single file

See synonyms for single file on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a line of persons or things arranged one behind the other; Indian file.

Origin of single file

1
First recorded in 1660–70

Words Nearby single file

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use single file in a sentence

  • He remembers lining up single file every day to get on the school bus to bring him home.

    Sandy Hook, Connecticut: A Small Town Devastated | Eliza Shapiro, Matthew Zeitlin | December 15, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • The sides of the notch were steep, and the boys rode through it in single file, Matt taking the lead.

    Motor Matt's "Century" Run | Stanley R. Matthews
  • It was a fine reach down Southampton Water, the three close together in single file.

    Yachting Vol. 2 | Various.
  • They were riding single file along a narrow jungle-path when Koyala's horse stumbled over a hidden creeper.

    The Argus Pheasant | John Charles Beecham
  • With one exception these are lost to-day, for so far as known there is not a single file of the Enterprise in existence.

  • The rest followed him in single file, going pretty slow, so as to enable us to keep up to them.

    Beautiful Joe | Marshall Saunders

British Dictionary definitions for single file

single file

noun
  1. a line of persons, animals, or things ranged one behind the other, either stationary or moving

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012