(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closed or withdrawn from consideration; as, an open account; an open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.
