to direct with specific authority or prerogative; order.
The captain commanded his men to attack.
to require authoritatively; demand.
She commanded silence.
to have or exercise authority or control over; be master of; have at one's bidding or disposal.
The Pharaoh commanded 10,000 slaves.
to deserve and receive (respect, sympathy, attention, etc.).
He commands much respect for his attitude.
to dominate by reason of location; overlook.
The hill commands the sea.
to have authority over and responsibility for (a military or naval unit or installation); be in charge of.
to issue an order or orders.
to be in charge; have authority.
to occupy a dominating position; look down upon or over a body of water, region, etc.
the act of commanding or ordering.
an order given by one in authority.
The colonel gave the command to attack.
Military.
an order in prescribed words, usually given in a loud voice to troops at close-order drill.
The command was “Right shoulder arms!”
the order of execution or the second part of any two-part close-order drill command, as face in Right face!
Command, a principal component of the U.S. Air Force.
Strategic Air Command.
a body of troops or a station, ship, etc., under a commander.
the possession or exercise of controlling authority.
a lieutenant in command of a platoon.
He has a command of French, Russian, and German.
British. a royal order.
power of dominating a region by reason of location; extent of view or outlook.
the command of the valley from the hill.
Computers.
an electric impulse, signal, or set of signals for initiating an operation in a computer.
a character, symbol, or item of information for instructing a computer to perform a specific task.
a single instruction.
of, relating to, or for use in the exercise of command: command post.
a command car;
command post.
of or relating to a commander.
a command decision.
ordered by a sovereign, as if by a sovereign, or by the exigencies of a situation.
a command performance.
(when tr, may take a clause as object or an infinitive) to order, require, or compel
to have or be in control or authority over (a person, situation, etc)
(tr) to have knowledge or use of
he commands the language
(tr) to receive as due or because of merit
his nature commands respect
to dominate (a view, etc) as from a height
an order; mandate
the act of commanding
the power or right to command
the exercise of the power to command
ability or knowledge; control
a command of French
military the jurisdiction of a commander
a military unit or units commanding a specific area or function, as in the RAF
an invitation from the monarch
( as modifier )
a command performance
computing a word or phrase that can be selected from a menu or typed after a prompt in order to carry out an action
First recorded in 1250–1300; (verb) Middle English coma(u)nden, from Anglo-French com(m)a(u)nder, Old French comander, from Medieval Latin commandāre, equivalent to Latin com- com- + mandāre “to entrust, order” ( cf. commend); (noun) late Middle English comma(u)nde, from Anglo-French, Old French; the noun is derivative of the verb
A command is an order that you have to follow, as long as the person who gives it has authority over you. You don't have to comply with your friend's command that you give him all your money. Command, which can be a noun or a verb, combines the Latin prefix com-, meaning "with," and mandāre, "to charge, enjoin," so to give someone a command is to say something with the authority that charges him to follow it. Your mother might command you to clean your room. Command can also mean a position of power, like having command of a battleship, or possession of a skill, like having a great command of video games.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Three decades later, his command of the Ukrainian language is far from perfect and his parents and brother still live in Russia.
From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026
The national police chief condemned the officers' alleged conduct in strong terms, warning that the command would no longer tolerate abuses of power.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
Dodgers right-hander Edgardo Henriquez was on the mound as their third pitcher in a bullpen game, and his command was faltering, to the tune of back-to-back walks and a wild pitch.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
The prophecy also claims that the fated twins have the power to command daemons, supernatural beings with unearthly abilities.
From Salon ● Jul. 18, 2026
Yet my calculations had not only helped the Eagle land successfully, but they also helped it to sync back up with the command and service module so that our guys could come back home.
From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson
US Central Command also said it had "redirected" three vessels trying to circumvent the blockade since it went back into effect amid renewed fighting.
From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026
Pacific Command, which oversees a vast area from India to beyond Hawaii.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
Central Command wrote in a statement that it completed a five-hour mission against the country, targeting coastal defense systems, missile and drone sites and the regime’s maritime resources.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026
On Sunday, US Central Command insisted the Strait was open, warning the US military was in position to make sure it stayed free-flowing.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
Anticipating this ruling, the army’s Western Defense Command had already announced that the mass exclusion orders of 1942 were being rescinded.
From "Farewell to Manzanar" by Jeanne Houston
Owens’ arguments are often nonsensical, but because she commands an audience of more than 6 million YouTube subscribers, they have enough power to force the rest of the commentary class to rebut them.
From Slate ● Jul. 21, 2026
Novo’s Wegovy pill, which launched in January, commands the rest.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
"Syrskyi commands no authority or respect," Andriy told us.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
Voice writers repeat every word spoken in court along with a sequence of formatting commands to voice recognition software.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 6, 2026
I left him with only a few commands, the familiar hatred in his face enough to make a coward out of me.
From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black
"That first half was brilliant. England dominated, commanded and controlled everything," added former England wing Ugo Monye.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
Edwin Dreher, the NYPD’s deputy chief, then commanded McDarby to ask the Croat about the LaGuardia bombing.
From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026
As one intelligence analyst put it to me last week: His inspiration may be Marshal Ferdinand Foch, the general who commanded French forces at the Battle of the Marne in 1914.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
These changes to JPMorgan’s executive leadership team signal that the race to the top has excluded the most-likely last woman standing — an executive who’d previously shared and perhaps even commanded the inside track.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 26, 2026
His employer had commanded him to withdraw from the charrette, claiming that it was too radical an undertaking and would reflect badly on the company.
From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson
A day earlier he met with other generals commanding Ukrainian front-line troops.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
At Tuesday’s closing price of $193.92, the recently issued American depositary receipts of SK Hynix were commanding a 38% premium to Wednesday’s closing price of its local shares listed in Seoul.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026
A beaming Gaud raised the ball to an applauding Lord's pavilion as she led India off the field having put her side in a commanding position for victory.
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026
Ceuzany's voice ranges from crystalline highs to deep lows, as she performs everything from jazz to slam, commanding the stage with wavy blonde hair and earrings framing her radiant face.
From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026
For there was President Washington—a tall, commanding man, riding horseback to enter the town.
From "Carry On, Mr. Bowditch" by Jean Lee Latham
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.