"open the ball" meaning in English

See open the ball in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

Forms: opens the ball [present, singular, third-person], opening the ball [participle, present], opened the ball [participle, past], opened the ball [past]
Etymology: In reference to the start of dancing at a ball. Head templates: {{en-verb|*}} open the ball (third-person singular simple present opens the ball, present participle opening the ball, simple past and past participle opened the ball)
  1. To begin operations; to set things in motion. Translations (begin operations): pistää pyörät pyörimään (Finnish), aloittaa (Finnish), ouvrir le bal (French), ouvrir la danse (French), rozpoczynać [imperfective] (Polish), rozpocząć [perfective] (Polish)
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  "etymology_text": "In reference to the start of dancing at a ball.",
  "forms": [
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      "form": "opens the ball",
      "tags": [
        "present",
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    {
      "form": "opening the ball",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
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    {
      "form": "opened the ball",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
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    {
      "form": "opened the ball",
      "tags": [
        "past"
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  "head_templates": [
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      "expansion": "open the ball (third-person singular simple present opens the ball, present participle opening the ball, simple past and past participle opened the ball)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
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        },
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      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1908, The Standard, volume 62, page 553:",
          "text": "This is \"commencement week\" in \"over-the-counter insurance\" circles, the Whitman, Mass., savings bank having opened the ball with four applications made for $300 each by three prominent business men […]",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To begin operations; to set things in motion."
      ],
      "id": "en-open_the_ball-en-verb-37gKJURd",
      "links": [
        [
          "begin",
          "begin"
        ],
        [
          "operation",
          "operation"
        ],
        [
          "set things in motion",
          "set in motion"
        ]
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "begin operations",
          "word": "pistää pyörät pyörimään"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "begin operations",
          "word": "aloittaa"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "begin operations",
          "word": "ouvrir le bal"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "begin operations",
          "word": "ouvrir la danse"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "begin operations",
          "tags": [
            "imperfective"
          ],
          "word": "rozpoczynać"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "begin operations",
          "tags": [
            "perfective"
          ],
          "word": "rozpocząć"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "open the ball"
}
{
  "etymology_text": "In reference to the start of dancing at a ball.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "opens the ball",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
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    },
    {
      "form": "opening the ball",
      "tags": [
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    {
      "form": "opened the ball",
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    },
    {
      "form": "opened the ball",
      "tags": [
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  "head_templates": [
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      "args": {
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    }
  ],
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
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        "Quotation templates to be cleaned",
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      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1908, The Standard, volume 62, page 553:",
          "text": "This is \"commencement week\" in \"over-the-counter insurance\" circles, the Whitman, Mass., savings bank having opened the ball with four applications made for $300 each by three prominent business men […]",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To begin operations; to set things in motion."
      ],
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        [
          "begin",
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        ]
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  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "begin operations",
      "word": "pistää pyörät pyörimään"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "begin operations",
      "word": "aloittaa"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "begin operations",
      "word": "ouvrir le bal"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "begin operations",
      "word": "ouvrir la danse"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "begin operations",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "rozpoczynać"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "begin operations",
      "tags": [
        "perfective"
      ],
      "word": "rozpocząć"
    }
  ],
  "word": "open the ball"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-15 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (8a39820 and 4401a4c). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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