Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Fully developed; mature.
  • adjective Sufficiently advanced in preparation or aging to be used or eaten.
  • adjective Thoroughly matured, as by study or experience; seasoned.
  • adjective Advanced in years.
  • adjective Fully prepared to do or undergo something; ready.
  • adjective Sufficiently advanced; opportune.
  • adjective Sensuous and full.
  • adjective Coarse or indecent; vulgar.
  • adjective Emitting a foul odor.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A bank.
  • noun Same as rip.
  • Ready for reaping, gathering, or using; brought to completion or perfection; mature: usually said of that which is grown and used for food: as, ripe fruit; ripe corn.
  • Advanced to the state of being fit for use, or in the best condition for use: said of mutton, venison, game, cheese, beer, etc., which has acquired a peculiar and approved flavor by keeping.
  • Resembling ripe fruit in ruddiness, juiciness, or plumpness.
  • Full-grown; developed; finished; having experience, knowledge, or skill; equipped; accomplished; wise; clever: as, a ripe judgment; a ripe old age.
  • Mature; ready for some change or operation, as an ovum for discharge from the ovary, an abscess for lancing, a cataract for extraction, or a fish for spawning.
  • Ready for action or effect: often preceded by a specific word: as, bursting ripe, fighting ripe—that is, ready to burst, or to fight.
  • Synonyms Mature, Ripe. See mature.
  • To search (especially, pockets); rummage; hence, to plunder.
  • To poke.
  • To sweep or wipe clean; clean.
  • To examine strictly.
  • To break up (rough ground).
  • To ripen; grow ripe; be matured. See ripen.
  • To grow old.
  • To mature; ripen; make ripe.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun obsolete The bank of a river.
  • intransitive verb obsolete To ripen; to grow ripe.
  • transitive verb obsolete To mature; to ripen.
  • adjective Ready for reaping or gathering; having attained perfection; mature; -- said of fruits, seeds, etc..
  • adjective Advanced to the state of fitness for use; mellow
  • adjective Having attained its full development; mature; perfected; consummate.
  • adjective Maturated or suppurated; ready to discharge; -- said of sores, tumors, etc.
  • adjective Ready for action or effect; prepared.
  • adjective Like ripened fruit in ruddiness and plumpness.
  • adjective obsolete Intoxicated.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Ready for reaping or gathering; having attained perfection; mature; -- said of fruits, seeds, etc.; as, ripe grain.
  • adjective Advanced to the state of fitness for use; mellow; as, ripe cheese; ripe wine.
  • adjective figuratively Having attained its full development; mature; perfected; consummate.
  • adjective archaic Maturated or suppurated; ready to discharge; -- said of sores, tumors, etc.
  • adjective Ready for action or effect; prepared.
  • adjective Like ripened fruit in ruddiness and plumpness.
  • adjective obsolete Intoxicated.
  • adjective law Of a conflict between parties, having developed to a stage where the conflict may be reviewed by a court of law.
  • adjective Smelly: having a disagreeable odor.
  • noun agriculture A fruit or vegetable which has ripened.
  • verb To ripen or mature

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective fully prepared or eager
  • adjective far along in time
  • adjective at the highest point of development especially in judgment or knowledge

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old English rīpe.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old English rīpe, from Proto-Germanic *rīpijaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rep- ‘to snatch’. Cognate with West Frisian ryp ("ripe"), Dutch rijp ("ripe"), German reif ("ripe"). Related to reap.

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Examples

  • He looked up and saw Gwa standing in the parlor doorway, the older, business-suited Gwa, his brow furrowed, his expression ripe with puzzlement.

    Heaven Lake John Dalton 2004

  • He looked up and saw Gwa standing in the parlor doorway, the older, business-suited Gwa, his brow furrowed, his expression ripe with puzzlement.

    Heaven Lake John Dalton 2004

  • He looked up and saw Gwa standing in the parlor doorway, the older, business-suited Gwa, his brow furrowed, his expression ripe with puzzlement.

    Heaven Lake John Dalton 2004

  • Our word ripe began as an Old English word meaning “ready for reaping,” and like reap comes ultimately from an Indo-European root meaning “to cut.”

    On Food and Cooking, The Science and Lore of the Kitchen Harold McGee 2004

  • He looked up and saw Gwa standing in the parlor doorway, the older, business-suited Gwa, his brow furrowed, his expression ripe with puzzlement.

    Heaven Lake John Dalton 2004

  • Our word ripe began as an Old English word meaning “ready for reaping,” and like reap comes ultimately from an Indo-European root meaning “to cut.”

    On Food and Cooking, The Science and Lore of the Kitchen Harold McGee 2004

  • He looked up and saw Gwa standing in the parlor doorway, the older, business-suited Gwa, his brow furrowed, his expression ripe with puzzlement.

    Heaven Lake John Dalton 2004

  • He looked up and saw Gwa standing in the parlor doorway, the older, business-suited Gwa, his brow furrowed, his expression ripe with puzzlement.

    Heaven Lake John Dalton 2004

  • The quality that makes this title ripe for reinvention is how it foreshadowed the technological explosions to come.

    msnbc.com: Top msnbc.com headlines 2010

  • The quality that makes this title ripe for reinvention is how it foreshadowed the technological explosions to come.

    msnbc.com: Top msnbc.com headlines 2010

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