single
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈsɪŋɡl̩/
ipa: /ˈsɪŋɡəl/
homophone: cingle
rhymes: -ɪŋɡəl
Forms: form: singles
Etymology: From Middle English single, sengle, from Old French sengle, saingle, sangle, from Latin singulus, a diminutive derived from Proto-Indo-European *sem- (“one”). Akin to Latin simplex (“simple”). See simple, and compare singular.
Senses: topics: entertainment
lifestyle
music
antonyms: album
glosses: A 45 RPM vinyl record with one song on side A and one on side B.
examples: text: The Offspring released four singles from their most recent album.
topics: entertainment
lifestyle
music
glosses: A popular song released and sold (on any format) nominally on its own though usually having at least one extra track.
examples: text: He went to the party, hoping to meet some friendly singles there.
antonyms: married
glosses: One who is not married or does not have a romantic partner.
examples: text: He refused to take a single as the ball was dropped by his opponent's best fielder.
topics: ball-games
cricket
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: A score of one run.
topics: ball-games
baseball
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: A hit in baseball where the batter advances to first base.
topics: dominoes
games
glosses: A tile that has a different value (i.e. number of pips) at each end.
examples: text: I don't have any singles, so you'll have to make change.
text: She looked in her purse, found a ten and a single, gave him the ten. ‘I'll spend it on booze,’ he said.
ref: 1966 March, Thomas Pynchon, chapter 5, in The Crying of Lot 49, New York, N.Y.: Bantam Books, published November 1976, →ISBN, page 94:
glosses: A bill valued at $1.
examples: text: ‘I want to know, Mr Stone, if, in the course of the day, you have issued any tickets to a person dressed in Arab costume?’
His reply was prompt.
‘I have — by the last train, the 7.25, — three singles.’
ref: 1897, Richard Marsh, The Beetle:
glosses: A one-way ticket.
topics: ball-games
football
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
synonyms: word: rouge
english: official name in the rules
translation: official name in the rules
glosses: A score of one point, awarded when a kicked ball is dead within the non-kicking team's end zone or has exited that end zone.
examples: text: After tea, Mrs. Inglethorp went to lie down to rest before her efforts in the evening and I challenged Mary Cavendish to a single at tennis.
ref: 1920, Agatha Christie, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, London: Pan Books, published 1954, page 18:
topics: hobbies
lifestyle
sports
tennis
glosses: A game with one player on each side, as in tennis.
glosses: One of the reeled filaments of silk, twisted without doubling to give them firmness.
glosses: A handful of gleaned grain.
examples: text: If you want to be a scientist or an engineer, learn to say “no” to singles and floats.
ref: 2011, Rubin H. Landau, A First Course in Scientific Computing, page 214:
topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
programming
sciences
coordinate_terms: double
glosses: A floating-point number having half the precision of a double-precision value.
examples: text: But if the same scene is shot in singles (or “over-the-shoulder” shots where one of the actors is only a lumpy shoulder in the foreground), the editor and the director can almost redirect the scene on film.
ref: 1990, Jon Boorstin, The Hollywood Eye: What Makes Movies Work, page 94:
topics: broadcasting
film
media
television
glosses: A shot of only one character.
glosses: A single cigarette.
examples: text: A few such examples have been preserved, as is well known, such as one of the Stirling 8-ft. singles of the late Great Northern Railway, the Great Western 4-4-0 City of Truro, ex-Caledonian single-driver No. 123, the Brighton 0-4-2 Gladstone, and others.
ref: 1945 March and April, “Preserving Historic Locomotives”, in Railway Magazine, page 64:
topics: rail-transport
railways
transport
glosses: Synonym of single-driver.
synonyms: word: single-driver
Derived terms: cassingle
CD single
lead single
maxi single
singles bar
split single
Texas League single
triple single
Related terms: baseball
cricket