Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun One that is single, especially.
  • noun A child or animal born as a single birth, especially in contrast to one that is part of a multiple birth.
  • noun A playing card that is the only one of its suit in a player's hand.
  • noun An unmarried person.
  • noun Linguistics A nongeminate consonant.
  • noun An individual separated or distinguished from two or more of its group.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A silly fellow; a simpleton.
  • noun In whist, a hand containing only one card of some suit; a card which is the only one of a suit in the hand of a player.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun In certain games at cards, as whist, a single card of any suit held at the deal by a player.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun playing cards A playing card that is the only one of its suit in a hand, especially at bridge.
  • noun A single object, especially one of a group.
  • noun computing A class that may not be instantiated more than once, i.e. that implements the singleton design pattern.
  • noun mathematics A set with exactly one element.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the playing card that is the only card in a suit held in a bridge hand as initially dealt
  • noun a single object (as distinguished from a pair)
  • noun a set containing a single member

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[From the name Singleton (influenced by single).]

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word singleton.

Examples

  • Although women with a term singleton cephalic pregnancy with a previous caesarean section (group 5) represented only 11. 4% of the obstetric population, this group was the largest contributor to the overall caesarean section rate (26. 7% of all the caesarean section).

    BioMed Central - Latest articles 2009

  • A general rule of thumb is that the mother should gain 25 to 35 pounds, the weight of a full-term singleton pregnancy, by the end of the second trimester—and then gain an additional 15 to 25 pounds in the last trimester.

    Mothering Twins LINDA ALBI 1993

  • A general rule of thumb is that the mother should gain 25 to 35 pounds, the weight of a full-term singleton pregnancy, by the end of the second trimester—and then gain an additional 15 to 25 pounds in the last trimester.

    Mothering Twins LINDA ALBI 1993

  • A general rule of thumb is that the mother should gain 25 to 35 pounds, the weight of a full-term singleton pregnancy, by the end of the second trimester—and then gain an additional 15 to 25 pounds in the last trimester.

    Mothering Twins LINDA ALBI 1993

  • The study recruited full-term singleton children born in 1991 in 10 geographic areas and measured their height and weight from ages 2 to 12 years.

    THE MEDICAL NEWS 2010

  • The study recruited full-term singleton children born in 1991 in 10 geographic areas and measured their height and weight from ages 2 to 12 years.

    PhysOrg.com - latest science and technology news stories 2010

  • The study recruited full-term singleton children born in 1991 in 10 geographic areas and measured their height and weight from ages 2 to 12 years.

    Newswise: Latest News 2010

  • The study recruited full-term singleton children born in 1991 in 10 geographic areas and measured their height and weight from ages 2 to 12 years.

    Newswise: Latest News 2010

  • The study recruited full-term singleton children born in 1991 in 10 geographic areas and measured their height and weight from ages 2 to 12 years.

    Newswise: Latest News 2010

  • Long-term singleton Jennifer Aniston, 39, gets up close and personal with her toyboy lover, musician John Mayer, and clearly doesn't care who notices.

    WN.com - Articles related to Volkswagen official at speedway 2009

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • "Record numbers of young Japanese do not have boyfriends or girlfriends, and many do not want one, according to a survey by the country's government. Sixty-one percent of unmarried men aged 18 and 34 do not have a partner, nor do half of unmarried women the same age."

    - Roland Buerk, Japan singletons hit record high, BBC website, 28 November 2011.

    November 28, 2011