once

1 of 4

adverb

1
: one time and no more
rode a horse only once
went skydiving once
2
: at any one time : under any circumstances : ever
didn't once thank me
3
: at some indefinite time in the past : formerly
was once a booming mining town
4
: by one degree of relationship
first cousin once removed

once

2 of 4

noun

: one single time : one time at least
Please be on time this once.

once

3 of 4

adjective

: that once was : former
… contributions to enrich the legal resources of the once province of Britain.J. N. Pomeroy

once

4 of 4

conjunction

: at the moment when : as soon as
Once she spoke, I recognized her.
Phrases
once and for all
1
: with finality : definitively
The team proved once and for all that they are the best.
2
: for the last time
I'm telling you once and for all that I'm not going.
once in a while
: now and then
spent most of their time at home, but went out once in a while
at once
1
: at the same time : simultaneously
2
3
: both entry 2
at once funny and sad

Examples of once in a Sentence

Adverb I will repeat the question once. The play was performed only once. She didn't once thank me. He didn't look at me once. It was once done that way. A river once flowed through this canyon. It was once a booming mining town. Their music was once very popular. Noun I have tried Indian food more than once. Please be on time just this once. For once you seem to know what I'm talking about. Adjective the once child star is now a lawyer in the entertainment industry Conjunction Once she spoke, I recognized her. you should have stopped wrestling once you knew someone was getting hurt, not five minutes later
Recent Examples on the Web
Adverb
Though these may once have been considered specialty products, times have changed. Aaron Hutcherson, Washington Post, 5 Mar. 2024 An earlier version of the decision suggested that the gap between the majority and the three liberal justices had once been even wider. Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, arkansasonline.com, 5 Mar. 2024 Banks like Goldman Sachs and Bank of America are opening up programs once reserved for women and minorities to a broader pool of applicants as legal threats chill DEI efforts on Wall Street. Emma Hinchliffe, Fortune, 5 Mar. 2024 The building formerly housed a Fry’s Electronics store, though the massive blue and red decorative gears that once covered the facade have been removed since the county took over. Julia Wick, Los Angeles Times, 5 Mar. 2024 Taylor Swift is once again using her platform to encourage her millions of U.S. fans to vote. Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 5 Mar. 2024 The study compared the turnout gap between white and nonwhite voters in areas once covered under Section 5 with estimates of the turnout gap in places that were never part of Section 5 but had similar demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. Juliana Kim, NPR, 5 Mar. 2024 Super Bowl 58 once again pits Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid against San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan. Jim Reineking, USA TODAY, 23 Feb. 2024 Foster is in contention once again for a SAG Award this year. Jack Smart, Peoplemag, 22 Feb. 2024
Noun
Here are some highlights of ready-to-wear collections Thursday: GIVENCHY GETS FEMININE The once-street and urban Matthew M. Williams uttered a word not often heard describing his designs: Elegant. Thomas Adamson, ajc, 2 Mar. 2023 Continuing, Belloni pointed out that internal company data apparently suggests that stretching out the release cadence of Netflix shows to a weekly rollout, instead of an all-at-once drop, won’t meaningfully reduce subscriber churn. Andy Meek, BGR, 10 Sep. 2022 Taylor is a once in a generation artist and storyteller. Kathleen Walsh, Glamour, 9 Dec. 2022 Our memories of these spaces are bound up in their blaring, everywhere-at-once noise. K. Austin Collins, Rolling Stone, 24 Oct. 2022 And on Friday, multiple blogs and news sites declared an even bigger change is coming: A larger, maybe even a complete, shift away from the all-at-once-release of Netflix shows. Andy Meek, BGR, 10 Sep. 2022 One similarity between the Orca and an EV is the all-at-once, better-be-ready throttle response. Dan Neil, WSJ, 28 July 2022 The platform on at least two occasions has blocked Raichik’s ability to tweet - once for 12 hours in April, and then again for a week in a sanction that ends Saturday. Taylor Lorenz, Elizabeth Dwoskin and Peter Jamison, Anchorage Daily News, 3 Sep. 2022 The Chabad of Glencoe event celebrated what was a once in a lifetime opportunity for many to witness the completion of an inked Torah scroll. Karie Angell Luc, Chicago Tribune, 30 Aug. 2022
Adjective
In December, a clip of T-Pain singing the song — without his once signature use of Auto-Tune — became a viral sensation, accruing 2.8 million views on his TikTok account and 2 million on Instagram. David Browne, Rolling Stone, 2 Feb. 2024 Cryptocurrency advocates hope the development thrusts the once niche and nerdy corner of the internet even further into the financial mainstream. TIME, 11 Jan. 2024 The once grand building is collapsing under the weight of centuries of evil and, more recently, decades of hoarding. Jesse Green, New York Times, 18 Dec. 2023 Over the last fourteen years, RuPaul’s Drag Race has transformed a once niche art into a global business. Hugh Ryan, Curbed, 12 Sep. 2023 Her meeting with Bass' children comes weeks after the once boy band member alleged that Spears bailed on meeting his children after a request was made by her team to schedule a visit. Morgan Hines, USA TODAY, 25 July 2023 John Cheever, Joseph Heller, Doris Lessing, Chaim Potok and Ray Bradbury were among his clients, along with Katharine Graham, the once publisher of the Washington Post. J. Kim Murphy, Variety, 14 June 2023 The once fringe term, associated with the idea that AI poses an existential risk to humanity, is central to OpenAI’s mission and had been embraced by DeepMind, but was avoided by Google’s top brass. Gerrit De Vynck, Washington Post, 4 May 2023 In the three months since its inauguration, Netanyahu’s government — cobbled together with once-fringe ultranationalist and ultraconservative religious parties — has led to a period of national division and security crisis, defense officials say. Shira Rubin, Washington Post, 2 Apr. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'once.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Adverb, Noun, Adjective, and Conjunction

Middle English ones, from genitive of on one

First Known Use

Adverb

12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adjective

1620, in the meaning defined above

Conjunction

1747, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of once was in the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near once

Cite this Entry

“Once.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/once. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

once

1 of 3 adverb
1
: one time only
will repeat the question once
2
: at any one time : ever
once you hesitate, it's too late
3
: at some time in the past : formerly
it was once done that way
4
: by one degree of relationship
cousin once removed

once

2 of 3 noun
: one single time
just this once

once

3 of 3 conjunction
: as soon as
once that is done, all will be well

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