single
♦♦♦ sin|gle /s'ɪŋgəl/ (singles singling singled)
1 [ADJ] ADJ n
You use single to emphasize that you are referring to one thing, and no more than one thing.
A single shot rang out...
Over six hundred people were wounded in a single day...
She hadn't uttered a single word.
2 [ADJ] det ADJ
You use single to indicate that you are considering something on its own and separately from other things like it.
Every single house in town had been damaged...
The Middle East is the world's single most important source of oil.
3 [ADJ]
Someone who is single is not married. You can also use single to describe someone who does not have a girlfriend or boyfriend.
Is it difficult being a single mother?...
Gay men are now eligible to become foster parents whether they are single or have partners.
4 [ADJ] usu ADJ n
A single room is a room intended for one person to stay or live in.
A single room at the Astir Hotel costs £56 a night.
[N-COUNT]
Single is also a noun.
It's £65 for a single, £98 for a double and £120 for an entire suite.
5 [ADJ] ADJ n
A single bed is wide enough for one person to sleep in.
6 [ADJ] usu ADJ n
A single ticket is a ticket for a journey from one place to another but not back again. (BRIT)
The price of a single ticket is thirty-nine pounds.
≠ return
[N-COUNT]
Single is also a noun. (in AM, use one-way)
...a Club Class single to Los Angeles.
7 [N-COUNT]
A single or a CD single is a CD which has a few short songs on it. You can also refer to the main song on a CD as a single.
The winners will get a chance to release their own single.
8 [N-UNCOUNT]
Singles is a game of tennis or badminton in which one player plays another. The plural singles can be used to refer to one or more of these matches.
Boris Becker of Germany won the men's singles...
9
in single file: see file
see also single-sin|gle cream
[N-UNCOUNT]
Single cream is thin cream that does not have a lot of fat in it. (BRIT; in AM, use light cream)single out
[PHRASAL VERB] V n P, V n P for/as n, V P n (not pron)
If you single someone out from a group, you choose them and give them special attention or treatment.
The gunman had singled Debilly out and waited for him...
His immediate superior has singled him out for a special mention...
We wanted to single out the main threat to civilisation.sin|gle par|ent (single parents)
[N-COUNT] oft N n
A single parent is someone who is bringing up a child on their own, because the other parent is not living with them.
I was bringing up my three children as a single parent.
...a single-parent household.sin|gle sup|plement (single supplements)
also single person supplement
[N-COUNT]
A single supplement is an additional sum of money that a hotel charges for one person to stay in a room meant for two people.
You can avoid the single supplement by agreeing to share a twin room.
1 [ADJ] ADJ n
You use single to emphasize that you are referring to one thing, and no more than one thing.
A single shot rang out...
Over six hundred people were wounded in a single day...
She hadn't uttered a single word.
2 [ADJ] det ADJ
You use single to indicate that you are considering something on its own and separately from other things like it.
Every single house in town had been damaged...
The Middle East is the world's single most important source of oil.
3 [ADJ]
Someone who is single is not married. You can also use single to describe someone who does not have a girlfriend or boyfriend.
Is it difficult being a single mother?...
Gay men are now eligible to become foster parents whether they are single or have partners.
4 [ADJ] usu ADJ n
A single room is a room intended for one person to stay or live in.
A single room at the Astir Hotel costs £56 a night.
[N-COUNT]
Single is also a noun.
It's £65 for a single, £98 for a double and £120 for an entire suite.
5 [ADJ] ADJ n
A single bed is wide enough for one person to sleep in.
6 [ADJ] usu ADJ n
A single ticket is a ticket for a journey from one place to another but not back again. (BRIT)
The price of a single ticket is thirty-nine pounds.
≠ return
[N-COUNT]
Single is also a noun. (in AM, use one-way)
...a Club Class single to Los Angeles.
7 [N-COUNT]
A single or a CD single is a CD which has a few short songs on it. You can also refer to the main song on a CD as a single.
The winners will get a chance to release their own single.
8 [N-UNCOUNT]
Singles is a game of tennis or badminton in which one player plays another. The plural singles can be used to refer to one or more of these matches.
Boris Becker of Germany won the men's singles...
9
in single file: see file
see also single-sin|gle cream
[N-UNCOUNT]
Single cream is thin cream that does not have a lot of fat in it. (BRIT; in AM, use light cream)single out
[PHRASAL VERB] V n P, V n P for/as n, V P n (not pron)
If you single someone out from a group, you choose them and give them special attention or treatment.
The gunman had singled Debilly out and waited for him...
His immediate superior has singled him out for a special mention...
We wanted to single out the main threat to civilisation.sin|gle par|ent (single parents)
[N-COUNT] oft N n
A single parent is someone who is bringing up a child on their own, because the other parent is not living with them.
I was bringing up my three children as a single parent.
...a single-parent household.sin|gle sup|plement (single supplements)
also single person supplement
[N-COUNT]
A single supplement is an additional sum of money that a hotel charges for one person to stay in a room meant for two people.
You can avoid the single supplement by agreeing to share a twin room.