open sesame

open sesame

1. A phrase commonly (and usually humorously) used as a password, especially to gain entrance to something. In The Arabian Nights, "open sesame" is a magical phrase used to open a robbers' den. A: "What's the password?" B: "Um… open sesame?" If those kids are still blocking the door, tell them the password is "open sesame."
2. By extension, something that helps one to achieve a goal or access an opportunity. In this usage, the phrase is preceded by an article (for instance, "an open sesame"). Good grades in high school should be the only "open sesame" you need to get into the college you want.
See also: open
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

open sesame

a marvellous or irresistible means of achieving access to what would normally be inaccessible.
In the tale of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves in the Arabian Nights, the door of the robbers' cave was made to open by uttering this magic formula.
See also: open
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

open ˈsesame

(humorous) an easy way to gain or achieve something that is usually very difficult to get: Academic success is not always an open sesame to a well-paid job. The bank had just closed but I banged on the door and — open sesame — they let me in!This expression comes from the story Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. The words open sesame opened the door of the thieves’ cave where they kept their treasure.
See also: open
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

open sesame

An effective means for achieving a desired goal. The term comes from the story about Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (The Arabian Nights Entertainments, ca. 1375), in which Ali Baba uses the words “Open, Sesame” to open the door of the robbers’ den. By 1800 or so the words had become synonymous with any password. For example, Sir Walter Scott wrote in a letter to Lord Dalkeith (Feb. 11, 1806), “Your notoriety becomes a talisman—an ‘Open Sesame’ before which everything gives way.”
See also: open
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • throw open
  • crack (something) wide open
  • open the way for (one)
  • open house
  • crack open
  • burst open
  • out in the open
  • open your mouth
  • not open (one's) mouth
  • not open one's mouth
References in periodicals archive
Iftah Ya Simsim (Open Sesame) first began out of a studio in Kuwait City in 1979.
After 25 years, Arabic-language Sesame Street just premiered in the Middle East
The entrepreneur has said that when he founded the site he was inspired by the words, "Open sesame!" in the folktale "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves."
China: the limits of growth
Emirati illustrator and director Abdullah Al Sharhan announced that his famous cartoon series Open Sesame will be shown on Arab TV channels this September.
Ramadan Majlis concludes with cartoon session
Summary: The 'Open Sesame' for unlocking what made BankMed, one of Lebanon's top five banks by both assets and deposits, move into Dubai this spring is 'opportunity.' This is no coincidence.
On a charm offensive
FITCHBURG -- Growing Places, a nonprofit organization, will show the documentary "Open Sesame: the Story of Seeds'' on May 7 at the Fitchburg Public Library, 610 Main St., to celebrate the opening of their first seed library.
Film, grand opening of seed library at Fitchburg Public Library May 7
A new feature also lets users open Sesame with a custom knock on the phone or door, without pulling out their phones.
Sesame Smart Lock Replaces the Keys with Smartphone Apps
It is accessed through The Tor "routing onion," the open sesame for surfers seeking prohibited services.
DarkNet: A Thriving Marketplace for Criminal Transactions - From Narcotics to Terrorism
Scientific intelligence in this regard is a great instrument, though it is not an omnipotent open sesame to salvation or certainty.
Classic humanist
He asked a waitress what she knew about Ali Baba and she replied: "Open Sesame." The name reflects how the business opens up opportunities for small businesses to sell their goods.
Failed student whose PS140bn websites outsell eBay & Amazon; Chinese firm is USA's biggest flotation
Ms Singh says, "I decided to open Sesame Street Preschool because of its uniqueness and its ability to improve the thinking process and development in very small children.
Sesame Street Preschool(TM) opens in Indira Nagar, KANPUR Early Education Centre from America's best known educational TV brand Enrollment on for first session
He highlighted the reported charges of graft being paid by the US retail giant Wal-Mart to certain people in the government for the 'Open Sesame' to make its presence in India.
Nationwide stir by BJP against foreign investment in retail sector
In my early days as a journalist, the chair of Derbyshire Police Authority discovered that his chief constable had spent PS32,000 of taxpayers' money installing an "open sesame"-style sliding wall in his office.
A pointless own goal for Mr Cameron as voters stay at home; Columnist
He presided over deeply unpopular bungled reforms which heralded rising waiting lists, 20billion [pounds sterling] cuts to services, job losses to thousands of nurses and other health workers, installed an expensive, needless bureaucracy and announced an open sesame to the private firms which put profit before patient care.'
Lansley and Milton out ... and Hunt to be new health secretary
That's the "open sesame" to consumer credit lines: helping them do what they came to do.
Online advertising: from good to not-so-good
In the story Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, Ali Baba gains access to a cave where thieves have stored their plunder using the command "Open Sesame." The same command might one day be used by hotel guests to gain access to their rooms.
Voice could open new doors for hotels