single file
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of single file
First recorded in 1660–70
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.
It used to take me a few days to get all my different receipts into a single file for my accountant.
One by one, cattle fall behind him single file to consume a breakfast of ground corn and hay.
They walked in single file, many of them barefoot, carrying flowers, handing out bracelets and picking up new followers along the way.
From Salon
The al-mirajes followed in a long line, single file, the tip of one al-miraj’s horn just touching the white tail of the one in front.
From Literature
When the race began at 4, two hours before sunrise, we scurried off into the woods in tight single file.
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.
