Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A simple, trusty means of attaining a goal.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A charm or form of words by which barriers or obstructions may be opened and access or free passage gained.
Wiktionary
- interj. Open up!
- n. Any successful means of achieving a result, especially means that are magical or technical, or otherwise beyond the understanding of most people.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. the magical command which opened the door of the robber's den in the Arabian Nights' tale of “
The Forty Thieves ;” hence, a magical password.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a magical command; used by Ali Baba
- n. any very successful means of achieving a result
Etymologies
- Translating French Sésame ouvre-toi, in Galland's version of the Ali Baba story in the One Thousand and One Nights, apparently based on an oral Arabic source. (Wiktionary)
- From the magical formula Open Sesame used by Ali Baba in the Arabian Nights to open the door of the robbers' cave. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
Sorry, no example sentences found.
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘open sesame’.
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Arabian Nights
scheherazade, sinbad, bazaar, magic carpet, bedouin, leviathan, aladdin, ali baba, open sesame, 40 thieves, baghdad, ceylon and 32 more...
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Open and Shut
open, shut, open and shut, can opener, shut up, shutter, opening, shut-in, open door, open sesame, open-and-shut, shutoff and 47 more...
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generationnext's Words
petulant, vehement, pensive, lascivious, vacillate, histrionic, satiated, svelte, lithe, zeitgeist, viscous, sommelier and 526 more...
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Magical moments
abracadabra, presto, open sesame, alakazam, incantation, spell, charm, chant, hocus pocus, legerdemain, occult, mystification and 24 more...
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Words Covered in Faery Dust (O)
words that evoke magic, mystery, mayhem, magnificence or anything else that glimmers in the grass
oak, oblivion, octagon, october, ode, ogre, omen, op art, opaline, open sesame, ophiomancy, opium and 29 more...
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O is for Over The Moon
My O Words
okey-dokey, over the moon, orphan, open sesame, oldtimer, over and out, odds and ends, over the moon walk, ooga-booga, only you can prev..., one-trick pony, overfished waters and 7 more...
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Klaatu Barada N... Necktie... Nickel ...
Incantations or other Forceful Utterances
klaatu barada nikto, azarath, metrion,..., abracadabra, hocus pocus alima..., open sesame, the power of chri..., lord, hear our pr..., the body of christ, this is my blood, this is my body, oh winged horse o..., shazam and 13 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for open sesame.
treeseed In the adventure tale of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, part of The Book of One Thousand and One Nights (Arabian Nights), Ali Baba, a poor Arab woodcutter, happens to overhear a group of thieves—forty in all—visiting their treasure store in the forest where he is cutting wood. The thieves' treasure is in a cave, the mouth of which is sealed by magic—it opens on the words "Open, O' Simsim" (commonly written as "Open Sesame" in English)
The phrase Open Sesame has been popularized and used in a whimsical way when something is difficult or impossible to open. Jan 22, 2008