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1. Cause to allow entrance or exit; allow entry after being shut
   "Mary opened the car door";
   - open up
    
2. Start to operate or function or cause to start operating or functioning
   "open a business";
   - open up
    
3. Become open
   "The door opened";
   - open up
    
4. Begin or set in action, of meetings, speeches, recitals, etc.
   "He opened the meeting with a long speech"
    
5. Spread out or open from a closed or folded state
   "open the map";
   - unfold, spread, spread out
    
6. Make available
   "This opens up new possibilities";
   - open up
    
7. Become available
   "an opportunity opened up";
   - open up
    
8. Have an opening, passage or outlet
   "The bedrooms open into the hall"
    
9. (chess) make the opening move
   "Kasparov opened with a standard opening"
    
10. Provide entry or access to
    "the door opens to the patio";
    - afford, give
     
11. Display the contents of a file or start an application as on a computer

1. With no protection or shield
   "open to the weather"; "an open wound";
   - exposed
    
2. Available to or viewable by the public
   "an open protest"; "an open letter to the editor"
    
3. Affording unobstructed entrance and exit; not shut or closed
   "they left the door open"; "an open door";
   - unfastened
    
4. Affording free passage or access
   "open drains"; "the road is open to traffic"; "open ranks"
    
5. Not having been filled
   "the job is still open"
    
6. Accessible to all
   "open season"; "an open economy"
    
7. Not defended or capable of being defended
   "an open city"; "open to attack";
   - assailable, undefendable, undefended
    
8. (of textures) full of small openings or gaps
   "an open texture";
   - loose
    
9. Having no protecting cover or enclosure
   "an open boat"; "an open fire"; "open sports cars"
    
10. Not brought to a conclusion; subject to further thought
    "an open question";
    - undecided, undetermined, unresolved
     
11. Not sealed or having been unsealed
    "the letter was already open";
    - opened
     
12. Without undue constriction as from e.g. tenseness or inhibition
    "the clarity and resonance of an open tone"; "her natural and open response"
     
13. Not requiring union membership
    "an open shop employs nonunion workers"
     
14. Possibly accepting or permitting
    "open to interpretation"; "an issue open to question";
    - capable, subject
     
15. Affording free passage or view
    "open waters"; "the open countryside";
    - clear
     
16. Openly straightforward and direct without reserve or secretiveness
    "an open and trusting nature";
    - candid, heart-to-heart
     
17. Ready for business
    "the stores are open"
     
18. Used of mouth or eyes
    "keep your eyes open";
    - opened
     
19. (set theory) of an interval that contains neither of its endpoints
     
20. Ready or willing to receive favourably
    "open to the proposals";
    - receptive
     
21. Observable; not secret or hidden
    "open ballots";
    - overt

1. A clear or unobstructed space or expanse of land or water
   "finally broke out of the forest into the open";
   - clear
    
2. Where the air is unconfined
   "the concert was held in the open air"; "camping in the open";
   - outdoors, out-of-doors, open air
    
3. A tournament in which both professionals and amateurs may play
    
4. Information that has become public
   "all the reports were out in the open";
   - surface

Derived forms: openest, opener, opened, opening, opens

See also: acceptant, acceptive, active, admissive, agape, agaze, ajar, artless, assimilative, available, bald, barefaced, coarse, explicit, expressed, gaping, harsh, hospitable, ingenuous, naked, nonunion, opened, out on a limb, pioneer, public, raw, staring, susceptible, unconcealed, unconstricted, undisguised, unenclosed, unobstructed, unprotected, unrestricted, unsealed, unsettled, unstoppered, visible, vulnerable, wide, wide-eyed, wide-open, yawning

Type of: afford, area, arise, change state, come up, commence, country, display, embark on, exhibit, expose, exterior, general knowledge, give, go, move, outside, public knowledge, start, start up, tournament, tourney [N. Amer], turn, undo, yield

Antonym: close, close up, closed, fold, shut, unopen, unreceptive

Encyclopedia: Open, closed, open