ripen
Americanverb (used with or without object)
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ripens,
present (3rd person singular)
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ripened,
past participle, past
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ripening
present participle
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to make or become ripe.
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to bring or come to maturity, the proper condition, etc.; mature.
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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ripenernoun
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overripenverb
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half-ripenedadjective
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underripenedadjective
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unripenedadjective
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unripeningadjective
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well-ripenedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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ripensimple
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ripenssimple
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have ripenedperfect
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has ripenedperfect
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am ripeningprogressive
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are ripeningprogressive
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is ripeningprogressive
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have been ripeningperfect progressive
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has been ripeningperfect progressive
Past
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ripenedsimple
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had ripenedperfect
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was ripeningprogressive
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were ripeningprogressive
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had been ripeningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of ripen
Explanation
When fruit becomes ripe and ready to eat, it ripens. Tomatoes will ripen after you pick them, becoming darker red and more juicy. You can use ripen to talk about the maturing process of all fruits, and some vegetables — apples, peppers, and corn all need to ripen before they're at the perfect, delicious state for being eaten. Figuratively, you can also talk about people this way: "She is really starting to ripen as an actor!" Before ripen was coined around 1560, the verb was ripe, as in, "When the avocados ripe, I'll make guacamole."
Vocabulary lists containing ripen
Vocabulary from Readings 4, Unit 1
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"In Response to Executive Order 9066"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Lamont’s recommendation therefore, is to exercise patience.”IPOs are like bananas: they need to ripen before they’re ready to eat.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026
Under the law, claims can go to federal court if a government agency denies them or doesn’t make a decision within six months, meaning the ones McCloskey dropped off could soon ripen for litigation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 4, 2026
But once harvested, mangoes continue to ripen quickly, making them highly vulnerable to softening, moisture loss, and spoilage during storage and transport.
From Science Daily ● May 23, 2026
"If I don't use glyphosate to ripen the standing crop before harvest, I have to use more diesel to burn, to dry the crop", he said.
From BBC ● May 6, 2026
It might ripen into something better than it now was, or, unromantically, it might rot away in his pocket.
From "Johnny Tremain" by Esther Hoskins Forbes
It ripens into criminality with the “Moorish” mystifications of the ex-con Malachi Z. York.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
For most Scandinavian vineyards, solaris is the grape of choice - an aromatic, hybrid variety that's well-adapted to colder climes, ripens easily, and is more disease resistant, allowing vineyards to avoid spraying pesticides.
From BBC ● Dec. 15, 2024
There is a sense of stasis to the aptly named two-hander, which never ripens from a situation into a story.
From New York Times ● Apr. 20, 2024
Summer ripens the leaves to a glossy gold until cooling fall temperatures induce a foliar flush of orange and red.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 1, 2023
Love that sets forth the soul like springtime and ripens it like summer.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
The water saved the young vines, but the heat ripened the château’s grapes faster, forcing Perrin to start harvesting in early August, three weeks early.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026
Maintaining storage temperatures near 12°C may allow mangoes to be harvested earlier, transported over longer distances, and ripened closer to their final markets while minimizing spoilage and quality loss.
From Science Daily ● May 23, 2026
At 72, Uncle Thing wakes up at dawn every day and weaves around his hilly farm to collect ripened durians, either dangling from trees or nestling on nets close to the ground.
From BBC ● Jan. 10, 2026
Bruce Nauman’s celebrated Conceptual art ripened during the decade he worked in Pasadena.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2025
Long before the paddy ripened we came to the end of our dried-fish stocks.
From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya
Sand storms blew in from the Gobi, disrupting the ripening process and spoiling harvests.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
Quips fell out of her like apples from a tree, ripening and landing at just the right time in any conversation.
From Salon ● Aug. 28, 2026
Their study, published in Tropical Plants, found that the cooler temperature slows ripening, preserves fruit structure, and activates the mango's natural antioxidant defenses.
From Science Daily ● May 23, 2026
Grapefruit trees in the UK typically fruit once a year, with ripening taking up to 12 months after flowering in late spring or summer.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2025
The corn was ripening into roasting ears now, and the coons would come at night and strip the shucks back with their little hands, and gnaw the milky kernels off the cob.
From "Old Yeller" by Fred Gipson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
