ENTER
verb
Definitions
- 1. To come or go into; to pass into the interior of; to pass within the outer cover or shell of; to penetrate; to pierce; as, to enter a house, a closet, a country, a door, etc.; the river enters the sea. That darksome cave they enter. Spenser. I, . . . with the multitude of my redeemed, Shall enter heaven, long absent. Milton.
- 2. To unite in; to join; to be admitted to; to become a member of; as, to enter an association, a college, an army.
- 3. To engage in; to become occupied with; as, to enter the legal profession, the book trade, etc.
- 4. To pass within the limits of; to attain; to begin; to commence upon; as, to enter one's teens, a new era, a new dispensation.
- 5. To cause to go (into), or to be received (into); to put in; to insert; to cause to be admitted; as, to enter a knife into a piece of wood, a wedge into a log; to enter a boy at college, a horse for a race, etc.
- 6. To inscribe; to enroll; to record; as, to enter a name, or a date, in a book, or a book in a catalogue; to enter the particulars of a sale in an account, a manifest of a ship or of merchandise at the customhouse.
- 7. To go into or upon, as lands, and take actual possession of them.
- 8. To place in regular form before the court, usually in writing; to put upon record in proper from and order; as, to enter a writ, appearance, rule, or judgment. Burrill.
- 9. To make report of (a vessel or her cargo) at the customhouse; to submit a statement of (imported goods), with the original invoices, to the proper officer of the customs for estimating the duties. See Entry,
- 10. To file or inscribe upon the records of the land office the required particulars concerning (a quantity of public land) in order to entitle a person to a right pf preëmption. [U.S.] Abbott.
- 11. To deposit for copyright the title or description of (a book, picture, map, etc.); as, "entered according to act of Congress."
- 12. To initiate; to introduce favorably. [Obs.] Shak.
Added: October 09, 2025
Updated: October 09, 2025