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once
[ wuhns ]
adverb
- at one time in the past; formerly:
I was a farmer once;
a once powerful nation.
- a single time: We go to a movie once a week.
We ate there just once.
We go to a movie once a week.
- even a single time; at any time; ever:
If the facts once become known, it will be just too bad.
- by a single step, degree, or grade:
a cousin once removed.
adjective
- former; having at one time been:
the once and future king.
conjunction
- if or when at any time; if ever.
- whenever; as soon as:
Once you're finished, you can leave.
noun
- a single occasion; one time only:
Once is enough.
once
/ ʌԲ /
adverb
- one time; on one occasion or in one case
- at some past time; formerly
I could speak French once
- by one step or degree (of relationship)
a cousin once removed
- in conditional clauses, negatives, etc ever; at all
if you once forget it
- multiplied by one
- once and away
- conclusively
- occasionally
- once and for allconclusively; for the last time
- once in a whileoccasionally; now and then
- once or twice or once and againa few times
- once upon a timeused to begin fairy tales and children's stories
conjunction
- subordinating as soon as; if ever or whenever
once you begin, you'll enjoy it
noun
- one occasion or case
you may do it, this once
- all at once
- suddenly or without warning
- simultaneously
- at once
- immediately
- simultaneously
- for oncethis time, if (or but) at no other time
51Թ History and Origins
51Թ History and Origins
Origin of once1
Idioms and Phrases
- all at once,
- simultaneously:
The children were running, screaming, and throwing things all at once.
- suddenly:
All at once the rain came down.
- at once,
- at the same time; simultaneously:
Don't all speak at once.
- once and again, repeatedly:
He has been told once and again not to slam the door.
- once and for all, decisively; finally: Also once for all.
Let's settle this problem once and for all.
- once in a while, at intervals; occasionally:
She stops in to see us once in a while.
- once or twice, a very few times; infrequently:
I've seen her in the elevator once or twice.
- once upon a time, at some unspecified past time, especially a long time ago:
Once upon a time, in a faraway land, there lived a prince and princess.
More idioms and phrases containing once
- all at once
- at once
- every now and then (once in a while)
- give someone the once-over
Example Sentences
As Garcia watches Mills photograph her brother, Rupert, and his daughter, Alexandria Garcia Rosewood, standing in the spot where their house once sat, she looks down at Grayson in her arms.
“And it was incredible, once we really had that down, the writing came — I’m not going to say easier — but in a more organic way.”
She smiled broadly as she rhapsodized with mile-a-minute enthusiasm about her work, eyes wide and fingers fluttering over the table, as though she was once again summoning Bach or Paganini.
Bass and her team have also said that, once employee raises were factored in, the Fire Department budget actually grew this year.
Risk of a monster quake and tsunami off California’s North Coast is greater than researchers once thought.
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Related 51Թs
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.
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