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"
Used in a Sentence
commence
How to use commence in a sentence. Example sentences and definitions for commence.
Editorial note
You ignore them and commence bashing a new hole in the wall where the old hole used to be.
Examples7
Definitions3
Parts of speech1
Quick take
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"
Meaning at a glance
The clearest senses and uses of commence gathered in one view.
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"
get off the ground; "Who started this company?"; "We embarked on an exciting enterprise"; "I start my day with a good breakfast"; "We began the new semester"; "The afternoon session begins at 4 PM"; "The blood shed started when the partisans launched a surprise attack"
Definitions
Core meanings and parts of speech for commence.
verb
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"
verb
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"
verb
get off the ground; "Who started this company?"; "We embarked on an exciting enterprise"; "I start my day with a good breakfast"; "We began the new semester"; "The afternoon session begins at 4 PM"; "The blood shed started when the partisans launched a surprise attack"
See also: start
Example sentences
You ignore them and commence bashing a new hole in the wall where the old hole used to be.
Then the real screwing of customers can commence in earnest.
It takes us ten hours of dismal labor to earn enough money to buy your game, so please commence the entertainment early on.
From working with designers a bit, I can tell that this is a hot-button issue for them: a lot of clients do shirk payment, and so they tend to insist on upfront payment of some sort before they commence work.
Speaking of self-reflection: a quick look at your profile revealed that you're working at an e-commence company and previously worked at an advertising solutions company.
For this reason, we recommend in our comment that the TSA suspend the current policies, commence a new rulemaking, and implement a rational policy resulting from an examination of all issues on the public record.
They pushed a system update that broke undocumented APIs, they could be patching a security vulnerability for all you know, there is no need to commence spreading FUD about some other unrelated initiative.
Frequently asked questions
Short answers drawn from the clearest meanings and examples for this word.
How do you use commence in a sentence?
You ignore them and commence bashing a new hole in the wall where the old hole used to be.
What does commence mean?
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"
What part of speech is commence?
commence is commonly used as verb.