one
Pronunciation: /wʌn/
cardinal number
- 1the lowest cardinal number; half of two; 1: there’s only room for one person two could live as cheaply as one one hundred miles a one-bedroom flat (Roman numeral: i, I)
- a single person or thing: they would straggle home in ones and twos
- just one as opposed to any more or to none at all; single (used for emphasis): her one concern is to save her daughter
- denoting a particular item of a pair or number of items: electronics is one of his hobbies a glass tube closed at one end
- denoting a particular but unspecified occasion or period: one afternoon in late October
- used before a name to denote a person who is not known to the reader or hearer; a certain: he worked as a clerk for one Mr Ming
- informal, chiefly North American a noteworthy example of (used for emphasis): the actor was one smart-mouthed troublemaker he was one hell of a snappy dresser
- one year old.
- one o’clock: I’ll be there at one
- a size of garment or other merchandise denoted by one.
- a domino or dice with one spot.
pronoun
- 1referring to a person or thing previously mentioned or easily identified: her mood changed from one of moroseness to one of joy her best apron, the white one do you want one?
Phrases
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at one
- in agreement or harmony: they were completely at one with their environment
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for one
- used to stress that the person named holds the specified view, even if no one else does: I for one am getting a little sick of writing about it
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get it in one
- informal understand or succeed in guessing something immediately: ‘You’re just trying to distract me.’ She grinned. ‘Got it in one!’
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have one over the eight
- see eight
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one after another (or the other)
- following each other in quick succession: one after another the buses drew up
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one and all
- everyone: well done one and all!
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one and only
- unique; single (used for emphasis or as a designation of a celebrity): the title of his one and only book the one and only Muhammad Ali
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one another
- each other: the children used to tease one another
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one by one
- separately and in succession; singly.
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one day
- see day
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one for one
- denoting or referring to a situation in which one thing corresponds to or is exchanged for another: these donations would be matched on a one-for-one basis with public revenues
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one of a kind
- see kind1
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one or another (or the other)
- denoting or referring to a particular but unspecified one out of a set of items: not all instances fall neatly into one or another of these categories
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one or two
- informal a few: there are one or two signs worth watching for
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one thing and another
- informal used to cover various unspecified matters or events: what with one thing and another she hadn’t had much sleep recently
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the one
informal - a person regarded as one’s destined life partner: it sounds corny, but I think he’s the one
Origin:
Old English ān, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch een and German ein, from an Indo-European root shared by Latin unus. The initial w sound developed before the 15th century and was occasionally represented in the spelling; it was not accepted into standard English until the late 17th century
In modern English the use of one as a pronoun to mean ‘anyone’ or ‘me and people in general’, as in one must try one’s best, is generally restricted to formal contexts, outside which it is likely to be regarded as rather pompous or old-fashioned. In informal and spoken contexts the normal alternative is you, as in you have to do what you can, don’t you?.