opener

[oh-puh-ner]

noun

1. a person or thing that opens.

2. a device for opening opening sealed containers.

   can opener.

3. the first of several theatrical numbers, variety acts, sports events, etc..

   a humorous monologue as an opener.

4. Poker.,  openers, cards in a hand, as a pair of jacks or better, that according to a given standard are worth enough to enable the holder to make the first bet of a deal.

opener

/ ˈəʊpənə /

noun

1. an instrument used to open sealed containers such as tins or bottles

   a bottle opener

2. a person who opens, esp the player who makes the first bid or play

3. the first or opening section or episode in a series

4. the first song, act, etc, in a variety show

5. (plural) a start; beginning (esp in the phrase for openers )

Other Word Forms

• self-opener noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of opener¹

First recorded in 1540–50; open + -er ¹

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. for openers, as an initially stated reason or argument; at the outset; to begin with.

   Well, for openers, I don't have the money.

Example Sentences

But the album hooked me, and no track more than the opener, “The Man Comes Around,” the only one on that album that Cash himself wrote.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

Opera Philadelphia’s 50th-season opener, Rossini’s “Il Viaggio a Reims,” performed over the past two weekends at the Academy of Music, was appropriately tongue-in-cheek.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

The bottle opener is joy and celebration: messages, music, photos.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

On the season opener of “Saturday Night Live,” for instance, guest host Bad Bunny used his monologue to mock Noem’s threat that ICE will be all over the Super Bowl.

Read more on Salon

Hayden, the legendary former Australia opener, has been one of the few to come out on Root's side.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• birth 
• creation 
• dawn 
• inauguration 
• inception 
• introduction 
• onset 
• opening 
• outset 
• starting point www.thesaurus.com
• top