How to Use commence in a Sentence

commence

verb
Definition of commencenext
Synonyms for commencenext
  • The country has commenced preparations for war.
  • The festivities will commence with a parade.
  • The court commenced criminal proceedings.
  • Their contract commences in January.
  • The repaving and remake of the street was to commence in 2016.
    — John King, SFChronicle.com, 11 Nov. 2020
  • All of the new growth will commence at the top of each cane.
    — Janet B. Carson, Arkansas Online, 24 Apr. 2021
  • The work is part of a three-year study commenced in 2018.
    — Paul A. Smith, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 15 June 2019
  • Only then do the two shake hands, and the match may commence.
    — Smithsonian, 21 Sep. 2017
  • The playoffs will commence on the weekend of Jan. 15 with the Wild Card round.
    — Jason Duaine Hahn, PEOPLE.com, 27 Dec. 2021
  • At the end of the year, once the layoffs had commenced, upwards of 3,300 staffers a month were on such a plan.
    — Paolo Confino, Fortune, 20 Mar. 2024
  • The equestrian events will commence in the park of the Palace of Versailles.
    — Naledi Ushe, PEOPLE.com, 11 Aug. 2021
  • Tickets for the streams, which commence each night at 7 p.m.
    — New York Times, 8 Apr. 2021
  • The breakup is expected to commence in 18 to 24 months.
    — Kevin Dowd, Forbes, 14 Nov. 2021
  • The second phase is expected to commence at the end of May.
    — Byrebecca Gelpi, ABC News, 28 Mar. 2022
  • Britain commenced a long process of widening the franchise in 1832.
    — David Frum, The Atlantic, 20 June 2017
  • But when there’s grilling to be done, a battle still commences.
    — J. J. Goode, New York Times, 13 June 2023
  • But when the match commenced, Jabeur injured her right foot.
    — David Waldstein, New York Times, 28 Aug. 2023
  • An avalanche of retweets, reshares, and page views soon commenced.
    — Andy Boyle, Esquire, 10 Mar. 2016
  • And what happened here gives you an idea of what will commence once that gets put in play.
    — WSJ, 21 Feb. 2017
  • As the game commences, each player draws and discards a tile, with the aim of getting four sets and a pair.
    — Popular Science, 16 Jan. 2020
  • Cates explained the rules a second time, and after a few false starts, the game commenced.
    — Lizzie Widdicombe, The New Yorker, 2 Apr. 2020
  • The voting could have commenced at any moment but of course did not.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 20 Dec. 2019
  • The dogs, pets of lodge staff and guests, stuck close to their humans until the dancing commenced.
    — Dina Mishev, Dallas News, 8 July 2019
  • At the time, the firm expected to commence the lease in September 2021.
    — David Trainer, Forbes, 7 June 2021
  • The winning team is content to dribble out the shot or game clock as daps and hugs commence.
    — Gabe Lacques, USA TODAY, 15 May 2018
  • Large-scale removal of the debris has not commenced, which could take three to five years to complete the cleanout.
    — Rong-Gong Lin Ii, latimes.com, 25 Mar. 2018
  • It is set to commence this month and will be completed by late fall.
    — Ellise Shafer, Variety, 21 July 2023
  • There is no detail, as yet, on the date from which travel might commence.
    — Alex Ledsom, Forbes, 18 May 2021
  • Your inspiration can commence here—at the beginning of the alphabet.
    — Stephanie Kasulka, Parents, 7 Feb. 2025
  • The company posted an extensive FAQ on its website with details about the going-out-of-business sales, which are set to commence immediately.
    — Rob Wile, NBC News, 24 Feb. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'commence.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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