ENTER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does enter mean? 

• ENTER (verb)
  The verb ENTER has 9 senses:

1. to come or go into

2. become a participant; be involved in

3. register formally as a participant or member

4. be or play a part of or in

5. make a record of; set down in permanent form

6. come on stage

7. take on duties or office

8. put or introduce into something

9. set out on (an enterprise or subject of study)

  Familiarity information: ENTER used as a verb is familiar.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ENTER (verb)

Conjugation:

Sense 1

Meaning:

To come or go into

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

come in; enter; get in; get into; go in; go into; move into

Context example:

the boat entered an area of shallow marshes

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "enter"):

take water (enter the water)

dock (come into dock)

encroach upon; intrude on; invade; obtrude upon (to intrude upon, infringe, encroach on, violate)

intrude; irrupt (enter uninvited)

board; get on (get on board of (trains, buses, ships, aircraft, etc.))

turn in (make an entrance by turning from a road)

call at; out in (enter a harbor)

walk in (enter by walking)

pop in (enter briefly)

file in (enter by marching in a file)

re-enter (enter again)

penetrate; perforate (pass into or through, often by overcoming resistance)

take the field (go on the playing field, of a football team)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Antonym:

exit (move out of or depart from)

Also:

enter upon (take possession of)

Derivation:

entering (the act of entering)

entering (a movement into or inward)

entrance (the act of entering)

entrance (a movement into or inward)

entrant (someone who enters)

entree (something that provides access (to get in or get out))

entry (the act of entering)

entry (something that provides access (to get in or get out))

Sense 2

Meaning:

Become a participant; be involved in

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Synonyms:

enter; participate

Context example:

enter negotiations

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "enter"):

jump (enter eagerly into)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s PP

Antonym:

drop out (give up in the face of defeat of lacking hope; admit defeat)

Derivation:

entrant (one who enters a competition)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Register formally as a participant or member

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

enrol; enroll; enter; inscribe; recruit

Context example:

The party recruited many new members

Hypernyms (to "enter" is one way to...):

register (record in writing; enter into a book of names or events or transactions)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "enter"):

draft; enlist; muster in (engage somebody to enter the army)

unionise; unionize (recruit for a union or organize into a union)

register (enroll to vote)

matriculate (enroll as a student)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s PP

Sense 4

Meaning:

Be or play a part of or in

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

enter; figure

Context example:

How do the elections figure in the current pattern of internal politics?

Hypernyms (to "enter" is one way to...):

be (have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun))

Sentence frames:

Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP

Sense 5

Meaning:

Make a record of; set down in permanent form

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

enter; put down; record

Hypernyms (to "enter" is one way to...):

preserve; save (to keep up and reserve for personal or special use)

Domain category:

recording; transcription (the act of making a record (especially an audio record))

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "enter"):

chalk up; tally (keep score, as in games)

book (record a charge in a police register)

register (record in writing; enter into a book of names or events or transactions)

film (record in film)

keep; maintain (maintain by writing regular records)

notch (notch a surface to record something)

mark; score (make underscoring marks)

photograph; shoot; snap (record on photographic film)

tape; videotape (record on videotape)

film; shoot; take (make a film or photograph of something)

clock up; log up (record a distance travelled; on planes and cars)

log (enter into a log, as on ships and planes)

document (record in detail)

file; file away (place in a container for keeping records)

chronicle (record in chronological order; make a historical record)

inscribe (write, engrave, or print as a lasting record)

manifest (record in a ship's manifest)

ring up (to perform and record a sale on a cash register)

post (display, as of records in sports games)

accession (make a record of additions to a collection, such as a library)

record; tape (register electronically)

clock in; clock on; punch in (register one's arrival at work)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Derivation:

entry (an item inserted in a written record)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Come on stage

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

"Enter" entails doing...:

act; play; represent (play a role or part)

Domain category:

dramatic art; dramatics; dramaturgy; theater; theatre (the art of writing and producing plays)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

entering; entrance (the act of entering)

Sense 7

Meaning:

Take on duties or office

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

accede; enter

Context example:

accede to the throne

Hypernyms (to "enter" is one way to...):

take office (assume an office, duty, or title)

come after; follow; succeed (be the successor (of))

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "enter"):

ascend (become king or queen)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sense 8

Meaning:

Put or introduce into something

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

enter; infix; insert; introduce

Context example:

insert a picture into the text

Hypernyms (to "enter" is one way to...):

attach (cause to be attached)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "enter"):

graft; transplant (place the organ of a donor into the body of a recipient)

penetrate (insert the penis into the vagina or anus of)

sandwich (insert or squeeze tightly between two people or objects)

embed; engraft; imbed; implant; plant (fix or set securely or deeply)

input (enter (data or a program) into a computer)

cannulate; cannulise; cannulize; canulate; intubate (introduce a cannula or tube into)

connect; plug in; plug into (plug into an outlet)

instil; instill (enter drop by drop)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP

Sense 9

Meaning:

Set out on (an enterprise or subject of study)

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

embark; enter

Context example:

she embarked upon a new career

Hypernyms (to "enter" is one way to...):

begin; commence; get; get down; set about; set out; start; start out (take the first step or steps in carrying out an action)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "enter"):

take up (pursue or resume)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

 Context examples 

Such thoughts of self had never entered his mind.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

It protects the body from pathogens that enter via the mucosa.

(Mucosa-Associated Lymphoid Tissue, NCI Thesaurus)

He watched the door for his antagonist to enter.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

In plasma, monocytes ingest and destroy bacteria, and can form macrophages when they enter the extracellular space in tissues.

(Monocyte Phagocytosis and Adhesion Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

Once the fatty acid-carnitine is inside the matrix, CPTII exchanges CoA for carnitine to produce fatty acid-CoA once again, ready to enter fatty acid oxidation in the matrix to produce energy.

(Mitochondrial Carnitine Palmitoyltransferase Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

He looked at me steadily as I entered, but made no sign of recognition whatever.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

After entering tumor cells, the active moiety camptothecin is slowly released from mureletecan via hydrolysis of the ester linkage.

(Mureletecan, NCI Thesaurus)

Once the mumps virus enters the body, it passes into the bloodstream and can spread to many different glands and to the brain.

(Mumps Virus, NCI Thesaurus)

As Dorothy entered they looked at her curiously, and one of them whispered: Are you really going to look upon the face of Oz the Terrible?

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

Mevastatin was the first statin to enter clinical trials.

(Mevastatin, NCI Thesaurus)