Ful
[foo l]
Show More
-ful
- a suffix meaning “full of,” “characterized by” (shameful; beautiful; careful; thoughtful); “tending to,” “able to” (wakeful; harmful); “as much as will fill” (spoonful).
Show More
Origin of -ful
Usage note
The plurals of nouns ending in -ful are usually formed by adding -s to the suffix: two cupfuls; two scant teaspoonfuls. Perhaps influenced by the phrase in which a noun is followed by the adjective full ( both arms full of packages ), some speakers and writers pluralize such nouns by adding -s before the suffix: two cupsful.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for ful
Historical Examples
I never got on so well with Ful before, or saw him really sorry.'
The Pillars of the House, Vol. I (of 2)Charlotte M. Yonge
Have you found the mine yet, father, and is it ful to the brim of gold?
Daddy's GirlL. T. Meade
Room′er, a lodger; Room′ful, as much or as many as a room will hold.
Forget′able, Forget′table; Forget′ful, apt to forget: inattentive.
Fright′able, Fright′enable, timid; Fright′ful, terrible: shocking.
-ful
- (forming adjectives) full of or characterized bypainful; spiteful; restful
- (forming adjectives) able or tending tohelpful; useful
- (forming nouns) indicating as much as will fill the thing specifiedmouthful; spoonful
Show More
Word Origin
Old English -ful, -full, from full 1
usage
Where the amount held by a spoon, etc, is used as a rough unit of measurement, the correct form is spoonful, etc: take a spoonful of this medicine every day . Spoon full is used in a sentence such as he held out a spoon full of dark liquid, where full of describes the spoon. A plural form such as spoonfuls is preferred by many speakers and writers to spoonsful
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for ful
-ful
word-forming element meaning "full of, characterized by," Old English -full, -ful, suffix use of full (adj.).
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper