| / English Dictionary |
BEGIN
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
Irregular inflected forms: began , beginning , begun
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
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)
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Instance hypernyms:
national leader; solon; statesman (a man who is a respected leader in national or international affairs)
II. (verb)
Verb forms
Present simple: I / you / we / they begin ... he / she / it begins
Past simple: began
Past participle: begun
-ing form: beginning
Sense 1
Meaning:
Take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
Example:
Let's get down to work now
Synonyms:
begin; commence; get; get down; set about; set out; start; start out
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Verb group:
begin (begin to speak, understand, read, and write a language)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "begin"):
bestir oneself; get cracking; get going; get moving; get rolling; get started; get weaving (start to be active)
embark; enter (set out on (an enterprise or subject of study))
come on (occur or become available)
launch; plunge (begin with vigor)
break in (start in a certain activity, enterprise, or role)
attack (set to work upon; turn one's energies vigorously to a task)
auspicate (commence in a manner calculated to bring good luck)
get to (arrive at the point of)
jump off (set off quickly, usually with success)
fall (begin vigorously)
strike out (set out on a course of action)
recommence (begin again)
Sentence frames:
Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s to INFINITIVE
Somebody ----s VERB-ing
Sentence examples:
They begin to move
They begin moving
Antonym:
end (bring to an end or halt)
Derivation:
beginner (someone new to a field or activity)
beginning (the act of starting something)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Set in motion, cause to start
Example:
begin a new chapter in your life
Synonyms:
begin; commence; lead off; start
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Cause:
begin; start (have a beginning, in a temporal, spatial, or evaluative sense)
Verb group:
begin (have a beginning, of a temporal event)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "begin"):
commence; embark on; start; start up (get off the ground)
set off (set in motion or cause to begin)
inaugurate; introduce; usher in (be a precursor of)
recommence (cause to start anew)
jump-start; jumpstart (start or re-start vigorously)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Antonym:
end (bring to an end or halt)
Derivation:
beginner (a person who founds or establishes some institution)
beginning (the event consisting of the start of something)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Begin to speak or say
Example:
'Now listen, friends', he began
Classified under:
Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing
Hypernyms (to "begin" is one way to...):
mouth; speak; talk; utter; verbalise; verbalize (express in speech)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s
Sentence example:
They won't begin the story
Sense 4
Meaning:
Begin to speak, understand, read, and write a language
Example:
We started French in fourth grade
Classified under:
Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing
Verb group:
begin; commence; get; get down; set about; set out; start; start out (take the first step or steps in carrying out an action)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Sense 5
Meaning:
Achieve or accomplish in the least degree, usually used in the negative
Example:
You cannot even begin to understand the problem we had to deal with during the war
Classified under:
Verbs of political and social activities and events
Hypernyms (to "begin" is one way to...):
accomplish; achieve; attain; reach (to gain with effort)
Sentence frame:
Something ----s something
Sense 6
Meaning:
Begin an event that is implied and limited by the nature or inherent function of the direct object
Example:
We started physics in 10th grade
Synonyms:
begin; start
Classified under:
Verbs of political and social activities and events
Hypernyms (to "begin" is one way to...):
act; move (perform an action, or work out or perform (an action))
Verb group:
begin; start (have a beginning characterized in some specified way)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Sense 7
Meaning:
Have a beginning, in a temporal, spatial, or evaluative sense
Example:
Prices for these homes start at $250,000
Synonyms:
begin; start
Classified under:
Verbs of being, having, spatial relations
Verb group:
begin; start (have a beginning characterized in some specified way)
begin (have a beginning, of a temporal event)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "begin"):
break out; erupt (start abruptly)
bud (start to grow or develop)
break out (begin suddenly and sometimes violently)
kick in; set in (enter a particular state)
dawn (appear or develop)
originate (begin a trip at a certain point, as of a plane, train, bus, etc.)
Sentence frames:
Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP
Something ----s something
Antonym:
end (have an end, in a temporal, spatial, or quantitative sense; either spatial or metaphorical)
Sense 8
Meaning:
Have a beginning characterized in some specified way
Example:
The semester begins with a convocation ceremony
Synonyms:
begin; start
Classified under:
Verbs of being, having, spatial relations
Hypernyms (to "begin" is one way to...):
be (have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun))
Verb group:
begin; start (begin an event that is implied and limited by the nature or inherent function of the direct object)
begin; start (have a beginning, in a temporal, spatial, or evaluative sense)
begin (be the first item or point, constitute the beginning or start, come first in a series)
Sentence frame:
Something is ----ing PP
Sense 9
Meaning:
Have a beginning, of a temporal event
Example:
The company's Asia tour begins next month
Classified under:
Verbs of being, having, spatial relations
Hypernyms (to "begin" is one way to...):
be (have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun))
Verb group:
begin; commence; lead off; start (set in motion, cause to start)
begin; start (have a beginning, in a temporal, spatial, or evaluative sense)
Sentence frame:
Something is ----ing PP
Sense 10
Meaning:
Be the first item or point, constitute the beginning or start, come first in a series
Example:
The convocation ceremony officially begins the semester
Classified under:
Verbs of being, having, spatial relations
Verb group:
begin; start (have a beginning characterized in some specified way)
Sentence frame:
Something ----s something
Derivation:
beginning (the first part or section of something)
Context examples:
He drew up his chair very close to mine and began to stare at me again with the same questioning and thoughtful look.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
And yet it’s not so sure; for the buildings are so packed together about the court, that it’s hard to say where one ends and another begins.
(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
But Silver, from the other boat, looked sharply over and called out to know if that were me; and from that moment I began to regret what I had done.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
I had begun life with benevolent intentions and thirsted for the moment when I should put them in practice and make myself useful to my fellow beings.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
It was Tom who paid a poet from Brighton to write the lines for the tombstone, which we all thought were very true and good, beginning—
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
It was a cold, bleak morning in the beginning of March, and the mist was drifting in dense rolling clouds through the passes of the Cantabrian mountains.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
We will begin our investigation by a visit to Aldgate Station.
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
A research team of King’s College London followed more than 600 infants beginning at 4 to 11 months of age.
(Peanut Consumption in Infancy Lowers Peanut Allergy, NIH)
Those whose training began more than 6 hours later remained afraid of the squares.
(How Our Memory Works, NIH, US)
Once they are firing at full capacity, the thrusters can do no more to keep Cassini stably pointed, and the spacecraft will begin to tumble.
(Cassini Spacecraft Makes Its Final Approach to Saturn, NASA)
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