one-on-one
adjective
consisting of or involving direct individual competition, confrontation, or communication; person-to-person.
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one-on-one
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one on one
one on oneA direct encounter between two persons, especially a conflict, as in The two department heads went one on one regarding shelf space. This slangy expression almost certainly comes from sports. It is commonly used to refer to a two-person basketball game, but is also applied to the interaction of two players on opposing teams in football, soccer, and similar team sports. [c. 1960]
one-on-one
American
[wuhn-on-wuhn, -awn-]
/ ˈwʌn ɒnˈwʌn, -ɔn- /
adjective
adverb
noun
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one-on-ones
plural
idioms
one-on-one
British
adjective
one on one
More Idioms
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of one-on-one
An Americanism dating back to 1965–70
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.
See Examples For:
During a recent community event, Tammabattula said he tried to speak one-on-one with a woman who was vociferously opposed to the project.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
The private dinner is the first one-on-one meeting between the two men, according to US media including Axios, which first reported the dinner plan.
From Barron's ● Sep. 27, 2026
“Ted, you suck! Ted, you suck!” several hundred students chanted for nearly 10 minutes on Saturday morning, standing behind the Republican and booing as Davis attempted to conduct a one-on-one interview.
From Salon ● Sep. 15, 2026
Pagoria considers herself a cool boss, not because she’s a laugh-a-minute but because “when I’m one-on-one with one of my direct reports, I’m only with them.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
And then Coach immediately had us playing full-court one-on-one.
From "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie
What about dealing with Haaland one on one?
From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026
Texas A&M’s M.B.A. candidates are required to do intense preparation before career fairs, and a counselor met with him one on one to help him prepare for specific interviews and practice salary negotiations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 18, 2026
All three players are such a threat once they get one on one in wide areas, and whoever plays full-back for the Gunners will need to bring their 'A game' with them.
From BBC ● Apr. 19, 2026
I don’t know if it’s still like play one on one with with Zu down there and if he beats you over the top out of the post you live with it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 18, 2025
Holmes believed he and Chamberlin would be meeting alone, one on one, but when Holmes arrived at the office, he found it occupied by two dozen creditors and their attorneys and one police detective.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
She also schedules weekly one-on-ones with her direct reports and makes a point of not checking emails or doing anything else to divide her attention during those meetings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
“You can’t double cover everybody,” Robinson said, adding, “Those guys get a lot of double coverage, so that leaves me with a lot of one-on-ones and Matthew was able to see that.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 25, 2024
Then it's just creating one-on-ones for our powerful ball carriers.
From BBC ● Feb. 14, 2024
According to the Microsoft report, nearly three-quarters of people managers believe more guidance on what to prioritize would improve their performance, but more than two-thirds say their managers have never given clear guidance in one-on-ones.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 31, 2023
In one-on-ones, advantage is to the shooter, especially if he’s as good as this guy.
From "Tradition" by Brendan Kiely
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.
