BEGIN • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Begin

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/bɪgˈɪn/ Listen

Begin

verb

(past & past part. began, begun; pres. part. beginning)

1.

Take the first step or steps in carrying out an action. Synonyms: commence, get, get down, set about, set out, start, start out. "Who will start?" , "Get working as soon as the sun rises!" , "The first tourists began to arrive in Cambodia" , "He began early in the day" , "Let's get down to work now"

2.

Have a beginning, in a temporal, spatial, or evaluative sense. Synonym: start. "The second movement begins after the Allegro" , "Prices for these homes start at $250,000"

3.

Set in motion, cause to start. Synonyms: commence, lead off, start. "The Iraqis began hostilities" , "Begin a new chapter in your life"

4.

Begin to speak or say.

5.

Be the first item or point, constitute the beginning or start, come first in a series. "A terrible murder begins the novel" , "The convocation ceremony officially begins the semester"

6.

Have a beginning, of a temporal event. "The company's Asia tour begins next month"

7.

Have a beginning characterized in some specified way. Synonym: start. "My property begins with the three maple trees" , "Her day begins with a workout" , "The semester begins with a convocation ceremony"

8.

Begin an event that is implied and limited by the nature or inherent function of the direct object. Synonym: start. "She started the soup while it was still hot" , "We started physics in 10th grade"

9.

Achieve or accomplish in the least degree, usually used in the negative. "You cannot even begin to understand the problem we had to deal with during the war"

10.

Begin to speak, understand, read, and write a language. "We started French in fourth grade"

noun

1.

Israeli statesman (born in Russia) who (as prime minister of Israel) negotiated a peace treaty with Anwar Sadat (then the president of Egypt) (1913-1992). Synonym: Menachem Begin.

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WordNet 3.0 © 2010 Princeton University

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"Begin" Quotes from Famous Books

... heart, and mind, and temper, which is essential to a woman's happiness, had to begin when it ought to have been completed—at her marriage. Most unfortunate it was for her, that ere the first twelvemonth of their wedded life had passed, Captain Rothesay was forced to depart for Jamaica, whence was derived his wife's little fortune; their whole fortune now, ...

— Olive - A Novel • Dinah Maria Craik, (AKA Dinah Maria Mulock)

... equally pertinent may be looked upon as possible witnesses for the Coroner's jury. That this may be done speedily and surely, I am going to ask you, every one of you, to retake the exact place in the building which you were occupying when you heard the first alarm. I will begin with the Curator himself. Mr. Jewett, will you be so good as to return to the room, and if possible to the precise spot, you were occupying when you first learned ...

— The Mystery of the Hasty Arrow • Anna Katharine Green

... not want to trouble you, for they told me you did not like to have women here." He laughed, and said: "I guess we'll all be glad enough to have you! Not many of your sort. First thing they all do is to begin to make trouble, and it always takes two men to wait on ...

— Half a Century • Jane Grey Cannon Swisshelm

... bishops in the matter of public extemporaneous prayer and they yielded. I bearded the poor, hunted president in his den, and yet was re-elected to my position. I was slowly winning a way, but quickly losing faith in the value of the way won. Was this the place to begin my life work? Was this the work which I was best fitted to do? What business had I, anyhow, to teach Greek when I had studied men? I grew sure that I had made a mistake. So I determined to leave Wilberforce and try elsewhere. Thus, the third ...

— Darkwater - Voices From Within The Veil • W. E. B. Du Bois

... the army marched through Bulgaria, traces of Peter and his army begin to appear. Refugees who had hidden in the woods came to the camps in rags and emaciation. The castle where Rinaldo sought refuge was pointed out to the new comers as the tomb of all his companions. The mountain at the foot of which Walter's ...

— Peter the Hermit - A Tale of Enthusiasm • Daniel A. Goodsell

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