Dictionary.com

Popular Searches

 Thesaurus.com
Showing results for one-on-one. Search instead for one-on-one video.
Synonyms

one-on-one

American  
[wuhn-on-wuhn, -awn-] / ˈwʌn ɒnˈwʌn, -ɔn- /

adjective

  1. consisting of or involving direct individual competition, confrontation, or communication; person-to-person.

    a one-on-one discussion.

adverb

  1. in direct encounter.

    I'd rather settle this with her one-on-one.

noun

  1. a meeting or confrontation between two persons.

idioms

  1. go one-on-one with, to play directly against (an opposing player).

one-on-one British  

adjective

  1. denoting a relationship or encounter in which someone is involved with only one other person

    a one-on-one meeting
"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
one on one More Idioms  

  1. A 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]

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.

When Collins started in 1995, he walked in off the street and trained one-on-one for three months, eight hours a day, before he could use his own press.

From The Wall Street Journal

On Friday, the prime minister is scheduled to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping one-on-one, after the pair met last year on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea.

From BBC

Then in the performance, I was so nervous because I always thought it would be a one-on-one with Joyce, but it was the full cast.

From Los Angeles Times

“The biggest part of coaching a quarterback one-on-one, of mentoring, is building that trust,” Cutcliffe said.

From The Wall Street Journal

He’s not just the most lethal one-on-one scorer in the NBA—he’s put up higher marks in both categories than Jordan in ‘96 and Curry in ‘16.

From The Wall Street Journal

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.