Definition of "solitaire" [sol•i•taire]

• A gem, such as a diamond, that is set alone. (noun)
• Games Any of a number of card games played by one person. (noun)
• Any of several thrushes of the genus Myadestes, found in North and Central America and noted for their beautiful song. (noun)
• Either of two large flightless birds (Raphus solitarius and Pezophaps solitaria) of the Mascarene Islands which together with the dodo make up the extinct family Raphidae. The solitaires were extinct by the end of the 18th century. (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.

• "Once more I saw the evening star hanging like a solitaire from the pure front of the western firmament; and the after glow transfiguring and transforming, as by magic, the homely and rugged features of the scene into a fairy land lit with a light which never shines on other soils or seas."
• "LULUs were later moved from prison to prison, sometimes each in solitaire and sometimes sharing cells but never, ever with other American prisoners known to have been captured in other than in Laos."
• "After three full years in solitaire Fecteau was given reading material for the first time."