| / English Dictionary |
OVERTURE
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Orchestral music played at the beginning of an opera or oratorio
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("overture" is a kind of...):
music (an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A tentative suggestion designed to elicit the reactions of others
Example:
she rejected his advances
Synonyms:
advance; approach; feeler; overture
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("overture" is a kind of...):
proffer; proposition; suggestion (a proposal offered for acceptance or rejection)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Something that serves as a preceding event or introduces what follows
Example:
drinks were the overture to dinner
Synonyms:
overture; preliminary; prelude
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("overture" is a kind of...):
inception; origin; origination (an event that is a beginning; a first part or stage of subsequent events)
II. (verb)
Sense 1
Present simple (first person singular and plural, second person singular and plural, third person plural) of the verb overture
Context examples:
Yet he betrayed a democratic fondness for Wagner, and the "Tannhauser" overture, when she had given him the clew to it, claimed him as nothing else she played.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
Dick's overtures bothered him, so he snarled Dick away.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
He knew, did he belong in Ruth's class, that there would be no overtures from these girls; and with each glance of theirs he felt the fingers of his own class clutching at him to hold him down.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
Later on, when the overtures became more insistent, White Fang bristled and bared his teeth and backed away.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
They quickly learned to leave him alone, neither venturing hostile acts nor making overtures of friendliness.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
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