How to Use once in a Sentence

once

1 of 2 adverb
  • It was once done that way.
  • He didn't look at me once.
  • She didn't once thank me.
  • The play was performed only once.
  • I will repeat the question once.
  • A river once flowed through this canyon.
  • It was once a booming mining town.
  • Their music was once very popular.
  • These should be cleaned once a month.
    — Cody Godwin, USA Today, 19 Oct. 2025
  • Dad was even pounced once by the cougar.
    — Alex Gurley, PEOPLE, 6 May 2026
  • Kress once felt like the odd man out.
    — Edgar Thompson, The Orlando Sentinel, 13 Feb. 2026
  • Game 5 showed two things at once.
    — Mike Bianchi, The Orlando Sentinel, 30 Apr. 2026
  • My wife used to check on her once a day.
    — Donna Vickroy, Chicago Tribune, 13 Feb. 2026
  • Your sheets should be swapped or washed once a week.
    — Cody Godwin, USA Today, 19 Oct. 2025
  • He was sacked four times but didn’t turn the ball over once.
    — Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 19 Oct. 2025
  • God gave me back my life as a gift — not once, but twice.
    — Amelie Botbol, FOXNews.com, 22 Apr. 2026
  • And once a doll, always a doll.
    — Edward Segarra, USA Today, 21 Mar. 2026
  • Mopping should be done once a week.
    — Daley Quinn, Southern Living, 7 Sep. 2025
  • Tucker swung through it once again.
    — Sahadev Sharma, New York Times, 12 Oct. 2025
  • Most had already been checked more than once.
    — Rania Abouzeid, New Yorker, 21 May 2026
  • No one can solve all of these problems at once.
    — Daren Smith, IndieWire, 27 May 2026
  • Each team plays three other teams in their group once.
    — Jibin Joseph, PC Magazine, 24 June 2026
  • Make two quiches at once with this no-fail recipe.
    — Kimberly Holland, Southern Living, 1 Nov. 2025
  • Hanceville, once again, has no mayor.
    — Rob Picheta, CNN Money, 7 Feb. 2026
  • This is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of place.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 30 Jan. 2026
  • Hunt, a singer, has been divorced once.
    — Anna Kaufman, USA Today, 6 Feb. 2026
  • Just a district told, once again, to wait.
    — Daryl Campbell, Sun Sentinel, 6 May 2026
  • That, for once, luck will fall in their favor.
    — Zack Rosenblatt, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2025
  • There are, once again, new rules along with new players.
    — Chris Morris, Fortune, 7 Sep. 2025
  • Cargo belt bags are all of them and none of them at once.
    — María Munsuri, Glamour, 21 Sep. 2025

once

2 of 2 noun
  • Please be on time just this once.
  • For once you seem to know what I'm talking about.
  • I have tried Indian food more than once.
  • The plates are large enough to grill up to four burger patties at a once, cutting the usual cook time in half.
    — Sanah Faroke, PEOPLE.com, 13 July 2021
  • Voyager is a once in a lifetime, and perhaps many lifetimes, mission.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 7 Mar. 2022
  • In a once in a lifetime event, the night sky on Wednesday will be both the brightest and darkest ever seen.
    — Ivan Pereira, ABC News, 23 May 2021
  • The binge-it-all-at-once model, for example, is no longer inviolable.
    — Andy Meek, BGR, 19 June 2022
  • The renewal comes just under a month after Life & Beth’s all-at-once release.
    — Rick Porter, The Hollywood Reporter, 13 Apr. 2022
  • The upside of it is that you may be rewarded with a once in a lifetime buck that has probably never seen a human being.
    — Hal Blood, Outdoor Life, 10 Nov. 2020
  • Temporary hair loss, caused by events like chemotherapy, stress, or post-pregnancy, may clear up on its own once circumstances change.
    — Beth Shapouri, Allure, 31 Aug. 2021
  • This is a once in a generation opportunity to build school buildings that meet the needs of this century.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 2 Apr. 2021
  • Experts recommend giving your fridge the once over every week, especially the crispers and the meat storage areas.
    — Terry Baddoo, USA TODAY, 10 May 2022
  • Survivor was a once in a lifetime opportunity, being an attorney could wait!
    — Dalton Ross, EW.com, 18 Feb. 2021
  • As a matter of public relations, all-at-once reveals invite unnecessary risks.
    — Kaitlyn Tiffany, The Atlantic, 29 Oct. 2021
  • The last thing that Biden wants, however, is yet more confrontations with his once and potentially future rival.
    — Stephen Collinson, CNN, 26 Oct. 2021
  • The all-at-once release model that Netflix pioneered gave users the freedom to consume TV at their own pace.
    — John Jurgensen, WSJ, 29 Apr. 2022
  • This is a once in a lifetime shift away from legacy television measurement and opens the door to solve decades old problems that have plagued the advertising ecosystem.
    — Brad Adgate, Forbes, 21 Sep. 2021
  • But with bigger crowds and first-time visitors modeling other travelers’ behaviors, even small just-this-once choices can add up.
    — Stephanie Vermillion, Outside Online, 11 Mar. 2022
  • Even harder is getting into the under-the-radar private shows the Stones play a once or twice each tour, which are usually arranged by a billionaire and held in a tiny venue.
    — Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 9 Aug. 2022
  • The pandemic has presented us with a once in a lifetime opportunity to reimagine the future of retail, and retailers should grab it with both hands.
    — Alliance Manchester Business School, Forbes, 24 Feb. 2021
  • Wembanyama is a once in a lifetime prospect, who could feasibly turn a team's fortunes around by becoming one of the most productive two-way centers in all of basketball.
    — Morten Jensen, Forbes, 31 July 2022
  • Daybell, who has also been indicted on a charge of first-degree murder and insurance fraud in the death of his once-wife Tammy Daybell, is due in court next week.
    — NBC News, 26 May 2021
  • Disney Plus, for example, has moved more of its episodic unscripted programming to an all-at-once release strategy based on viewing data.
    — Todd Spangler, Variety, 14 Sep. 2021
  • For Andrea Berstler, operating a library during a pandemic has proven to a unique and a once in a lifetime experience.
    — Yasmine Askari, baltimoresun.com/maryland/carroll, 8 Mar. 2021
  • Scrambling to find a district that fits, though sometimes unseemly, is commonplace for politicians of both major parties after the usual once-a-decade redistricting process.
    — Michael Smolens, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 Dec. 2025
  • By 1982, the penny’s once-copper character had given way to cheaper zinc as metal prices climbed and its popularity with the public began to wane.
    — Marc Ramirez, USA Today, 12 Nov. 2025
  • In many newsrooms, including at the once staunchly anti-union Los Angeles Times, journalists have organized in order to gain a degree of control over their lives.
    — Robin Kaiser-Schatzlein, The New Republic, 4 Jan. 2021
  • During a once in a lifetime pandemic when people were desperate for information, CNN and every other network took the briefings live.
    — Fox News, 4 Feb. 2022
  • Originally used to provide horse stables for the once grander homes on surrounding streets, the Mews is currently a mishmash of 10 or so, now-pricey, two-story Victorian row homes.
    — Howard Walker, Robb Report, 4 May 2021
  • By Saturday, the remnants of the once-Category 5 hurricane will be a tropical storm heading toward northern Europe.
    — Matt Nighswander, NBC news, 30 Oct. 2025

Some of 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.

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