10 QUANT You use one in expressions such as ' one of the biggest airports ' or ' one of the most experienced players ' to indicate that something or someone is bigger or more experienced than most other things or people of the same kind. □ Subaru is one of the smallest Japanese car makers.
11 DET You can use one when referring to a time in the past or in the future. For example, if you say that you did something one day , you mean that you did it on a day in the past. □ How would you like to have dinner one night, just you and me? □ Then one evening Harry phoned, asking me to come to their flat as soon as possible.
12 one day → see day
13 PRON You use one to make statements about people in general which also apply to themselves. One can be used as the subject or object of a sentence. [FORMAL ] □ If one looks at the longer run, a lot of positive things are happening. □ Shares and bonds can bring one quite a considerable additional income.
14 PHRASE If you say that someone is one for or is a one for something, you mean that they like or approve of it or enjoy doing it. □ I'm not one for political discussions. □ She was a real one for flirting with the boys.
15 PHRASE You can use for one to emphasize that a particular person is definitely reacting or behaving in a particular way, even if other people are not. [EMPHASIS ] □ I, for one, hope you don't get the job.
16 PHRASE You can use expressions such as a hundred and one , a thousand and one , and a million and one to emphasize that you are talking about a large number of things or people. [EMPHASIS ] □ There are a hundred and one ways in which you can raise money.
17 PHRASE You can use in one to indicate that something is a single unit, but is made up of several different parts or has several different functions. □ …a love story and an adventure all in one. □ This cream moisturises and repairs in one.
18 PHRASE You use one after the other or one after another to say that actions or events happen with very little time between them. □ My three guitars broke one after the other. □ One after another, people described how hard it is for them to get medical care.
19 PHRASE The one and only can be used in front of the name of an actor, singer, or other famous person when they are being introduced on a show. □ …one of the greatest ever rock performers, the one and only Tina Turner.
20 PHRASE You can use one by one to indicate that people do things or that things happen in sequence, not all at the same time. □ We went into the room one by one. □ One by one the houses burst into flames.
21 PHRASE You use one or other to refer to one or more things or people in a group, when it does not matter which particular one or ones are thought of or chosen. □ [+ of ] One or other of the two women was wrong.
22 PHRASE One or two means a few. □ We may make one or two changes. □ [+ of ] I asked one or two of the stallholders about it.
23 PHRASE If you say that someone is not one to do something, you think that it is very unlikely that they would do it because it is not their normal behaviour. □ I'm not one to waste time on just anyone.
24 PHRASE If you try to get one up on someone, you try to gain an advantage over them. □ …the competitive kind who will see this as the opportunity to be one up on you.
25 one another → see another
26 one thing after another → see another
27 of one mind → see mind ➊
28 in one piece → see piece USAGE one
You can’t use a plural form of ‘one’ in this kind of sentence. Don’t say, for example, ‘
o ne-armed ba n|dit (one-armed bandits ) N‑COUNT A one-armed bandit is the same as a fruit machine .
o ne-horse
1 ADJ [ADJ n] If someone describes a town as a one-horse town, they mean it is very small, dull, and old-fashioned. [DISAPPROVAL ] □ Would you want to live in a small, one-horse town for your whole life?
2 ADJ [ADJ n] If a contest is described as a one-horse race, it is thought that one person or thing will obviously win it. □ He described the referendum as a one-horse race.
o ne-li ner (one-liners ) N‑COUNT A one-liner is a funny remark or a joke told in one sentence, for example in a play or comedy programme. [INFORMAL ] □ The book is witty and peppered with good one-liners.
o ne-man
1 ADJ [ADJ n] A one-man performance is given by only one man rather than by several people. □ I saw him do his one-man show in London, which I loved.
2 ADJ [ADJ n] A one-man organization, such as a business or type of government, is controlled by one person, rather than by several people. □ It has grown from a one-man business to a multi-million dollar business. □ He established one-man rule in his country seven months ago.
o ne-man ba nd (one-man bands ) N‑COUNT A one-man band is a street entertainer who wears and plays a lot of different instruments at the same time.
o ne-night sta nd (one-night stands ) N‑COUNT A one-night stand is a very brief sexual relationship, usually one that is casual and perhaps only lasts one night. [INFORMAL ]
o ne-of-a-ki nd ADJ [ADJ n] You use one-of-a-kind to describe something that is special because there is nothing else exactly like it. [mainly AM ] □ …a small one-of-a-kind publishing house.