Single

Sin′gle (sĭn̲′g'l), a. [L. singulus, a dim. from the root in simplex simple; cf. OE. & OF. sengle, fr. L. singulus. See Simple, and cf. Singular.] 1. One only, as distinguished from more than one; consisting of one alone; individual; separate; as, a single star.

No single man is born with a right of controlling the opinions of all the rest. Pope.

2. Alone; having no companion.

Who single hast maintained, Against revolted multitudes, the cause Of truth. Milton.

3. Hence, unmarried; as, a single man or woman.

Grows, lives, and dies in single blessedness. Shak.

Single chose to live, and shunned to wed. Dryden.

4. Not doubled, twisted together, or combined with others; as, a single thread; a single strand of a rope.

5. Performed by one person, or one on each side; as, a single combat.

These shifts refuted, answer thy appellant, . . . Who now defles thee thrice ti single fight. Milton.

6. Uncompounded; pure; unmixed.

Simple ideas are opposed to complex, and single to compound. I. Watts.

7. Not deceitful or artful; honest; sincere.

I speak it with a single heart. Shak.

8. Simple; not wise; weak; silly. [Obs.]

He utters such single matter in so infantly a voice. Beau. & Fl.

Single ale, beer, or drink, small ale, etc., as contrasted with double ale, etc., which is stronger. [Obs.] Nares. — Single bill (Law), a written engagement, generally under seal, for the payment of money, without a penalty. Burril. — Single court (Lawn Tennis), a court laid out for only two players. — Single-cut file. See the Note under 4th File. — Single entry. See under Bookkeeping. — Single file. See under 1st File. — Single flower (Bot.), a flower with but one set of petals, as a wild rose. — Single knot. See Illust. under Knot. — Single whip (Naut.), a single rope running through a fixed block.

Sin′gle, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Singled; p. pr. & vb. n. Singling.] 1. To select, as an individual person or thing, from among a number; to choose out from others; to separate.

Dogs who hereby can single out their master in the dark. Bacon.

His blood! she faintly screamed her mind Still singling one from all mankind. More.

2. To sequester; to withdraw; to retire. [Obs.]

An agent singling itself from consorts. Hooker.

3. To take alone, or one by one.

Men . . . commendable when they are singled. Hooker.

Sin′gle, v. i. To take the irrregular gait called single-foot;- said of a horse. See Single-foot.

Many very fleet horses, when overdriven, adopt a disagreeable gait, which seems to be a cross between a pace and a trot, in which the two legs of one side are raised almost but not quite, simultaneously. Such horses are said to single, or to be single-footed. W. S. Clark.

Sin′gle, n. 1. A unit; one; as, to score a single.

2. pl. The reeled filaments of silk, twisted without doubling to give them firmness.

3. A handful of gleaned grain. [Prov. Eng. & Scot.]

4. (Law Tennis) A game with but one player on each side; — usually in the plural.

5. (Baseball) A hit by a batter which enables him to reach first base only.