(~s, ~ing, ~ed)
Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.
1.
If someone in authority ~s you to do something, they tell you that you must do it. (mainly WRITTEN)
He ~ed his troops to attack...
‘Get in your car and follow me,’ he ~ed...
He ~ed that roads be built to link castles across the land...
‘Don’t panic,’ I ~ed myself.
= instruct, order
VERB: V n to-inf, V with quote, V that, V n with quote
•
Command is also a noun.
The tanker failed to respond to a ~ to stop...
...the note of ~ in his voice.
= instruction, order
N-VAR
2.
If you ~ something such as respect or obedience, you obtain it because you are popular, famous, or important.
...an excellent physician who ~ed the respect of all his colleagues...
VERB: no cont, V n
3.
If an army or country ~s a place, they have total control over it.
Yemen ~s the strait at the southern end of the Red Sea.
= rule
VERB: V n
•
Command is also a noun.
...the struggle for ~ of the air.
N-UNCOUNT: usu N of n
4.
An officer who ~s part of an army, navy, or air force is responsible for controlling and organizing it.
...the French general who ~s the UN troops in the region...
He didn’t just ~. He personally fought in several heavy battles.
VERB: V n, V
•
Command is also a noun.
In 1942 he took ~ of 108 Squadron.
= charge
N-UNCOUNT
5.
In the armed forces, a ~ is a group of officers who are responsible for organizing and controlling part of an army, navy, or air force.
He had authorisation from the military ~ to retaliate...
N-COUNT-COLL: usu supp N
6.
In computing, a ~ is an instruction that you give to a computer.
N-COUNT
7.
If someone has ~ of a situation, they have control of it because they have, or seem to have, power or authority.
Mr Baker would take ~ of the campaign...
In times of currency crisis interest rates can raised as a sign that a government is in ~.
N-UNCOUNT
8.
Your ~ of something, such as a foreign language, is your knowledge of it and your ability to use this knowledge.
His ~ of English was excellent.
N-UNCOUNT: N of n
9.
see also high ~ , second-in-~
10.
If you have a particular skill or particular resources at your ~, you have them and can use them fully. (FORMAL)
The country should have the right to defend itself with all legal means at its ~.
PHRASE