single 
Elles God forbede but he sente 
A wedded man hym grace to repente 
Wei ofte rather than a sengle man. 
Chaucer, Merchant's Tale, 1. 423. 
But earthlier happy is the rose distil I'd 
Than that which, withering on the virgin thorn, 
Grows, lives, and dies in single blessedness. 
Shak., M. N. D., 1. 1. 78. 
4. Unique; unmatched; singular; unusual. 
Bare legged and in sengle apparayle. 
SirT. Elyot, The Governour, Hi. 13. 
That you may know my single charity. 
Freely I here remit all interest 
Ford, Tis Pity, iv. 1. 
I am single in my circumstances a species apart in the 
political society. Bolingbrolre, To Marchmont, quoted in 
[Walpole's Letters, II. 159, note. 
5. Pertaining to one person or thing; individu- 
al, as opposed to common, general, or univer- 
sal ; also, pertaining to one class, set, pair, etc. : 
as, a single dory (a boat manned by one person). 
Trust to thy single virtue. Shah., Lear, v. S. 103. 
Narrower scrutiny, that I might learn 
In what degree or meaning thou art call'd 
The Son of God ; which bears no single sense. 
Milton, P. E., iv. 617. 
Should banded unions persecute 
Opinion, and induce a time 
When single thought is civil crime, 
And individual freedom mute. 
Tennyson, You Ask me Why. 
6. Private; relating to the affairs of an indi- 
vidual ; not public ; relating to one's self. 
All our service 
In every point twice done and then done double 
Were poor and single business to contend 
Against those honors deep and broad wherewith 
Your majesty loads our house. 
Shak., Macbeth, I. 6. 16. 
7. Free from combination, complication, or 
complexity ; simple ; consisting of one only. 
As simple ideas are opposed to complex, and single to 
compound, so propositions are distinguished. Watt*. 
8. Normal; sound; healthy: often applied to 
the eye, and in that connection used figurative- 
ly of simplicity or integrity of character or pur- 
pose. 
If therefore thine eye be tingle, thy whole body shall be 
full of light. Mat vi. 22. 
And now, courteous Reader, that I may not hold thee 
too long in the porch, I only crave of thee to read this fol- 
lowing discourse with a single eye, and with the same ends 
as I had in penning it. 
N. Morton, New England's Memorial, p. 16. 
All readers of his [Matthew Arnold's] know how free he 
is from anything strained or fantastic or paradoxical, and 
how absolutely single his eye is. 
J. Burroughs, The Century, XXVIL 926. 
9. Free from duplicity; sincere; honest; 
straightforward. 
Banish all compliment but single truth 
From every tongue and every shepherd's heart 
Fletcher, Faithful Shepherdess, v. 5. 
Sure, he's an honest, very honest gentleman ; 
A man of single meaning. Ford, Broken Heart, iv. 1. 
10f. Not strong or heavy; weak: noting beer, 
ale, etc., and opposed to double or strong bever- 
ages. 
The very smiths, 
That were half venturers, drink penitent single ale. 
fiMU. and Fl., Coxcomb, ii. 2. 
Sack 's but tingle broth ; 
Ale 's meat, drink, and cloth, 
Say they that know never a letter. 
Witts Recreations (1654). (Nares.) 
lit. Feeble; trifling; foolish; silly. 
Is not . . . your chin double? your wit single? 
Shak., 2 Hen. IV., i. 2. 207. 
He utters such single matter in so infantly a voice. 
Fletcher (and another), Queen of Corinth, lit 1. 
12. In bot., solitary: said of a flower when 
there is only one on a stem ; also, in common 
usage, noting flowers which have only the nor- 
mal number of floral envelops that is, which 
are not double. See double, 6. 13. In anat. 
and zool., not double, triple, etc.; not paired; 
azygous; simple; solitary; alone; one: gen- 
erally emphatic, in implied comparison with 
things or parts of things that are ordinarily 
double, paired, several, etc A single blind 
(milit.). See Hindi, 4. Atsingle anchor. SeeawAori. 
Single action. See action. Single-action harp See 
harp, 1. Single billet. See billet*. Single blessed- 
ness. See blessedness. Single block. See Woctl, 11. 
Single-boater, a trawling-cutter not belonging to a fleet : 
used by English fishermen. J. W. Collins. Single bond 
See bond\, 7.- Single bridging, burton, combat. See 
the nouns. Single-cylinder machine, a printing-ma- 
chine that prints with a single cylinder on one side only 
of a sheet of paper. Single entry. See bookkeeping. 
Single file. See files.- single floor. See floor. Single- 
fluid battery or cell, in elect. See cett, 8. Single 
man, a man not married. In law the phrase may ap- 
ply to any person not married at the time in question. 
A widow is a single man, within a public land act. 
Silver v. Ladd, 1 Wall. 219. 
5646 
Single money, money In small denominations; small 
change. Halhuxll. 
Face. What box is that? 
Sub. The fish-wives' rings, I think, 
And the ale-wives' single money. 
B. J onion. Alchemist, v. 2. 
Single mordent, oyster, poplin, see the nouns. 
Single pneumonia, pneumonia alf ecting only one lung. 
Single proceleusmatic, a pyrrhic. Single soldier*, 
a private. 
I'se e'en turn a single sodger mysell, or maybe a ser- 
geant or a captain, if ye plague me the mair. 
Scott, Old Mortality, viil. 
Single standard, stop, tax. See the nouns. Single 
woman, (a) A woman not married. (6t) By euphemism, 
a harlot or prostitute. [Old slang.] 
II. M. 1. That which is single, in any sense 
of the word. Specifically (a) pi. The twisted threads 
of silk made of single strands of the raw silk as wound 
from the cocoon. When simply cleaned and wound, the 
silk is called dumb singles, and is used for making ban- 
dana handkerchiefs, and, after bleaching, for gauze and 
similar fabrics. When wound, cleaned, and thrown, the 
silk is termed thrown singles, and is used for ribbons 
and common silks. When wound, cleaned, doubled, and 
thrown, and twisted in one direction, it becomes tram, 
and is used for the woof or shoot of gros de Naples, vel- 
vets, and flowered silks. When wound, cleaned, spun, 
doubled, and thrown, so that it resembles the strand of 
rope, it is called organzine, and is used for warp, (b) pi. 
In lawn-tennis, games played with one on a side: op- 
posed to doubles, which are played with two on a side. 
(c) In the game of loo, a deposit in the pool of three chips, 
made by the dealer before the playing begins, (d) In 
base-ball, a safe hit that allows the batter to reach the first 
base, but not the second, (e) In cricket, a hit for which one 
run is scored. 
2. In falconry, a talon or claw. 
I grant it not. Mine likewise seisd a Fowle 
Within her talents ; and you saw her pawes 
Full of the Feathers ; both her petty singles, 
And her long singles, grip'd her more then other. 
Heywood, Woman Killed with Kindness (Works, II. 99). 
3. The tail of an animal ; properly, in limiting, 
the tail of the buck. Halliu-ell. 
There 's a kind of acid humor that nature hath put in 
our singles, the smell whereof causeth our enemies, viz. 
the doggs, to fly from us. 
Howfll, Parly of Beasts, p. 63. (Danes.) 
4. A handful of the gleanings of corn tied up. 
Halliicell. [Prov. Eng.]-In Single, singly; Indi- 
vidually ; separately. 
Finding therefore the most of their actions in single to 
be weak, ... I concluded that, if their single ambition 
and ignorance was such, then certainly united in a Conn- 
cell It would be much more. 
Milton, Apology for Smectymnuus. 
single 1 (sing'gl), v. ; pret. and pp. singled, ppr. 
singling. [< single 1 , a.~\ I. trans. If. To make 
single, separate, or alone ; retire; sequester. 
Many men there are than whom nothing is more com- 
mendable when they are singled; and yet in society with 
others none less fit to answer the duties which are looked 
for at their hands. Hooker, Eccles. Polity, i. 16. 
2. To select individually from among a num- 
ber; choose out separately from others: com- 
monly followed by out. 
Each singled out his man. 
Robin Hood and the Stranger (Child's Ballads, V. 415). 
Him Hector singled, as his troops he led. 
And thus inflam'd him, pointing to the dead. 
Pope, Iliad, xv. 662. 
3t. To lead aside or apart from others. 
Single you thither then this dainty doe, 
And strike her home by force, if not by words. 
Shak., 'lit. And., ii. 1.117. 
If we can, single her forth to some place. 
B. Jonson, Every Man out of his Humour, v. 1. 
4. Naut., to unite, so as to combine several 
parts into one: as, to single the tacks and 
sheets. 
II. intrans. 1. To separate; go apart from 
others : said specifically of a hunted deer when 
it leaves the herd. HaUiwell (under hunting). 
It is Indeed a reflection somewhat mortifying to the 
author who breaks his ranks, and singles out for public 
favour, to think that he must combat contempt before he 
can arrive at glory. Goldsmith, Polite Learning. 
2. Same as single-foot. 
Single 2 ! (sing'gl), v. i. [< OF. singler, sigler, F. 
cingler = Sp. singlar = Pg. singrar (ML. siglare), 
sail, cut the water with a full wind, make head 
(cf. OF. single, sigle, a sail) : see sail 1 , v., and cf. 
seel 3 .} To sail before the wind ; make head. 
A royall shippe I sawe, by tyde and by winde, 
Single and sayle in sea as sweet as milke. 
Puttenham, Partheniades, x. 
single-acting (sing'gl-ak'ting), a. Of any re- 
ciprocating machine or implement, acting ef- 
fectively in only one direction : distinguished 
from double-acting. Specifically applied to any ma- 
chine as a pump, a steam-engine, etc. in which work 
is performed by, or performed upon, a reciprocating plun- 
ger or piston, and in which only one of the two strokes 
of the plunger or piston during a single reciprocation is 
effective. Single-acting pedaL See pedal. 
single-lunged 
single-banked(sing'gl-bangkt),a. 1. Carrying 
but one oarsman on a thwart, as a boat. 2. 
Having but one bauk or tier of oars, as the 
lighter vessels of antiquity. 3. Having but 
one bank or row of keys, as an organ. 
Single-bar (sing'gl-bur), . A swiugletree. 
single-breasted (sing'gl-bi'es" ted), . 1. Hav- 
ing but one breast. 2. Having buttons on one 
side only and buttonholes on the other: noting 
a coat, waistcoat, or other garment. Compare 
double-breasted. 
A thoroughly single man, single-minded, single-hearted, 
buttoning over his single heart a single breasted surtout. 
Lvwett, Cambridge Thirty Years Ago. 
Single-brooded (sing'gl-brd'ded), . Bringing 
forth young once annually; having but one 
annual generation, or one forood a year, as an 
insect, bird, or other animal. See silkworm. 
Single-cut (sing'gl-kut), a. Noting a file which 
has but a single rank of teeth that is, has 
the teeth cut in one direction only, and not 
crossing. 
singledt (sing'gld),. [< single 1 + -erf 2 .] Hav- 
ing a single or tail. 
Their sheepe are very small, sharpe singled, handful! long. 
Hakluyt s Voyages, I. 386. 
single-dotted (sing'gl-dofed), a. Having one 
dot, point, or mark of color; unipunctate: as, 
the single-dottedwa,ve,Acidalia scutulata, a Brit- 
ish moth. 
single-eyed (sing'gl-id), a. [< single 1 + eye 1 
+ -erf 2 .] 1. Having only one eye ; cyclopean ; 
monoculous ; one-eyed, as the Cyclops" Polyphe- 
mus figuring in Homer's Odyssey, or as vari- 
ous animals. See Cyclops, Monoculus. 2. Hav- 
ing the eye single or sound ; earnest ; devoted ; 
unselfish. Compare single 1 , a., 8. 
You are . . . too noble, single eyed, self-sacrificing, to 
endure my vanity and meanness for a day. 
Kingstey, Two Years Ago, xx. 
A sturdy, healthy, single-eyed peasantry, from whom the 
defenders of the country by sea and land, the skilled ar- 
tificers, . . . are recruited. Edinburgh Rev.,C2LLV. 377. 
single-fire (sing'gl-fir), a. Having the fulmi- 
nate inside the base or head, and not in- 
tended to be reloaded after firing: said of a 
cartridge. Such cartridges may be either cen- 
ter-fire or rim-fire. 
single-foot (sing'gl-fut), M. A gait of horses, 
better known as the rack. See rack 8 . [West- 
ern U. S.] 
Most of the time the horse kept on a steady single-foot, 
but this was varied by a sharp lope every now and then. 
T. Roosevelt, Hunting Trips, p. 210. 
Single-foot (sing'gl-fut), v. i. [< single-foot, .] 
To move with the single-foot gait ; rack. Also 
tingle. 
The horse often single-foots faster than he trots. 
Harper's Mag., LXXX. 246. 
single-footer (sing'gl-fut'er), n. [< single-foot 
+ -er 1 .] A horse which uses the single-foot 
gait ; a racker. 
My best single-footer is my fastest trotter. 
Harper's Mag., LXXX. 247. 
Single-handed (sing'gl-han'ded), a. [< single 1 
+ hand + -erf 2 .] 1. Having only one hand. 
2. Working without the aid of other hands or 
workmen; acting alone; unassisted. 
He was left to cope single-handed with the whole power 
of France. Prescott, Ferd. and Isa., ii. 13. 
3. Capable of being used, managed, or exe- 
cuted with one hand or by one person: as, a 
single-handed fishing-rod; a single-handed un- 
dertaking Single-handed boring. See boring. 
single-hearted (sing'gl-har"ted), a. [< single 1 
+ neart + -erf 2 .] 1. Having a single, sincere, 
or honest heart ; free from duplicity. 
Nor lose they Earth who, single-hearted, seek 
The righteousness of Heaven ! 
WhMier, The Christian Tourists. 
2. Proceeding from or characteristic of a sin- 
cere heart. 
Mrs. Lapham came to their help, with her skill as nurse, 
. . . and a profuse single-hearted kindness. 
W. D. Howells, Silas Lapham, ii. 
Single-heartedly (sing'gl-har'ted-li), adv. 
With singleness, sincerity, or integrityof heart. 
The more quietly and single-heartedly you take each 
step in the art, the quicker, on the whole, will your pro- 
gress be. KusHn, Elements of Drawing, ii. 
single-loader (sing'gl-16' i 'der), . A breech- 
loading rifle without a magazine, which is 
charged and fired with a single cartridge: so 
called to distinguish it from a magazine-rifle or 
repeating arm that has a reserve of cartridges 
supplied to the chamber automatically. 
single-lunged (sing'gl-lungd), a. [< single 1 + 
lung + -erf 2 .] Having but one lung: specifi- 
