Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To make or become ripe or riper; mature. See Synonyms at mature.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To grow ripe; come to maturity, as grain or fruit: used by extension of the maturing of anything, as of a boil.
- To become fit for some particular use by lying or resting.
- To approach or come to completeness or perfection; come to a state of fitness or readiness; be prepared or made ready: as, the project is ripening for execution.
- Synonyms See mature, a.
- To mature; make ripe, as grain or fruit.
- To bring to maturity, perfection, or completion; develop to a desired or desirable state.
- To make fit or ready for use.
Wiktionary
- v. intransitive to grow ripe; to become mature, as in botany: grain, fruit, flowers, and the like; as, grapes ripen in the sun.
- v. intransitive To approach or come to perfection.
- v. transitive To cause to mature; to make ripe; as, the warm days ripened the corn.
- v. transitive To mature; to fit or prepare; to bring to perfection; as, to ripen the judgment.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To grow ripe; to become mature, as grain, fruit, flowers, and the like.
- v. To approach or come to perfection.
- v. To cause to mature; to make ripe.
- v. To mature; to fit or prepare; to bring to perfection.
WordNet 3.0
- v. grow ripe
- v. cause to ripen or develop fully
Examples
“Though I have no illusions in the direction of expecting the fruit of general peace to ripen in a single night, I am nevertheless convinced that the fruit _has begun to ripen_, and that it is now only a question of holding out whether we are to obtain a general honourable peace or not.”
“Wolfeboro is just about at the northern fringe of the climate where peaches will ripen, that is during favorable years in favored locations.”
“But there is a kind of passivity, willingness to let experiences accumulate and sink in and ripen, which is an essential of development.”
democracy and Education : an Introduction to the Philosophy of Education
“She found in gathering the fruits of the earth, that, to ripen is to absorb sunshine; which ripples out to you responsively at the gentlest touch.”
“The name of this favourite fruit is said to be derived from an ancient custom of putting straw beneath the fruit when it began to ripen, which is very useful to keep it moist and clean.”
“Or, if Republicans filibuster and force Reid to file cloture (which requires two days to "ripen" into an actual vote) demand their 30 hours of post-cloture debate, it will pass Saturday.”
The Washington Post: Wonkbook: FinReg to pass; Fed to sit; Reid's climate deal; Dems lose rec
“After it had begun to "ripen" in the heat, she wrote, she called Montgomery County's Animal Services Division but was told that officers couldn't retrieve it unless the bird was "the size of a vulture.”
The Washington Post: Few takers for huge, smelly, beheaded chicken -- imagine that
“We need to understand more clearly what Buddhism means by the statement that actions mixed with confusion "ripen" into unhappiness, samsaric happiness, or a neutral feeling that is neither.”
“Please note that I refrained repeatedly from commiting the pun of saying I was setting it aside to "ripen".”
“For instance, in a live yeast or sourdough starter, the enzymic action develops the umami in wheat flour to "ripen" the dough and develop its flavor.”
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