began

verb

past tense of begin
1
as in commenced
to take the first step in (a process or course of action) she began walking to work for exercise

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in started
to come into existence the storm began late in the day and lasted all night

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in founded
to be responsible for the creation and early operation or use of the religious sect was begun by a small breakaway faction

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of began The Procession of Lights on Wednesday began at the People’s Salvation Cathedral, known as the National Cathedral, which is the world’s largest Christian Orthodox church. — ABC News, 3 Sep. 2026 Kansas City Royals left-hander Noah Cameron began calling his own pitches on July 24 against the Detroit Tigers. — Kansas City Star, 3 Sep. 2026 House hunters are soon likely to see less competition in the market due to a sharp drop in immigration that began last year. — Lew Sichelman, Miami Herald, 3 Sep. 2026 As the night wore on, Hurtado’s wife began to feel ill and went into the restroom shortly before the club was set to close. — Amber Gaudet, Charlotte Observer, 3 Sep. 2026 But if the awards season goes as the streamer plans, a journey that began in Cannes with a rapturous standing ovation, could end with Los Javis clasping some golden statues. — Anne Thompson, IndieWire, 3 Sep. 2026 Julie says police also began searching near the Carrasco home. — Dateline Nbc, NBC news, 3 Sep. 2026 Vance began the conference by announcing crackdown efforts against fraud in Michigan’s trucking industry. — Mackenzie Chase, The Washington Examiner, 3 Sep. 2026 Since Starmer's political crisis began brewing in early May, the pound has fallen nearly 3% cumulative against the dollar. — CNBC, 28 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for began
  1. commenced
  2. started
  3. founded
  4. opened
  5. originated
  6. established
  7. launched
  8. arose
Verb
  • The game commenced with four unanswered scores from Jenks and sloppy play from Southlake Carroll that included a handful of early penalties, messy substitutions and a lack of rhythm.
    — Charles Baggarly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Cloud service agreements totaled $29 billion, with data center leases not commenced of $25 billion, equity investments of $25 billion, and capital expenditures of $8 billion.
    — Zev Fima, CNBC, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of commenced
Verb
  • With incomings, Newcastle’s summer started with a whimper and ended with a bang, a slow-burn of early rejections from high-profile targets which did little to ease a sense of disquiet among supporters.
    — George Caulkin, New York Times, 2 Sep. 2026
  • All four celebs started dipping their toes into fall fashion early this year, reaching for fisherman, funnel-neck, and crewneck sweaters while traveling, sipping coffee, and cooking with Ina Garten.
    — Rachel Trujillo, PEOPLE, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of started
Verb
  • The company was founded in Atlanta by Georgia Tech students, and is still headquartered in the city.
    — Irene Wright, USA Today, 4 Sep. 2026
  • Candle True Stories is part of Candle Media, the media holding company co-founded by former Disney execs Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs.
    — Todd Spangler, Variety, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of founded
Verb
  • Mamdani opened the news conference by expressing his condolences to the victims and their families and thanking the officers who responded.
    — Madison E. Goldberg, PEOPLE, 1 Sep. 2026
  • The April indictment accused the organization of secretly funneling millions of dollars in donor funds to informants embedded in violent extremist movements, using bank accounts opened for fictitious companies.
    — Arie Perliger, The Conversation, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of opened
Verb
  • The country's armed forces said that it was targeted by a missile attack that originated from Iranian territory.
    — Lim Hui Jie, CNBC, 2 Sep. 2026
  • More broadly, the open-source movement has made robust design systems available beyond the organizations that originated them.
    — Goran Paun, Forbes.com, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of originated
Verb
  • Many organizations still default to degree requirements because they’re established and easy to understand.
    — Raghu Krishnaiah, Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 2026
  • To help support Anthropic and OpenAI fund their deployments, Broadcom established a special purpose vehicle (SPV) platform in partnership with Apollo and Blackstone to facilitate more than 20 GW of compute infrastructure by the end of 2028.
    — Jeff Marks, CNBC, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of established
Verb
  • Axios has been looking to launch in the Middle East, and last year, Semafor launched Semafor Gulf.
    — Max Tani, semafor.com, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Meanwhile, the tenants launched a rent strike at the beginning of the month while Levovitz still owned the building.
    — Dylan Lysen, Kansas City Star, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of launched
Verb
  • Warsh also sought to clear up some areas of confusion that arose after his remarks at a July 29 news conference.
    — Christopher Rugaber, Fortune, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Conditions changed with waning US involvement in the early 1970s, although here too conflict arose.
    — Matthew Wills, JSTOR Daily, 24 Aug. 2026
Definition of arose

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beg
began
beget
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Cite this Entry

“Began.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/began. Accessed 5 Sep. 2026.

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