Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To direct with authority; give orders to.
- intransitive verb To have control or authority over; rule.
- intransitive verb To have at one's disposal.
- intransitive verb To deserve and receive as due; exact.
- intransitive verb To exercise dominating, authoritative influence over.
- intransitive verb To dominate by physical position; overlook.
- intransitive verb To give orders.
- intransitive verb To exercise authority or control as or as if one is a commander.
- noun The act of commanding.
- noun An order given with authority.
- noun Computers A signal that initiates an operation defined by an instruction.
- noun The authority to command.
- noun Possession and exercise of the authority to command.
- noun Ability to control or use; mastery.
- noun Dominance by location; extent of view.
- noun The jurisdiction of a commander.
- noun A military unit, post, district, or region under the control of one officer.
- noun A unit of the US Air Force that is larger than an air force.
- adjective Of, relating to, or constituting a command.
- adjective Done or performed in response to a command.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In whist and bridge, the best card of a suit, usually of one which the adversaries are trying to establish.
- To order or direct with authority; give an order or orders to; require obedience of; lay injunction upon; order; charge: with a person as direct object.
- Specifically To have or to exercise supreme power or authority, especially military or naval authority, over; have under direction or control; determine the actions, use, or course of: as, to
command an army or a ship. - To require with authority; demand; order; enjoin: with a thing as direct object: as, he commanded silence.
- To have within the range of one's (its) power or within the sphere of influence; dominate through ability, resources, position, etc., often specifically through military power or position; hence, have within the range of the eye; overlook.
- To bestow by exercise of controlling power.
- To exact, compel, or secure by moral influence; challenge; claim: as, a good magistrate commands the respect and affections of the people.
- To have at one's disposal and service.
- To intrust; commit; commend. See
commend . - Synonyms To bid, govern, rule, control. See
enjoin . - To act as or have the authority of a commander.
- To exercise influence or power.
- To be in a superior or commanding position.
- noun The right or authority to order, control, or dispose of; the right to be obeyed or to compel obedience: as, to have command of an army.
- noun Possession of controlling authority, force, or capacity; power of control, direction, or disposal; mastery: as, he had command of the situation; England has long held command of the sea; a good command of language.
- noun A position of chief authority; a position involving the right or power to order or control: as, General Smith was placed in command.
- noun The act of commanding; exercise of authority or influence.
- noun The thing commanded or ordered; a commandment; a mandate; an order; word of command.
- noun A body of troops, or any naval or military force, under the control of a particular officer.
- noun Dominating situation; range of control or oversight; hence, extent of view or outlook.
- noun In fortification, the height of the top of a parapet above the plane of its site, or above another work.
- noun Synonyms and Sway, rule, authority.
- noun Injunction, charge, direction, behest, bidding, requisition.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb To have or to exercise direct authority; to govern; to sway; to influence; to give an order or orders.
- intransitive verb To have a view, as from a superior position.
- noun An authoritative order requiring obedience; a mandate; an injunction.
- noun The possession or exercise of authority.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word command.
Examples
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Most browsers have a command to enlarge text – on my Mac Firefox, I just hit command-+. mrg replied to comment from Wayne
More creationist misconceptions about the eye - The Panda's Thumb
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This example uses the @command decorator to declare that the function is a django-boss command.
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* Send command to smtp server function server_send ($command, $private_info = false) fputs ($this - > socket, $command. "\r\n");
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* Send command to smtp server function server_send ($command, $private_info = false) fputs ($this - > socket, $command. "\r\n");
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He was in command from the outset Monday, despite the miserable conditions.
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Having her 2nd in command is too scary for me. bernice
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But Obama couldn't be comfortable feeling that his canny second in command is quietly engineering a comeback. rose, texas
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The slander about John Kerry's Purple Hearts and courage in command is fallacious at best and spuriously shameful.
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The slander about John Kerry's Purple Hearts and courage in command is fallacious at best and spuriously shameful.
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Except for low-level grunts caught on tape and one top figure (who says not without justification that she's the scapegoat), no one in command is being punished.
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