Definitions

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

  • adjective Affording unobstructed entrance and exit; not shut or closed.
  • adjective Affording unobstructed passage or view.
  • adjective Having no protecting or concealing cover.
  • adjective Completely obvious; blatant.
  • adjective Carried on in full view of others; not hidden or private.
  • adjective Sports Not defended or not closely defended by an opponent.
  • adjective Not sealed or tied.
  • adjective Spread out; unfolded.
  • adjective Having interspersed gaps, spaces, or intervals.
  • adjective Accessible to all; unrestricted as to participants.
  • adjective Free from limitations, boundaries, or restrictions.
  • adjective Enterable by registered voters regardless of political affiliation.
  • adjective Computers Of or relating to a file that can be accessed.
  • adjective Lacking effective regulation.
  • adjective Not legally repressed.
  • adjective Susceptible; vulnerable.
  • adjective Willing to consider or deal with something.
  • adjective Available; obtainable.
  • adjective Available for use.
  • adjective Ready to transact business.
  • adjective Not engaged or filled.
  • adjective Not yet decided; subject to further thought.
  • adjective Characterized by lack of secrecy or reserve; candid: synonym: frank.
  • adjective Free of prejudice; receptive to new ideas and arguments.
  • adjective Generous.
  • adjective Widely spaced or leaded. Used of typeset or other printed matter.
  • adjective Having constituent elements separated by a space in writing or printing.
  • adjective Not stopped by a finger. Used of a string or hole of an instrument.
  • adjective Produced by an unstopped string or hole or without the use of slides, valves, or keys.
  • adjective Played without a mute.
  • adjective Articulated with the tongue in a low position, as the vowel in far.
  • adjective Ending in a vowel or diphthong.
  • adjective Designating a method of punctuation in which commas and other marks are used sparingly.
  • adjective Being in operation; live.
  • adjective New England Clear. Used of weather.
  • adjective Electricity Containing a gap across which electricity cannot pass.
  • adjective Of or relating to an interval containing neither of its endpoints.
  • adjective Of or being a set such that at least one neighborhood of every point in the set is within the set.

Etymologies

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

[Middle English, from Old English; see upo in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Old English open, from Proto-Germanic *upanaz (compare Old High German offan ("open")), from Proto-Indo-European *upo "up from under, over". Cognate with German offen, Low German apen, Icelandic opna, Norwegian åpne and Swedish öppen. Non-Germanic cognates include Albanian hap ("to open").

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Examples

  • When Jesus said that heaven would be opened, He meant not only opened just once, but _remaining open_; so that ever since Christ ascended into heaven we have lived and are still living under an "open heaven," which means free intercourse between God and man, because Christ Himself is the

    The One Great Reality Louisa Clayton

  • And if the parasite can, as some of our peasants believe, open all locks, why should it not have served as an “open Sesame” in the hands of Aeneas to unlock the gates of death?

    Chapter 68. The Golden Bough 1922

  • In a flute, open at both ends, the holes are so arranged that the length of the sound-wave is about one foot, for one of the chief “open notes.

    The Wave Theory of Light Lord Kelvin 1909

  • A desirable rule for the teacher to set for himself would be so to prepare for the recitation by mastery of the subject, and by lesson plan or outline, _that he does not need to have the textbook open before him when the pupils do not also have their books open_.

    The Recitation George Herbert Betts 1901

  • Any method of heating -- open fireplace, stove, hot air, furnace, hot water, or steam -- which will keep a room _with the windows open_ comfortably warm in cold weather is satisfactory and healthful.

    A Handbook of Health Woods Hutchinson 1896

  • "Oh yes," he said gruffly, "_they're_ open -- they're _open_; though there ain't much going on out-of-doors, being the last night of the season."

    The Tinted Venus A Farcical Romance F. Anstey 1895

  • To open a shop, warehouse, or workhouse on Sunday is a fifty dollar offense, and it is fifty dollars also for doing "any manner of labor, business or work" on Sunday, unless the judge considers it a matter of necessity or charity; nevertheless, the "making of butter and cheese" is good Sunday work, if we do not _open the doors_ which would bring on a $50 fine.

    Buchanan's Journal of Man, June 1887 Volume 1, Number 6 1856

  • A farm house should never be built without an ample, open fireplace in its kitchen, and other _principally_ occupied rooms; and in all rooms where stoves are placed, and fires are daily required, the _open_ Franklin should take place of the close or air-tight stove, unless extraordinary ventilation to such rooms be adopted also.

    Rural Architecture Being a Complete Description of Farm Houses, Cottages, and Out Buildings Lewis Falley Allen 1845

  • Iëna then went in advance, and sought the open plain, whereupon the child resembling the mother would cry out and complain, because she disliked an _open_ path.

    The Myth of Hiawatha, and Other Oral Legends, Mythologic and Allegoric, of the North American Indians Henry Rowe Schoolcraft 1828

  • Korea Signs 'Open Sky' Agreement with Canada The number of flights to Canada is likely to increase after Korea and Canada reached an open air transportation -- or ¡°open sky¡± -- agreement on Thursday.

    english.chosun.com : Total 2008

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