opening

Adjective

• first or beginning
  • the memorable opening bars of Beethoven's Fifth
    
  • the play's opening scene
    

Noun

• the first of a series of actions

• a recognized sequence of moves at the beginning of a game of chess
  • he memorized all the important chess openings
    

• an entrance equipped with a hatch; especially a passageway between decks of a ship

• a vacant or unobstructed space that is man-made
  • they left a small opening for the cat at the bottom of the door
    

• an aperture or hole that opens into a bodily cavity
  • the orifice into the aorta from the lower left chamber of the heart
    

• a possible alternative
  • bankruptcy is always a possibility
    

• the initial part of the introduction
  • the opening established the basic theme
    

• opportunity especially for employment or promotion
  • there is an opening in the sales department
    

• the act of opening something
  • the ray of light revealed his cautious opening of the door
    

• the first performance (as of a theatrical production)
  • the opening received good critical reviews
    

• becoming open or being made open
  • the opening of his arms was the sign I was waiting for
    

• a ceremony accompanying the start of some enterprise

• an open or empty space in or between things
  • there was a small opening between the trees
    
  • the explosion made a gap in the wall
    

Related words

• Synonyms: 
  first step , initiative , opening move , chess opening , hatchway , scuttle , orifice , porta , possibility , possible action , opening night , curtain raising , gap
• Antonyms: 
  closing , shutting