ONCE • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Once

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/wəns/ Listen

adverb

Once adv.

1.

For one time; by limitation to the number one; not twice nor any number of times more than one. "Ye shall... go round about the city once." "Trees that bear mast are fruitful but once in two years."

2.

At some one period of time; used indefinitely. "My soul had once some foolish fondness for thee." "That court which we shall once govern."

3.

At any one time; often nearly equivalent to ever, if ever, or whenever; as, once kindled, it may not be quenched. "Wilt thou not be made clean? When shall it once be?" "To be once in doubt Is once to be resolved." Note: Once is used as a noun when preceded by this or that; as, this once, that once. It is also sometimes used elliptically, like an adjective, for once-existing. "The once province of Britain."

At once.

(a)

At the same point of time; immediately; without delay. "Stand not upon the order of your going, but go at once." "I... withdrew at once and altogether."

(b)

At one and the same time; simultaneously; in one body; as, they all moved at once.

Once and again, once and once more; repeatedly. "A dove sent forth once and again, to spy."

noun

Once n. (Zool.) The ounce.

See images of 'Once'

Etymology of 'Once'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Once" Quotes from Famous Books

... greatest assets a man can have is the right sort of a wife. Mrs. Donnelley, once a divorcee, is both charming and interesting. She is a woman of culture, has traveled extensively and is interested in all the social problems of the day. When the Red Cross Chapter was organized in Reno she was asked ...

— Reno - A Book of Short Stories and Information • Lilyan Stratton

... soon to fall, and resigned himself to a quiet, in fact a temporarily suspended, programme of progress. And then, just when everything seemed most comfortably serene, a new straw suddenly appeared in the wind, which quickly multiplied into a bundle and then a bale, and all at once the camel's back had more than it could bear. April was hardly dead before the college world was in a turmoil, by the side of which the Young affair was the ...

— Queed • Henry Sydnor Harrison

... the State of Nevada has been completed in conformity with law, and thus our excellent system is firmly established in the mountains, which once seemed a barren and uninhabitable waste between the Atlantic States and those which have grown up on the ...

— A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents: Lincoln - Section 1 (of 2) of Volume 6: Abraham Lincoln • Compiled by James D. Richardson

... to destroy, is murder by the law; And gibbets keep the lifted hand in awe; To murder thousands, takes a specious name, War's glorious art, and gives immortal fame. When, after battle, I the field have seen Spread o'er with ghastly shapes, which once were men; A nation crush'd, a nation of the brave! A realm of death! and on this side the grave! Are there, said I, who from this sad survey, This human chaos, carry smiles away? How did my heart with indignation rise! ...

— The Poetical Works of Edward Young, Volume 2 • Edward Young

... years of age,—the greatest and truest Venetian—loaned a small sum of money to the Prince Carrara, once a power in Venetian politics. He had saved his country from destruction. He had served her with the most perfect integrity. Yet, he reaped the reward which fell to the share of nearly every distinguished Venetian; he was feared by the government; hated ...

— Famous Privateersmen and Adventurers of the Sea • Charles H. L. Johnston

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