solo

[ soh-loh ]

/ ˈsoʊ loʊ /

noun, plural so·los, so·li [soh-lee] /ˈsoʊ li/.

a musical composition or a passage or section in a musical composition written for performance by one singer or instrumentalist, with or without accompaniment: She sang a solo.

any performance, as a dance, by one person.

a flight in an airplane during which the pilot is unaccompanied by an instructor or other person: I'll be ready for my first solo next week.

a person who works, acts, or performs alone: He used to sing with a quartet, but now he's a solo.

a person who performs or accomplishes something without the usual equipment, tools, etc.

Informal. an announcement, commercial offering, etc., made to only one person or a selected group of such persons: Each month the firm sends a solo to its best customers.

Cards. any of certain games in which one person plays alone against others.

adjective

Music. performing alone: a part for solo bassoon.

performed alone; not combined with other parts of equal importance; not concerted.

alone; without a companion or partner: a solo flight.

adverb

on one's own; alone or unaccompanied: After six lessons he was flying solo.

verb (used without object), so·loed, so·lo·ing.

to perform or do a solo: to solo on the trumpet.

to pilot a plane, glider, etc., unaccompanied, especially for the first time: After the course the students should be able to solo.

to perform or accomplish something by oneself.

verb (used with object), so·loed, so·lo·ing.

to pilot (a plane, glider, etc.) unaccompanied.

to allow (a student pilot) to pilot a plane, glider, etc., alone: The instructor decided to solo the student.

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Origin of solo

1685–95; < Italian < Latin sōlus alone

Words nearby solo

sollar, solleret, sollicker, solmization, soln., solo, solo man, solo mother, solo parent, solo stop, solo whist

Definition for solo (2 of 2)

Solo

[ soh-loh ]

/ ˈsoʊ loʊ /

noun

former name of Surakarta.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for solo

He started out with solo flights, but in this session over the desert outside Dubai he really pushes the envelope.
Daredevil in a Jetpack Flies Alongside A Plane|Jack Holmes, The Daily Beast Video|December 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The mini- Monet, as many have come to know him, had his first solo exhibition shortly after.
Blessed or Cursed? Child Prodigies Reveal All|Justin Jones|November 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Instead of that typical thing of playing solo after solo—been there, done that.
Herbie Hancock Holds Forth|David Yaffe|November 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I remember practicing that lick [from the solo “Round Midnight” recording] years ago, learning how to do that cascade effect.
Herbie Hancock Holds Forth|David Yaffe|November 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST

I don't mean he proved that a thirty- or forty-minute solo is necessarily better than a three-minute one.
The Stacks: John Coltrane’s Mighty Musical Quest|Nat Hentoff|October 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Serena was to have danced the solo dance, and now the honor was to be Penny's.
Six Girls and the Tea Room|Marion Ames Taggart
Two years after he accepted the invitation to Strasburg Theatre as solo cellist.
The Violoncello and Its History|Wilhelm Joseph von Wasielewski
Solo for soli has the authority of Cato, who used soli for solius, and of Terence, who used solæ for the same case.
Roman Sepulchral Inscriptions|John Kenrick
The Solo organ and one-third of the Pedal organ are under the first arch on the north side of the chancel.
The Recent Revolution in Organ Building|George Laing Miller
The Altar organ, which can be played through the Solo organ keys, is under the second arch on the north side of the chancel.
The Recent Revolution in Organ Building|George Laing Miller

British Dictionary definitions for solo

solo

/ (ˈsəʊləʊ) /