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Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
single file
noun
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ A narrow spiral staircase leads up from chamber 2b to 2c; characters must ascend in single file.
▪ Ambush patrols at night were always in single file, with no point or flank security.
▪ Men passed us, dark, bearded, stern, armed with sticks, walking swiftly in single file.
▪ Okay single file, we're coming to a wood.
▪ Teams of horses in single file hauled trains of a dozen flat-topped wagons loaded with granite along these rails.
▪ The jungle area we had to go into was so thick, the APCs could only travel single file.
▪ The stairs are approached along a raised pavement so narrow the people must have walked along it in single file.
▪ Then we are instructed to leave Damrosch Park single file.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Single file

Single \Sin"gle\, a. [L. singulus, a dim. from the root in simplex simple; cf. OE. & OF. sengle, fr. L. singulus. See Simple, and cf. Singular.]

  1. One only, as distinguished from more than one; consisting of one alone; individual; separate; as, a single star.

    No single man is born with a right of controlling the opinions of all the rest.
    --Pope.

  2. Alone; having no companion.

    Who single hast maintained, Against revolted multitudes, the cause Of truth.
    --Milton.

  3. Hence, unmarried; as, a single man or woman.

    Grows, lives, and dies in single blessedness.
    --Shak.

    Single chose to live, and shunned to wed.
    --Dryden.

  4. Not doubled, twisted together, or combined with others; as, a single thread; a single strand of a rope.

  5. Performed by one person, or one on each side; as, a single combat.

    These shifts refuted, answer thy appellant, . . . Who now defles thee thrice ti single fight.
    --Milton.

  6. Uncompounded; pure; unmixed.

    Simple ideas are opposed to complex, and single to compound.
    --I. Watts.

  7. Not deceitful or artful; honest; sincere.

    I speak it with a single heart.
    --Shak.

  8. Simple; not wise; weak; silly. [Obs.]

    He utters such single matter in so infantly a voice.
    --Beau. & Fl.

    Single ale, Single beer, or Single 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 file

File \File\ (f[imac]l), n. [F. file row (cf. Pr., Sp., Pg., & It. fila), LL. fila, fr. L. filum a thread. Cf. Enfilade, Filament, Fillet.]

  1. An orderly succession; a line; a row; as:

    1. (Mil.) A row of soldiers ranged one behind another; -- in contradistinction to rank, which designates a row of soldiers standing abreast; a number consisting the depth of a body of troops, which, in the ordinary modern formation, consists of two men, the battalion standing two deep, or in two ranks.

      Note: The number of files in a company describes its width, as the number of ranks does its depth; thus, 100 men in ``fours deep'' would be spoken of as 25 files in 4 ranks.
      --Farrow.

    2. An orderly collection of papers, arranged in sequence or classified for preservation and reference; as, files of letters or of newspapers; this mail brings English files to the 15th instant.

    3. The line, wire, or other contrivance, by which papers are put and kept in order.

      It is upon a file with the duke's other letters.
      --Shak.

    4. A roll or list. ``A file of all the gentry.''
      --Shak.

  2. Course of thought; thread of narration. [Obs.]

    Let me resume the file of my narration.
    --Sir H. Wotton.

  3. (computers) a collection of data on a digital recording medium treated as a unit for the purpose of recording, reading, storage, or indexing; -- such a file is typically accessible by computer programs by the use of a file name. The data may be of any type codable digitally, such as simple ASCII-coded text, complex binary-coded data, or an executable program, or may be itself a collection of other files. File firing, the act of firing by file, or each file independently of others. File leader, the soldier at the front of any file, who covers and leads those in rear of him. File marching, the marching of a line two deep, when faced to the right or left, so that the front and rear rank march side by side. --Brande & C. Indian file, or Single file, a line of people marching one behind another; a single row. Also used adverbially; as, to march Indian file. On file, preserved in an orderly collection; recorded in some database. Rank and file.

    1. The body of soldiers constituting the mass of an army, including corporals and privates.
      --Wilhelm.

    2. Those who constitute the bulk or working members of a party, society, etc., in distinction from the leaders.

Wiktionary
single file

a. (context of a line or queue English) One person wide. adv. In a line or queue one person wide. n. A line or queue one person wide.

WordNet
single file

n. a line of persons or things ranged one behind the other [syn: file, Indian file]

Wikipedia
Single File (band)

Single File was a band from Westminster, Colorado. After achieving local success, the band was signed to Reprise Records in 2006.

Single file

Single file may refer to:

  • The Single File, a 1983 video compilation and, as The Single File 1978~1983, a 1984 box-set album by the English singer-songwriter Kate Bush
  • "Single File", a song from the 1995 album Elliott Smith by American singer-songwriter Elliott Smith
  • Single File (album), the 2000 début album by the American punk-rock band The Honor System
  • Single File (band), an American pop-punk, alternative-rock band
  • single-file dynamics, another term for file dynamics the occurrence and motion of particles in a channel in chemistry, physics, mathematics and related fields
  • Singlefile Estate, a producer of Australian wine from the Denmark region, Western Australia
Single File (album)

Single File is the debut album by Chicago-based punk rock band The Honor System.

Usage examples of "single file".

We walked in single file, and no one could see anyone else's face.

We followed in single file, Claudel leading, me bringing up the rear.

And then we went over a long stretch where the road narrowed so that we rode single file between verdure-covered cliffs.

In earlier releases of NT, the user profile was stored as a single file - either locally in the \config directory or centrally on a server.

Ntoko had put Lawrence and Nic out in front, leaving the rest in single file, spaced about seven meters apart.

A point man could lead his squad single file through a mine field without a single injury.

It need not be stated that this place is a great venue for a conversation: the paths between the stalls are so narrow that they have to walk in single file.

He fell into a monotonous routine: remove a single file, carefully inspect the contents, replace it, move on to the next.

The rows were placed very close together, so that the siblings had to walk behind Hal in single file as he gave them the tour of the room.