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"
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"
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"
begin to speak or say; "Now listen, friends," he began
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 begins the novel"; "The convocation ceremoney officially begins the semester"
have a beginning, of a temporal event; "WWII began in 1939 when Hitler marched into Poland"; "The company's Asia tour begins next month"
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"
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"
begin to speak, understand, read, and write a language; "She began Russian at an early age"; "We started French in fourth grade"