Literary notes about open (AI summary)
Writers have long employed the word "open" to convey a range of meanings, both literal and metaphorical. In many narratives, it denotes a physical act—a door being pushed, gates swung wide, or windows left ajar, symbolizing a transition or invitation to experience something new ([1], [2], [3], [4]). In other contexts, "open" stretches beyond its physical presence to evoke landscapes that are unconfined and exposed, like vast meadows or a boundless sea ([5], [6], [7]), underscoring themes of freedom or vulnerability. Moreover, the term is used to illustrate states of readiness or unguarded honesty—a person with open hands or wide-open eyes, for instance, reveals a sense of trust or even confrontation, as seen in open warfare and bold declarations ([8], [9], [10], [11]). Whether fixing attention on the physical act of opening or metaphorically inviting transparency and accessibility, the term enriches the literary landscape with layers of meaning.
- Open the door, said she; open it this minute!
— from Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded by Samuel Richardson - I sat on the bench for a quarter of an hour and then pushed open the little door and entered.
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova - She hoped he was not going to stay inside and she pushed the door open wondering if he would.
— from The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett - Round this corner were three doors in a line, the first and third of which were open.
— from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle - They had been driving through the lane with the towering hedge on one side and the open meadow on the other.
— from The Awakening, and Selected Short Stories by Kate Chopin - Its crescent shaped beach throws out its arms to the shoreless open sea like the very image of an eager striving to embrace the infinite.
— from My Reminiscences by Rabindranath Tagore - In Denmark and Norway also midsummer fires were kindled on St. John’s Eve on roads, open spaces, and hills.
— from The Golden Bough: A Study of Magic and Religion by James George Frazer - She is at least a woman of open hands, and I made a promise to return to her house if need arose.
— from Kim by Rudyard Kipling - war to the death, war to the knife; guerre a mort[Fr], guerre a outrance[Fr][obs3]; open war, internecine war, civil war.
— from Roget's Thesaurus by Peter Mark Roget - Why did he stand transfixed with open mouth and distended eyeballs?
— from The Luck of Roaring Camp and Other Tales by Bret Harte - There can be no reconciliation where there is no open warfare.
— from Lady Audley's Secret by M. E. Braddon