*command*

n. 1. An authoritative order requiring obedience; a mandate; an injunction. [ 1913 Webster ]

Awaiting what command their mighty chief
Had to impose. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The possession or exercise of authority. [ 1913 Webster ]

Command and force may often create, but can never cure, an aversion. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Authority; power or right of control; leadership; as, the forces under his command. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Power to dominate, command, or overlook by means of position; scope of vision; survey. [ 1913 Webster ]

The steepy stand
Which overlooks the vale with wide command. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Control; power over something; sway; influence; as, to have command over one's temper or voice; the fort has command of the bridge. [ 1913 Webster ]

He assumed an absolute command over his readers. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. A body of troops, or any naval or military force or post, or the whole territory under the authority or control of a particular officer. [ 1913 Webster ]

Word of command (Mil.), a word or phrase of definite and established meaning, used in directing the movements of soldiers; as, aim; fire; shoulder arms, etc.

Syn. -- Control; sway; power; authority; rule; dominion; sovereignty; mandate; order; injunction; charge; behest. See Direction. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To have or to exercise direct authority; to govern; to sway; to influence; to give an order or orders. [ 1913 Webster ]

And reigned, commanding in his monarchy. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

For the king had so commanded concerning [ Haman ]. Esth. iii. 2. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To have a view, as from a superior position. [ 1913 Webster ]

Far and wide his eye commands. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Capable of being commanded. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F., orig. p. pr. of commander. ] A commander; the commanding officer of a place, or of a body of men; as, the commandant of a navy-yard. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Mandatory; as, commandatory authority. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Commandeered p. pr. & vb. n. Commandeering. ] [ D. kommandeeren to command, in South Africa to commandeer, fr. F. commander to command. See Command. ] 1. (Mil.) To compel to perform military service; to seize for military purposes; -- orig. used of the Boers. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

2. To take arbitrary or forcible possession of. [ Colloq. ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ Cf. F. commandeur. Cf. Commodore, Commender. ] 1. A chief; one who has supreme authority; a leader; the chief officer of an army, or of any division of it. [ 1913 Webster ]

A leader and commander to the people. Is. lv. 4. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Navy) An officer who ranks next below a captain, -- ranking with a lieutenant colonel in the army. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The chief officer of a commandery. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A heavy beetle or wooden mallet, used in paving, in sail lofts, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

Commander in chief, the military title of the officer who has supreme command of the land or naval forces or the united forces of a nation or state; a generalissimo. The President is commander in chief of the army and navy of the United States.

Syn. -- See Chief. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The office of a commander. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Commanderies [ F. commanderie. ] 1. The office or rank of a commander. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A district or a manor with lands and tenements appertaining thereto, under the control of a member of an order of knights who was called a commander; -- called also a preceptory. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. An assembly or lodge of Knights Templars (so called) among the Freemasons. [ U. S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A district under the administration of a military commander or governor. [ R. ] Brougham. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Exercising authority; actually in command; as, a commanding officer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Fitted to impress or control; as, a commanding look or presence. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Exalted; overlooking; having superior strategic advantages; as, a commanding position.

Syn. -- Authoritative; imperative; imperious. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a commanding manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF. commandement, F. commandement. ] 1. An order or injunction given by authority; a command; a charge; a precept; a mandate. [ 1913 Webster ]

A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another. John xiii. 34. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Script.) One of the ten laws or precepts given by God to the Israelites at Mount Sinai. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The act of commanding; exercise of authority. [ 1913 Webster ]

And therefore put I on the countenance
Of stern commandment. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Law) The offense of commanding or inducing another to violate the law. [ 1913 Webster ]

The Commandments,
The Ten Commandments, the Decalogue, or summary of God's commands, given to Moses at Mount Sinai. (Ex. xx.) [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ D. See Command, v. t. ] 1. In South Africa, a military body or command; also, sometimes, an expedition or raid; as, a commando of a hundred Boers.

The war bands, called commandos, have played a great part in the . . . military history of the country. James Bryce. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

2. a usually small military unit trained to perform special missions, often behind enemy lines, and usually employing hit-and-run tactics. Such units often have the destruction of fixed targets, such as enemy installations, as their mission, in contrast to normal combat units which engage the enemy army directly. [ PJC ]

3. a member of a commando{ 2 } unit. [ PJC ]

n. A woman invested with authority to command. Hooker. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Commandery. [ 1913 Webster ]