single

v. i. To take the irrregular gait called single-foot; -- said of a horse. See Single-foot. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A unit; one; as, to score a single. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. pl. The reeled filaments of silk, twisted without doubling to give them firmness. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A handful of gleaned grain. [ Prov. Eng. & Scot. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Law Tennis) A game with but one player on each side; -- usually in the plural. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Baseball) A hit by a batter which enables him to reach first base only. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

No single man is born with a right of controlling the opinions of all the rest. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Alone; having no companion. [ 1913 Webster ]

Who single hast maintained,
Against revolted multitudes, the cause
Of truth. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Hence, unmarried; as, a single man or woman. [ 1913 Webster ]

Grows, lives, and dies in single blessedness. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Single chose to live, and shunned to wed. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Not doubled, twisted together, or combined with others; as, a single thread; a single strand of a rope. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Performed by one person, or one on each side; as, a single combat. [ 1913 Webster ]

These shifts refuted, answer thy appellant, . . .
Who now defles thee thrice ti single fight. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. Uncompounded; pure; unmixed. [ 1913 Webster ]

Simple ideas are opposed to complex, and single to compound. I. Watts. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. Not deceitful or artful; honest; sincere. [ 1913 Webster ]

I speak it with a single heart. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. Simple; not wise; weak; silly. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

He utters such single matter in so infantly a voice. Beau. & Fl. [ 1913 Webster ]

Single ale,
Single beer, or
Single 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having simplicity of action; especially (Mach.), acting or exerting force during strokes in one direction only; -- said of a reciprocating engine, pump, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Lapping over the breast only far enough to permit of buttoning, and having buttons on one edge only; as, a single-breasted coast. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An irregular gait of a horse; -- called also single-footed pace. See Single, v. i. [ 1913 Webster ]

Single-foot is an irregular pace, rather rare, distinguished by the posterior extremities moving in the order of a fast walk, and the anterior extremities in that of a slow trot. Stillman (The Horse in Motion.) [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To proceed by means of the single-foot, as a horse or other quadruped. -- Sin"gle-foot`er, n. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

a. Having but one hand, or one workman; also, alone; unassisted. [ 1913 Webster ]