One by one
adjective
1.
being or amounting to a single unit or individual or entire thing, item, or object rather than two or more; a single: one woman; one nation; one piece of cake.
2.
being a person, thing, or individual instance or member of a number, kind, group, or category indicated: one member of the party.
3.
existing, acting, or considered as a single unit, entity, or individual.
4.
of the same or having a single kind, nature, or condition: We belong to one team; We are of one resolve.
5.
noting some indefinite day or time in the future: You will see him one day.
6.
a certain (often used in naming a person otherwise unknown or undescribed): One john smith was chosen.
7.
being a particular, unique, or only individual, item, or unit: I'm looking for the one adviser I can trust.
8.
noting some indefinite day or time in the past: We all had dinner together one evening last week.
9.
of no consequence as to the character, outcome, etc.; the same: It's all one to me whether they go or not.
noun
10.
the first and lowest whole number, being a cardinal number; unity.
11.
a symbol of this number, as 1 or I.
12.
a single person or thing: If only problems would come one at a time!
13.
a die face or a domino face having one pip.
14.
a one-dollar bill: to change a five-dollar bill for five ones.
00:10
One by one
is always a great word to know.
So is bezoar. Does it mean:
| the offspring of a zebra and a donkey. |
| a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison. |
pronoun
Idioms 16.
a person or thing of a number or kind indicated or understood: one of the Elizabethan poets.
17.
(in certain pronominal combinations) a person unless definitely specified otherwise: every one.
18.
(with a defining clause or other qualifying words) a person or a personified being or agency: the evil one; the one I love.
19.
any person indefinitely; anyone: as good as one would desire.
20.
Chiefly British. (used as a substitute for the pronoun I): Mother had been ailing for many months, and one should have realized it.
21.
a person of the speaker's kind; such as the speaker himself or herself: to press one's own claims.
22.
something or someone of the kind just mentioned: The portraits are fine ones. Your teachers this semester seem to be good ones.
23.
something available or referred to, especially in the immediate area: Here, take one—they're delicious. The bar is open, so have one on me!
24.
at one,
a.
in a state of agreement; of one opinion.
b.
united in thought or feeling; attuned: He felt at one with his Creator.
25.
one and all, everyone: They came, one and all, to welcome him home.
26.
one by one, singly and successively: One by one the children married and moved away.
27.
Origin:
before 900; Middle English oon, Old English ān; cognate with Dutch een, German ein, Gothic ains, Latin ūnus (OL oinos); akin to Greek oínē ace on a die
before 900; Middle English oon, Old English ān; cognate with Dutch een, German ein, Gothic ains, Latin ūnus (OL oinos); akin to Greek oínē ace on a die
Usage note
One as an indefinite pronoun meaning “any person indefinitely, anyone” is more formal than you, which is also used as an indefinite pronoun with the same sense: One (or you) should avoid misconceptions. One (or you) can correct this fault in three ways. When the construction requires that the pronoun be repeated, either one or he or he or she is used; he or he or she is the more common in the United States: Wherever one looks, he (or he or she) finds evidence of pollution. In speech or informal writing, a form of they sometimes occurs: Can one read this without having their emotions stirred?
In constructions of the type one of those who (or that or which), the antecedent of who is considered to be the plural noun or pronoun, correctly followed by a plural verb: He is one of those people who work for the government. Yet the feeling that one is the antecedent is so strong that a singular verb is commonly found in all types of writing: one of those people who works for the government. When one is preceded by only in such a construction, the singular verb is always used: the only one of her sons who visits her in the hospital.
The substitution of one for I, a typically British use, is usually regarded as an affectation in the United States. See also he1, they.
One as an indefinite pronoun meaning “any person indefinitely, anyone” is more formal than you, which is also used as an indefinite pronoun with the same sense: One (or you) should avoid misconceptions. One (or you) can correct this fault in three ways. When the construction requires that the pronoun be repeated, either one or he or he or she is used; he or he or she is the more common in the United States: Wherever one looks, he (or he or she) finds evidence of pollution. In speech or informal writing, a form of they sometimes occurs: Can one read this without having their emotions stirred?
In constructions of the type one of those who (or that or which), the antecedent of who is considered to be the plural noun or pronoun, correctly followed by a plural verb: He is one of those people who work for the government. Yet the feeling that one is the antecedent is so strong that a singular verb is commonly found in all types of writing: one of those people who works for the government. When one is preceded by only in such a construction, the singular verb is always used: the only one of her sons who visits her in the hospital.
The substitution of one for I, a typically British use, is usually regarded as an affectation in the United States. See also he1, they.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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|
Link To one by one
Collins
World English Dictionary
one (wʌn) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —determiner | |
| 1. | a. single; lone; not two or more: one car |
| b. (as pronoun): one is enough for now; one at a time | |
| c. (in combination): one-eyed; one-legged | |
| 2. | a. distinct from all others; only; unique: one girl in a million |
| b. (as pronoun): one of a kind | |
| 3. | a. a specified (person, item, etc) as distinct from another or others of its kind: raise one hand and then the other |
| b. (as pronoun): which one is correct? | |
| 4. | a certain, indefinite, or unspecified (time); some: one day you'll be sorry |
| 5. | informal a an emphatic word for an : it was one hell of a fight |
| 6. | a certain (person): one Miss Jones was named |
| 7. | in one, all in one combined; united |
| 8. | all one |
| a. all the same | |
| b. of no consequence: it's all one to me | |
| 9. | ( |
| 10. | be made one (of a man and a woman) to become married |
| 11. | many a one many people |
| 12. | neither one thing nor the other indefinite, undecided, or mixed |
| 13. | never a one none |
| 14. | one and all everyone, without exception |
| 15. | one by one one at a time; individually |
| 16. | one or two a few |
| 17. | one way and another on balance |
| 18. | informal off on one exhibiting bad temper; ranting |
| 19. | one with another on average |
| —pron | |
| 20. | an indefinite person regarded as typical of every person: one can't say any more than that |
| 21. | any indefinite person: used as the subject of a sentence to form an alternative grammatical construction to that of the passive voice: one can catch fine trout in this stream |
| 22. | archaic an unspecified person: one came to him |
| —n | |
| 23. | See also number the smallest whole number and the first cardinal number; unity |
| 24. | a numeral (1, I, i, etc) representing this number |
| 25. | informal a joke or story (esp in the one about) |
| 26. | music the numeral 1 used as the lower figure in a time signature to indicate that the beat is measured in semibreves |
| 27. | something representing, represented by, or consisting of one unit |
| 28. | Also called: one o'clock one hour after noon or midnight |
| 29. | a blow or setback (esp in the phrase one in the eye for) |
| 30. | the one (in Neo-Platonic philosophy) the ultimate being |
| 31. | the Holy One, the One above God |
| 32. | the Evil One Satan; the devil |
| Related: mono-, uni-, single | |
| [Old English ān, related to Old French ān, ēn, Old High German ein, Old Norse einn, Latin unus, Greek oinē ace] | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
one
O.E. an, from P.Gmc. *ainaz (cf. O.N. einn, Dan. een, O.Fris. an, Du. een, Ger. ein, Goth. ains), from PIE *oinos (cf. Gk. oinos "ace (on dice)," L. unus "one," O.Pers. aivam, O.C.S. -inu, ino-, Lith. vienas, O.Ir. oin, Breton un "one"). Originally pronounced as it still is in only, and in dial. good
'un, young 'un, etc.; the now-standard pronunciation "wun" began c.14c. in southwest and west England (Tyndale, a Gloucester man, spells it won in his Bible translation), and it began to be general 18c. Use as indefinite pronoun influenced by unrelated Fr. on and L. homo. Slang one-arm bandit "a type of slot machine" is recorded by 1938. One-night stand is 1880 in performance sense; 1963 in sexual sense. One of the boys "ordinary amiable fellow" is from 1893. One-track mind is from 1927.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary
-one suff.
A ketone: acetone.
A compound that contains oxygen, especially in a carbonyl radical: lactone.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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American Heritage
Science Dictionary
| -one
A suffix used to form the names of chemical compounds containing an oxygen atom attached to a carbon atom, such as acetone. |
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
one definition
|
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases
one by one
Also, one at a time. Individually in succession, as in The ducklings jumped into the pond one by one, or One at a time they went into the office. Formerly also put as one and one and one after one, this idiom dates from about a.d. 1000.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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