single-handedly

[ sing-guhl-han-did-lee ]

adverb

1. in a single-handed manner; single-handed.

Word History and Origins

Origin of single-handedly¹

First recorded in 1880–85

Example Sentences

For years, William Schmidt single-handedly dug a tunnel through a mountain to transport his gold-rush loot.

From The Daily Beast

Once a pampered princeling, Yarvi cannot single-handedly succeed (literally or figuratively) and so must become a leader.

From The Daily Beast

Sure, it wouldn't be easy; even Bassam suffers some setbacks on his quest to single-handedly liberalize Abbudin.

From The Daily Beast

Marshall single-handedly reset our understanding of how ulcers are created, and won a Nobel Prize for his efforts.

From The Daily Beast

Ulli single-handedly overturned the ruling several years ago.

From The Daily Beast

To a large extent the criminals, single handedly, created a private sector in these derelict economies.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• courageously

More About Single Handedly

What does single-handedly mean?

Single-handedly means done or accomplished alone—without help from anyone, as in Carol completed the project single-handedly—she did every last thing herself. 

Single-handedly is the adverb form of the adjective single–handed, which is used to describe something done by one person, as with a single-handed attempt. Single-handed can also be used as an adverb, as in Abdul sailed the boat single-handed. 

Single-handedly is also used in situations in which someone has done something without help from anyone else even though they were available, as in She single-handedly beat the other team—scoring the final 15 points of the game by herself. 

Example: Lori single-handedly solved the math equation that had stumped mathematicians for years.

Where does single-handedly come from?

The first records of the term single-handedly come from the 1880s. It is an adverb form of the adjective single-handed, whose first records come from around 1700. Both of these words may come from the concept of something being done by one pair of hands—that is, one person.

Single-handedly is often used to emphasize the impressiveness of something having been performed by one person. It is used to highlight the fact that the task normally requires a group of people to do.

For this reason, single-handedly is commonly used in hyperbolic descriptions of a person’s abilities or of the difficulty of the task they accomplished, as in Basketball Hall of Famer Sheryl Swoopes single-handedly altered women’s professional basketball.

Did you know ... ?

What are some other forms related to single-handedly?

• single-handed (adjective, adverb)
• single-handedness (noun)

What are some synonyms for single-handedly?

• single-handed
• alone
• unassisted
• by oneself

What are some words that share a root or word element with single-handedly? 

• single-handed
• single
• hand

What are some words that often get used in discussing single-handedly?

• alone
• without
• help
• solo
• themselves
• accomplish
• achieve

How is single-handedly used in real life?

Single-handedly is used to indicate that someone accomplished a (usually impressive) task by themselves.

Ravi Inder Singh won the game single-handedly for Bhairahawa Gladiators. Gladiators defeated Rhinos by four wickets. https://t.co/P3IWw4SwlR pic.twitter.com/BaQqMpW9cC

— myRepública (@RepublicaNepal) December 9, 2018

Morgan Freeman in a cowboy hat could have single-handedly won the war on terror. #SlaterFest2016 pic.twitter.com/pNyqpsQDSl

— Cracked.com (@cracked) January 31, 2016

Rest in Peace Saroj Khan ji. This loss is immeasurable for the industry & film lovers.Having choreographed more than 2000 songs she single handedly changed the landscape of how songs were shot. I had the pleasure of being Choerographed by her in Aladin. One tick off my bucketlist

— Riteish Deshmukh (@Riteishd) July 3, 2020

 

 

Try using single-handedly!

Is single-handedly used correctly in the following sentence?

The carpenter managed to single-handedly repair the bridge with help from his assistants.