entry
Americannoun
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an act of entering; entrance.
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a place of ingress or entrance, especially an entrance hall or vestibule.
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permission or right to enter; access.
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the act of entering or recording something in a book, register, list, etc.
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the statement, item, etc., so entered or recorded.
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a person or thing entered in a contest or competition.
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Law. act of taking possession of lands or tenements by entering or setting foot on them.
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the giving of an account of a ship's cargo at a custom house, to obtain permission to land the goods.
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Accounting. the record of any transaction found in a bookkeeper's journal.
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Bookkeeping.
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Mining. adit.
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Also called entry card. Bridge. a winning card in one's hand or the hand of one's partner that gives the lead to one hand or the other.
noun
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the act or an instance of entering; entrance
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a point or place for entering, such as a door, gate, etc
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the right or liberty of entering; admission; access
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( as modifier )
an entry permit
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the act of recording an item, such as a commercial transaction, in a journal, account, register, etc
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an item recorded, as in a diary, dictionary, or account
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a person, horse, car, etc, entering a competition or contest; competitor
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( as modifier )
an entry fee
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the competitors entering a contest considered collectively
a good entry this year for the speed trials
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the people admitted at one time to a school, college, or course of study, etc, considered collectively; intake
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the action of an actor in going on stage or his manner of doing this
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criminal law the act of unlawfully going onto the premises of another with the intention of committing a crime
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property law the act of going upon another person's land with the intention of asserting the right to possession
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any point in a piece of music, esp a fugue, at which a performer commences or resumes playing or singing
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cards a card that enables one to transfer the lead from one's own hand to that of one's partner or to the dummy hand
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dialect a passage between the backs of two rows of terraced houses
Usage
What is an entry? An entry is a place where you enter, especially a hall, passage, or vestibule, as in The entry to the movie theater was full of people excited to see the new superhero movie. An entry is also permission to enter something, as in Entry to the office building was limited to staff only. When you enter a contest, that act is an entry, too, as in Mack’s entry for the writing contest was a short story about angry robots. So is what you submit for the contest or another type of listing, like a dictionary entry. Example: I’ll be waiting at the entry point for your arrival.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of entry
1250–1300; Middle English entre ( e ) < Old French entree < Latin intrāta (noun use of feminine of intrātus, past participle of intrāre to enter ), equivalent to intr- enter + -āta -ate 1
Explanation
Entry has loads of meanings, most of them concerning going inside someplace and the way you happen to get inside. It can also refer to written records (as in a diary or ledger) or a submission to a contest. When you go into the room, you make an entry. The door you go through is also an entry. If you write in your diary about all this, you make an entry in your diary. If you submit your diary page to the "Awesome Writer" writing contest, your submission is also called an entry. And, finally, if you keep a spreadsheet for all your writing contest submissions, don't forget to make an entry (for this entry about an entry via an entry).
Vocabulary lists containing entry
Dictionary Words: Lexicography Lingo
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Common Core Grade 5, List 3
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Hole in My Life
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It’s almost too stunning to carry on after hearing such news—but to a second paragraph of this entry we must go.
From Slate • Jun. 19, 2026
Freelance video games journalist Vic Hood said each entry in the series "continued to push technical and gameplay boundaries", with GTA Online helping to "pioneer the live service model as we know it".
From BBC • Jun. 19, 2026
Chief Executive Strauss Zelnick previously said he expects the newest entry in the series to establish a new baseline for business, significantly boosting its top and bottom lines.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 18, 2026
Similarly, Woody, who rode off into the sunset in the last entry and here returns with a weather-beaten bald spot, gets treated like a human grandpa shrunk down to doll-size.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 18, 2026
I need someone to talk to about the new entry and who wrote it.
From "How to Disappear Completely" by Ali Standish
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.