1. (

• beginning

) the event consisting of the start of something; "the beginning of the war" ;

2. (

• beginning ,
• commencement ,
• first ,
• outset ,
• get-go ,
• start ,
• kickoff ,
• starting_time ,
• showtime ,
• offset

) the time at which something is supposed to begin; "they got an early start"; "she knew from the get-go that he was the man for her" ;

3. (

• beginning

) the first part or section of something; "`It was a dark and stormy night' is a hackneyed beginning for a story" ;

4. (

• beginning ,
• origin ,
• root ,
• rootage ,
• source

) the place where something begins, where it springs into being; "the Italian beginning of the Renaissance"; "Jupiter was the origin of the radiation"; "Pittsburgh is the source of the Ohio River"; "communism's Russian root" ;

5. (

• beginning ,
• start ,
• commencement

) the act of starting something; "he was responsible for the beginning of negotiations" ;

1. (

• get_down ,
• begin ,
• get ,
• start_out ,
• start ,
• set_about ,
• set_out ,
• commence

) take the first step or steps in carrying out an action; "We began working at dawn"; "Who will start?"; "Get working as soon as the sun rises!"; "The first tourists began to arrive in Cambodia"; "He began early in the day"; "Let's get down to work now" ;

2. (

• begin ,
• start

) have a beginning, in a temporal, spatial, or evaluative sense; "The DMZ begins right over the hill"; "The second movement begins after the Allegro"; "Prices for these homes start at $250,000" ;

3. (

• begin ,
• lead_off ,
• start ,
• commence ,

) set in motion, cause to start; "The U.S. started a war in the Middle East"; "The Iraqis began hostilities"; "begin a new chapter in your life" ;

4. (

• begin ,

) begin to speak or say; "`Now listen, friends', he began" ;

5. (

• begin ,

) be the first item or point, constitute the beginning or start, come first in a series; "The number `one' begins the sequence"; "A terrible murder begins the novel"; "The convocation ceremony officially begins the semester" ;

6. (

• begin ,

) have a beginning, of a temporal event; "WW II began in 1939 when Hitler marched into Poland"; "The company's Asia tour begins next month" ;

7. (

• begin ,
• start ,

) have a beginning characterized in some specified way; "The novel begins with a murder"; "My property begins with the three maple trees"; "Her day begins with a workout"; "The semester begins with a convocation ceremony" ;

8. (

• begin ,
• start ,

) begin an event that is implied and limited by the nature or inherent function of the direct object; "begin a cigar"; "She started the soup while it was still hot"; "We started physics in 10th grade" ;

9. (

• begin

) achieve or accomplish in the least degree, usually used in the negative; "This economic measure doesn't even begin to deal with the problem of inflation"; "You cannot even begin to understand the problem we had to deal with during the war" ;

10. (

• begin ,

) begin to speak, understand, read, and write a language; "She began Russian at an early age"; "We started French in fourth grade" ;

1. (

• beginning ,
• first ,

) serving to begin; "the beginning canto of the poem"; "the first verse" ;