(astronomy) the particular appearance of a body's state of illumination (especially one of the recurring shapes of the part of Earth's moon that is illuminated by the sun); "the full phase of the moon"
(physical chemistry) a distinct state of matter in a system; matter that is identical in chemical composition and physical state and separated from other material by the phase boundary; "the reaction occurs in the liquid phase of the system"
a particular point in the time of a cycle; measured from some arbitrary zero and expressed as an angle
any distinct time period in a sequence of events; "we are in a transitional stage in which many former ideas must be revised or rejected"
adjust so as to be in a synchronized condition; "he phased the intake with the output of the machine"
the act of starting something; "he was responsible for the beginning of negotiations"
the first part or section of something; "`It was a dark and stormy night' is a hackneyed beginning for a story"
the event consisting of the start of something; "the beginning of the war"
the place where something begins, where it springs into being; "the Italian beginning of the Renaissance"; "Jupiter was the origin of the radiation"; "Pittsburgh is the source of the Ohio River"; "communism's Russian root"
the time at which something is supposed to begin; "they got an early start"; "she knew from the get-go that he was the man for her"