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SINGULAR
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The form of a word that is used to denote a singleton
Synonyms:
singular; singular form
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("singular" is a kind of...):
descriptor; form; signifier; word form (the phonological or orthographic sound or appearance of a word that can be used to describe or identify something)
Antonym:
plural (the form of a word that is used to denote more than one)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Being a single and separate person or thing
Example:
every fact in the world might be singular...unlike any other fact and sole of its kind
Classified under:
Similar:
individual; single (being or characteristic of a single thing or person)
Derivation:
singularity (the quality of being one of a kind)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Beyond or deviating from the usual or expected
Example:
singular behavior
Synonyms:
curious; funny; odd; peculiar; queer; rum; rummy; singular
Classified under:
Similar:
strange; unusual (being definitely out of the ordinary and unexpected; slightly odd or even a bit weird)
Derivation:
singularity (strangeness by virtue of being remarkable or unusual)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Unusual or striking
Example:
such poise is singular in one so young
Synonyms:
remarkable; singular
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
extraordinary (beyond what is ordinary or usual; highly unusual or exceptional or remarkable)
Derivation:
singularity (strangeness by virtue of being remarkable or unusual)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Grammatical number category referring to a single item or unit
Classified under:
Adjectives
Antonym:
plural (grammatical number category referring to two or more items or units)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Composed of one member, set, or kind
Classified under:
Adjectives
Antonym:
plural (composed of more than one member, set, or kind)
Sense 6
Meaning:
The single one of its kind
Example:
certain types of problems have unique solutions
Synonyms:
singular; unique
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
single (existing alone or consisting of one entity or part or aspect or individual)
Derivation:
singularity (the quality of being one of a kind)
Context examples:
She is, as you say, singular—very.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
We were still discussing it, endeavoring to adjust our minds to these new conditions, when a singular scene in the plain below arrested our attention.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
I have received a very singular letter, Traddles, from Mr. Micawber.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
There will be nothing singular in his case; and it is singularity which often makes the worst part of our suffering, as it always does of our conduct.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
But the temptation of a discovery so singular and profound at last overcame the suggestions of alarm.
(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
In this new study, the team describe their discovery of two proteins—ClqL4 and Stabilin-2—that regulate this singular choreography.
(Researchers Discovered Proteins Essential to Development of Skeletal Muscle, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
This species is motile using a singular polar flagellum, oxidase and catalase positive, indole negative, does not reduce nitrates and does not hydrolyze esculin.
(Brevundimonas diminuta, NCI Thesaurus)
This species is motile using a singular polar flagellum, oxidase and catalase positive, indole negative, hydrolyzes esculin, but does not reduce nitrates.
(Brevundimonas vesicularis, NCI Thesaurus)
A solid that consists of naturally produced angular solids composed of singular, repeating units that are systematically arranged in an evenly spaced lattice.
(Crystal Dosage Form, NCI Thesaurus)
A solid or semi-solid in a singular unit that is rectangular or oval in shape.
(Bar Dosage Form, NCI Thesaurus)
