Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

single quotes

American  

plural noun

  1. one pair of single quotation marks, written as (‘ ’) and used especially for a quotation within another quotation.

    He said, “I told you to say ‘Open, sesame’ when you want to enter the mountain.”


Compare meaning

How does single-quotes compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

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:

Only"Page 295: Changed double quotes to single quotes: passing the 'carriers' throughPage 295: Added closing quote: ... under the postal administration."

From Triumphs of Invention and Discovery in Art and Science by Fyfe, J. Hamilton

Page 7: Double quotes inside double quotes in Hallam quotation replaced with single quotes.

From Tolstoy on Shakespeare A Critical Essay on Shakespeare by Chertkov, V. G. (Vladimir Grigorevich)

That is, that the name be placed in single quotes and not italicized e.g.,

From Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the 44th Annual Meeting Rochester, N.Y. August 31 and September 1, 1953 by Northern Nut Growers Association

Page 189, Double quotes changed to single quotes 'The crowd is so great...prettier than you,' The remaining corrections made are indicated by dotted lines under the corrections.

From The Tapestry Room A Child's Romance by Crane, Walter

In the 1870 text, dialogue has “modern” punctuation using single quotes: ‘To this place,’ said Melissa, ‘have I taken....’

From Alonzo and Melissa The Unfeeling Father by Mitchell, I. (Isaac)

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Join 12,000,000 vocabulary learners

Start learning new words today on VocabTrainer.
You'll remember them forever.

Start training