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
It used to take me a few days to get all my different receipts into a single file for my accountant.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 16, 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
We walked in silence, Rodney leading the way, through little backstreets hardly penetrated by the sun, the pavements so narrow we often had to shuffle along in single file.
From "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro
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.
