sin·gle-hand·ed
ˌsiŋ-gəl-ˈhan-dəd 
1
: managed or done by one person or with one on a side
2
: working alone or unassisted by others
single-handedly
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
Ana María Caballero, Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 2025
None more so than England captain Ben Stokes, who has finally been forced to concede defeat in his heroic attempt to bowl and bat his side to victory almost single-handed because of an injury born out of a brutal workload and relentless calendar.
—Paul Newman, New York Times, 31 July 2025
The dishwasher-safe lid is one connected piece with the mouth-opening cover snapping open easily for single-handed use.
—Izzy Baskette, People.com, 27 Apr. 2025
The night-vision monocular is fashioned from aluminum alloy and ABS, and sports a non-slip grip as well as an intuitive button layout, which should make for comfortable long-haul single-handed operation.
—Paul Ridden, New Atlas, 17 Jan. 2025
That gives a sense of the long, lonely and often stressful stretches of the Vendée Globe, considered the most grueling, nonstop, single-handed race in sailing history.
—George Allen, Robb Report, 15 Jan. 2025
Weighted base for stability and single-handed charger placement.
—Mark Sparrow, Forbes, 4 Dec. 2024
Fritz kicked his first serve into Evans’s single-handed backhand to devastating effect, rather than just hitting his usual flat rippers.
—James Hansen, The Athletic, 1 Aug. 2024
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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Adjective
Founded in 2015, this Spanish-language publication is the single-handed effort of the fierce and fearless Doreen Ríos, who originally launched it as a directory of Mexico’s digital arts ecosystem.
—Ana María Caballero, Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 2025
None more so than England captain Ben Stokes, who has finally been forced to concede defeat in his heroic attempt to bowl and bat his side to victory almost single-handed because of an injury born out of a brutal workload and relentless calendar.
—Paul Newman, New York Times, 31 July 2025
The dishwasher-safe lid is one connected piece with the mouth-opening cover snapping open easily for single-handed use.
—Izzy Baskette, People.com, 27 Apr. 2025
The night-vision monocular is fashioned from aluminum alloy and ABS, and sports a non-slip grip as well as an intuitive button layout, which should make for comfortable long-haul single-handed operation.
—Paul Ridden, New Atlas, 17 Jan. 2025
That gives a sense of the long, lonely and often stressful stretches of the Vendée Globe, considered the most grueling, nonstop, single-handed race in sailing history.
—George Allen, Robb Report, 15 Jan. 2025
Weighted base for stability and single-handed charger placement.
—Mark Sparrow, Forbes, 4 Dec. 2024
Fritz kicked his first serve into Evans’s single-handed backhand to devastating effect, rather than just hitting his usual flat rippers.
—James Hansen, The Athletic, 1 Aug. 2024
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
Cite this Entry
“Single-handed.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/single-handed. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share