- present participle of open.
opening
Americannoun
-
openings
plural
-
an act or instance of making or becoming open.
The opening of the tomb gathered much publicity.
- Antonyms:
- closing
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the act of a person or thing that opens.
Her opening of the ceremony was brilliantly handled.
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an unobstructed or unoccupied space or place.
That narrow opening between buildings is a good place to shelter from the rain.
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a void in solid matter; a gap, hole, or aperture.
There was a little opening in the door they used as a peephole.
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a tract of land thinly wooded as compared with adjoining forest tracts.
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the act of beginning; start; commencement.
Tomorrow is the opening of a new session of Congress.
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the first part or initial stage of anything.
During the opening, the store had extra late hours.
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an employment vacancy; an unfilled position or job.
There are no openings for waitstaff at the moment.
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an opportunity; chance.
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a formal or official beginning, as of a sport season or a season's sale of goods.
Today marks the opening of the deer-hunting season.
Swimsuits sold well at the summer opening.
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the first performance of a theatrical production.
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the first public showing or use of something.
It's rare for there to be so many journalists at the opening of an art exhibition.
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a celebration of the first public showing or performance or of the first use or start of something.
The new supermarket is going to give away prizes at its opening.
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Law. the statement of the case made by counsel to the court or jury preliminary to adducing evidence.
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a mode of beginning a game.
a manual of chess openings.
adjective
noun
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the act of making or becoming open
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a vacant or unobstructed space, esp one that will serve as a passageway; gap
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a tract in a forest in which trees are scattered or absent
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the first part or stage of something
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the first performance of something, esp a theatrical production
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( as modifier )
the opening night
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a specific or formal sequence of moves at the start of any of certain games, esp chess or draughts
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an opportunity or chance, esp for employment or promotion in a business concern
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law the preliminary statement made by counsel to the court or jury before adducing evidence in support of his case
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of opening
First recorded in 1125–75; Middle English; open ( def. ) + -ing 1 ( def. )
Explanation
An opening is an empty space. That opening in the back of your closet might lead to a secret room. A job opening, on the other hand, is an available job that could open you up to an entirely new career. There are openings in crowds you can slip through if you're in a hurry, and openings, or availabilities, in classes you really want to take. You can also use this versatile noun to mean the very first performance of a play or the initial night of an art show. Many things that come first are openings, in fact, like the opening move in a chess game or the opening scene of your novel.
Vocabulary lists containing opening
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.
See Examples For:
He began opening small nurseries, staffed by volunteers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026
And finally, with the SEC opening the door to tokenized equities, they explain what it means for stocks to be traded like crypto—and why AMC is beefing with Robinhood over it.
From Slate ● Sep. 19, 2026
Across town, dozens of people lined up outside the South Whittier Library before its 10 a.m. opening, hoping to be among the first to snag the card.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026
Stablecoin issuer Bastion received conditional approval for a national trust bank charter on Friday, opening the door to the traditional financial system.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
Yet, their gathering—a group assembled around a table, an opening prayer or song, questions for the dead, and answering spirits—would have influence far beyond nineteenth-century Rochester.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
Female flies lay their eggs in open wounds or natural body openings.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 15, 2026
An emergent field of research in the last 15 years has focused on the era of the “prison bust,” when prison closures have outnumbered prison openings.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026
Adra had seen a rise in demand in its academy scheme, with one of their recent openings attracting 108 applicants for only six positions.
From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2026
August private jobs creation coming in below expectations -- and down from the previous month -- along with job openings also missing forecasts, eased pressure on the Fed to hike borrowing costs.
From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026
On our right-hand side are recurring openings into the auditorium, like different gates at a baseball stadium.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
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.
