Begin (
http://definr.com/Begin)
n : Israeli statesman (born in Russia) who (as Prime Minister of
Israel) negotiated a peace treaty with Anwar el-Sadat of
Egypt (1913-1992) [syn:
Begin,
Menachem Begin]
v 1: 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" [syn:
get,
start out,
start,
set about,
set out,
commence]
[ant:
end]
2: 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" [syn:
start] [ant:
end]
3: 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" [syn:
lead off,
start,
commence]
[ant:
end]
4: begin to speak or say; "Now listen, friends," he began
5: 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 begin the novel"; "The
convocation ceremoney officially begins the semester"
6: have a beginning, of a temporal event; "WWII began in 1939
when Hitler marched into Poland"; "The company's Asia tour
begins next month"
7: 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 work-out"; "The
semester begins with a convocation ceremony" [syn:
start]
8: 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" [syn:
start]
9: 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 to speak, understand, read, and write a language; "She
began Russian at an early age"; "We started French in
fourth grade"