adjective

• 1Moving or allowing movement in one direction only.

  ‘a one-way valve’

  More example sentences

  • ‘a one-way street’
  • ‘This means that coffee should be packed in an airtight foil laminated bag with a one-way air valve to allow the bag to de-gas.’
  • ‘Tension pneumothorax occurs when pleural damage results in a one-way valve phenomenon allowing air to enter, but not exit, the pleural space.’
  • ‘At the beginning of expiration, you tum the valve creating a one-way valve that only allows expiratory airflow.’
  • ‘But if outsourcing is not mentioned as a reason when call centre numbers are reduced then perhaps the drift abroad is not the inevitable one-way movement that we all feared.’
  • ‘The 25-ft wide flyover is just enough for one-way vehicle movement.’
  • ‘It is a one-way conduit for moving excess water, proteins, and molecules back into circulation.’
  • ‘In some cases, a chest tube can be left in for one or two days and can be attached to a one-way Heimlich valve or to a water-seal device allowing ambulation.’
  • ‘The flow is helped by a series of one-way valves in the veins that only allow the blood to move upwards (against gravity).’
  • ‘And the Fresh Air's one-way valve honks when you exhale, emitting a sound akin to the call of an amorous sea lion.’
  • ‘This can be done with a finger, or with a one-way speaking valve like those manufactured by Passy-Muir.’
  • ‘Enter Geoff Davey from Reflective Images - the company that produces the new wet weather ensemble - with a design for a one-way valve, the first ever in a combat boot.’
  • ‘For those of you that don't know what is going on inside your body, veins, unlike arteries, contain one-way valves at intervals, which are vital for the veins to function normally.’
  • ‘For example, I needed a diagram to demonstrate the concept of one-way valves in the veins of a horse's legs, so I typed in valve vein and pressed enter.’
  • ‘Which is why most quality coffee now comes in bags which are flushed with an inert gas such as nitrogen to get rid of the air before sealing, and have a one-way valve that lets the carbon dioxide out without air getting in.’
  • ‘The capsule admits afferent lymphatic vessels containing valves that provide one-way flow into the subcapsular sinus.’
  • ‘To keep blood from flowing backward, veins have built-in one-way valves that temporarily dam up the river of blood.’
  • ‘It occurs when a one-way valve mechanism is present, enabling entry of air into the pleural space and not permitting its escape.’
  • ‘There are 4 chambers, two upper and two lower, separated by one-way valves.’
  • ‘After the arteries deliver blood to your arms and legs, your veins channel blood back to the heart using one-way valves.’
  • ‘Fabricius, who was fascinated by anatomy, recognised that the veins in the human body had one-way valves, but was puzzled as to their function.’

  1. 1.1(of a ticket) allowing a person to travel to a place but not back again; single.
     ‘And she said insult was added to injury when the company tried to make amends by sending her a single one-way travel voucher without a return ticket.’
     More example sentences

     • ‘According to Adams, the 14 men traveled on Northwest Airlines flight #327 using one-way tickets.’
     • ‘Because of wrong information 49-year-old Jim had been given in the US, she didn't realise her one-way ticket would cause so much trouble.’
     • ‘The first question that begs to be asked is what consumers are being targeted, taking into account that the price of a one-way ticket exceeds the average per capita income in both cities.’
     • ‘And the third thing is going to be a one-way ticket.’
     • ‘Individuals in desperate poverty may have difficulty emigrating but what is there to stop governments putting unwanted people on a plane with a one-way ticket?’
     • ‘Those 30,000 paratroopers were issued a one-way ticket.’
     • ‘A hundred or more years back, moving continents was as simple as packing up your sea chest, buying a one-way ticket, braving the seas in a small boat and then settling in the land of your choice.’
     • ‘Using their New Jersey drivers licenses as identification, they bought two one-way tickets on a visa card and checked in for American Airlines Flight 11 to Los Angeles.’
     • ‘The temptation to ignore your inner voice, to bend the rules, to go against your gut is human - but it's also usually a one-way ticket to Trouble Town.’
     • ‘A one-way ticket from Jakarta to Kuala Lumpur on Lion Air costs $68, while Air Asia now costs only about $33.’
     • ‘I booked a one-way ticket to Montreal on US Airways for the jazz festival and to celebrate Sudha's 30th birthday.’
     • ‘You know, I'm really beginning to think that I won't figure out what's going in Iraq until I buy a one-way ticket to Baghdad.’
     • ‘Dragonair wants to add HK $65 to the cost of a one-way ticket, while Cathay declined to comment on the level of its proposed surcharge.’
     • ‘And we have everything to gain, including that one-way ticket to paradise where we can live forever with our dead relatives.’
     • ‘Once I had a boyfriend show up at my apartment, having only had enough money for a one-way ticket, just so he could spend New Year's with me.’
     • ‘Though he seemed to relish Korea, on April 10 he bought a one-way ticket back to the United States, vowing not to return to the peninsula.’
     • ‘That said, concentrate on making friends with other campers-or you might find yourself with a one-way ticket home.’
     • ‘This music is a one-way ticket to your own personal paradise.’
     • ‘The system alerts airport security screeners to more thoroughly check passengers who buy one-way tickets or pay with cash.’
  2. 1.2Denoting a mirror or glass that acts as a reflective surface on one side but that is transparent from the other.
     ‘Prior to testing, stimulus males were kept for some days in aquaria with a one-way mirror on one side to acclimatize them with their reflected image.’
     More example sentences

     • ‘A number of descriptions of a transparent press had a one-way mirror feel to them: We editors will explain to you readers what we think you should know about us.’
     • ‘Much to the enjoyment of the no-longer-bored guard on the other side of the one-way mirror, Mike and Martina share a deep, passionate kiss.’
     • ‘The scene ends with the sobbing woman screaming for a sympathetic witness on the other side of a one-way mirror.’
     • ‘They put the audience on the other side of a one-way mirror, and you watch them watch the show.’
     • ‘I turned to the one-way mirror, knowing Michaels was standing behind the glass with his hands crossed before his chest, and stared at him.’
     • ‘Hoots and cheers from the other side of the interview room's one-way mirror make Martina and Mike flush in unison.’
     • ‘Ultz's set, a bleak waiting room, is behind a wall of reflecting glass, made transparent by a lighting change: the play holds a one-way mirror up’
     • ‘Mike sighs and stands up himself, walking over to look into the one-way mirror.’
     • ‘The entire thing is coated, top to bottom, in reflective one-way glass, which is pretty impressive… the first time you look at it.’
     • ‘Ravendale stood on the watching side of the one-way glass, his eyes locked on the writhing body of his latest victim.’
     • ‘Chris violates proper search and seizure procedure to find videotaped evidence behind a one-way mirror in the S & M dungeon.’
     • ‘These must be those one-way mirrors, she thought.’
     • ‘Where courts were not equipped with closed circuit television or one-way mirrors, children were sometimes still made to testify in the presence of their accused abuser.’
     • ‘The developers are behind a one-way mirror - they get to see the raw reality of what they just delivered to the customer, and they get immediate feedback.’
     • ‘He saw a one-way mirror opposite that of the counter.’
     • ‘The dish was placed behind the one-way mirror of an observation chamber such that the observer could see the crabs, but the crabs could not see the observer.’
     • ‘Couples are seen in an outpatient setting by two therapists, one of who conducts the session while the other observes from behind a one-way mirror.’
     • ‘As you may have noticed this facility has a conference room with a one-way mirror and all of those facilities for doing that sort of research and that will be coming along shortly.’
     • ‘We had the luxury of being able to hire a market research firm to provide the testing facility complete with one-way mirror and video recording.’
  3. 1.3Denoting a relationship in which all the input comes from only one member.
     ‘interaction between the organism and the environment is not a one-way process’
     More example sentences

     • ‘With Washington's latest move in regard to Libya, it would be understandable if many Bulgarians believed that the relationship is somewhat one-way.’
     • ‘It will reinforce the idea that this is a bit of a one-way relationship.’
     • ‘On the Web, those kinds of one-way relationships come down a notch.’
     • ‘Flows in the other direction will generally be less dangerous, except for the fact that one-way relationships are difficult to sustain.’
     • ‘And business today is far too complex to think in terms of one-way relationships.’
     • ‘While the line between hip hop and IDM may be blurred, it seems to be a mostly one-way relationship.’
     • ‘I loved her so much but I always felt it was a one-way relationship so I proposed, she of course said yes.’
     • ‘One of the main elements of such a strategy is that the ethnographer does not treat the relationship as a one-way process of extracting information from others, but actually provides something in return.’
     • ‘You have to understand all five strategies in order to really gain a distinct advantage in the one-way link hunt.’
     • ‘Ministers, in fact, have been restrained in their response to the latest revelations about their largely one-way correspondence with the heir to the throne - in public at least.’
     • ‘The point I was raising, to my memory, was that it must be understood that this agreement was not one-way.’
     • ‘Cover your own assets with a one-way agreement.’
     • ‘The reciprocity that is required in the treaty is not one-way, as some people are hinting - suggesting that only Maori are using it.’
     • ‘Everybody received the same material from a single voice, but it was a one-way interaction.’
     • ‘‘These kinds of cultural interactions are never a one-way process,’ says Mr. Williams.’
     • ‘In the real world, economic and social relations are seldom one-way.’
     • ‘I hope that the most significant message that comes across from the guideline to patients and practitioners is that treatment is not simply a one-way process.’
     • ‘Nor is this a one-way process: the best American universities are now competing hard for the brightest British students.’
     • ‘Mutual exchange is a more satisfying process than one-way transfer of knowledge and resources.’
     • ‘Mostly, though, evaluation in family therapy training has been a one-way, top-down process.’
     Synonyms

     disposable, expendable, one-use, non-returnable, one-way, single-trip