Sample sentences for INITIATE - verbalworkout.com

4 meanings

(click/touch triangles for details)

1 —as in:
initiate discussions

Definition

to cause (something) to begin

The study concluded that women initiate divorce more frequently than men.

initiate = begin the process of

Other Uses (with this meaning)

We are encouraging local authorities to initiate long-term emergency planning.

initiate = start

The A.G. will most likely initiate an investigation.
Louis Sachar -- Holes

initiate = start

I want him to fold me into his arms again, like he did after the last attack, but he doesn't, and I know better than to initiate it.
Veronica Roth -- Insurgent

initiate = begin

On my weekly visits to Dr. Robertson, I never felt forced to talk about anything, but soon found myself initiating the conversation about my past.
Dave Pelzer -- The Lost Boy

initiating = starting

Perhaps if he had been sitting between Fifi and Joanna ... For the third time the loving cup went round; "I drink to the imminence of His Coming," said Morgana Rothschild, whose turn it happened to be to initiate the circular rite.
Aldous Huxley -- Brave New World

initiate = begin

Believe me, he is a walking time bomb ... capable of initiating a series of events that will profoundly change the world as you know it.
Dan Brown -- The Lost Symbol

initiating = starting

Is he simply working the Lover Boy angle he initiated at the interview?
Suzanne Collins -- The Hunger Games

initiated = started

For some reason, the gentle touch of his father's hand felt like it was burning through him like a potent catalyst that was initiating a chemical reaction inside Mal'akh's body.
Dan Brown -- The Lost Symbol
This time, I needed to be the initiator.
Kiera Cass -- The Selection

Dictionary / pronunciation — Google^®Dictionary / more samples — Oxford^® US Dictionary list — Onelook.com^®

2 —as in:
initiate into the art of drumming

Definition

introduce to an activity or area of knowledge

That weekend, she was initiated into the art of fly fishing.

initiated = introduced (did it for the first time)

Other Uses (with this meaning)

The author uses the character to initiate his readers to life and norms within an American high-security prison.

initiate = introduce

For by now, in addition to the workers whom we wanted to initiate into the system [of quickly hiding from the Gestapo], we had three more permanent boarders:
Corrie ten Boom -- The Hiding Place

initiate = introduce to an activity or area of knowledge

Peter initiated me into this long ago.
Dan Brown -- The Lost Symbol

initiated = introduced (to an area of knowledge)

Miss Blount, a native Maycombian as yet uninitiated in the mysteries of the Decimal System, appeared at the door hands on hips and announced: "If I hear another sound from this room I'll burn up everybody in it."
Harper Lee -- To Kill a Mockingbird

uninitiated = not introduced (not understanding)

(Editor's note: The prefix "un-" in uninitiated means not and reverses the meaning of initiated. This is the same pattern you see in words like unhappy, unknown, and unlucky.)

Dictionary / pronunciation — Google^®Dictionary / more samples — Oxford^® US Dictionary list — Onelook.com^®

3 —as in:
initiate into the fraternity

Definition

to accept someone's membership into an organization — typically in a ceremony — sometimes including a period of instruction and/or test

The photo is from the ceremony when she was initiated into the sorority.

initiated = accepted into the group in a special ceremony

Other Uses (with this meaning)

My mother couldn't attend my Honor Society initiation ceremony.

initiation = the process of accepting someone's membership into a group (via a special ceremony)

(editor's note: The suffix "-tion", converts a verb into a noun that denotes the action or result of the verb. Typically, there is a slight change in the ending of the root verb, as in action, education, and observation.)

Masonic initiation rites had remained shrouded in secrecy for centuries.
Dan Brown -- The Lost Symbol

initiation = the process of formally accepting someone as a member of a group

...and we will become members if we complete initiation.
Veronica Roth -- Divergent

initiation = the process of being accepted into an organization

Well, that was until he called and said all the pledges in the fraternity had to sleep at the frat house for some crazy initiation thing.
Simone Elkeles -- Perfect Chemistry

initiation = ceremony to accept someone's membership into an organization

I got beat worse than this when I got initiated.
Angie Thomas -- The Hate U Give

initiated = put through a ceremonial test upon acceptance as a member of an organization

But the initiation rite was performed once in three years in Umuofia, and he had to wait for nearly two years for the next round of ceremonies.
Chinua Achebe -- Things Fall Apart

initiation = a procedure or ceremony where someone is admitted into a group

"Count yourself initiated," she said. "You can't be a true beekeeper without getting stung."
Sue Monk Kidd -- The Secret Life of Bees

initiated = accepted as a member of a group through special procedures

They signed up as "trainees" on the spot. We began to meet every night to initiate them.
John Knowles -- A Separate Peace

initiate = a period of instruction and/or testing required to accept someone's membership into an organization

The initiation was to test a guy's courage.
Victor Martinez -- Parrot in the Oven

initiation = the process of accepting someone as a member of a group—perhaps including a period of instruction, a test, and/or a ceremony

Dictionary / pronunciation — Google^®Dictionary / more samples — Oxford^® US Dictionary list — Onelook.com^®

4 —as in:
She is a new initiate.

Definition

someone who has formally started in an organization, or been introduced to or attained some expertise in a particular field

Initiates will be formally accepted and presented at the ceremony on Friday.

initiates = new members

Other Uses (with this meaning)

Please fill out the new initiate information form.

initiate = someone who has formally started in an organization

I feel like I am an initiate again, storming the stairs of the Hub right after the Choosing Ceremony.
Veronica Roth -- Insurgent

initiate = someone who has formally started procedures to become a member or a group such as training, testing, and a ceremony

The thirty-four-year-old initiate gazed down at the human skull cradled in his palms.
Dan Brown -- The Lost Symbol

initiate = a new member or an organization

We are not called members yet; our decisions today will make us initiates,
Veronica Roth -- Divergent

initiates = people going through a process that leads to formal acceptance into a group

As he unfolded it, he realized he was holding a Masonic hoodwink—the traditional blindfold of a first-degree initiate.
Dan Brown -- The Lost Symbol
There was a bit of a division between initiates.
Veronica Roth -- Insurgent
Yes, there was a Caleb in my initiate class.
Veronica Roth -- Insurgent
Once I'm armed, I follow Will and the other initiates toward the exit.
Veronica Roth -- Divergent
One by one, my fellow initiates climb into the train car in front of us.
Veronica Roth -- Divergent

Dictionary / pronunciation — Google^®Dictionary / more samples — Oxford^® US Dictionary list — Onelook.com^®

Search for other examples by interest

Interest — Source