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Formation: N + きり (二人きり, 一度きり, それきり); V-た + きり (+ negative); V-ます stem + きり in a few set words (つききり, かかりきり)

After a noun, きり means 'only' and stresses a limit, as in 二人きり (just the two of us) or 一回きり (only once). After V-た, it means something happened and nothing followed. The next part is usually negative, as in 出かけたきり帰ってこない (went out and never came back), or the sentence ends in 〜たきりだ. In a few set words with the ます stem, it means doing nothing but that, as in つききりで看病する (nurse someone constantly). The casual form っきり (二人っきり, それっきり) is very common in speech. Unlike plain だけ, きり suggests finality. Do not confuse V-たきり with 〜てからというもの: that pattern says things changed after X, while たきり says nothing happened after X.

Variants: っきり、きりだ、きりで、それきり／それっきり、これきり

Examples

• 彼とは十年前に一度会ったきりだ。
  I met him just once, ten years ago, and never again.
• 息子は朝出かけたきり、まだ帰ってこない。
  My son went out this morning and still hasn't come back.
• 二人きりで話したいことがあるんだ。
  There's something I want to talk about, just the two of us.

In real texts 0 occurrence(s)

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