Dictionary Definition
opening adj : first or beginning; "the memorable
opening bars of Beethoven's Fifth"; "the play's opening scene"
[ant: closing]
Noun
1 an open or empty space in or between things;
"there was a small opening between the trees"; "the explosion made
a gap in the wall" [syn: gap]
2 a ceremony accompanying the start of some
enterprise
3 becoming open or being made open; "the opening
of his arms was the sign I was waiting for"
4 the first performance (as of a theatrical
production); "the opening received good critical reviews" [syn:
opening
night, curtain
raising]
5 the act of opening something; "the ray of light
revealed his cautious opening of the door" [ant: shutting]
6 opportunity especially for employment or
promotion; "there is an opening in the sales department"
7 the initial part of the introduction; "the
opening established the basic theme"
8 a possible alternative; "bankruptcy is always a
possibility" [syn: possibility, possible
action]
9 an aperture or hole opening into a bodily
cavity; "the orifice into the aorta from the lower left chamber of
the heart" [syn: orifice, porta]
10 a vacant or unobstructed space that is
man-made; "they left a small opening for the cat at the bottom of
the door"
11 an entrance equipped with a hatch; especially
a passageway between decks of a ship [syn: hatchway, scuttle]
12 the first of a series of actions; "he
memorized all the important chess openings" [syn: first step,
initiative, opening
move]
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Pronunciation
Noun
Translations
first few moves in a game of chess
- German: Eröffnung
unoccupied employment position
- German: offene Stelle , freie Stelle
first performance of a show or play by a
particular troupe
- German: Eröffnungsvorstellung
initial period an art gallery or museum is first
opened
first few measures of a musical composition
Verb
opening- present participle of open
Adjective
Extensive Definition
You may be looking for:
- Chess opening
- Al-Fatiha, "The Opening", first chapter of the Qur'an.
- Opening bid, a term from contract bridge.
- Grand opening of a business or other institution.
- Vernissage, the opening of an art exhibition.
- Opening, a morphological filtering operation used in image processing.
- The opening credits or title sequence of a TV show or film.
- Opening statement, a beginning statement in a court case.
opening in Italian: Apertura
opening in Dutch: Opening
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
a leg up, abysm, abyss, access, adit, air lock, aisle, alley, alpha, ambulatory, aperture, apparition, appearance, appearing, appointment, approach, arcade, arising, arroyo, artery, avatar, avenue, bareness, barrenness, beginning, berth, billet, birth, blankness, blast-off, bleakness, blowhole, box canyon, breach, break, canyon, cavity, chance, channel, chap, chasm, check, chimney, chink, chute, clear stage, cleft, cleuch, cloister, clough, col, colonnade, coming, coming into being,
coming-forth, commencement, communication, conduit, connection, corridor, coulee, couloir, covered way, crack, cranny, creation, crevasse, crevice, cut, cutting edge, cwm, dawn, dawning, debouch, debut, defile, dell, demonstration, desertedness, desolateness, dike, disclosure, discontinuity, display, ditch, donga, door, draw, edge, egress, emergence, employment, emptiness, emunctory, enactment, engagement, entrance, entranceway, entree, entry, entryway, epiphany, escape, establishment, estuary, excavation, exhaust, exhibit, exhibition, exit, exposition, exposure, fair field, fair
game, fault, ferry, fissure, flaw, floodgate, flume, flying start, foothold, ford, forthcoming, foundation, fracture, fresh start, furrow, gallery, gangplank, gangway, gap, gape, gash, gig, gorge, groove, gulch, gulf, gully, hall, hole, hollowness, in, inanition, inauguration, incarnation, incision, incumbency, ingress, initiation, inlet, institution, intake, interchange, intersection, issuance, job, joint, jump-off, junction, kick-off, kloof, lane, launch, leading edge, leak, liberty, look-in, loophole, manifestation, materialization,
materializing,
means of access, moat,
moonlighting, new
departure, noninhabitance, nonoccupance, nonoccupancy, nonresidence, notch, nullah, occasion, occurrence, office, oncoming, onset, open arms, open door,
opportunism,
opportunity,
orifice, origin, origination, ostentation, out, outbreak, outcome, outfall, outgate, outgo, outlet, outset, outstart, overpass, pass, passage, passageway, performance, pit, place, place open, pore, port, portico, position, post, presentation, presentment, production, projection, railroad tunnel,
ravine, realization, rent, representation, retrospective, revelation, rift, rime, rise, rising, room, running start, rupture, sally port, scissure, scope, seam, second job, send-off,
separation, service, setout, setting in motion,
setting-up, shot, show, showing, showing forth, situation, slit, slot, sluice, spiracle, split, spout, square one, squeak, start, start-off, starting point,
station, stepping-stone,
take-off, tap, tenure, theophany, time, traject, trajet, trench, tunnel, underpass, unfolding, unfoldment, unveiling, vacancy, vacant post, vacuity, valley, varnishing day, vent, ventage, venthole, vernissage, vestibule, void, voidness, vomitory, wadi, way, way in, way out, weir