| 1 |
[ adverb ] and nothing more
Examples "I was merely asking" "it is simply a matter of time" "just a scratch" "he was only a child" "hopes that last but a moment" Used in print (The Atlanta Constitution...)`` Only a relative handful of such reports was received '' , the jury said , `` considering the widespread interest in the election , the number of voters and the size of_this city '' . (The Dallas Morning News,...)He also complained that not enough notice was given on the hearing , since the bill was introduced only last Monday . (The Sun, [Baltimore],...)Then Dick_Hyde , submarine_ball hurler , entered the contest and only five batters needed to face him before there existed a 3 - to 3 deadlock . The Orioles once_again performed at the plate in powderpuff fashion , gathering only seven blows off the offerings of three Kansas_City pitchers . Toying_with her field in the early stages , Garden_Fresh was asked for top speed only in the stretch by Jockey Philip_Grimm and won by a length and a half in 1.24 3 - 5 for the 7 furlongs . |
| 2 |
[ adverb ] without any others being included or involved
Synonyms Examples "was entirely to blame" "he works for Mr. Smith exclusively" "did it solely for money" "the burden of proof rests on the prosecution alone" "a privilege granted only to him" Used in print (Rocky Mountains News, [Denver, Colorado],...)Nischwitz fanned six and walked only Charley_Hinton in the third inning . Only Bucky_Harris , the `` boy manager '' of Washington in 1924 , and Eddie_Dyer of the St._Louis Cardinals in 1946 had accomplished the feat . (The New York Times,...)The departure of the Giants and the Dodgers to California left New_York with only the Yankees . (The Times-Picayune, [New Orleans]...)The program was instituted in 1940 , and releases are available only from the Recording_Laboratory of the Library_of_Congress , Washington 25 , D._C. A catalogue is available on_request . Decca is not the only large commercial company to impart instruction . |
| 3 |
[ adverb ] with nevertheless the final result
Examples "He arrived only to find his wife dead" "We won only to lose again in the next round" Used in print (Harold Rosenberg, "The Trial and Eichmann"...)Only across a distance of time could the epic accounting begin . (Gibson Winter, The Suburban Captivity of the...)A congregation survives only if it can sustain a socially homogeneous membership ; that_is , when it can preserve economic integration . They survive only when they can recruit social and economic peers . (Harold Searles, "Schizophrenic Communication,"...)The content of his words may lapse back into monotonous repetition , as if a phonograph_needle were stuck in one groove ; only seldom is it so simple as to be a matter of his obviously parroting some timeworn axiom , common to our culture , which he has evidently heard , over_and_over , from a parent until he experiences it as part of him . Particularly hard for the therapist to grasp are those instances in_which the patient is manifesting an introject traceable to something in the therapist , some aspect of the therapist of which the latter is himself only poorly aware , and the recognition of which , as a part of himself , he finds distinctly unwelcome . |
| 4 |
[ adverb ] in the final outcome
Examples "These news will only make you more upset" Used in print (Kenneth Allsop, The Bootleggers and Their Era...)For three years , since the liquor territorial conference , Torrio had , with his elastic patience , and because he knew that retaliation could cause only violent warfare and disaster to business , tolerated O_'_Banion 's impudent double-crossing . (87th Congress, 1st Session. Congressional Record....)What the next move will be only time , of_course , will tell . (Alex Gordon, The Cipher....)If only the latter were true . (George Harmon Coxe, Error of Judgement....)Only then , when his glance focused_on the divan and saw that it was empty , did he remember his earlier problem . Only then did he decide he did n't want one . |
| 5 |
[ adverb ] except that
Examples "It was the same story only this time she came out better" Used in print (Edwin Booth, Outlaw Town....)Once_more he lifted Jess 's gun from its holster , only this time he tossed it into the stall with the frightened buckskin . (Jay Williams, The Forger....)In_the_end , I did the same old picture , the naked girl and the guy in the doorway , only I put a Lord_Byron shirt on the guy , gave him a sword instead of a pistol , and painted in furniture from the stills of a costume movie . (Edward Streeter, The Chairman of the Bored....)The old nightmare which had caused him so many wakeful hours came charging in on him once_more , only this time he could n't pacify it with a sleeping_pill and send it away . |
| 6 |
[ adverb ] never except when
Examples "call me only if your cold gets worse" Used in print (Mr. America, 4:6...)Only when the newest Mr._America or Mr._Universe rediscovers them and puts them into practice are we reacquainted with them and once_again see how effective they really are . |
| 7 |
[ adjective ] being the only one; single and isolated from others
Examples "the lone doctor in the entire county" "a lonesome pine" "an only child" "the sole heir" "the sole example" "a solitary instance of cowardice" "a solitary speck in the sky" Used in print (The Sun, [Baltimore],...)The Orioles tonight retained the distinction of being the only winless team among the eighteen Major-League_clubs as they dropped their sixth straight spring exhibition decision , this one to the Kansas_City Athletics by a score of 5 to 3 . (Rocky Mountains News, [Denver, Colorado],...)It was Gardner 's second run_batted_in of the game and his only ones of the year . The crowd of 32589 had only two chances to applaud . The Yankee triumph made Ralph_Houk only the third man to lead a team to both a pennant and a World_Series victory in his first year as a manager . (St. Louis Post-Dispatch,...)Bill_Mazeroski with .179 and Hal_Smith with .143 were the only Pirates dragging_their_feet . Related terms |
| 8 |
[ adverb ] as recently as
Examples "I spoke to him only an hour ago" |
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