sole

1 of 4

adjective

ˈsōl

Synonyms of sole next

: being the only one

she was her mother's sole support

: having no sharer

: functioning independently and without assistance or interference

let conscience be the sole judge

: belonging exclusively or otherwise limited to one usually specified individual, unit, or group

: not married

—used chiefly of women

archaic : having no companion : solitary

soleness

ˈsōl-nəs

noun

sole

2 of 4

noun (1)

: the undersurface of a foot

: the part of an item of footwear on which the sole rests and upon which the wearer treads

: the usually flat or flattened bottom or lower part of something or the base on which something rests

soled

ˈsōld

adjective

sole

3 of 4

verb

soled; soling

transitive verb

: to furnish with a sole

sole a shoe

: to place the sole of (a golf club) on the ground

sole

4 of 4

: any of various flatfishes (family Soleidae) having a small mouth, small or rudimentary fins, and small eyes placed close together and including important food fishes (such as the European Dover sole)

also : any of various mostly market flatfishes (such as lemon sole) of other families (such as Pleuronectidae)

Example Sentences

Adjective He became the sole heir to the property. The sole aim of the program is to help the poor. She was the sole survivor of the tragedy. Icy roads were the sole cause of the accident. He has sole jurisdiction of the area. Verb My shoes need to be soled. See More

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

Many Black activists decried the massive spending dedicated to an Apollo lunar program that in the end would send only white men to Earth’s sole natural satellite. —

Tyrone Beason, Los Angeles Times, 17 May 2023 Best known for its association with the cryptocurrency XRP, Ripple will become the sole shareholder of Metaco, which will continue to operate independently under founder and CEO Adrien Treccani, according to a statement announcing the deal. —

Ben Weiss, Fortune Crypto, 17 May 2023 Also, current macroeconomic trends do not bode well for social security being the sole retirement solution. —

Suchita Nayar, BostonGlobe.com, 17 May 2023 Pure album sales were the sole measurement utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album units and streaming equivalent album units. —

Keith Caulfield, Billboard, 16 May 2023 For his part, Kendall (Jeremy Strong) stands torn at the center between wanting a better tomorrow for his frightened kids, and wanting a better business partner for his own hopeful tomorrow as the sole CEO of Waystar — even if that means striking a deal with the devilish Mencken. —

Josh Wigler, The Hollywood Reporter, 15 May 2023 Their sole mission is being a good person and having a degree that can sustain them for the next 40 years of their life. —

Don Norcross, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 May 2023 In his sole college season, Whitmore averaged 12.5 points and 5.3 rebounds en route to earning Big East Freshman of the Year honors, despite missing the first seven games with a thumb injury. —

Jeff Mcdonald, San Antonio Express-News, 9 May 2023 Banga, 63, was nominated for the post by US President Joe Biden in late February and was the sole contender to replace departing World Bank chief David Malpass, an economist and former US Treasury official who served in the Trump administration. —

Reuters, CNN, 3 May 2023

Noun

The rubber sole is wear-resistant, flexible, and collapsible for packing with ease. —

Jill Schildhouse, Travel + Leisure, 27 Apr. 2023 And the sole is quite supportive and flexible, so performance was still excellent. —

Lindsay Modglin, Verywell Health, 13 Apr. 2023 The rubber sole is flexible and these don’t require a break-in period. —

Danny Perez, Popular Mechanics, 13 Apr. 2023 And any house shoe with rubber bottoms can go from an inside slipper to an outdoor shoe at the snap of a finger, thanks to the waterproof sole. —

Kelsey Stiegman, seventeen.com, 7 Apr. 2023 The perforations are meant to encourage airflow, the shoe is shaped with arch support in mind, and the nodes are supposed to massage and increase blood flow to the sole of your foot. —

Sara Coughlin, SELF, 15 Mar. 2023 At one time, the upper part of a shoe was typically stitched to the sole by hand. —

Sheree R. Curry, USA TODAY, 18 Feb. 2023 Keep a strong connection to the inner sole of your foot and avoid letting your bodyweight roll to the outsides of your feet while deadlifting. —

Erin Warwood, Women's Health, 1 Feb. 2023 What’s different are the ten carbide spikes added to each shoe’s sole, spread across the fore and rear of the foot for traction on icy surfaces over flat and hilly terrain. —

Adam W. Chase, Outside Online, 31 Jan. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sole.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

Middle English, alone, from Anglo-French sul, soul, seul, from Latin solus

Noun (1)

Middle English, from Anglo-French sole, soele, from Latin solea sandal; akin to Latin solum base, ground, soil

Noun (2)

Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin solea sandal, a flatfish

First Known Use

Adjective

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 4

Noun (1)

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

circa 1570, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun (2)

13th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of sole was in the 13th century

See more words from the same century

Cite this Entry

Style

“Sole.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sole. Accessed 3 Jun. 2023.

Copy Citation

Kids Definition

sole

1 of 4 noun

ˈsōl

: the underside of a foot

: the part of footwear on which the sole of the foot rests

soled

ˈsōld

adjective

sole

2 of 4 verb

soled; soling

: to furnish with a sole

sole shoes

sole

3 of 4 noun

: any of various flatfishes that have a small mouth, small fins, and small closely set eyes and that include some fishes used for food

sole

4 of 4 adjective

archaic : having no companion : alone

: having no sharer

sole owner

: being the only one

: acting independently and without assistance or interference

the sole judge

: belonging only to the one person, unit, or group named

given sole authority

soleness noun

Etymology

Noun

Middle English sole "the underside of the foot or shoe," from early French sole (same meaning), from Latin solea "sandal"

Noun

Middle English sole "a type of flatfish," from early French sole (same meaning), from Latin solea "sandal, a flatfish"

Adjective

Middle English sole "alone," from early French seul (same meaning), from Latin solus "alone" — related to desolate, solitude, solo

Medical Definition

sole

noun

ˈsōl

: the undersurface of a foot

: the somewhat concave plate of moderately dense horn that covers the lower surface of the coffin bone of the horse, partly surrounds the frog, and is bounded externally by the wall