{
    "term": "once",
    "partOfSpeech": "adverb",
    "ox3000": true,
    "cefr": "a1",
    "definitions": [
        {
            "senseNumber": 1,
            "definition": "on one occasion only; one time",
            "labels": "(informal)",
            "cefr": "a1",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "I've only been there once."
                },
                {
                    "text": "He cleans his car **once a** week."
                },
                {
                    "text": "She only sees her parents **once every** six months."
                },
                {
                    "text": "For optimum effect, these drops are used **once daily**."
                },
                {
                    "text": "I had met Lou **once before**."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Last year the region received rain **only once**."
                },
                {
                    "text": "He only did it **the once**."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Rome is a city you should visit **at least once** in your life."
                },
                {
                    "text": "They meet once a week at a Paris café."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 2,
            "definition": "at some time in the past",
            "cefr": "a1",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "I once met your mother."
                },
                {
                    "text": "He once lived in Zambia."
                },
                {
                    "text": "This book was famous once, but nobody reads it today."
                },
                {
                    "text": "She remembers once travelling with her father to Kilkenny."
                },
                {
                    "text": "I famously once said that I was a fighter and not a quitter."
                },
                {
                    "text": "He once told an interviewer that his biggest regret was missing his father's funeral."
                },
                {
                    "text": "It was once thought to be the best hotel in Europe."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 3,
            "definition": "used in negative sentences and questions, and after if to mean ‘ever’ or ‘at all’",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "He **never once** offered to help."
                },
                {
                    "text": "If she once decides to do something, you won't change her mind."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 4,
            "definition": "used with a preposition or another adverb to mean ‘as soon as somebody/something is/was’",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "**Once inside** the gate, Sam hurried up the path."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 1,
            "definition": "suddenly",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "All at once she lost her temper."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 2,
            "definition": "all together; at the same time",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "I can't do everything all at once—you'll have to be patient."
                }
            ],
            "synonyms": "simultaneously"
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 1,
            "definition": "immediately; without delay",
            "cefr": "b2",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "Come here at once!"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 2,
            "definition": "at the same time",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "Don't all speak at once!"
                },
                {
                    "text": "I can't do two things at once."
                }
            ],
            "synonyms": "simultaneously"
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "on this occasion (which is in contrast to what happens usually)",
            "labels": "(informal)",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "Just for once he arrived on time."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Can't you be nice to each other just this once?"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "said by an auctioneer to show that an item has been sold",
            "examples": []
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "one more time; another time",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "Once again the train was late."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Let me hear it just once more."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "used to say that somebody cannot change",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "Once an actor, always an actor."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "after an unpleasant experience you are careful to avoid something similar",
            "labels": "(saying)",
            "examples": []
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "now and for the last time; finally or completely",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "We need to settle this once and for all."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "very rarely",
            "labels": "(informal)",
            "examples": []
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "occasionally",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "Everybody makes a mistake once in a while."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "a few times",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "I don't know her well, I've only met her once or twice."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "used to say that somebody has done something wrong or stupid again, and this time they will suffer because of it",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "You've tried that trick once too often."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "used, especially at the beginning of stories, to mean ‘a long time ago in the past’",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess."
                }
            ]
        }
    ],
    "pronunciations": {
        "uk": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/wʌns/",
                "audio": "on/once/once__gb_1.mp3"
            }
        ],
        "us": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/wʌns/",
                "audio": "on/once/once__us_1.mp3"
            }
        ]
    },
    "wordOrigin": "Middle English ones, genitive of one. The spelling change in the 16th cent. was in order to retain the unvoiced sound of the final consonant."
}