number one

English

Wikipedia

Adjective

number one (not comparable)

1. (idiomatic) First; foremost; best.

   Commuting to work is the number one reason to own a car.

Noun

number one (plural number ones)

1. the most important person, the one who is in charge
2. someone who is top of a ranking, who is ranked first.
   • 2011 July 3, Piers Newbury, “Wimbledon 2011: Novak Djokovic beats Rafael Nadal in final”, BBC Sport:

     Djokovic came through 6-4 6-1 1-6 6-3 to end Nadal's reign as Wimbledon champion, before overtaking the Spaniard as world number one on Monday.

3. oneself, being considered foremost, as by an egoist
   • Charles Dickens, The Pickwick Papers

     No man should have more than two attachments—the first, to number one, and the second to the ladies; that's what I say—ha! ha!

4. (childish euphemistic) Urine; urination.
5. (music) the single that has sold the most in a given period.
6. (soccer) The main goalkeeper of a team, so-called because they wear the number 1 on the back of their kit.
   • 2011 January 5, Jonathan Stevenson, “Arsenal 0 - 0 Man City”, BBC:

     England number one Hart produced a magnificent moment to deny Van Persie once more just after the hour mark, leaping across his goal to fingertip the Dutchman's crashing 25-yard, top corner-bound drive away.

7. (cricket) The batsman who opens the batting.
8. Used other than as an idiom: see number,‎ one.

Derived terms

• Christmas number one
• do a number one
• go number one
• look out for number one
• number one with a bullet

Translations

the most important person or thing

• Romanian: numărul unu (ro) n

• Tok Pisin: namba wan (tpi)

urine euphemism

• Dutch: kleine boodschap ("small business")
• Lithuanian: mažas reikalas (lt) m

• Russian: малое дело ("small business")

See also

• number two