Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Music A composition or passage for an individual voice or instrument, with or without accompaniment.
- n. A performance by a single singer or instrumentalist.
- n. Games Any of various card games in which one player singly opposes others.
- adj. Music Composed, arranged for, or performed by a single voice or instrument.
- adj. Made or done by a single individual.
- adv. Unaccompanied; alone: flew solo from Anchorage to Miami.
- v. To perform a solo.
- v. To fly an airplane without a companion or an instructor, especially for the first time.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- In music, alone; not combined with other voices or instruments of equal importance; not concerted. A solo passage may be accompanied, however, by voices or instruments of less importance.
- n. It. pl. soli (-li), E. pl. solos (-lōz).
- n. A melody, movement, or work intended for or performed by a single performer, vocal or instrumental, with or without accompaniment. Opposed to concerted piece, whether chorus, duet, trio, or for a number of instruments.
- n. A game of cards, played usually by four persons, with a euchre pack. That player who bids highest—that is, offers to take the greatest number of tricks alone, or, in a variety of the game, aided by a partner—plays against the rest. If he takes five or more tricks, he receives a payment from them; if not, he makes a payment to them.
- n. In card-playing, a bid to play without a partner or without discarding from the hand, as in solo whist and skat.
Wiktionary
- n. A piece of music for one performer.
- n. A job or performance done by one person alone. (e.g, an airplane flight)
- n. A card game similar to whist in which each player plays against the others in turn without a partner.
- n. A single shot of espresso.
- adj. Without a companion or instructor
- adj. Of, for, or played as a musical solo.
- v. To perform a solo
- v. To perform something in the absence of anyone else; i.e to fly an aircraft alone (especially for the first time)
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A tune, air, strain, or a whole piece, played by a single person on an instrument, or sung by a single voice.
- adj. Performing, or performed, alone; uncombined, except with subordinate parts, voices, or instruments; not concerted.
WordNet 3.0
- v. fly alone, without a co-pilot or passengers
- adj. composed or performed by a single voice or instrument
- n. a flight in which the aircraft pilot is unaccompanied
- n. a musical composition for one voice or instrument (with or without accompaniment)
- n. any activity that is performed alone without assistance
- v. perform a piece written for a single instrument
- adv. without anybody else or anything else
Etymologies
- Italian, from Latin sōlus, alone; see s(w)e- in Indo-European roots.
Examples
“A _full anthem_ is one containing no solo parts; a _solo anthem_ is one in which the solo part is predominant over the chorus, while a _verse anthem_ is one in which the chorus parts alternate with passages for concerted solo voices (_i. e._, trios, quartets, etc.).”
“Dick Reese's violin solo is to be one of our titbits and Kit Reese is in every tableau and the three small girls have the cutest flag-drill.”
“Luckily, it hasn't all come at the same time, [laughs] I think that's what you call a solo career.”
Bono On Bono
“A nifty tear-jerker featuring extortionists, some fine Robin solo work, the backfiring of Bruce's playboy pose, and (I have to admit) some questionable family-law procedure.”
“Following her successful stint as eye-candy for Simon Cowell, Cheryl Cole is to hopefully bugger off to the States and never return, while the four other ones (whose names your Correspondent can't be bothered to look up) have all announced straight-to-bargain-bin solo projects, cameo roles in soap operas and kiss'n'tell exposees of how they worked their way through the entire Liverpool squad in one night.”
“The drum solo is one of the more dreaded conventions in rock but he made it a delight.”
The Huffington Post: Michael Giltz: Music: Richard Thompson at Town Hall
“Thompson's solo is a cry from the heart, both a reflection of the violence, the tortured mind of Wells and the women he slaughtered.”
The Huffington Post: Michael Giltz: Music: Richard Thompson at Town Hall
“PROJECT 4 Beau Chamberlain solo exhibition, through Oct. 16. 1353”
“Behind Van Gilder, James left Winfield late in solo pursuit of the podium.”
“I don't play multiplayer much at all so RE5 isn't even a full price purchase for me since apparently Sheva in solo play has the AI of a DOS era RTS unit, but its kinda FUBAR anyhow.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘solo’.
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words classifiable in 4 different ways as a nou...
words classifiable in 4 different ways as a noun, verb, adj and adv
best, better, bitter, broadside, clean, clear, close, cod, collect, counter, crisscross, damn and 39 more...
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Star Trek and Star Wars
Ridiculous American cheese, but entertaining all the same.
navigational shields, antiprotons, deflector, superluminal, spock, vulcan, warp speed, warp, captain, united earth, lieutenant, commander and 51 more...
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balance and symmetrical design
words that are attractive to write and say, and look balanced in symbolic composition, (mini-artistry)
moon, elemental, totalitarianism, solo, snowplow, enyce, illure, ohio, shine, dixie, quattro, curvature and 8 more...

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