one-shot

• oneshot

one-shot (not comparable)

1. Needing only a single attempt to become effective.

   A one-shot solution to financial problems

2. Unique; occurring only once.
   • 2012, Dennis C. Mueller, The Oxford Handbook of Capitalism, →ISBN:

     The most effective way to adapt to changing circumstances would be to enter into one-shot deals that would leave the party the freedom to enter into subsequent transactions or not, depending on the then-current circumstances.

   • 2012, Satoshi Kanazawa, The Intelligence Paradox, →ISBN:

     Given the particular payoffs in Prisoner's Dilemma games, it is always rational to defect on the other player as long as the game is one-shot and not repeated infinitely. Regardless of what the other player does, you get a higher payoff by defecting than cooperating. In one-shot games, there is nothing the other can do to punish you for defecting.

   • 2015, Robert A. Stebbins, Serious Leisure: A Perspective for Our Time, →ISBN:

     One-shot volunteering projects are also common, though possibly somewhat less so than hobbyist-like projects.

3. Performing all the necessary steps on every occurrence, rather than relying on previous setup.
   • 2009, David Chisnall, Cocoa Programming Developer's Handbook, →ISBN:

     Whether a window is one-shot or not makes little difference from the perspective of the programmer. A one-shot window costs more to make visible but uses less memory when it is not being displayed.

   • 2010, Michael Hartl, Ruby on Rails 2.3 Tutorial: Learn Rails by Example, →ISBN, page 12-159:

     Programming experts, on the other hand, might benefit from knowing that blocks are closures, which are one-shot anonymous functions with data attached.

   • 2013, Margaret Brown, Digital SLR Pocket Guide 3rd Edition, →ISBN:

     The most widely supported AF mode is one-shot focusing, which is best for still subjects.

4. (research design) Measuring something at a single point in time, with no control group.
   • 2010, Dipak K. Gupta, Analyzing Public Policy: Concepts, Tools, and Techniques, →ISBN:

     Analysts typically conduct one-shot case studies on unique events of history.

   • 2013, Judy L. Krysik, Jerry Finn, Research for Effective Social Work Practice, →ISBN:

     The simplest of all pre-experimental group research designs is the one-shot case study, also known as the cross-sectional study. The one-shot case study is appropriate for answering exploratory and descriptive research questions related to what exists at a certain point in time.

   • 2013, Robert G. Bringle, Julie A. Hatcher, Patti H. Clayton, Research on Service Learning: Conceptual Frameworks and Assessments, →ISBN:

     An improvement on the one-shot survey is the single group, pretest-posttest design.

   • 2016, Ronet D. Bachman, Russell K. Schutt, The Practice of Research in Criminology and Criminal Justice, →ISBN:

     To illustrate the deficiencies of these designs in evaluation research, we provide a case study of their use— fortunately, these kinds of one-shot designs are getting harder and harder to find!

5. Pertaining to a single shot.
   1. Involving a single gunshot.
      • 2008, Anthony Swofford, Jarhead: A Soldier's Story of Modern War, →ISBN:

        Now the best shooters in the world fired the best rifle in the world, one-shot/one-kill out to one thousand meters.

      • 2009, Jim Case, Cody's Army: Philippine Hardpunch, →ISBN:

        The kills had been one-shot and these enemy, whoever the hell they were, were dead.

      • 2012, Michael Kane, Heal Your Broken Heart, →ISBN, page xii:

        But where the heart is concerned, a one-shot, silver bullet approach would be the ultimate disservice.

   2. Holding 1.5 ounces.
      • 1992, T. Davis Bunn, The Amber Room, →ISBN:

        Here it was sucked from tiny one-shot bottles wrapped in coarse paper, taken between drafts of good East German beer.

      • 2014, C. B. McKenzie, Bad Country: A Novel, →ISBN:

        Rodeo struggled up through layers of sleep and saw a jumble of beer cans and one-shot liquor bottles, cold pizza, ripped stockings and underwear and a hash pipe.

   3. (sports) Involving a single act of launching a ball.
      • 2011, Michael Bartlett, Tony Roberts, Pete and Alice Dye, Golf's Finest Par Threes: The Art and Science of the One-Shot Hole, →ISBN:

        Ask anyone — golf writers, designers, players —and they all agree the coolest thing about the one-shot hole is — you can complete it in one shot.

      • 2014, Bob McCullough, My Greatest Day in Golf, →ISBN:

        And the real true measure of that was when I got to eighteen, and I had a one-shot lead at the time, and I hit a perfect tee shot—this is the last day, the fondest day, Sunday.

one-shot (plural one-shots)

1. (television, film, comics) A television program, film, or comic book that is not part of a series.
   • 2001, Hal Erickson, Syndicated Television: The First Forty Years, 1947-1987, →ISBN, page 106:

     And with the added bonuses of color and videotape coupled with the disadvantages of higher production costs, a lot of syndie producers forsook weekly series in favor of one-shot specials — and it didn't take long for the airwaves to become thick with one-shots.

   • 2013, B. Forshaw, British Gothic Cinema, →ISBN:

     The Mummy belongs in a chapter devoted to one-shots as its progeny are different breeds rather than direct sequels.

   • 2014, Louis Zampini, A Father's Guide to Comics, →ISBN:

     This spectacular, free one-shot also includes original short stories from Sean Rubin's upcoming, enchanting dinosaur tale, Bolivar; Jim Henson's fantasy classic, Labyrinth (an Archaia original graphic novelby Ted Naifeh, Adrianne Ambrose, and Cory Godbey is in the works); and Nate Cosby and Chris Eliopoulos' justice-seekin' boy hereo, Cow Boy.

   • 2015, Jonathan Clements, Helen McCarthy, The Anime Encyclopedia, 3rd Revised Edition, →ISBN:

     The one-shot trend continued in Japan, where fans are used to paying what Western audiences consider absurdly high prices for anime, but this hampered them from Western release until companies began to bundle one-shots together.

2. (film) A cinematographic shot of a person talking to camera; a talking head.
   • 15 October 2018, Jesse Hassenger, AV Club Jonah Hill makes his auspicious if uneven filmmaking debut with a Mid90s nostalgia trip

     The smaller frame means that Hill uses a lot of tight one-shots, mixed in with more expressive images like an endless sea of skaters fleeing from cops or a slow push-in on Stevie and Ian having an uncomfortable conversation while playing video games on their couch.

3. (electronics) A monostable multivibrator.
   • 1980, Bruce A. Artwick, Microcomputer interfacing, page 263:

     The monostable multivibrator, or one-shot, is designed to generate controllable-duration pulses when triggered by the rising or falling edge of a trigger clock.

4. (programming) A programmable interval timer.
   • 1987, R.S. Khandpur, Handbook of Biomedical Instrumentation, →ISBN:

     After peak detection, the processed pulses operate a one-shot circuit which gives a fixed pulse width of 230 ms.

   • 2012, John Turino, Design to Test, →ISBN:

     The time constants that control one-shot pulse widths can be lengthened or shortened by adding capacitors or resistors in the test fixture.

   • 2013, Derek Hatley, Imtiaz Pirbhai, Strategies for Real-Time System Specification, →ISBN, page 6-92:

     The idea is that the combinational machine will act as a one-shot device such that, when the signal turns on, the machine will immediately turn it off again. This practice should be avoided: It is prone to ambiguous interpretation, and if the one-shot action is needed, it can be provided unambiguously by a sequential machine.

5. Something that occurs only once; a one-off.
   • 1960, Research/development - Volume 11, page 87:

     Some ideas are one-shots.

   • 1996, New York - Volume 29, Issues 43-46, page 48:

     “His main fiscal policy is that of a tax cutter," says Horton, “and he has financed that policy in effect by relying tremendously on one-shots”—revenues that will not recur and are used to patch up a given year's gap.

   • 2013, M. Sandra Wood, Introduction to Health Sciences Librarianship, →ISBN, page 227:

     One-shots are notoriously short, typically less than one hour, and almost always focus on a particular assignment that the students need to complete using library resources.

   • 2014, Richard Ravitch, So Much to Do, →ISBN:

     The one-shots fell into a few major categories. one category was fund transfers: the Budget Division would simply transfer cash from special funds, which did not have to balance, into the general fund, which did, in order to create general fund balance.

6. A type of long-lasting paint.
7. (music) A music sample that is played without immediate repetition.
   • 2010, Mary Plummer, Apple Training Series: GarageBand 09, →ISBN:

     Loops automatically conform to a project's tempo; one-shots ignore the tempo and maintain a fixed duration. One-shots are files, such as a percussion hit or a sound effect, that are not intended to be looped.

   • 2016, Dave Collins, The Act of Musical Composition: Studies in the Creative Process, →ISBN:

     Loops contain rhythmic patterns that sound designers can extend to fill any amount of time, while one-shots contain sound effects and other non-repeating sounds.

8. (fandom slang) A fanfic of only one chapter.
9. A single appearance by a performer.
   • 2014, Robin Morgan, Saturday's Child: A Memoir, →ISBN:

     Imagine, then, all those disciplined, hard-working, up-and-coming actors, desperately eager to land a consistent job in a nighttime series or daytime soap, but grateful for one-shots, under-five-liners (minimum pay), or even walk-ons.

10. A gun that must be reloaded after firing a single shot.
    • 2013, Clive Cussler, Justin Scott, The Striker, →ISBN:

      He also knew where Bell hid his derringer, knew it was in his sleeve instead of his belt or his boot. And he had spotted the tiny one-shot in his coat pocket, which no one ever noticed.

11. A product that is sold on its own, rather than as part of a line of products.
    • 1991, The Discount Merchandiser - Volume 31, Issues 7-12, page 127:

      The inexpensive one-shots still make up a minuscule part of the market, but they are getting attention.

    • 2008, Entrepreneur Press, Start Your Own Mail Order Business, →ISBN:

      The one-shot is a perennial mail order vehicle, so called because you market just one item instead of an entire line, and you therefore have one shot in which to sell it.

one-shot (third-person singular simple present one-shots, present participle one-shotting, simple past and past participle one-shotted or one-shot)

1. (video games) To kill or destroy with a single hit.

• instakill
• one-hit kill, OHK

• soothen