plural number ones
1
a
: one's own interests or welfare : oneself
It's time to take care of number one
—often written No. 1Looking out for No. 1 is not a selfish thing when it comes to rescuing someone, area firefighters learned.—
Cathy Spaulding
Cathy Spaulding
b
: one that is first in rank, importance, or influence
Who's number one in this office?
Madonna has just made a big announcement. The "Material Girl" … will release not one, but two new collections. One will feature 50 number ones with the other being a 16-track version of the album.—Edward Pevos
—often written No. 1Edward PevosThe Texas Tech men's golf team, which has finished among the top three in each of its three tournaments this season, is No. 1 in the GolfStat ranking that was released Wednesday.—Lubbock (Texas) Avalanche-Journal (online)
Lubbock (Texas) Avalanche-Journal (online)2
informal
: liquid waste from the body : urine
—used euphemistically
When astronauts go number one, a slight vacuum in the toilet pulls urine into a low-pressure chamber, which forces the water to evaporate.—Kaitlin Sullivan
compare number two
Kaitlin Sullivan1
: first in rank, importance, or influence : foremost
cancer is the country's number one killer
—often written No. 1
2
: of highest or of high quality
Synonyms
Adjective
Examples of number one in a Sentence
Noun
Who's number one in this office?
Getting the car fixed is number one on my list of priorities.
I'll tell you why we can't go on a vacation: number one, we can't afford it, and number two, we'll miss my sister's party.
Her movie is currently number one at the box office.
When the goal was scored, the fans started to chant, “We're number one, we're number one.”
I've been taking care of other people for too long. It's time for me to take care of number one.
Adjective
The book is the company's number one seller.
Rule number one is don't get caught!
He's public enemy number one: the nation's most wanted criminal.
Recent Examples on the WebSylvia Hui, Quartz, 17 Apr. 2024
Clark, the point guard phenom out of Iowa who was the number one overall pick in the 2024 WNBA draft, celebrated her milestone achievement alongside her boyfriend, fellow player McCaffery, who at 23, is no slouch on the court, either, having played in college and is now pursuing a coaching career.
—Elizabeth Logan, Glamour, 16 Apr. 2024
Looking at a number of factors including internet broadband, cost of living, and quality of life, the HR platform placed Madrid as the number one location for remote workers among 100 countries analyzed.
—Chloe Berger, Fortune, 16 Apr. 2024
No surprise, Ben Shapiro was number one with more than 585,000 subscribers, followed by Jordan Peterson (415,000) and Dan Bongino (119,000).
—Ariel Shapiro, The Verge, 11 Apr. 2024
For everybody who's approaching this stage in your life, your number one concern is your health.
—Elizabeth Leonard, Peoplemag, 10 Apr. 2024
To tally their wealth, Forbes used stock prices and exchange rates from March 8, 2024.
Bernard Arnault and his family are at number one, with a net worth of $233 billion.
—Caitlin O'Kane, CBS News, 2 Apr. 2024
Last year, Catena Zapata was voted number one in the world at the World’s Best Vineyards ceremony in Rioja, Spain.
—Mike Desimone and Jeff Jenssen, Robb Report, 9 Apr. 2024
However, money is the number one driver of job satisfaction (67%) over being a boss.
—Sheryl Estrada, Fortune, 8 Apr. 2024
Donna St. George, BostonGlobe.com, 19 Mar. 2023
Talked about number one in the country a year ago and some of our championships.
—Tom Green | Tgreen@al.com, al, 15 Mar. 2023
And North Carolina, last year's runner up and this year's preseason number one, missed out entirely.
—Taylor Wilson, USA TODAY, 13 Mar. 2023
The question will be, number one is, what are the excesses beyond the insured amounts and the ability to deal with those and the companies, in terms of meeting payrolls?
—Nbc Universal, NBC News, 12 Mar. 2023
Depositors and workers in the companies whose deposits are in that bank need to be job number one.
—CBS News, 12 Mar. 2023
The city's even earned the rating of number one most stressful for workers in the U.S., according to a recent report.
—Michael Murney, Chron, 8 Mar. 2023
The number one priority in those situations is the health of the player.
—Dalton Ross, EW.com, 2 Mar. 2023
The Moon in your lucky 5th house is making FUN your number one priority, but when Luna coordinates with luxe Venus in your materialistic 2nd house, all your fun may require a lot more funds than anticipated.
—Chicago Tribune, 1 Mar. 2023
Noun
Authorities say smoking causes some 80,000 deaths a year in the U.K, and remains the number one preventable cause of death, disability and poor health.
—Sylvia Hui, Quartz, 17 Apr. 2024
Clark, the point guard phenom out of Iowa who was the number one overall pick in the 2024 WNBA draft, celebrated her milestone achievement alongside her boyfriend, fellow player McCaffery, who at 23, is no slouch on the court, either, having played in college and is now pursuing a coaching career.
—Elizabeth Logan, Glamour, 16 Apr. 2024
Looking at a number of factors including internet broadband, cost of living, and quality of life, the HR platform placed Madrid as the number one location for remote workers among 100 countries analyzed.
—Chloe Berger, Fortune, 16 Apr. 2024
No surprise, Ben Shapiro was number one with more than 585,000 subscribers, followed by Jordan Peterson (415,000) and Dan Bongino (119,000).
—Ariel Shapiro, The Verge, 11 Apr. 2024
For everybody who's approaching this stage in your life, your number one concern is your health.
—Elizabeth Leonard, Peoplemag, 10 Apr. 2024
To tally their wealth, Forbes used stock prices and exchange rates from March 8, 2024.
Bernard Arnault and his family are at number one, with a net worth of $233 billion.
—Caitlin O'Kane, CBS News, 2 Apr. 2024
Last year, Catena Zapata was voted number one in the world at the World’s Best Vineyards ceremony in Rioja, Spain.
—Mike Desimone and Jeff Jenssen, Robb Report, 9 Apr. 2024
However, money is the number one driver of job satisfaction (67%) over being a boss.
—Sheryl Estrada, Fortune, 8 Apr. 2024
Adjective
Our number one priority is just to get the behavior of these companies to change.
—Donna St. George, BostonGlobe.com, 19 Mar. 2023
Talked about number one in the country a year ago and some of our championships.
—Tom Green | Tgreen@al.com, al, 15 Mar. 2023
And North Carolina, last year's runner up and this year's preseason number one, missed out entirely.
—Taylor Wilson, USA TODAY, 13 Mar. 2023
The question will be, number one is, what are the excesses beyond the insured amounts and the ability to deal with those and the companies, in terms of meeting payrolls?
—Nbc Universal, NBC News, 12 Mar. 2023
Depositors and workers in the companies whose deposits are in that bank need to be job number one.
—CBS News, 12 Mar. 2023
The city's even earned the rating of number one most stressful for workers in the U.S., according to a recent report.
—Michael Murney, Chron, 8 Mar. 2023
The number one priority in those situations is the health of the player.
—Dalton Ross, EW.com, 2 Mar. 2023
The Moon in your lucky 5th house is making FUN your number one priority, but when Luna coordinates with luxe Venus in your materialistic 2nd house, all your fun may require a lot more funds than anticipated.
—Chicago Tribune, 1 Mar. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'number one.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near number one
Cite this Entry
“Number one.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/number%20one. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.
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