single out

/ˌsɪŋgəl aʊt/

/ˈsɪŋgəl aʊt/

Other forms: singled out; singling out; singles out

To single out is to focus on just one person in a larger group, either for special recognition or treatment. Your art teacher might single out one student each year to show their work at a gallery.

Even when all of your friends have been misbehaving, your parents might single you out for punishment or criticism. And during World War II, the US government unfortunately singled out Japanese-Americans, requiring them to live in internment camps until the end of the war. A restaurant owner, on the other hand, might single out an important food writer they recognize, giving them extra special service.

Definitions of single out

1. verb

   select from a group
   “She was singled out for her outstanding performance”

   type of:

   choose, pick out, select, take

   pick out, select, or choose from a number of alternatives
2. verb

   treat differently on the basis of sex or race
   synonyms: discriminate, separate

   types:

   insulate, isolate

   place or set apart

   hive off

   remove from a group and make separate

   segregate

   separate by race or religion; practice a policy of racial segregation

   redline

   discriminate in selling or renting housing in certain areas of a neighborhood

   disadvantage, disfavor, disfavour

   put at a disadvantage; hinder, harm

   segregate

   separate or isolate (one thing) from another and place in a group apart from others

   ghettoise, ghettoize

   put in a ghetto

   cloister

   seclude from the world in or as if in a cloister

   seclude, sequester, sequestrate, withdraw

   keep away from others

   quarantine

   place into enforced isolation, as for medical reasons

   maroon

   leave stranded on a desert island without resources

   hamper, handicap, hinder

   put at a disadvantage

   prejudice

   disadvantage by prejudice

   type of:

   differentiate, distinguish, secern, secernate, separate, severalise, severalize, tell, tell apart

   mark as different