does: · There was nothing but salad to eat.· They did nothing but argue for the whole journey.
: one thing/person/time/problem etc the only person, thing etc and no others - use this to emphasize that there really is only one person or thing of this type: the one thing/person/time/problem etc: · She was the one friend that I could trust.· The one thing I don't like about my car is the colour.· The one time I forgot my umbrella was the day it rained.somebody's one regret/friend/mistake etc: · My one regret is that I never told Brad how I felt.
being the only one, when usually you would expect there to be more - used in newspapers and literature: · A lone gunman burst into his house and shot him dead.· Out of the stillness, a lone bird began to sing.
a solitary person, tree, building etc is the only one you can see in a place, and may therefore seem a little lonely or sad: · A solitary light shone in the street.· There was one solitary hotel left standing after the earthquake.· I could see a solitary figure outlined against the horizon.
formal the only person, thing etc, especially when you would expect there to be more or expect it to be different: · Everyone ignored my sole contribution to the conversation.the sole person/thing etc: · In many households, the woman is the sole breadwinner (=the only person who has a job).with the sole intention/objective/aim of doing something: · I think he came here with the sole intention of causing trouble.somebody's sole concern/objective etc: · NASA's sole concern was the safety of the astronauts.
made of, including, or involving only one thing or group, especially something special or something that is of good quality: · This shop sells clothes made exclusively of Indian materials.· The office staff are almost exclusively female.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY A lone figure was standing at the bus stop. He was by no means a lone voice criticizing the government. a lone gunman the lone survivor of a shipwreck a lone-parent familyCOLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSNOUN
A lone figure was standing at the bus stop. He was by no means a lone voice criticizing the government. a lone gunman the lone survivor of a shipwreck a lone-parent family· A quarter of lone fathers are over 50, reflecting their greater likelihood of being widowers.· The proportion headed by a lone father, at 2%, has remained virtually unchanged in the last two decades.
· At last a lone figure staggered out, singing raucously as he swaggered in a drunken stupor.· But as I ploughed through the trough in the snow, a lone figure came weaving drunkenly towards me.· Suddenly, as if on cue, a lone figure appears on a horse.
· But even proponents of the lone gunman theory acknowledge the wealth of interests served by Kabila's removal.· A lone gunman with an apparent grudge can do great harm.· Suddenly, a lone gunman appeared.· Did lone gunmen commit both murders, as initial investigations concluded?· So much for the lone gunman theory.
· The inequality between lone men and lone women is greatest among those aged 75 and over.· A lone man was walking by and Ezra lowered his window and leaned out and asked the way to the cemetery.· She hesitated and then sat down at the far end of one where a lone man was wholly immersed in a newspaper.· He was standing with his back to a tree as all lone men stand if they can who are attacked by many.
· More than half of lone parents with two or more children had incomes below their absolute poverty level at £227 a week.· Thus the incomes of the lone parents were equivalent to about 57 percent of those of the couples.· Two thirds of lone parent families depend mainly on social security benefits, compared with one in eight two parent families.· But nothing we could do would reverse fundamental social trends which were producing more and more lone parents.· Most lone parents - both men and women - have been married and are separated or divorced from their former partners.· The majority of lone parents become so as the result of separation, divorce or death.· The proportion of all families headed by a lone parent has increased from 8 percent in 1971 to 16 percent in 1988.· Two members lived in local authority homes and 15 in households characterised by unemployment and chronically sick and/or lone parents.
· One man, the lone survivor of the massacre, carried the gruesome story to Tihosuco.· The lone survivor was a 2-1 / 4-year-old girl.
· To have one lone voice attacking royalty in Jubilee week seemed perfectly fair.· It never bothered her before to be a lone voice.
· You know how he is - a lone wolf.· From far off where the Zoo lay the howl of a lone wolf wound up into the night.· I got the impression you're something of a lone wolf.
· The inequality between lone men and lone women is greatest among those aged 75 and over.· The 29 men and one lone woman arrived here in 1859.· Or did they simply betray the presence of a lone woman in a dark deserted place?· The bulk of this increase comes from families headed by a lone woman and, most often, a divorced woman.· Some 42 percent of households containing an elderly person consist of a lone woman.· In these circumstances it is hardly surprising that many lone women parents do not work.
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRY
1used to talk about the only person or thing in a place, or the only person or thing that does something SYN solitary: - More than half of lone parents with two or more children had incomes below their absolute poverty level at £227 a week.
- One Parent Benefit is paid to 75% of lone parents.
- Sheila is a lone parent with two children, aged 13 and 15.
- Two thirds of lone parent families depend mainly on social security benefits, compared with one in eight two parent families.
- We can treat lone parents as poor people, needing means-tested social assistance of some sort - as we do now.
- From far off where the Zoo lay the howl of a lone wolf wound up into the night.
- I got the impression you're something of a lone wolf.
- You know how he is - a lone wolf.
A lone figure was standing at the bus stop. He was by no means a lone voice criticizing the government. a lone gunman the lone survivor of a shipwreck2lone mother/father/parent etc British English someone who looks after their children on their own SYN single: a lone-parent family3lone wolf someone who prefers to be alone- John Lewis
- Johnnie Walker
- johnny
- Johnny-on-the-spot
- John of Gaunt
- John o’ Groats
- John Paul I
- John Paul II, Pope
- John, Saint
- Johns, Jasper
- Johnson, Amy
- Johnson, Andrew
- Johnson, Boris
- Johnson, Jack
- Johnson & Johnson
- Johnson, Lyndon B.
- Johnson, Magic
- Johnson, Samuel
- Johnson, Virginia Eshelman
- John the Baptist, Saint
- John XXIII
- joie de vivre
- join
- joined-up
- joiner