stand-alone

adjective

ˈstand-ə-ˈlōn 

variants or standalone

: complete in itself : self-contained sense 1a

All three drugs had FDA's blessing as stand-alone treatments for obesity, but the agency had never approved the combination.

—Kathleen Fackelmann

: such as

a

: intended, designed, or able to be used or to function alone or separately : not connected to or requiring connection to something else in order to be used or to function

Run on kerosene or diesel, stand-alone cabin heaters operate without electricity …

—Skip Novak

especially : operating or capable of operating independently of other software or hardware

Amazon, for example, wants to offer the app as a channel in its Prime Video suite, rather than a standalone app next to Prime. Doing so gives Amazon access to data such as watching habits and preferences.

—Kim Khan

The market has seen a number of more capable VR headsets hit shelves, the most recent being the standalone Oculus Quest, which doesn't require a PC like the Oculus Rift.

—Brittany A. Roston

b

: not being part of a larger work or series

a stand-alone film/novel

Many of these individual chapters read like stand-alone essays—nuanced, witty, and carefully polished accounts …

—John Brewer

Though the printed library reference works still exist as standalone products, the integrated and expanded versions help students understand how information is related and how to do research …

—James Lichtenberg

c

: belonging to but operating independently of a larger organization

Nike built the Jordan Brand into a massive standalone business with $3.1 billion in wholesale revenue …

—Kurt Badenhausen

d

: existing as a separate structure : not connected to or contained within another structure

The gallery is in a standalone building on the property on Portland Street.

—KiMi Robinson

According to the Chapter 11 filing, the closures will affect malls and standalone stores across the country.

—Áine Cain

stand-alone noun

or standalone

plural stand-alones or standalones

But now it is all paying off. His European growth is remarkable, both in department stores and standalones.

—Jim Cramer

This book is a companion to last year's Five Midnights, though it can be read as a standalone.

—Dahlia Adler

The system operates … as a standalone or within any graphics application, and supports most popular file formats.

—Industry Week

Examples of stand-alone in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

By 2018 Keith had outgrown the space inside Furnish Me Vintage and moved to a stand-alone location with two part-time employees. —Charles Moss, SPIN, 16 May 2024

So is prosecution of Hunter Biden, the president’s son, in a gun case in Delaware that is rarely brought as a stand-alone charge, and a separate tax case in California. —Cnn.com Wire Service, The Mercury News, 14 May 2024

With its interwoven plots stretched over multiple stand-alone films that gradually built suspense and anticipation culminating in the 2018–2019 Infinity Wars spectacle, the MCU redefined movie franchises. —Christiaan Hetzner, Fortune, 8 May 2024

Editors’ Picks Originally a stand-alone performance showcase, the series has evolved over the decades into a more robust residency and professional development program. —Siobhan Burke, New York Times, 7 May 2024

That said, there are a few stand-alone quantum languages to give Twist some competition. —IEEE Spectrum, 18 Feb. 2022

Madonna closed out her career-spanning Celebration Tour Saturday with a free concert at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil’s Copacabana Beach in front of 1.6 million fans, setting the record for the largest audience ever for a stand-alone concert by any artist in history. —Daniel Kreps, Rolling Stone, 5 May 2024

The show made history as, though the annual New Year's Eve concerts at Copacabana Beach have drawn larger crowds, Madonna's May 4 audience was her biggest ever, and the largest ever for a stand-alone concert by any artist, a record previously held by The Rolling Stones. —Melody Chiu, Peoplemag, 5 May 2024

Will the Joint Venture Partners offer stand-alone streaming sports services? —Todd Spangler, Variety, 16 Apr. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1963, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

stand–alone

adjective

ˈstand-ə-ˈlōn

: self-contained

especially : capable of operation independent of a computer system