singleton

noun

sin·gle·ton ˈsiŋ-gəl-tən

: a card that is the only one of its suit originally dealt to a player

: an individual member or thing distinct from others grouped with it

: an offspring born singly

singletons are more common than twins

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web As word spread, a stream of patients called Wapner’s office, scheduling reductions to a singleton. —

Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 19 Aug. 2011 Our singleton is so good with people of all ages and all walks of life. —

Carolyn Hax, Washington Post, 7 Feb. 2023 The result: three male rhesus macaques—twins Roku and Hex, and the singleton, Chimero. Twins Roku and Hex, along with Chimero, may represent a better approach to stem cell technology. —

Jill Neimark, Discover Magazine, 11 Mar. 2013 Whatever is underlying it, the study shows that there's an advantage to twinning--or, at least, that twinning is a side effect of an advantageous trait that makes for sturdier singleton babies. —

Elizabeth Preston, Discover Magazine, 15 Aug. 2011 Jennifer Coolidge, who played a tragi-comic singleton, picked up the award for best supporting actress. —

WSJ, 13 Sep. 2022 Since the idea that a singleton on one of these dating shows isn’t there to truly find love, but instead to get attention and Instagram followers, is an unforgivable sin, Sara Rose’s fate was sealed. —

oregonlive, 27 Jan. 2022 Also, unlike the pair of DF2 and DF4, each of these galaxies is a singleton, isolated and nowhere near any other cosmic object that could strip away dark matter. —

Anil Ananthaswamy, Scientific American, 22 Dec. 2021 Even the central character in Company, Bobby, is actually peripheral: a friend group’s one remaining singleton. —

Helen Shaw, Vulture, 9 Dec. 2021 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'singleton.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.