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opener
eye opener
1. An utterly shocking or startling thing, situation, or revelation. (Sometimes hyphenated.) The former champion's crushing defeat in the first round of the tournament was an eye opener to everyone who had expected her to make it to the finals without resistance. Learning about John's opium addiction was a real eye-opener for me.
2. A strong alcoholic beverage consumed early in the morning or first thing upon waking. (Sometimes hyphenated.) Primarily heard in US, Canada, South Africa. After going on quite a bender over the weekend, an eye opener was the only thing that could get me moving on Monday morning.
for openers
and for startersto start with. For openers, they played a song everyone knows. For starters, I'll serve a delicious soup.
for openers
as a beginning for starters For openers, we have a staff of 10 just to handle the billing.
Related vocabulary: to begin witheye opener, an
1. A startling or shocking revelation, as in The first sentence of his speech was a real eye opener. This expression alludes to widening one's eyes with surprise. [Mid-1800s]
2. A strong alcoholic drink taken early in the morning, as in After a late night and little sleep, he generally needed an eye opener to jolt him awake . This usage alludes to the alleged wakening effect of such a beverage. [Early 1800s]
for openers
Also, for starters. To begin with. For example, Out of 50 possible jurors they eliminated 30, for openers, or She believed him, which indicated, for starters, that she was very gullible. The word starters is also used for the appetizer or first course of a meal, as in For starters we had shrimp cocktail. [Mid-1900s]
eye-opener
1. n. a real surprise. This day has been an eye-opener for me.
2. n. a wake-up drink of liquor; a strong drink any time. He knocked back a quick eye-opener and finished dressing.
for openers
Informal To begin with: "Out of 54 potential jurors, they knocked 20 off ... just for openers" (Joseph DiMona).