at once

adv
/ət ˈwʌns/UK

Etymology

From Middle English at ones, equivalent to at + once.

  1. inherited from at ones

Definitions

  1. At the same time

    At the same time; simultaneously; together.

    • Can you pat your head and rub your belly at once? He tried to eat four cookies at once.
    • [T]he book, constructed in short, lucid episodes, can be satisfyingly read as a sequence of provocative talks, at once well informed and vatic.
  2. Immediately

    Immediately; now; right away.

    • Tell the doctor to come at once. She is having a baby.
  3. In one group

    In one group; together.

    • And they all atonce begane to make excuſe. The fyrſt ſayd vnto him: I have bought a ferme / and I muſt nedes goo and ſe it / I praye the have me excuſed.
    • Now if it ſo be that it woulde happely be thought not a thyng metely to be aduentured to ſet all on a fluſhe at ones, and daſhe raſhelye out holye ſcrypture in euerye lewde felowes teeth: […]
    • Those two great champions did attonce pursew / The fearefull damzell with incessany payns [...].

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for at once. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA