Single (?), 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.
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No single man is born with a right of controlling the opinions of all the rest. Pope.
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2. Alone; having no companion.
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Who single hast maintained,
Against revolted multitudes, the cause
Of truth. Milton.
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3. Hence, unmarried; as, a single man or woman.
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Grows, lives, and dies in single blessedness. Shak.
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Single chose to live, and shunned to wed. Dryden.
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4. Not doubled, twisted together, or combined with others; as, a single thread; a single strand of a rope.
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5. Performed by one person, or one on each side; as, a single combat.
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These shifts refuted, answer thy appellant, . . .
Who now defles thee thrice ti single fight. Milton.
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6. Uncompounded; pure; unmixed.
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Simple ideas are opposed to complex, and single to compound. I. Watts.
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7. Not deceitful or artful; honest; sincere.
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I speak it with a single heart. Shak.
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8. Simple; not wise; weak; silly. [Obs.]
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He utters such single matter in so infantly a voice. Beau. & Fl.
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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.
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Single, v. i. To take the irrregular gait called single-foot; -- said of a horse. See Single-foot.
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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.
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