open
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈəʊ.pən/
ipa: /ˈɒ.pɪn/
ipa: /ˈoʊ.pən/
ipa: /ˈəʉ.pən/
rhymes: -əʊpən
Forms: form: opens
form: opening
form: opened
form: opened
form: no-table-tags
form: glossary
form: open
form: open
form: opened
form: open
form: openest
form: opened
form: openedst
form: opens
form: openeth
form: opened
form: open
form: opened
form: open
form: opened
form: open
form: -
form: opening
form: opened
Etymology: Adjective from Middle English open, from Old English open (“open”), from Proto-West Germanic *opan, from Proto-Germanic *upanaz (“open”), from Proto-Indo-European *upo (“up from under, over”).
Cognates
* Scots apen (“open”)
* Saterland Frisian eepen (“open”)
* West Frisian iepen (“open”)
* Dutch open (“open”)
* Low German open, apen (“open”)
* German offen (“open”)
* Danish åben (“open”)
* Swedish öppen (“open”)
* Norwegian Bokmål åpen (“open”)
* Norwegian Nynorsk open (“open”)
* Icelandic opinn (“open”)
 Compare also Latin supinus (“on one's back, supine”), Albanian hap (“to open”). Related to up.
Verb from Middle English openen, from Old English openian (“to open”), from Proto-West Germanic *opanōn, from Proto-Germanic *upanōną (“to raise; lift; open”), from Proto-Germanic *upanaz (“open”, adjective). Cognate with Saterland Frisian eepenje (“to open”), West Frisian iepenje (“to open”), Dutch openen (“to open”), German öffnen (“to open”), Danish åbne (“to open”), Swedish öppna (“to open”), Norwegian Bokmål åpne (“to open”), Norwegian Nynorsk and Icelandic opna (“to open”). Related to English up.
Noun from Middle English open (“an aperture or opening”), from the verb. In the sports sense, however, a shortening of “open competition”.
Senses: examples: text: Turn the doorknob to open the door.
text: The door opened all by itself.
text: I made a speaking trumpet of my hands and commenced to whoop “Ahoy!” and “Hello!” at the top of my lungs. […] The Colonel woke up, and, after asking what in brimstone was the matter, opened his mouth and roared “Hi!” and “Hello!” like the bull of Bashan.
ref: 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
text: ‘No. I only opened the door a foot and put my head in. The street lamps shine into that room. I could see him. He was all right. Sleeping like a great grampus. Poor, poor chap.’
ref: 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 20, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
glosses: To make or become physically unobstructed, uncovered, etc.
To make or become accessible or clear for passage by moving from a shut position.
examples: text: The icebreaker opened the channel.
text: The ice melted away and the channel opened.
text: He opened a path through the undergrowth.
text: After we left the forest, the country opened into a wide, flat plain.
text: I stumbled along through the young pines and huckleberry bushes. Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path that, I cal'lated, might lead to the road I was hunting for. It twisted and turned, and, the first thing I knew, made a sudden bend around a bunch of bayberry scrub and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn.
ref: 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
glosses: To make or become physically unobstructed, uncovered, etc.
To make or become clear by removal of objects and obstructions, so as to allow passage, access, or visibility.
examples: text: You can open your eyes now!
text: Her eyes opened wide.
text: He had kept on recording everything then, when he had been sure he was going to die, and he went on recording everything now, when he was suddenly consumed with hate for the boy in his arms and overwhelmed by a desire to put something—his motorcycle key would do nicely — into the interfering little prayboy’s throat and open him like a can of beer.
ref: 1996, Stephen King, Desperation:
glosses: To make or become physically unobstructed, uncovered, etc.
To unseal or uncover, or become unsealed or uncovered.
examples: text: to open a closed fist
text: to open matted cotton by separating the fibres
text: to open a map, book, scroll, padlock
text: The flower opened in the sunlight.
text: Her arms opened in welcome.
glosses: To make or become physically unobstructed, uncovered, etc.
To spread; to expand into a wider or looser position.
examples: text: Follow agency policy, or open the bed by folding the top linens back.
ref: 2013, Susan C. deWit, Patricia A. Williams, Fundamental Concepts and Skills for Nursing, page 318:
glosses: To make or become physically unobstructed, uncovered, etc.
To make (a bed) ready for a patient by folding back the bedcovers.
qualifier: nursing
examples: text: Jeff opens his hand revealing a straight flush.
topics: card-games
poker
glosses: To make or become physically unobstructed, uncovered, etc.
To reveal one's hand.
topics: engineering
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
glosses: To make or become physically unobstructed, uncovered, etc.
To move to a position allowing fluid to flow.
qualifier: gas and liquid flow
raw_tags: of valve or damper
topics: hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: To make or become physically unobstructed, uncovered, etc.
To angle (a club, bat or other hitting implement) upwards and/or (for a right-hander) clockwise of straight.
examples: text: Mudchester Rovers opened a sizeable lead on their rivals.
text: A link opened under the strain, and the chain came apart.
glosses: To cause or allow a gap to form or widen.
topics: business
electrical-engineering
electricity
electromagnetism
energy
engineering
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
physics
glosses: To cause or allow a gap to form or widen.
To move to a position preventing electricity from flowing.
qualifier: fuse or circuit breaker
raw_tags: of a switch
examples: text: He opened a secret bank account in Switzerland.
text: We're opening the phone lines in ten minutes.
text: Phone lines will open in ten minutes.
glosses: To make or become available for use or interaction.
To make or become operative or available.
examples: text: I will open the shop an hour early tomorrow.
text: The summer fete was opened by the mayor.
text: The shop opens at 9:00.
text: The fete opened an hour late because of bad weather.
text: Suiping was opened as a main station in 1912 when Rev. H. M. Nesse arrived to take charge of the mission work.
ref: 1934, White Unto Harvest in China: A Survey of the Lutheran United Mission, the China Mission of the N.L.C.A., 1890-1934, →OCLC, page 76:
glosses: To make or become available for use or interaction.
To make or become accessible to customers, clients or visitors.
examples: text: Reading this book will open you to new ideas.
text: This policy will open the government to criticism.
text: As he grew older, he opened to new ways of doing things.
glosses: To make or become available for use or interaction.
To make or become receptive or susceptible (to something).
examples: text: I can't open the file because someone else is editing it.
topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
glosses: To make or become available for use or interaction.
To connect to a resource (a file, document, etc.) for viewing or editing.
examples: text: Please open the lights, the (electric) fan, the TV.
glosses: To make or become available for use or interaction.
To turn on; to switch on.
examples: text: The show was opened by a terrible Elvis impersonator.
text: Our band opened, and they came on second.
text: Vermont will open elk hunting season next week.
glosses: To start or begin.
To start (an event or activity) as the first performer or actor.
examples: text: Our band opened for Nirvana.
glosses: To start or begin.
To precede another as a performer at a concert or show.
raw_tags: with 'for'
examples: text: The meeting opened with a statement from the chairman.
glosses: To start or begin.
Of an event, activity etc., to start or get underway.
examples: text: I don't want to open that subject.
glosses: To start or begin.
To bring up, broach.
examples: text: to open a discussion
text: to open fire upon an enemy
text: to open trade, or correspondence
text: to open a case in court, or a meeting
glosses: To start or begin.
To enter upon, begin.
examples: text: Click this icon to open Microsoft Word.
topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
glosses: To start or begin.
To start running (a program or application, especially one with a screen-based interface).
topics: ball-games
cricket
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: To start or begin.
To begin a side's innings as one of the first two batsmen.
examples: text: After the first two players fold, Julie opens for $5.
topics: card-games
poker
glosses: To start or begin.
To bet before any other player has in a particular betting round in a game of poker.
examples: text: He assured me, unequivocally, that he was, and that he rather enjoyed the side benefits of my trysts: I was happier and living more honestly, as well as off his back about many of the issues that had been troublesome for me before we opened our relationship.
ref: 2009, Jenny Block, “You Can’t Run Out of Love”, in Open: Love, Sex, and Life in an Open Marriage, 2nd edition, Berkeley, Calif.: Seal Press, →ISBN, page 172:
text: I wouldn’t do it unless there is a reason for it, I wouldn’t open a marriage just for fun. I think it’s too dangerous. I know I’m a monogamous type of person—I like just one person at a time; actually sleeping with more than one person in separate relationships is too confusing.
ref: 2018, Rhea Orion, quoting Annika, “Case Excerpt: Annika”, in A Therapist’s Guide to Consensual Nonmonogamy: Polyamory, Swinging, and Open Marriage, New York, N.Y.; Abingdon, Oxfordshire: Routledge, →ISBN, part II (Issues and Interventions), chapter 9 (Sex and Consensual Nonmonogamy):
text: Social situations involved in opening relationships are uncertain, rather than risky, environments. Although some people might say, “Absolutely not,” it may be difficult to predict the likelihood people will respond favorably to the prospect, in part because a wide range of unknown or unknowable factors may drive their willingness.
ref: 2023, James K. Beggan, “How Do We Make Decisions?”, in The Decisions to Open a Relationship: To Three or Not to Three, Lanham, Md.: Lexington Books, →ISBN, page 90:
glosses: To make an open relationship or marriage, i.e., with possible additional relationships.
examples: text: The king opened himself to some of his council, that he was sorry for the earl's death.
ref: 1622, Francis Bacon, The History of the Reign of King Henry the Seventh:
text: Unto thee have I opened my cause.
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Jeremiah 20:12:
glosses: To disclose; to reveal; to interpret; to explain.
Synonyms: sense: to make accessible
word: unseal
sense: to bring up
word: raise
sense: to enter upon
word: start
word: begin
sense: to disclose
word: bare
word: reveal
Hyponyms: sense: to make accessible
english: open a bit
translation: open a bit
word: crack
Derived terms: word: a golden key can open any door
word: door open
word: eye-opener
word: eye-opening
word: misopen
word: openability
word: open a can of whoop ass
word: open fire
word: open its doors
word: open one's big mouth
word: open one's bowels
word: open one's heart
word: open one's legs
word: open one's mind
word: open one's mouth
word: open out
word: open Pandora's box
word: open sesame
word: open shop
word: open someone's eyes
word: open the attack
word: open the ball
word: open the batting
word: open the door
word: open the face
word: open the floodgates
word: open the kimono
word: open the range
word: open the schools
word: open up
word: open wide
word: reopen
word: the heavens open
word: when one door closes, another opens