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.
Hundreds of people trudged up the steep switchbacks in single file.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 2026
"In the end, everything worked out. Everyone went down in a single file, everyone helping, and we managed to finish the trail, see the sunrise, and experience that adrenaline rush," Nobre told the paper.
From BBC ● Apr. 20, 2026
One by one, cattle fall behind him single file to consume a breakfast of ground corn and hay.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 15, 2026
They walked in single file, many of them barefoot, carrying flowers, handing out bracelets and picking up new followers along the way.
From Salon ● Feb. 13, 2026
They went in single file along hedgerows and the borders of coppices, and night fell dark about them.
From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien
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.
