command: Meaning and Definition of

com•mand

Pronunciation: (ku-mand', -mänd'), [key]
— v.t.
  1. to direct with specific authority or prerogative; order: The captain commanded his men to attack.
  2. to require authoritatively; demand: She commanded silence.
  3. to have or exercise authority or control over; be master of; have at one's bidding or disposal: The Pharaoh commanded 10,000 slaves.
  4. to deserve and receive (respect, sympathy, attention, etc.): He commands much respect for his attitude.
  5. to dominate by reason of location; overlook: The hill commands the sea.
  6. to have authority over and responsibility for (a military or naval unit or installation); be in charge of.
—v.i.
  1. to issue an order or orders.
  2. to be in charge; have authority.
  3. to occupy a dominating position; look down upon or over a body of water, region, etc.
—n.
  1. the act of commanding or ordering.
  2. an order given by one in authority: The colonel gave the command to attack.
  3. The command was “Right shoulder arms!”
    1. an order in prescribed words, usually given in a loud voice to troops at close-order drill:The command was “Right shoulder arms!”
    2. the order of execution or the second part of any two-part close-order drill command, as face in Right face!
    3. (cap.) a principal component of the U.S. Air Force:Strategic Air Command.
    4. a body of troops or a station, ship, etc., under a commander.
  4. the possession or exercise of controlling authority: a lieutenant in command of a platoon.
  5. expertise; mastery: He has a command of French, Russian, and German.
  6. a royal order.
  7. power of dominating a region by reason of location; extent of view or outlook: the command of the valley from the hill.
    1. an electric impulse, signal, or set of signals for initiating an operation in a computer.
    2. a character, symbol, or item of information for instructing a computer to perform a specific task.
    3. a single instruction.
—adj.
  1. of, pertaining to, or for use in the exercise of command: a command car; command post.
  2. of or pertaining to a commander: a command decision.
  3. ordered by a sovereign, as if by a sovereign, or by the exigencies of a situation: a command performance.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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