Definition of "once" []

• One time only: once a day. (adverb)
• At one time in the past; formerly. (adverb)
• At any time; ever: Once known, his face is never forgotten. (adverb)
• By one degree of relationship: my first cousin once removed. (adverb)
• A single occurrence; one time: Once will have to do. You can go just this once. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Perhaps once, _once_, I might; but it is too late now."
• "_ _Yes, if it please you, once, and never but once_."
• ""The Dutch have tired me out; and I intended to fight with them once, _only once_, and to drive them over the Vaal.""