let alone

Definitions

1. 1

   Much less

   Much less; to say nothing of; used after one negative clause to introduce another, usually broader and more important clause, whose negation is implied by the negation of the first. However either of these instances mentioned can be applied with the use of let alone.

   • He couldn't boil water, let alone prepare a dinner for eight.
   • My last run this month is an amazing performance of an "A2/3" Pacific, No. 60524, Herringbone (could there possibly be a more infelicitous name for a locomotive than this, let alone for the unhappy horse which first had to bear it?), […].
2. 2

   Not to mention, as well as

   Not to mention, as well as; used after one item, to introduce a further item which is entailed by the first.

   • At the end of another ten years, let alone sixty, we are likely to see a very different pattern in the realm of British passenger locomotive power.
3. 3

   To leave alone, let be

   To leave alone, let be; to stop bothering.

   • I wish he would let me alone so I could get some sleep.
4. ›+ 1 more definitionshow fewer

   1. 4

      To rely on (a person) to do something.

      • Oh! let him alone for that. He's the boy that can get out of a scrape.
      • "It's not easy gettin' as good," rejoined the old woman, "an' you ought to be very glad to win him, if you can." "Let me alone for that," said Sally.

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