Meaning of single in English

single

adjective

/ˈsɪŋ.ɡəl/ us

/ˈsɪŋ.ɡəl/

single adjective (ONE)

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B2 [ before noun ]

one only:

He knocked his opponent down with a single blow.

not a single Not a single person offered to help her.

You haven't been listening to a single word I've been saying.

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double adjective

Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples

having no others like this one

onlyShe's the only one who can do it.
oneHe's the one person you can rely on in a situation like this.
singleYou haven't listened to a single thing I've said!
lonePolice were looking for a lone gunman.
soleHe was the sole survivor of the plane crash.

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She insisted on telling me every single detail of what they did to her in hospital.
Identical twins develop from a single fertilized egg which then splits into two.
It was very difficult to encapsulate the story of the revolution in a single one-hour documentary.
Not a single sound fell from her lips.
He was floored with a single punch to the head.

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Numbers: single, double & multiple

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single adjective (NOT MARRIED)

not married, or not having a romantic relationship with someone:

a single woman/man/person

He's been single for so long now, I don't think he'll ever marry.

single-parent family The number of single-parent families dependent on the state has risen enormously in recent years.

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Women's rights groups have cried out against the proposed cut in benefit paid to single mothers.
He finds it extremely difficult being a single parent.
It's hard being a single mother.
Please state whether you are single, cohabiting, married, separated, divorced or widowed.
Children with single parents at my school were very much in the minority .

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Marriage: marital status

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single adjective (SEPARATE)

B1 [ before noun ]

considered on its own and separate from other things:

Patience is the single most important quality needed for this job.

She lost every single thing when her house burned down.

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The closure of the Manchester printing factory is the company's biggest single cutback so far.
It's a huge window made from a single pane of glass.
The single most important factor in health was good sanitation.

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Numbers: single, double & multiple

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single

verb [ I ]

/ˈsɪŋ.ɡəl/ us

/ˈsɪŋ.ɡəl/

A baseball player singles by hitting a ball that allows him to reach first base.

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Baseball & rounders

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Phrasal verb

single someone/something out

single

noun [ C ]

/ˈsɪŋ.ɡəl/ us

/ˈsɪŋ.ɡəl/

a record or CD that has a main song and usually a small number of other songs on it:

Have you heard Lady Gaga's new single?

in cricket, one run (= point)

in baseball, a hit that allows the player to reach first base

singles [ U ]

a game, especially in tennis, played between one player on one side and one on the other:

He was one of only two Americans to win his singles match.

singles [ plural ]

people who are not married and do not have a romantic relationship with someone:

They hold a number of social events especially for singles.

single (ticket) B1 UK

a ticket for a journey to a place, but not for the return:

May I have a single to London, please.

a single room

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Sound and image recordings

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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Cricket

Baseball & rounders

Hotels & hostels

Parts of buildings: rooms

(Definition of single from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

single | American Dictionary

single

adjective [ not gradable ]

/ˈsɪŋ·ɡəl/

single adjective [not gradable] (ONE)

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one only:

A single customer was left in the shop.

A single bed is a bed for one person.

single adjective [not gradable] (SEPARATE)

considered by itself or separate from other things:

Taxes are the single most important source of funds for the government.

single adjective [not gradable] (NOT MARRIED)

not married:

He’s been single for so long, I don’t think he’ll ever marry.

single

noun [ C ]

/ˈsɪŋ·ɡəl/

single noun [C] (DOLLAR BILL)

A single is a one-dollar bill.

A single is also a room for only one person.

single noun [C] (PERSON WHO IS NOT MARRIED)

a person who is not married:

Singles pay more in income tax than married people do.

(Definition of single from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

single | Business English

single

adjective [ before noun ]

/ˈsɪŋɡl/ us

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one only:

Journalism often relies on a single source.

Is a thread of e-mails a single document or many?

a single use card

TRANSPORT UK

travelling or allowing travel in only one direction:

a single fare/ticket/journey

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return adjective

single

noun [ C ]

/ˈsɪŋɡl/ us

TRANSPORT UK

a ticket for a journey to a place, but not back again:

single to somewhere A single to London, please.

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return noun

MONEY US

a piece of paper money worth one dollar

(Definition of single from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of single

single

In that case the grammar would have a phonotactic filter permitting /0/ to form nuclei only with single-x nonconsonantal melodies.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

This would provide a qualitative description of the mixing of single-particle and collective effects.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Analysis of single channel records indicate that the effect is to favor transition to a substate rather than to physically alter the conductance pathway.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

In terms purely of logic and expediency, the argument in favour of a single language is difficult to oppose.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The census returns indicate that many of those single solitaries - though some of the married ones also - were inmigrants.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

It is difficult to find a single refugee who thinks that they will be returning home any time in the near future.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The mapping between surface and lexical levels is reduced to a single function call and two simple conversions from text to binary, and vice versa.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Each point represents the mean values of these 2 variables measured on 2 large hooks from each of 10 protoscoleces from a single isolate.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The net free energy change then represents the difference between several large-value terms, and no single component can be said to dominate.

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The surface density of streptavidin molecules was sufficiently small that each of the pinning sites represented a single streptavidin-biotin cross-bridge.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The text is unique, as it represents the work of a single author, who cogently articulates a systematic approach to psychiatry.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The selection of a single lexical candidate is thus either random or based on frequency or familiarity of the lexical forms.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The single observer visually estimated cover to the nearest 10% at ten randomly chosen points within a 5 m radius of each sampling position.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

This single unified spirit is accorded multiple roles.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

If there is no such syllable, the syllable with a single coda consonant is stressed.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

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These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.