1. the act or an instance of becoming open or being made to open.
2. an open space serving as a passage or gap.
3. A breach or aperture.
4. A clearing in the woods.
5. the first part or stage, as of a book.
6. the first performance: the opening of a play.
7. A formal commencement of operation: attended the opening of the new museum.
8. games A specific pattern or series of beginning moves in certain games, especially chess.
9. an opportunity affording a chance of success. see synonyms at opportunity.
10. an unfilled job or position; a vacancy.

1. present participle of open.
2. an act or instance of making or becoming open.
3. something that is open.
4. an act or instance of beginning.
5. something that is a beginning.
6. A vacant position, especially in an array.
7. an opportunity, as in a competitive activity.
8. describing the first period of play, usually up to the fall of the first wicket; describing a batsman who opens the innings or a bowler who opens the attack

1. the act or process of opening; a beginning; commencement; first appearance.
2. A place which is open; a breach; an aperture; a gap; cleft, or hole.
3. an opportunity.
4. A vacant place; a job which does not have a current occupant.
5. A thinly wooded space, without undergrowth, in the midst of a forest; a clearing.

1. the act of making open, in any sense of the verb open.
2. A beginning; an initial stage; commencement: as, the opening of a poem; also, dawn; first appearance.
3. A breach or gap; a hole or perforation; an aperture; specifically, in architecture, an unfilled part in a wall left for the purpose of admitting light, air, etc.
4. an open or clear space affording approach, entrance, or passage; an entrance.
5. A clear, unobstructed, or unoccupied space or place; specifically, in the united states, a tract over which there is a deficiency of forest, trees being not entirely wanting, but thinly scattered over the surface as compared with their abundance in an adjacent region.
6. A widening out of a crevice, in consequence of a softening or decomposition of the adjacent rock, which may still remain partly or wholly in its original position, or may have been entirely removed, so as to leave a vacant space of considerable width.
7. an unoccupied place, position, course of action, business, etc., which may be entered, or the opportunity of entering it; a vacancy; an opportunity; a chance.
8. in law, the statement of the case made by counsel to the court or jury preliminary to adducing evidence: as, the opening for the plaintiff; the opening for the defendant.
9. in chess-playing, a mode of commencing a game; specifically, one of the numerous series of consecutive moves made at starting which are frequently played and which have been thoroughly investigated by chess analysts.

1. a recognized sequence of moves at the beginning of a game of chess
2. the initial part of the introduction
3. an entrance equipped with a hatch; especially a passageway between decks of a ship
4. the first of a series of actions
5. the first performance (as of a theatrical production)
6. an aperture or hole that opens into a bodily cavity
7. a ceremony accompanying the start of some enterprise
8. opportunity especially for employment or promotion
9. the act of opening something
10. a possible alternative
11. an open or empty space in or between things
12. a vacant or unobstructed space that is man-made
13. becoming open or being made open
14. first or beginning