alone

a|lone [ ə`loun ] function word ***

Alone can be used in the following ways:

as an adjective (never before a noun):

I was alone in the house.

as an adverb:

Kim prefers to travel alone.

He alone knows where the files are hidden.

1. ) without anyone with you

a ) if you are alone, there is no one else with you:

Shelley is divorced and lives alone.

all alone (=completely alone): She was all alone in a dark forest.

b ) used when two people are together and no one else is there:

It was forbidden for an unmarried couple to be alone together.

alone with: Roger hadn't had a chance before to be alone with Therese.

2. ) lonely feeling that you have no friends and that no one cares about you:

Jim said goodnight and left, feeling sad and alone.

alone in the world (=not having any friends anywhere): I felt completely alone in the world.

3. ) without any help

a ) if you do something alone, you do it without any help from other people:

He is so severely disabled that he cannot manage alone.

Was the killer acting alone?

b ) go it alone to live, work, or make decisions on your own, without any help from other people:

More women are going it alone in business.

4. ) without including anything else never before noun without including numbers or amounts from anywhere else:

Kazakhstan alone had more than 100 different nationalities.

She earned over a million dollars from television appearances alone last year.

5. ) the only person or thing

a ) never before noun used for emphasizing that a particular person or thing is the only one that has something or can do something:

He alone was allowed to make decisions on foreign policy.

Time alone will show whether the voters made the right choice.

b ) be alone in (doing) something usually in negatives or questions to be the only person that does something:

Miller was not alone in his opposition to the war.

Am I alone in thinking that Biggs could be wrong?

leave/let someone alone

to stop annoying or criticizing someone:

I wish they'd just leave me alone.

leave/let something alone

1. ) if you leave something alone, you do not do anything to it or touch it:

Leave those flowers alone you're going to ruin them.

2. ) to stop trying to deal with something