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Which phrase means something is complete?

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complete

American  

[kuhm-pleet] / kəmˈplit /

adjective

1. having all parts or elements; lacking nothing; whole; entire; full.

   a complete set of Mark Twain's writings.

   Synonyms:

   unbroken

   Antonyms:

   partial

2. finished; ended; concluded.

   a complete orbit.

3. having all the required or customary characteristics, skills, or the like; consummate; perfect in kind or quality.

   a complete scholar.

   Antonyms:

   defective

4. thorough; entire; total; undivided, uncompromised, or unmodified.

   a complete victory;

   a complete mess.

5. Grammar. having all modifying or complementary elements included.

   The complete subject of “The dappled pony gazed over the fence” is “The dappled pony.”

6. Football. Also completed. (of a forward pass) caught by a receiver.

7. Logic. (of a set of axioms) such that every true proposition able to be formulated in terms of the basic ideas of a given system is deducible from the set.

8. Engineering. noting a determinate truss having the least number of members required to connect the panel points so as to form a system of triangles.

9. (of persons) accomplished; skilled; expert.

10. Mathematics.

    1. of or relating to an algebraic system, as a field with an order relation defined on it, in which every set of elements of the system has a least upper bound.

    2. of or relating to a set in which every fundamental sequence converges to an element of the set.

    3. (of a lattice) having the property that every subset has a least upper bound and a greatest lower bound.

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verb (used with object)

• completes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• completed,
  past participle,  past
• completing
  present participle

1. to make whole or entire.

   I need three more words to complete the puzzle.

   Synonyms:

   close, conclude, terminate, achieve, accomplish, perfect, consummate

2. to make perfect.

   His parting look of impotent rage completed my revenge.

3. to bring to an end; finish.

   Has he completed his new novel yet?

4. to consummate.

5. Football. to execute (a forward pass) successfully.

   He completed 17 passes in 33 attempts.

complete British  

/ kəmˈpliːt /

adjective

1. having every necessary part or element; entire

2. ended; finished

3. (prenominal) thorough; absolute

   he is a complete rogue

4. perfect in quality or kind

   he is a complete scholar

5. (of a logical system) constituted such that a contradiction arises on the addition of any proposition that cannot be deduced from the axioms of the system Compare consistent

6. (of flowers) having sepals, petals, stamens, and carpels

7. archaic expert or skilled; accomplished

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verb

1. to make whole or perfect

2. to end; finish

3. (in land law) to pay any outstanding balance on a contract for the conveyance of land in exchange for the title deeds, so that the ownership of the land changes hands

4. American football (of a quarterback) to make a forward pass successfully

Usage

Occasionally there are objections to modifying complete with qualifiers like almost, more, most, nearly, and quite, because they suggest that complete is relative rather than absolute: an almost complete record; a more complete proposal; the most complete list available. However, such uses are fully standard and occur regularly in all varieties of spoken and written English. See also perfect, unique.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• completedness
  noun
• completeness
  noun
• completer
  noun
• completion
  noun
• precompleteness
  noun
• subcompleteness
  noun
• uncompleteness
  noun
• completable
  adjective
• completive
  adjective
• half-completed
  adjective
• quasi-complete
  adjective
• subcomplete
  adjective
• uncompletable
  adjective
• uncomplete
  adjective
• uncompleted
  adjective
• well-completed
  adjective
• completely
  adverb
• completively
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• completing
  present
• completed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• complete
  simple
• completes
  simple
• have completed
  perfect
• has completed
  perfect
• am completing
  progressive
• are completing
  progressive
• is completing
  progressive
• have been completing
  perfect progressive
• has been completing
  perfect progressive

Past

• completed
  simple
• had completed
  perfect
• was completing
  progressive
• were completing
  progressive
• had been completing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will complete
  simple
• will have completed
  perfect
• will be completing
  progressive
• will have been completing
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of complete

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English, from Middle French or directly from Latin complētus (past participle of complēre “to fill up, fulfill,” equivalent to com- com- + plē- fill + -tus past participle suffix

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Explanation

Complete means that something is finished, or has all of its necessary parts. When the mechanic hands you your keys, you hope that the work on your car is complete, and he hasn't left out a few important pieces of your engine. Complete can be used as an adjective to describe something that is whole or finished, like a complete turkey dinner, which includes not only the bird, but also the stuffing, potatoes, cranberry sauce, and gravy. Another way to use complete is as a verb meaning to make something whole. Adding candles completes the birthday cake.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

complete completes completed completing

"The decision includes the complete suspension of passenger and commercial traffic in both directions, to ensure the safety of travellers and workers at the crossing," Syrian authorities said in a statement carried by state media.

From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2026

“Meanwhile, directly across the street where the actual encampment is, it’s a complete disaster—but they don’t get any tickets at all,” Breslaw said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026

The process felt monumental, she said, and nearly impossible to complete on her own.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 2026

Not wanting to put their customers at risk, they’d begun towing people’s cars from their homes to the shop, and driving them back once the repairs were complete.

From Slate ● Oct. 26, 2026

"Come gee! Come haw!" for a complete turn, depending on whether the turn was left or right.

From "Black Star, Bright Dawn" by Scott O'Dell

“Libertad” completes a trilogy begun with those EPs, with all three titles forming the phrase “pan, tierra, libertad.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 2026

It completes a 2-0 series win for Canada after the two sides also shared a 26-26 draw in Exeter in September.

From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026

The intensely hot planet, classified as a "lava world," completes an orbit around its star in only one Earth day.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 7, 2026

Even the same model might use a different number of tokens each time it completes a task.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

“I believe Adiah will be quite accomplished in a few years, once she completes her training.”

From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray

Real Madrid and France forward Kylian Mbappe finished second, while Barcelona and Spain attacker completed the top three.

From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2026

ByteDance, the privately held company behind TikTok, has begun charging participating hotels a roughly 12% fee on certain bookings completed through Doubao, its popular AI assistant.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 26, 2026

DoorDash is in advanced talks to acquire food-delivery rival Instacart in a deal that might be completed as soon as this week, The Wall Street Journal reported.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026

A spokesperson for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence told reporters in August that Mojave’s work ceased because it had completed its contract.

From Salon ● Oct. 26, 2026

He took my hands in his and they were still shaking, residual shaking from the call I had just completed.

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse

Spending another 15 minutes searching for a particular brand of yogurt may represent good service, but it also consumes time that a worker could otherwise spend completing another order.

From Salon ● Oct. 25, 2026

He finished the night completing 17 for 19 passes for 172 yards, doing enough to manage a low scoring contest and help his team not turn the ball over for the seventh game running.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 24, 2026

Assaf said Fidelity cannot tell from the anonymized data if those completing conversions had help from advisers but that she would presume they did.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 23, 2026

Amoth said the first quarantined contacts, if they remain healthy, will be allowed to go home next week after completing 21 days in isolation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026

Kamehameha thereupon prepared invasions of the last independent Hawaiian island, Kauai, whose chief finally reached a negotiated settlement with him, completing the archipelago’s unification.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

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Related Words

• accomplish
• achieve
• close
• conclude
• do
• end
• execute
• finish
• perform
• realize
• settle
• wrap up

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