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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

Election officials said the high turnout meant the final vote tally might not be complete until Friday.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026

For example, instead of a living room, they fashioned a swanky cocktail lounge complete with a custom bar, a Yamaha piano, and retro swivel chairs.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 27, 2026

A medical report carried out for the court said inpatient treatment could provide "significant, but not complete mitigation of the risk", but that treatment, perhaps for months, had "a realistic potential to reduce the risk".

From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2026

Over 37 hours, they observed nearly four complete orbits around its host star.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 27, 2026

A first-generation Norwegian American, Lars Kristiansen looked like a real-life Paul Bunyan, complete with blue jeans, a red plaid shirt, and a bushy brown beard.

From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz

“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

It said it won’t provide an updated outlook until it completes a comprehensive review of its business during its fourth quarter.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

Once Sentinel-3C completes commissioning, it will contribute to global sea-level monitoring alongside established satellite missions such as Copernicus Sentinel-6 and Jason.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2026

He cleans up the next three questions and completes round four, keeping us in first place.

From "Saints and Misfits" by S.K. Ali

Participants completed this routine three times weekly during the first four weeks.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 27, 2026

Against the Texans, he completed 20 of 28 passes for 252 yards, weaving the ball through tight windows all afternoon.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026

Meanwhile a tree fell on to a completed new-build house at the Homes by Esh development at Havelock Park in Darlington.

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

“Our work here in New York is completed, Matilda,” Aunt Kitty announced abruptly the next afternoon.

From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan

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

She studied zoology at Queen's University Belfast, completing a four-year degree before joining the team.

From BBC ● 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

If you assume that completing an executive education program at a brand-name school like Wharton or Harvard Business School is a feather in any CEO’s cap, think again.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026

She was completing her master’s thesis at Stanford, a study of an Irish poet whom Sanjeev had never heard of.

From "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri

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Related Words

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

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