| 1. | to direct with specific authority or prerogative; order: The captain commanded his men to attack. |
| 2. | to require authoritatively; demand: She commanded silence. |
| 3. | to have or exercise authority or control over; be master of; have at one's bidding or disposal: The Pharaoh commanded 10,000 slaves. |
| 4. | to deserve and receive (respect, sympathy, attention, etc.): He commands much respect for his attitude. |
| 5. | to dominate by reason of location; overlook: The hill commands the sea. |
| 6. | to have authority over and responsibility for (a military or naval unit or installation); be in charge of. |
| 7. | to issue an order or orders. |
| 8. | to be in charge; have authority. |
| 9. | to occupy a dominating position; look down upon or over a body of water, region, etc. |
| 10. | the act of commanding or ordering. |
| 11. | an order given by one in authority: The colonel gave the command to attack. |
| 12. | Military.
|
| 13. | the possession or exercise of controlling authority: a lieutenant in command of a platoon. |
| 14. | expertise; mastery: He has a command of French, Russian, and German. |
| 15. | British. a royal order. |
| 16. | power of dominating a region by reason of location; extent of view or outlook: the command of the valley from the hill. |
| 17. | Computers.
|
| 18. | of, pertaining to, or for use in the exercise of command: a command car; command post. |
| 19. | of or pertaining to a commander: a command decision. |
| 20. | ordered by a sovereign, as if by a sovereign, or by the exigencies of a situation: a command performance. |

command operating system
A character string which tells a program to perform a specific action. Most commands take arguments which either modify the action performed or supply it with input. Commands may be typed by the user or read from a file by a command interpreter. It is also common to refer to menu items as commands.
(1997-06-21)
command
In addition to the idiom beginning with command, also see have a good command.