one-man
Americanadjective
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of or relating to, or operated, performed, or used by one person.
a one-man office; a one-man band.
-
preferring or seeking romantic involvement with one man only.
a one-man woman.
adjective
Etymology
Origin of one-man
First recorded in 1835–45
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Our critic heralded it as “an expertly crafted one-man thriller.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 5, 2026
But in theory, the outcome depends on two things: Whether a one-man blockade in the Senate breaks, and what Powell decides to do next.
From Barron's • Mar. 18, 2026
A scruffy-faced Radcliffe, twinkling accessible geniality in jeans and a sweatshirt, zips up and down the cavernous theater as though waging a one-man campaign against the isolation epidemic.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 12, 2026
And he reveals that, when Joey’s acting career failed to take off, he planned a one-man show for himself.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 13, 2026
Then as a one-man band he competed with others at a movie house on amateur night.
From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
