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only

[ohn-lee]

Example Sentences Origin

adverb

without others or anything further; alone; solely; exclusively: This information is for your eyes only.

no more than; merely; just: If it were only true! I cook only on weekends.

as recently as: I read that article only yesterday.

in the final outcome or decision: You will only regret your harsh words to me.

adjective

being the single one or the relatively few of the kind: This is the only pencil I can find.

having no sibling or no sibling of the same sex: an only child; an only son.

single in superiority or distinction; unique; the best: the one and only Muhammad Ali.

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Only is always a great word to know.

So is ort. Does it mean:

a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.

an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.

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conjunction

but (introducing a single restriction, restraining circumstance, or the like): I would have gone, only you objected.

Older Use. except; but: Only for him you would not be here.

Idiom

10.

only too,

as a matter of fact; extremely: I am only too glad to go.

unfortunately; very: It is only too likely to happen.

Origin:
before 900; Middle English; Old English ānlich, ǣnlich. See one, -ly

Synonyms
5. solitary, lone. 7. peerless; exclusive.

Antonyms
5. plentiful, common.

Usage note
The placement of only as a modifier is more a matter of style and clarity than of grammatical rule. In a sentence like The doctor examined the children, varying the placement of only results in quite different meanings: The doctor only examined the children means that the doctor did nothing else. And The doctor examined only the children means that no one else was examined. EXPANDEspecially in formal writing, the placement of only immediately before what it modifies is often observed: She sold the stock only because she needed the money. However, there has long been a tendency in all varieties of speech and writing to place only before the verb (She only sold the stock because she needed the money), and such placement is rarely confusing

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Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To only

Example Sentences

We all offer our bodies and only a few are chosen, but it shouldnt reflect any special credit on those that are chosen.

Annoying people only works as a strategy if it's the only way to bring light to a legitimate, concrete grievance.

Nine new species that dine only on dead whales have been discovered, a new study says.

EXPAND

We all offer our bodies and only a few are chosen, but it shouldnt reflect any special credit on those that are chosen.

Annoying people only works as a strategy if it's the only way to bring light to a legitimate, concrete grievance.

Nine new species that dine only on dead whales have been discovered, a new study says.

Primates can now move and sense the textures of objects using only their thoughts.

But the formula for deep ocean blue is rare, occurring in only one out of every several hundred thousand diamonds.

Your best and often only dining option will be at your lodging.

And the cops don't have to be the only ones with eyes in the sky.

Only those who can afford to pay the bill will go, especially in this time when loans are hard to come by.

The debt deal, which implies only modest new spending cuts in the short term, is not directly responsible for this.

There was only one way scientists could unlock the mystery of the famous iceman.

Support for this hypothesis comes not only from cross-national studies, but from studies of individuals.

Its shell can end up several feet down, with only its neck poking up into the water.

Not only is this chili easy to make ahead, it actually improves with time.

Touch one anywhere else and it only jumps one space.

Only that kind of experiment, he says, can suggest anything definitive about causation.

The sampling covers only a minuscule part of the prostate, making it easy to miss regions where cancerous cells may lurk.

Traditionally an oral work, the only manuscript of the poem was tragically burned during the nation's civil war.

Now, the only way out of that is to have some energy-dependent effect, but all the ones that make sense don't wash here.

Back then, she remembers, they weren't going only ten miles per hour.

Often a vintage is deemed magnificent at first, only later to be declared not as good as originally thought.

Imagine a weapon that creates sound that only you can hear.

Prospects for reform of the hukou system are only slightly better.

Where only one crop is grown, pests and disease can spread easily, creating the need for potentially toxic pesticides.

Not only does warm water soothe us, it can combat loneliness.

They began not only to lose their homes but also their burial grounds and places of worship.

Eat only the petals, and taste each flower before using, as they can sometimes be bitter.

Scientifically speaking, it's only a matter of time before drones become self-aware and kill us all.

But that only makes it all the more shocking that politicians have done so little.

Wind waves, on the other hand move only water particles near the surface.

Sale is only one part of construction and you know it.

The month saw only scattered military action as generals on both sides deliberated their next move.

These beautiful speakers can focus their beam of sound so tight that only you can hear it.

The exact causality can only be speculated at this point but the correlations are robust.

Lions are the only cats that live in groups, which are called prides.

Why only some hairlessness then and why have no other savannah dwellers done it.

The object at hand is one of only a few known to exist.

Only one problem: the copter isn't that hot at what's supposed to be its primary task: surveillance.

Sand tigers are the only shark known to come to the surface and gulp air.

Only those who have experienced this condition understand the pain.

Most sports controversies live for only a season or two.

Earth, our home planet, is the only planet in our solar system known to harbor life.

Only a collage professor would want all of society to be poorer so people would not have to waste their time working.

Such length, one scientist said, could only have been achieved in a pen.

Only the govt is stupid enough to fund nukes, and in fact, the govt.

Doctors have a narrow window of only four to six hours to get the heart into the waiting recipient before it is no longer viable.

He's alone, so high off the ground that perhaps only the eagles take notice.

Only monarchs born in late summer or early fall make the migration, and they make only one round trip.

He lived only nine days to enjoy the liberty of his parole.

And the board says that only vets may float horses' teeth.

Farms aren't the only place where these animals may be found.

We only consider scientists to be experts when their argument is in line with our own previously held beliefs.

Shopping is done only twice a year at a thrift store and replaces.

New research suggests that children with siblings are no better off socially than only children.

Research on autism is only starting to confront that problem.

They found at first that there were far fewer genes than they had expected, only to discover later that there were far more.

Crowds tend to be wise only if individual members act responsibly and make their own decisions.

Experts think it's only a matter of time before cities are being run by sensors connected to powerful computers.

Regional and metro edition circulations are not guaranteed and are to be used only as a basis for determining rates.

Not only because of the awful destruction, not only because the.

Females reproduce only every two and a half to five years.

Does well with only occasional deep irrigation in summer.

For decades, the only way to get sheet music for the blind was to send.

Letters may be shortened for print publication, and some letters may appear only online.

Public-sector unions enjoy advantages that their private-sector rivals only dream of.

Only a handful of wild animal species have been successfully bred to get along with humans.

Time may only be relative to us and not to the creator or.

But the chasm is only slowly yielding clues to the ancient peoples who lived below the.

Bulbs are dormant only for a short time after leaves wither.

Inevitably, scientists will crack the neural code of subjectivity-it's only a matter of technology and time.

Others talk of leaving their car with the battery fully charged, only to return an hour or two later to find it flat.

The implication is that the brain only has to send a single move command to the arm, and the arm will do the rest.

People aren't the only animals who know when they've gotten a raw deal.

Before this study, only people, apes and dolphins had shown evidence of self-recognition in mirrors.

The only upright laceleaf, this has a distinctly feathery green look.

However, only you can decide how important summer certainty at this place is for you.

They may make it only a little safer but much less.

Look at images from the only celestial body on which humans have landed.

Human microbiota could be behind why deficient diets leave only some children seriously ill.

Only the males are known to sing, although both males and females sound certain social.

When flowers are on separate trees, you'll get fruit on female tree only if a male tree grows nearby.

In the case of only one independent variable with two levels, these are equivalent.

But in the short run there is only a limited amount of fallow land easily available.

She applies makeup only on the right side of her face.

Though its spots are indeed cloud-shaped, the animal is only a cousin of the.

Though commercial growers fertilize regularly, many home growers find that their trees require only minimal feeding.

Don't submit anything for the rest of graduate school or only immediately before hitting the market.

Torture by the police is rarely punished and often applauded as the only alternative to anarchy.

Life-and-death situations don't only occur in the wild.

Scientists know of only one in the wild, identified by its call.

Only grow varieties grafted to hardy rootstock, and plant two varieties for cross-pollination.

Sometimes the procession wends its way through the town, sometimes it covers only a short distance.

This, he said, will only disperse the mercury vapor and leave particles trapped inside the cleaner bag.

The only solution to this to take a slow but steady u-turn.

Here there are no earthquakes, no fires and only the occasional hurricane.

But green isn't the only color you'll see in this pretty little.

Animals aren't the only living things facing extinction.

To a large extent, every one is a magician in his own right, it is only a matter of degree.

But it was a country he knew only from a great distance.

These pots contain only foliage plants, the palette of.

It was white and open and blue and beautiful, and the only question was where to land.

The proof is in the pudding only if you concede the fact of the pudding.

And now that digital technology has been thrown into the mix, that's only going to ratchet up.

Our cameras are there, in the middle of this real-life war zone, where only the strong-and the devious-survive.

Creatures found where only microbes and viruses were thought to survive.

Those countless thousands of us who were luckier can feel only sympathy for the uninitiated.

Brazil is the only high-volume producer subject to frost.

Wind and solar can only do so much practically, although it can provide significant power.

It's the only member of its group, the only member of its family, and the only member of its genus.

Bacteria and other microbes are the only thing that will ultimately clean up the ongoing.

Damasio, joy or sorrow can emerge only after the brain registers physical changes in the body.

All these are equally likely but only four of these twelve choices lead to a desired outcome.

Inherited forms of anemia may soon be treated by turning on a gene normally active only in the womb.

In a first-ever experiment, primates move and feel objects on a computer screen using only their thoughts.

Other animals howl when they are in distress, but only humans weep tears of sorrow--or.

When it comes to understanding how acupuncture needles can heal, scientists are still only scratching the surface.

That's the only number meeting the criteria having only two prime factors.

Astronomers see only their combined effect when many occur at about the same time.

Galton originally worked only with statistics, and in his capable hands, they proved a powerful weapon.

The usual horizons of black holes would form in loop quantum gravity, but light would be trapped only for a finite period.

In many cases, such prescriptions are the only mental health care.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

only (ˈəʊnlɪ)

—*adj*
1.	the only being single or very few in number: the only men left in town were too old to bear arms
2.	(of a child) having no siblings
3.	unique by virtue of being superior to anything else; peerless
4.	one and only
	a. (adjective) incomparable; unique
	b. (as noun) the object of all one's love: you are my one and only

—*adv*
5.	without anyone or anything else being included; alone: you have one choice only; only a genius can do that
6.	merely or just: it's only Henry
7.	no more or no greater than: we met only an hour ago
8.	(Irish) (intensifier): she was only marvellous; it was only dreadful
9.	used in conditional clauses introduced by if to emphasize the impossibility of the condition ever being fulfilled: if I had only known, this would never have happened
10.	not earlier than; not…until: I only found out yesterday
11.	if only an expression used to introduce a wish, esp one felt to be unrealizable
12.	only if never…except when
13.	only too
	a. (intensifier): he was only too pleased to help
	b. most regrettably (esp in the phrase only too true)

—*sentence connector*
14.	but; however: used to introduce an exception or condition: play outside: only don't go into the street

usage In informal English, only is often used as a sentence connector: I would have phoned you, only I didn't know your number. This use should be avoided in formal writing: I would have phoned you if I'd known your number. In formal speech and writing, only is placed directly before the word or words that it modifies: she could interview only three applicants in the morning. In all but the most formal contexts, however, it is generally regarded as acceptable to put only before the verb: she could only interview three applicants in the morning. Care must be taken not to create ambiguity, esp in written English, in which intonation will not, as it does in speech, help to show to which item in the sentence only applies. A sentence such as she only drinks tea in the afternoon is capable of two interpretations and is therefore better rephrased either as she drinks only tea in the afternoon (i.e. no other drink) or she drinks tea only in the afternoon (i.e. at no other time)

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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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

only

O.E. ænlic, anlic "only, unique, solitary," lit. "one-like," from an "one" (see one) + -lic "-ly." Distinction of only and alone (now usually in ref. to emotional states) is unusual; in many languages the same word serves for both. Ger. also has a distinction in allein/einzig.

EXPAND

Phrase only-begotten (1450) is biblical, translating L. unigenitus, Gk. monogenes. The O.E. form was ancenned.

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American Heritage

Idioms & Phrases

only

In addition to the idioms beginning with only, also see beauty is only skin deep; have an eye (eyes only) for; if only; in name only; not the only fish in the sea; one and only