command

verb com·mand \ kə-ˈmand \

|Updated on: 19 Jul 2018

Tip: Synonym Guide

Examples: command in a Sentence

Definition of command

commanded; commanding; commands

transitive verb

1 : to direct authoritatively : order

commanded adherence to the rules

2 : to exercise a dominating influence over : have command of: such as

a : to have at one's immediate disposal

commands many resources

b : to demand or receive as one's due

commands a high fee

c : to overlook or dominate from or as if from a strategic position

a hill that commands the city

d : to have military command of as senior officer

command a regiment

3 obsolete : to order or request to be given

intransitive verb

1 : to have or exercise direct authority : govern

The king knows how to command well.

2 : to give orders

The master commands, and the servants obey.

3 : to be commander

The general will command at the western front.

4 : to dominate as if from an elevated place

—

commandable

play \kə-ˈman-də-bəl\ adjective

See command defined for English-language learners

See command defined for kids

Examples of command in a Sentence

She commanded us to leave.
Military leaders commanded the troops to open fire.
She commanded that work on the bridge cease immediately.
We had no choice but to do as they commanded.
He commands a platoon of 60.
With his skills and experience, he can command a high salary.
The company commands much power and influence in the business world.

Recent Examples of command from the Web

Second, Ayton commanded an inordinate amount of defensive attention, something that shouldn’t happen in the regular season when he’s surrounded by better players and shooters.

— scott bordow, azcentral, "Phoenix Suns' summer-league takeaways: Deandre Ayton's progress, efforts of Davon Reed, Shaq Harrison," 13 July 2018
Himmler also commanded the German secret police, the Gestapo, and established the system of prison and concentration camps in which more than 6 million people — primarily Jews but also Roma, homosexuals, and others — would perish.

— washington post, BostonGlobe.com, "Gudrun Burwitz, ever-loyal daughter of Nazi mastermind Heinrich Himmler, dies at 88," 11 July 2018
In the third set, Federer broke Lacko in the fifth game to take a commanding 4-1 lead before winning the final two games to finish off the match.

— nihal kolur, SI.com, "Roger Federer Beats Lukas Lacko to Advance to Third Round at Wimbledon," 4 July 2018
The Yankees won the game and took a commanding 3-1 series lead.

— ed barkowitz, Philly.com, "Vince Velasquez up first as Phillies get rare visit from Yankees," 25 June 2018
That goal gave Mexico a commanding 2-0 lead, before a Son Heung-min got one back in stoppage time, too late to mount a comeback in earnest but an impressive strike from outside the box that will be played on tournament highlight reels.

— andrew beaton, WSJ, "Mexico Proves It’s No Fluke at World Cup," 23 June 2018
SportsPulse: USA TODAY Sports' Kevin Allen and A.J. Perez break down Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final, where the Capitals dominated the Golden Knights to take a commanding 3-1 series lead.

— kevin allen, USA TODAY, "NBC hockey analyst Jeremy Roenick has jumped off Stratosphere, driven like a NASCAR driver -- all for TV," 7 June 2018
Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert took a commanding early lead over challenger Noah Phillips in a contentious contest that approached $2 million in total contributions.

— darrell smith, sacbee, "Sacramento DA Schubert takes commanding lead in early returns after contentious campaign," 5 June 2018
The Washington Capitals are one win away from the first Stanley Cup in franchise history after a 6-2 blowout of the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 4 on Monday night gave them a commanding 3-1 series lead.

— stephen whyno, chicagotribune.com, "Capitals on verge of Stanley Cup after blowing out Golden Knights 6-2," 4 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'command.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of command

Middle English comanden, from Anglo-French cumander, from Vulgar Latin *commandare, alteration of Latin commendare to commit to one's charge — more at commend

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First Known Use: 14th century

in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

See Words from the same year

command Synonyms

Synonym Discussion of command

command, order, bid, enjoin, direct, instruct, charge mean to issue orders. command and order imply authority and usually some degree of formality and impersonality. command stresses official exercise of authority.

- a general commanding troops

order may suggest peremptory or arbitrary exercise.

- ordered his employees about like slaves

bid suggests giving orders peremptorily (as to children or servants).

- she bade him be seated

enjoin implies giving an order or direction authoritatively and urgently and often with admonition or solicitude.

- a sign enjoining patrons to be quiet

direct and instruct both connote expectation of obedience and usually concern specific points of procedure or method, instruct sometimes implying greater explicitness or formality.

- directed her assistant to hold all calls
- the judge instructed the jury to ignore the remark

charge adds to enjoin an implication of imposing as a duty or responsibility.

- charged by the President with a secret mission

command

noun

Definition of command

1 a : an order given

The command was to hold fire.

a dog trained to attack on command [=in response to a command]

b (1) : a signal that actuates a device (such as a control mechanism in a spacecraft or one step in a computer)

(2) : the activation of a device by means of such a signal

(3) : a line of code (see ¹code 5) instructing a computer to send such a signal

2 a : the ability to control : mastery

She was in command of her emotions.

b : the authority or right to command

the officer in command

c (1) : the power to dominate

The fort has command of the valley.

(2) : scope of vision

The tower provides a wide command of the neighboring hills.

d : facility in use

a good command of French

e : control 1d

a pitcher with good command of his curveball

3 : the act of commanding

The troops will charge at command.

4 : the personnel, area, or organization under a commander; specifically : a unit of the U.S. Air Force higher than an air force

5 : a position of highest usually military authority

He was relieved of his command after being charged with misconduct.

See command defined for English-language learners

Examples of command in a Sentence

We are expected to obey his commands.
She shouted out commands to the crew.
We started to teach the dog simple commands like “sit” and “lie down.”
You can perform several actions with keyboard commands.
The system recognizes voice commands.
He was relieved of his command after being charged with misconduct.
Who is the officer in command of the unit?
I assumed command of the business after my father's death.
He immediately took command of the situation.
He finally felt in command of his life.

Recent Examples of command from the Web

However, Riesen said the boy struggled to form close friendships with local children due to his lack of command of the Swiss-German language.

— NBC News, "Trump can win over Kim Jong Un by appealing to sense of humor, teacher says," 11 June 2018
Hailie Sahar Hailie — who plays Lulu, Elektra's second-in-command at the House of Abundance — is not only a recording artist but has also appeared on Mr. Robot and Transparent as Adriana.

— allie fasanella, Teen Vogue, ""Pose" Is Making Television History With These 5 Transgender Actors," 10 June 2018
That eventually led to him being charged with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy by endangering the safety of a command, unit or place — crimes that carried a maximum punishment of life in prison.

— Anchorage Daily News, "Fort Bragg general approves sentence for Bowe Bergdahl," 6 June 2018
He is considered an incredibly polished prep arm who has some of the best command in the 2018 high school class.

— brody miller, NOLA.com, "Top LSU baseball signee Landon Marceaux announces he's enrolling," 5 June 2018
This will create a file, test_module_patch.patch that has all of the outputs of the git diff command in it, but as a patch file! Success!

— kevin guebert, Outside Online, "Getting Started with Patches," 22 May 2018
Theranos' second-in-command was Sunny Balwani, her combative and self-aggrandizing boyfriend.

— kevin nguyen, GQ, "Bad Blood Review: The Biggest Scam in Silicon Valley," 21 May 2018
This command is yet another example of someone feeling threatened by feelings.

— franchesca ramsey, Glamour, "How to Respond When Someone Says, 'I Don't See Color'—And 6 Other Cringe-Worthy Remarks," 21 May 2018
After retiring six consecutive batters to open the game, the right-hander suffered a sudden loss of command, falling behind each of the first five batters in the third with 2-and-0 counts.

— mike digiovanna, latimes.com, "Angels drop another tough one to Twins, this time in extra innings," 13 May 2018

First Known Use of command

15th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

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command Synonyms

Synonyms

arm, authority, clutch, control, death grip, dominion, grip, hold, mastery, power, reign, rein(s), sway;

Antonyms

impotence, impotency, powerlessness;

Near Antonyms

helplessness, weakness;

jurisdiction;

direction, management;

dominance, imperium, predominance, sovereignty (also sovranty), supremacy;

prerogative, privilege, right;

Synonym Discussion of command

power, authority, jurisdiction, control, command, sway, dominion mean the right to govern or rule or determine. power implies possession of ability to wield force, authority, or influence.

- the power to mold public opinion

authority implies power for a specific purpose within specified limits.

- granted the authority to manage her estate

jurisdiction applies to official power exercised within prescribed limits.

- the bureau having jurisdiction over parks

control stresses the power to direct and restrain.

- you are responsible for the students under your control

command implies the power to make arbitrary decisions and compel obedience.

- the army officer in command

sway suggests the extent of exercised power or influence.

- the empire extended its sway over the region

dominion stresses sovereign power or supreme authority.

- given dominion over all the animals

Other Military Terms

bivouac, logistics, petard, salient, sally, supernumerary, tactical

command

adjective

Definition of command

: done on command or request

a command performance

First Known Use of command

1826

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

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COMMAND Defined for English Language Learners

command

verb

Definition of command for English Language Learners

: to give (someone) an order : to tell (someone) to do something in a forceful and often official way
: to have authority and control over (a group of people, such as soldiers)
: to deserve or be able to get or receive (something)

command

noun

Definition of command for English Language Learners

: an order given to a person or animal to do something
: an instruction in the form of a code or signal that tells a computer to do something
: the power that someone (such as a military officer) has to give orders and to control a group of people

COMMAND Defined for Kids

command

verb com·mand \ kə-ˈmand \

Definition of command for Students

commanded; commanding

1 : to order with authority

The king commanded them to leave.

2 : to have power or control over : be commander of

He commands an army.

3 : to demand as right or due : exact

A piano teacher commands a high fee.

4 : to survey from a good position

The fort is on a hill that commands a view of the city.

Word Root of command

The Latin word mandāre, meaning “to commit” or “to order,” gives us the root mand. Words from the Latin mandāre have something to do with committing or ordering. When a task is mandatory, someone has ordered that it must be done. To command is to order someone to do something. A mandate is an order from an authority to follow specific instructions.