8. Simple; not wise; weak; silly. [Obs.]
He utters such single matter in so infantly a voice.
Beau. & Fl. Single ale,
beer, or
drink,
small ale, etc., as contrasted with double ale, etc., which is stronger. [Obs.]
Nares. — Single bill (Law), a written engagement, generally under seal, for the payment of money,
without a penalty. Burril. — Single court (Lawn Tennis), a court laid out for only two players. —
Single-cut file. See the Note under 4th File. — Single entry. See under Bookkeeping. — Single
file. See under 1st File. — Single flower (Bot.), a flower with but one set of petals, as a wild rose.
— Single knot. See Illust. under Knot. — Single whip (Naut.), a single rope running through a
fixed block.
Single
(Sin"gle), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Singled ; p. pr. & vb. n. Singling ]
1. To select, as an individual person or thing, from among a number; to choose out from others; to separate.
Dogs who hereby can single out their master in the dark.
Bacon.
His blood! she faintly screamed her mind
Still singling one from all mankind.
More. 2. To sequester; to withdraw; to retire. [Obs.]
An agent singling itself from consorts.
Hooker. 3. To take alone, or one by one.
Men . . . commendable when they are singled.
Hooker. Single
(Sin"gle), v. i. To take the irrregular gait called single-foot;- said of a horse. See Single- foot.
Many very fleet horses, when overdriven, adopt a disagreeable gait, which seems to be a cross between
a pace and a trot, in which the two legs of one side are raised almost but not quite, simultaneously.
Such horses are said to single, or to be single-footed.
W. S. Clark. Single
(Sin"gle), n.
1. A unit; one; as, to score a single.
2. pl. The reeled filaments of silk, twisted without doubling to give them firmness.
3. A handful of gleaned grain. [Prov. Eng. & Scot.]
4. (Law Tennis) A game with but one player on each side; — usually in the plural.
5. (Baseball) A hit by a batter which enables him to reach first base only.
Single-acting
(Sin"gle-act`ing) a. Having simplicity of action; especially (Mach.), acting or exerting force
during strokes in one direction only; — said of a reciprocating engine, pump, etc.
Single-breasted
(Sin"gle-breast`ed) a. Lapping over the breast only far enough to permit of buttoning,
and having buttons on one edge only; as, a single-breasted coast.
Single-foot
(Sin"gle-foot`) n. An irregular gait of a horse; — called also single-footed pace. See Single,
v. i.
Single-foot is an irregular pace, rather rare, distinguished by the posterior extremities moving in the order
of a fast walk, and the anterior extremities in that of a slow trot.
Stillman (The Horse in Motion.)