initiative
1 advantage, beginning, commencement, first move, first step, lead
2 ambition, drive, dynamism, enterprise, get-up-and-go (informal) inventiveness, leadership, originality, push (informal) resource, resourcefulness
English Collins Dictionary - English synonyms & Thesaurus
initiative ( initiatives plural )
1 n-count An initiative is an important act or statement that is intended to solve a problem.
usu with supp, oft N to-inf
Government initiatives to help young people have been inadequate..., There's talk of a new peace initiative.
2 n-sing In a fight or contest, if you have the initiative, you are in a better position than your opponents to decide what to do next.
the N
We have the initiative; we intend to keep it...
3 n-uncount If you have initiative, you have the ability to decide what to do next and to do it, without needing other people to tell you what to do.
She was disappointed by his lack of initiative.
4 If you take the initiative in a situation, you are the first person to act, and are therefore able to control the situation.
♦
take the initiative phrase V inflects
We must take the initiative in the struggle to end the war...
Translation English - Cobuild Collins Dictionary
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"Collins Cobuild English Dictionary for Advanced Learners 4th edition published in 2003 © HarperCollins Publishers 1987, 1995, 2001, 2003 and Collins A-Z Thesaurus 1st edition first published in 1995 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995"