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