SOLITARY • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Solitary

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/sˈɑlətˌɛri/ Listen

adjective

Solitary adj.

1.

Living or being by one's self; having no companion present; being without associates; single; alone; lonely. "Those rare and solitary, these in flocks." "Hie home unto my chamber, Where thou shalt find me, sad and solitary."

2.

Performed, passed, or endured alone; as, a solitary journey; a solitary life. "Satan... explores his solitary flight."

3.

Not much visited or frequented; remote from society; retired; lonely; as, a solitary residence or place.

4.

Not inhabited or occupied; without signs of inhabitants or occupation; desolate; deserted; silent; still; hence, gloomy; dismal; as, the solitary desert. "How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people." "Let that night be solitary; let no joyful voice come therein."

5.

Single; individual; sole; as, a solitary instance of vengeance; a solitary example.

6.

(Bot.) Not associated with others of the same kind.

Solitary ant (Zool.), any solitary hymenopterous insect of the family Mutillidae. The female of these insects is destitute of wings and has a powerful sting. The male is winged and resembles a wasp. Called also spider ant.

Solitary bee (Zool.), any species of bee which does not form communities.

Solitary sandpiper (Zool.), an American tattler (Totanus solitarius).

Solitary snipe (Zool.), the great snipe. (Prov. Eng.)

Solitary thrush (Zool.) the starling. (Prov. Eng.)

noun

Solitary n. One who lives alone, or in solitude; an anchoret; a hermit; a recluse.

See images of 'Solitary'

Etymology of 'Solitary'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Solitary" Quotes from Famous Books

... sooth," she says, "it has befallen the king not to have room in his house for the meal and bed of a solitary woman, they will be gotten apart from him from some one possessing generosity—if the hospitality of the Prince in the Hostel ...

— The Harvard Classics, Volume 49, Epic and Saga - With Introductions And Notes • Various

... only daughter by an old school-friend of mine," Guy blushed inwardly, and felt guilty, "she is a dear, lovely little creature, and will, I am sure, make my home a different one altogether, from what solitary bachelordom has brought it to. I hope you will agree, both of you, I know you will like her just as soon as you see her, you have no idea how lovely she is." (Oh fie! Elersley! ...

— Honor Edgeworth • Vera

... stored with gold and jewels; cities the names of which were recorded in the sacred book which the poorest knew by picture; and they listened earnestly as palmer or pilgrim told of Sharon with its roses without thorns; Lebanon with its cedars and vines; and Carmel with its solitary convent, and its summit covered with thyme, and haunted by the eagle and the boar, till their fancy pictured 'a land flowing with milk and honey,' by repairing to which sinners could secure pardon without penance in this world, and happiness without ...

— The Boy Crusaders - A Story of the Days of Louis IX. • John G. Edgar

... prairie-schooners came on slowly toward him from the northward through the sage; the heads of the long-horned oxen swinging low from side to side before their heavy wooden yokes. The first span reached the solitary figure of the captain and went straight on south; the wagon rumbled by and Hunt knew by its passing that he must keep to the San ...

— When the West Was Young • Frederick R. Bechdolt

... fire which Morphew had built up before dinner was dying out, the shaded lamp on my table left all the corners in a mysterious twilight. The house was perfectly still, no one moving: my father in the library, where, after the habit of many solitary years, he liked to be left alone, and I here in my retreat, preparing for the formation of similar habits. I thought all at once of the third member of the party, the new-comer, alone too in the room that had been hers; and there suddenly ...

— The Open Door, and the Portrait. - Stories of the Seen and the Unseen. • Margaret O. (Wilson) Oliphant

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