Phrase guide

one at a time

adv · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

adv

Meaning 1

During sequentially discrete instances.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Examples

  • He ate the peas on his plate one at a time.
  • One at a time, please! I can't hear you if you all talk at once.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adverb

Meaning 2

in single file

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the prisoners came out one by one

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: one by one, one after another

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

24 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Azerbaijani: bir-bir — individually
  • Azerbaijani: təkbətək — individually
  • Dutch: een voor een — individually
  • Dutch: een tegelijk — individually
  • Esperanto: unuope — individually
  • French: un par un — individually
  • German: einer nach dem anderen — individually
  • German: eine nach der anderen — individually
  • German: eins nach dem anderen — individually
  • Hungarian: egyenként — individually
  • Hungarian: egyesével — individually
  • Japanese: 一個ずつ (ikko zutsu) — individually
  • Māori: kōtiri — individually
  • Polish: pojedynczo — individually
  • Portuguese: um de cada vez — individually
  • Portuguese: uma de cada vez — individually
  • Romanian: unul câte unul — individually
  • Russian: по одному́ (po odnomú) — individually
  • Russian: поодино́чке (poodinóčke) — individually
  • Spanish: uno por vez — individually
  • Spanish: una por vez — individually
  • Swedish: en åt gången — individually
  • Swedish: en i taget — individually
  • Welsh: fesul un — individually