Meanings
alternative single handed · alternative singlehanded
- not comparableWithout help from others; unassisted.
1 more example
It worked through from Swindon with a test train of 16 coaches and the new W.R. dynamometer car, the whole totalling 571 tons; this is one of the heaviest trains ever worked by a single-handed locomotive over the South Devon banks—in fact, it was competently restarted from a test stop on Dainton bank.
1962 April, “Motive power miscellany: Western Region”, in Modern Railways, page 280 - not comparableUsing only one hand.
- not comparableDesigned for only one hand.
alternative single handed · alternative singlehanded
- not comparableIn a single-handed manner.
I've been holding my family together single-handed.
1 more example
"Got those [sc. scars] with a broken bottle, arresting two toughs at once," he said, replacing his cap. "Run them in single-handed and had a set-to in the cell with them on top of it."
1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 21Synonyms: by oneself
alternative single handed · alternative singlehanded
- participlepastsimple past and past participle of single-hand
Synonyms & antonyms
adverbIn a single-handed manner.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectiveunsupported by other people
adjectivewithout help from others
adverbwithout assistance
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Bulgarian без чужда помощ, с една ръка
- без чужда помощ (bez čužda pomošt)without help from others; unassisted
- с една ръка (s edna răka)using only one hand
Chinese Mandarin 獨力 /独力, 獨力 /独力
- 獨力 /独力 (dúlì)without help from others; unassisted
- 獨力 /独力 (dúlì)in a single-handed manner
Irish dólámhach
- dólámhachwithout help from others; unassisted
Italian in solitaria
- in solitariawithout help from others; unassisted
Swedish enmans-, enhands-
- enmans-without help from others; unassisted
- enhands-using only one hand
- på egen handin a single-handed manner
- egenhändigtin a single-handed manner
Cite this entry
single-handed. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/single-handed
“single-handed.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/single-handed. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “single-handed,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/single-handed.
Source: single-handed on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.