Singleness Sin"gle·ness noun 1. The quality or state of being single, or separate from all others; the opposite of doubleness, complication, or multiplicity.

2. Freedom from duplicity, or secondary and selfish ends; purity of mind or purpose; simplicity; sincerity; as, singleness of purpose; singleness of heart.

Singles Sin"gles noun plural See Single , noun , 2.

Singlestick Sin"gle·stick` noun (a) In England and Scotland, a cudgel used in fencing or fighting; a backsword. (b) The game played with singlesticks, in which he who first brings blood from his adversary's head is pronounced victor; backsword; cudgeling.

Singlet Sin"glet noun An unlined or undyed waistcoat; a single garment; -- opposed to doublet . [ Prov. Eng.]

Singleton Sin"gle·ton noun In certain games at cards, as whist, a single card of any suit held at the deal by a player; as, to lead a singleton .

Singletree Sin"gle·tree` noun [ Confer Swingletree .] The pivoted or swinging bar to which the traces of a harnessed horse are fixed; a whiffletree.

» When two horses draw abreast, a singletree is fixed at each end of another crosspiece, called the doubletree .

Singly Sin"gly adverb 1. Individually; particularly; severally; as, to make men singly and personally good.

2. Only; by one's self; alone.

Look thee, 't is so! Thou singly honest man.

Shak.

3. Without partners, companions, or associates; single-handed; as, to attack another singly .

At omber singly to decide their doom.

Pope.

4. Honestly; sincerely; simply. [ R.] Johnson.

5. Singularly; peculiarly. [ Obsolete] Milton.

Singsong Sing"song` noun 1. Bad singing or poetry.

2. A drawling or monotonous tone, as of a badly executed song.

Singsong Sing"song` adjective Drawling; monotonous.

Singsong Sing"song` intransitive verb To write poor poetry. [ R.] Tennyson.

Singspiel Sing"spiel` noun [ G.; singen to sing + spiel to play.] (Music) A dramatic work, partly in dialogue and partly in song, of a kind popular in Germany in the latter part of the 18th century. It was often comic, had modern characters, and patterned its music on folk song with strictly subordinated accompaniment.

Singster Sing"ster noun A songstress. [ Obsolete] Wyclif.

Singular Sin"gu·lar (sĭn"gu*lẽr) adjective [ Middle English singuler , French singulier , from Latin singularius , singularis , from singulus single. See Single , adjective ] 1. Separate or apart from others; single; distinct. [ Obsolete] Bacon.

And God forbid that all a company
Should rue a singular man's folly.

Chaucer.

2. Engaged in by only one on a side; single. [ Obsolete]

To try the matter thus together in a singular combat.

Holinshed.

3. (Logic) Existing by itself; single; individual.

The idea which represents one . . . determinate thing, is called a singular idea, whether simple, complex, or compound.

I. Watts.

4. (Law) Each; individual; as, to convey several parcels of land, all and singular .

5. (Gram.) Denoting one person or thing; as, the singular number; -- opposed to dual and plural .

6. Standing by itself; out of the ordinary course; unusual; uncommon; strange; as, a singular phenomenon.

So singular a sadness
Must have a cause as strange as the effect.

Denham.

7. Distinguished as existing in a very high degree; rarely equaled; eminent; extraordinary; exceptional; as, a man of singular gravity or attainments.

8. Departing from general usage or expectations; odd; whimsical; -- often implying disapproval or censure.

His zeal
None seconded, as out of season judged,
Or singular and rash.

Milton.

To be singular in anything that is wise and worthy, is not a disparagement, but a praise.

Tillotson.

9. Being alone; belonging to, or being, that of which there is but one; unique.

These busts of the emperors and empresses are all very scarce, and some of them almost singular in their kind.

Addison.

Singular point in a curve (Math.) , a point at which the curve possesses some peculiar properties not possessed by other points of the curve, as a cusp point, or a multiple point. -- Singular proposition (Logic) , a proposition having as its subject a singular term, or a common term limited to an individual by means of a singular sign. Whately. -- Singular succession (Civil Law) , division among individual successors, as distinguished from universal succession , by which an estate descended in intestacy to the heirs in mass. -- Singular term (Logic) , a term which represents or stands for a single individual.

Syn. -- Unexampled; unprecedented; eminent; extraordinary; remarkable; uncommon; rare; unusual; peculiar; strange; odd; eccentric; fantastic.

Singular Sin"gu·lar noun 1. An individual instance; a particular. [ Obsolete] Dr. H. More.

2. (Gram) The singular number, or the number denoting one person or thing; a word in the singular number.

Singularist Sin"gu·lar·ist (sĭn"gu*lẽr*ĭst) noun One who affects singularity. [ Obsolete]

A clownish singularist , or nonconformist to ordinary usage.

Borrow.

Singularity Sin`gu·lar"i·ty (-lăr"ĭ*tȳ) noun ; plural Singularities (- tĭz). [ Latin singularitas : confer French singularité .] 1. The quality or state of being singular; some character or quality of a thing by which it is distinguished from all, or from most, others; peculiarity.

Pliny addeth this singularity to that soil, that the second year the very falling down of the seeds yieldeth corn.

Sir. W. Raleigh.

I took notice of this little figure for the singularity of the instrument.

Addison.

2. Anything singular, rare, or curious.

Your gallery
Have we passed through, not without much content
In many singularities .

Shak.

3. Possession of a particular or exclusive privilege, prerogative, or distinction.

No bishop of Rome ever took upon him this name of singularity [ universal bishop].

Hooker.

Catholicism . . . must be understood in opposition to the legal singularity of the Jewish nation.

Bp. Pearson.

4. Celibacy. [ Obsolete] Jer. Taylor.

Singularize Sin"gu·lar·ize (sĭn"gu*lẽr*īz) transitive verb To make singular or single; to distinguish. [ R.]

Singularly Sin"gu·lar·ly adverb 1. In a singular manner; in a manner, or to a degree, not common to others; extraordinarily; as, to be singularly exact in one's statements; singularly considerate of others. " Singularly handsome." Milman.

2. Strangely; oddly; as, to behave singularly .

3. So as to express one, or the singular number.

Singult Sin"gult noun [ Latin singultus .] A sigh or sobbing; also, a hiccough. [ Obsolete] Spenser. W. Browne.

Singultous Sin·gul"tous adjective (Medicine) Relating to, or affected with, hiccough. Dunglison.

Singultus Sin·gul"tus noun [ Latin ] (Medicine) Hiccough.

Sinic Sin"ic adjective [ See Sinologue .] (Ethnol.) Of or pertaining to the Chinese and allied races; Chinese.

Sinical Sin"i·cal adjective [ From Sine .] (Trig.) Of or pertaining to a sine; employing, or founded upon, sines; as, a sinical quadrant.

Sinicism Sin"i·cism noun (Ethnol.) Anything peculiar to the Chinese; esp., a Chinese peculiarity in manners or customs.

Sinigrin Sin"i·grin noun [ From New Latin Sinapis nigra .] (Chemistry) A glucoside found in the seeds of black mustard ( Brassica nigra , formerly Sinapis nigra ) It resembles sinalbin, and consists of a potassium salt of myronic acid.

Sinister Sin"is·ter (sĭn"ĭs*tẽr; 277) adjective [ Accented on the middle syllable by the older poets, as Shakespeare, Milton, Dryden.] [ Latin sinister : confer French sinistre .] 1. On the left hand, or the side of the left hand; left; -- opposed to dexter , or right . "Here on his sinister cheek." Shak.

My mother's blood
Runs on the dexter cheek, and this sinister
Bounds in my father's

Shak.

» In heraldy the sinister side of an escutcheon is the side which would be on the left of the bearer of the shield, and opposite the right hand of the beholder.

2. Unlucky; inauspicious; disastrous; injurious; evil; -- the left being usually regarded as the unlucky side; as, sinister influences.

All the several ills that visit earth,
Brought forth by night, with a sinister birth.

B. Jonson.

3. Wrong, as springing from indirection or obliquity; perverse; dishonest; corrupt; as, sinister aims.

Nimble and sinister tricks and shifts.

Bacon.

He scorns to undermine another's interest by any sinister or inferior arts.

South.

He read in their looks . . . sinister intentions directed particularly toward himself.

Sir W. Scott.

4. Indicative of lurking evil or harm; boding covert danger; as, a sinister countenance.

Bar sinister . (Her.) See under Bar , noun -- Sinister aspect (Astrol.) , an appearance of two planets happening according to the succession of the signs, as Saturn in Aries, and Mars in the same degree of Gemini. -- Sinister base , Sinister chief . See under Escutcheon .

Sinister-handed Sin"is·ter-hand"ed adjective Left- handed; hence, unlucky. [ Obsolete] Lovelace.

Sinisterly Sin"is·ter·ly adverb In a sinister manner. Wood.

Sinistrad Sin"is·trad adverb [ Latin sinistra the left hand + ad to.] (Anat. & Zoology) Toward the left side; sinistrally.

Sinistral Sin"is·tral adjective 1. Of or pertaining to the left, inclining to the left; sinistrous; -- opposed to dextral .

2. (Zoology) Having the whorls of the spire revolving or rising to the left; reversed; -- said of certain spiral shells.

Sinistrality Sin`is·tral"i·ty noun The quality or state of being sinistral.

Sinistrally Sin"is·tral·ly adverb Toward the left; in a sinistral manner. J. Le Conte.

Sinistrin Sin"is·trin (sĭn"ĭs*trĭn) noun [ Latin sinister left.] (Chemistry) A mucilaginous carbohydrate, resembling achroödextrin, extracted from squill as a colorless amorphous substance; -- so called because it is levorotatory.

Sinistrorsal Sin`is·tror"sal adjective [ Latin sinistrorsus , sinistroversus , turned toward the left side; sinister left + vertere , vortere , versum , vorsum , to turn.] Rising spirally from right to left (of the spectator); sinistrorse.

Sinistrorse Sin"is·trorse` adjective [ See Sinistrolsal .] Turning to the left (of the spectator) in the ascending line; -- the opposite of dextrorse . See Dextrorse .

Sinistrous Sin"is·trous adjective [ See Sinister .] 1. Being on the left side; inclined to the left; sinistral. " Sinistrous gravity." Sir T. Browne.

2. Wrong; absurd; perverse.

A knave or fool can do no harm, even by the most sinistrous and absurd choice.

Bentley.

Sinistrously Sin"is·trous·ly (sĭn"ĭs*trŭs*lȳ) adverb 1. In a sinistrous manner; perversely; wrongly; unluckily.

2. With a tendency to use the left hand.

Many, in their infancy, are sinistrously disposed, and divers continue all their life left-handed.

Sir T. Browne.

Sink Sink (sĭnk) intransitive verb [ imperfect Sunk (sŭnk), or ( Sank (sănk)); past participle Sunk (obs. Sunken , -- now used as adj. ); present participle & verbal noun Sinking .] [ Middle English sinken , Anglo-Saxon sincan ; akin to Dutch zinken , Old Saxon sincan , German sinken , Icelandic sökkva , Danish synke , Swedish sjunka , Goth. siggan , and probably to English silt . Confer Silt .] 1. To fall by, or as by, the force of gravity; to descend lower and lower; to decline gradually; to subside; as, a stone sinks in water; waves rise and sink ; the sun sinks in the west.

I sink in deep mire.

Ps. lxix. 2.

2. To enter deeply; to fall or retire beneath or below the surface; to penetrate.

The stone sunk into his forehead.

1 San. xvii. 49.

3. Hence, to enter so as to make an abiding impression; to enter completely.

Let these sayings sink down into your ears.

Luke ix. 44.

4. To be overwhelmed or depressed; to fall slowly, as so the ground, from weakness or from an overburden; to fail in strength; to decline; to decay; to decrease.

I think our country sinks beneath the yoke.

Shak.

He sunk down in his chariot.

2 Kings ix. 24.

Let not the fire sink or slacken.

Mortimer.

5. To decrease in volume, as a river; to subside; to become diminished in volume or in apparent height.

The Alps and Pyreneans sink before him.

Addison.

Syn. -- To fall; subside; drop; droop; lower; decline; decay; decrease; lessen.

Sink Sink transitive verb 1. To cause to sink; to put under water; to immerse or submerge in a fluid; as, to sink a ship.

[ The Athenians] fell upon the wings and sank a single ship.

Jowett (Thucyd.).

2. Figuratively: To cause to decline; to depress; to degrade; hence, to ruin irretrievably; to destroy, as by drowping; as, to sink one's reputation.

I raise of sink , imprison or set free.

Prior.

If I have a conscience, let it sink me.

Shak.

Thy cruel and unnatural lust of power
Has sunk thy father more than all his years.

Rowe.

3. To make (a depression) by digging, delving, or cutting, etc.; as, to sink a pit or a well; to sink a die.

4. To bring low; to reduce in quantity; to waste.

You sunk the river repeated draughts.

Addison.

5. To conseal and appropriate. [ Slang]

If sent with ready money to buy anything, and you happen to be out of pocket, sink the money, and take up the goods on account.

Swift.

6. To keep out of sight; to suppress; to ignore.

A courtly willingness to sink obnoxious truths.

Robertson.

7. To reduce or extinguish by payment; as, to sink the national debt.

Sink Sink noun 1. A drain to carry off filthy water; a jakes.

2. A shallow box or vessel of wood, stone, iron, or other material, connected with a drain, and used for receiving filthy water, etc., as in a kitchen.

3. A hole or low place in land or rock, where waters sink and are lost; -- called also sink hole . [ U. S.]

Sink hole . (a) The opening to a sink drain . (b) A cesspool . (c) Same as Sink , noun , 3.

Sink Sink (sĭnk) noun The lowest part of a natural hollow or closed basin whence the water of one or more streams escapes by evaporation; as, the sink of the Humboldt River. [ Western U. S.]

Sinker Sink"er noun One who, or that which, sinks. Specifically: (a) A weight on something, as on a fish line, to sink it. (b) In knitting machines, one of the thin plates, blades, or other devices, that depress the loops upon or between the needles.

Dividing sinker , in knitting machines, a sinker between two jack sinkers and acting alternately with them. -- Jack sinker . See under Jack , noun -- Sinker bar . (a) In knitting machines, a bar to which one set of the sinkers is attached . (b) In deep well boring, a heavy bar forming a connection between the lifting rope and the boring tools, above the jars.

Sinking Sink"ing adjective & noun from Sink .

Sinking fund . See under Fund . -- Sinking head (Founding) , a riser from which the mold is fed as the casting shrinks. See Riser , noun , 4. -- Sinking pump , a pump which can be lowered in a well or a mine shaft as the level of the water sinks.

Sinless Sin"less adjective Free from sin. Piers Plowman.

-- Sin"less*ly , adverb -- Sin"less*ness , noun

Sinner Sin"ner noun One who has sinned; especially, one who has sinned without repenting; hence, a persistent and incorrigible transgressor; one condemned by the law of God.

Sinner Sin"ner intransitive verb To act as a sinner. [ Humorous]

Whether the charmer sinner it or saint it.

Pope.

Sinneress Sin"ner·ess noun A woman who sins. [ Obsolete]

Sinnet Sin"net noun See Sennit .

Sinological Sin`o·log"ic·al adjective [ See Sinologue .] Relating to the Chinese language or literature.

Sinologist Si·nol"o·gist noun A sinologue.

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