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opener

English · Thesaurus

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opener¹

  • /ˈəʊ.pən.ə/ UK
  • /ˈoʊ.pən.ɚ/ US
  • /ˈəʉ.pən.ə/ Australia
  • /ˈəʉp.nə/ Australia

Where it comes from

From Middle English oppinnare, opynnare, from Old English openere, equivalent to open + -er (suffix forming agent nouns).

noun openers

  1. A person who opens something. Have you, like the opener of this debate, discovered, sapiently enough, that "the peace party, with Lord Aberdeen at their head, were the chief cause of the war"?
  2. A device that opens something; specifically a tin-opener/can-opener, or a bottle opener.
  3. in compounds An establishment that opens. The late-night openers in the mall include two restaurants and a clothing store.
  4. The player who starts the betting.
  5. in plural Cards of sufficient value to enable a player to open the betting.
  6. A person employed to separate sheets of hot metal that become stuck together.
  7. The first act in a variety show or concert.
  8. A batsman or bowler who normally plays in the first two positions of an innings.
  9. colloquial The first in a series of events, items etc.; the first remark or sentence of a conversation.
  10. The first game played in a competition. The opener came from a Jarvis ball which struck Aleksandar Kolarov en route to a lively round of pinball between City players before it was poked in by Milijas.
  11. A opening goal.
  12. A period of time when it is legal to commercially fish.
  13. A pitcher who specializes in getting the first outs of a game before being replaced, either by a long reliever or a pitcher who would normally start. The Rays debuted the opener—in which a reliever starts the game and throws anywhere from one to three innings, then gives way to a new pitcher, who will usually throw three to five as essentially a second starter—on May 19 against the Angels, using veteran righty Sergio Romo to pitch the first.

opener²

  • /ˈəʊ.pən.ə/ UK
  • /ˈoʊ.pən.ɚ/ US
  • /ˈəʉ.pən.ə/ Australia
  • /ˈəʉp.nə/ Australia

Where it comes from

From open + -er (suffix forming comparative adjectives).

adjective

  1. comparative comparative form of open: more open The letter y is also used for the slightly opener non-fricative sound heard in English year.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: commencement, unlock, rebuttal, inauguration, release, replica, aperture, device, weapon, garage, gun, pew, corkscrew, capsulotomy, lead, door opener

Translations

Every language

noun device that opens something

Españolabridor
한국어오프너 opeuneo, 따개 ttagae
日本語オープナー ōpunā
中文開啟的工具 /开启的工具 kāiqǐ de gōngjù
Portuguêsabridor
DeutschÖffner
Ελληνικάανοιχτήρι anoichtíri
Русскийоткрыва́лка otkryválka, открыва́шка otkryváška
العربيةفَتَّاحَة fattāḥa, مِفَكّ mifakk

noun theater: first act in a variety show or concert

Españolprimer acto
日本語オープナー ōpunā

noun baseball: pitcher who specializes in getting the first outs of a game before being replaced, either by a long reliever or a pitcher who would normally start

한국어오프너 opeuneo
日本語オープナー ōpunā

Talk about this word

Cite this
MLA

"opener." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/opener. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

opener. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/opener

Chicago

"opener." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/opener.

BibTeX
@misc{opener_2026,
  title = {opener},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/opener},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}