One-off

Pronunciation

Origin

Probably from foundry work, for which making reusable molds is expensive and expediency the rule for molds not to be reused.

Full definition of one-off

Adjective

1. Occurring once; one-time.The government insisted that the embarrassing loss of the tax records was a one-off event.
• 1905, If such a casting was wanted in a hurry — a one-off job — there would be no question of molding it on a machine.
• 2006, Sep 1, EIU Country Analysis, Malta: Country outlook, Moreover, given that recent measures to cut the deficit have been more one-off than of a structural fiscal nature, meeting this debt target is likely only

Usage notes

Much more common outside US. Relative usage frequency 5% (Corpus of Contemporary American English versus ).

Synonyms

• one-shot

Noun

1. (idiomatic) Something that is done, created, etc. only once, and often quickly, simply, or improvisationally.I'll put together a quick one-off as a sample so we can taste the recipe.