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single-handed
[ sing-guhl-han-did ]
adjective
- accomplished or done by one person alone:
a single-handed victory; single-handed sailing.
- by one's own effort; unaided.
adverb
- by oneself; alone; without aid:
He built the garage single-handed.
single-handed
adjective
- unaided or working alone
a single-handed crossing of the Atlantic
- having or operated by one hand or one person only
Derived Forms
- ˌԲ-ˈԻ, adverb
- ˌԲ-ˈԻԱ, noun
Other Word Forms
- g-ԻĻ·Ա noun
Word History and Origins
Origin of single-handed1
Example Sentences
While he may have burnt bridges with influential boxing people down to a crisp, Eubank is perfectly capable of single-handedly promoting a fight.
Former Arsenal defender Matthew Upson told BBC Radio 5 Live it was "a night to remember" for Rice and he had "single-handedly made the difference".
Hernández almost single-handedly dragged them back within striking distance, launching a solo home run off the right-field foul pole in the fourth inning before lining an RBI double inside the third-base bag in the fifth.
"She has single-handedly raised him to be one of the nicest people I have known."
The whole movement against CRT was the brainchild of a right-wing activist by the name of Christopher Rufo, who single-handedly pushed the idea into the mainstream in 2020, during the pandemic.
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More About Single Handed
doessingle-handed mean?
Single-handed is used to describe something done or accomplished alone—without help from anyone, as in a single-handed attempt.
It can also be used as an adverb meaning the same thing as single-handedly, as in Carol completed the project single-handed—she did every last thing herself.
Single-handed is also used in situations in which someone has done something without help from anyone else even though they were available, as in She beat the other team single-handed—scoring the final 15 points of the game by herself.
Example: This usually takes three or four people, so how did you manage to do it single-handed?
Where doessingle-handed come from?
The first records of the term single-handed come from the 1700s. Single-handed and the adverb form single-handedly come from the concept of something being done by one pair of hands—that is, one person.
Single-handed is often used to emphasize the impressiveness of something having been performed by one person. It is used to highlight the fact that the task normally requires a group of people to do.
For this reason, single-handed is commonly used in hyperbolic descriptions of a person’s abilities or of the difficulty of the task they accomplished, as in Her single-handed voyage changed history.
Did you know ... ?
are some other forms related to single-handed?
- single-handedly (adverb)
- single-handedness (noun)
are some synonyms for single-handed?
- single-handedly (when single-handed is used as an adverb)
- alone
- unassisted
- by oneself
are some words that share a root or word element with single-handed?
are some words that often get used in discussing single-handed?
How issingle-handed used in real life?
Single-handed is used to indicate that someone accomplished a (usually impressive) task by themselves.
My point is that while no one has an issue with the legality of caring for your older relative, most people can’t do it single handed for 24 hours a day. It’s too hard.
— Trisha Elliott (@Trisha_the_doc)
Going Solo: remarkable story of Ken Russell's single-handed attempt to win the Tour of Britain
— Joel Gunter (@joelmgunter)
“If life be a war, it seemed my destiny to conduct it single-handed.”
― Charlotte Brontë, Villette— Vintage/Anchor Books (@VintageAnchor)
Try usingsingle-handed!
Is single-handed used correctly in the following sentence?
The carpenter managed to repair the bridge single-handed, with help from his assistants.
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