O"pen*ing, n. 1. The act or process of opening; a beginning; commencement; first appearance; as, the opening of a speech.

The opening of your glory was like that of light.

2. A place which is open; a breach; an aperture; a gap; cleft, or hole.

We saw him at the opening of his tent.

3. Hence: A vacant place; an opportunity; as, an opening for business. [Colloq.] Dickens.

4. A thinly wooded space, without undergrowth, in the midst of a forest; as, oak openings. [U.S.] Cooper.

• A hole; a gap; a crevice.
  
• The first few moves in a game of chess.
  
• An unoccupied employment position.
  
• The first performance of a show or play by a particular troupe.
  
• The initial period an art gallery or museum is first opened.
  
• The first few measures of a musical composition.
  
• Unsealing a container.
  
• Preparing for business at the start of the day; unlocking a store's front door.
  
• To become open
  
• (cricket) describing the first period of play, usually up to the fall of the first wicket; describing a batsman who opens the innings or a bowler who opens the attack