How to Use commence in a Sentence

commence

verb
  • The country has commenced preparations for war.
  • The festivities will commence with a parade.
  • The court commenced criminal proceedings.
  • Their contract commences in January.
  • Work will now commence on fit checks and other key tests to verify the performance of the rocket and its ground systems.
    Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 15 July 2022
  • The residency will now commence Nov. 18 with dates through March 25.
    Melissa Ruggieri, USA TODAY, 25 July 2022
  • Buyout talks are expected to commence between Walker and the Pistons.
    Marlowe Alter, Detroit Free Press, 24 June 2022
  • Notably, both the new dividend and share repurchase program will commence from the third quarter of 2022.
    Trefis Team, Forbes, 6 July 2022
  • Here's a timeline of what's happening: 4pm: Live music, free games and hockey activities will commence.
    Kim Bojórquez, Axios, 8 Oct. 2024
  • There are several landing spots for Deandre Ayton on a max contract and those conversations could commence.
    Jeremy Cluff, The Arizona Republic, 29 June 2022
  • Appeal hearings will commence within 10 days following receipt of the notice of appeal, but the timeframe can be extended upon the agreement of both parties.
    Dan Labbe, cleveland, 1 Aug. 2022
  • Athletes who opt out will retain their antitrust claims against the NCAA and power conferences and could commence litigation.
    Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 7 Oct. 2024
  • The repaving and remake of the street was to commence in 2016.
    John King, SFChronicle.com, 11 Nov. 2020
  • All of the new growth will commence at the top of each cane.
    Janet B. Carson, Arkansas Online, 24 Apr. 2021
  • The work is part of a three-year study commenced in 2018.
    Paul A. Smith, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 15 June 2019
  • Only then do the two shake hands, and the match may commence.
    Smithsonian, 21 Sep. 2017
  • At the end of the year, once the layoffs had commenced, upwards of 3,300 staffers a month were on such a plan.
    Paolo Confino, Fortune, 20 Mar. 2024
  • Tickets for the streams, which commence each night at 7 p.m.
    New York Times, 8 Apr. 2021
  • The breakup is expected to commence in 18 to 24 months.
    Kevin Dowd, Forbes, 14 Nov. 2021
  • The second phase is expected to commence at the end of May.
    Byrebecca Gelpi, ABC News, 28 Mar. 2022
  • Britain commenced a long process of widening the franchise in 1832.
    David Frum, The Atlantic, 20 June 2017
  • But when there’s grilling to be done, a battle still commences.
    J. J. Goode, New York Times, 13 June 2023
  • But when the match commenced, Jabeur injured her right foot.
    David Waldstein, New York Times, 28 Aug. 2023
  • An avalanche of retweets, reshares, and page views soon commenced.
    Andy Boyle, Esquire, 10 Mar. 2016
  • And what happened here gives you an idea of what will commence once that gets put in play.
    WSJ, 21 Feb. 2017
  • As the game commences, each player draws and discards a tile, with the aim of getting four sets and a pair.
    Popular Science, 16 Jan. 2020
  • Cates explained the rules a second time, and after a few false starts, the game commenced.
    Lizzie Widdicombe, The New Yorker, 2 Apr. 2020
  • The voting could have commenced at any moment but of course did not.
    BostonGlobe.com, 20 Dec. 2019
  • The dogs, pets of lodge staff and guests, stuck close to their humans until the dancing commenced.
    Dina Mishev, Dallas News, 8 July 2019
  • The winning team is content to dribble out the shot or game clock as daps and hugs commence.
    Gabe Lacques, USA TODAY, 15 May 2018

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'commence.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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