single-handed

1 of 2

adjective

sin·​gle-hand·​ed ˌsiŋ-gəl-ˈhan-dəd How to pronounce single-handed (audio)
1
: managed or done by one person or with one on a side
2
: working alone or unassisted by others
single-handedly adverb

single-handed

2 of 2

adverb

: in a single-handed manner

Examples of single-handed in a Sentence

Adverb she was adamant that if she was expected to do the project single-handed, she should not have to share the credit afterward
Recent Examples on the Web
These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Adjective
The company additionally states that a single-handed brake application using IBS results in as much as a 40% shorter braking distance than a rear-brake-only stop on a non-IBS bike. Ben Coxworth, New Atlas, 11 July 2024 At first, the team found that 60% of the crystals were single-handed. Yasemin Saplakoglu, Quanta Magazine, 6 Sep. 2023 This created a crystalline seed that caused additional like-handed RAOs to bind, eventually forming pure single-handed RAO crystals, the researchers reported last week in Science Advances. Byrobert F. Service, science.org, 13 June 2023 The Messer is a weapon often used in single-handed competitions. Marina Johnson, Detroit Free Press, 3 May 2023 Nothing against lipsticks and mascaras and blushes, but there really is no one makeup product that can make more of a single-handed difference than concealer. Melanie Rud, Peoplemag, 3 Apr. 2023
Adverb
Elinor’s single-handed battle against the coldblooded gang is tied to this novel’s timely theme: how men have always underestimated women and how women have used that to their advantage. Carol Memmott, Washington Post, 16 Mar. 2023 In a preprint paper published online today, OpenAI has managed to teach its robot hand to solve a much more difficult version of in-hand cube manipulation: single-handed solving of a 3x3 Rubik’s cube. IEEE Spectrum, 15 Oct. 2019

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

1585, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adverb

1719, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of single-handed was in 1585

Dictionary Entries Near single-handed

Cite this Entry

“Single-handed.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/single-handed. Accessed 7 Nov. 2024.

Kids Definition

single-handed

adjective
sin·​gle-hand·​ed
ˌsiŋ-gəl-ˈhan-dəd
1
: managed or done by one person
2
: working alone : lacking help
single-handedly adverb

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