Definition of open

• a. - Free of access; not shut up; not closed; affording unobstructed ingress or egress; not impeding or preventing passage; not locked up or covered over; -- applied to passageways; as, an open door, window, road, etc.; also, to inclosed structures or objects; as, open houses, boxes, baskets, bottles, etc.; also, to means of communication or approach by water or land; as, an open harbor or roadstead.
• a. - Free to be used, enjoyed, visited, or the like; not private; public; unrestricted in use; as, an open library, museum, court, or other assembly; liable to the approach, trespass, or attack of any one; unprotected; exposed.
• a. - Free or cleared of obstruction to progress or to view; accessible; as, an open tract; the open sea.
• a. - Not drawn together, closed, or contracted; extended; expanded; as, an open hand; open arms; an open flower; an open prospect.
• a. - Without reserve or false pretense; sincere; characterized by sincerity; unfeigned; frank; also, generous; liberal; bounteous; -- applied to personal appearance, or character, and to the expression of thought and feeling, etc.
• a. - Not concealed or secret; not hidden or disguised; exposed to view or to knowledge; revealed; apparent; as, open schemes or plans; open shame or guilt.
• a. - Not of a quality to prevent communication, as by closing water ways, blocking roads, etc.; hence, not frosty or inclement; mild; -- used of the weather or the climate; as, an open season; an open winter.
• a. - Not settled or adjusted; not decided or determined; not closed or withdrawn from consideration; as, an open account; an open question; to keep an offer or opportunity open.
• a. - Free; disengaged; unappropriated; as, to keep a day open for any purpose; to be open for an engagement.
• a. - Uttered with a relatively wide opening of the articulating organs; -- said of vowels; as, the an far is open as compared with the a in say.
• a. - Uttered, as a consonant, with the oral passage simply narrowed without closure, as in uttering s.
• a. - Not closed or stopped with the finger; -- said of the string of an instrument, as of a violin, when it is allowed to vibrate throughout its whole length.
• a. - Produced by an open string; as, an open tone.
• n. - Open or unobstructed space; clear land, without trees or obstructions; open ocean; open water.
• v. t. - To make or set open; to render free of access; to unclose; to unbar; to unlock; to remove any fastening or covering from; as, to open a door; to open a box; to open a room; to open a letter.
• v. t. - To spread; to expand; as, to open the hand.
• v. t. - To disclose; to reveal; to interpret; to explain.
• v. t. - To make known; to discover; also, to render available or accessible for settlements, trade, etc.
• v. t. - To enter upon; to begin; as, to open a discussion; to open fire upon an enemy; to open trade, or correspondence; to open a case in court, or a meeting.
• v. t. - To loosen or make less compact; as, to open matted cotton by separating the fibers.
• v. i. - To unclose; to form a hole, breach, or gap; to be unclosed; to be parted.
• v. i. - To expand; to spread out; to be disclosed; as, the harbor opened to our view.
• v. i. - To begin; to commence; as, the stock opened at par; the battery opened upon the enemy.
• v. i. - To bark on scent or view of the game.