ripen

[ rahy-puh n ]

/ ˈraɪ pən /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR ripen ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with or without object)

to make or become ripe.

to bring or come to maturity, the proper condition, etc.; mature.

Words nearby ripen

riparian right, ripcord, ripe, ripe old age, ripe rot, ripen, ripidolite, ripieno, ripken, ripley, ripoff

Origin of ripen

First recorded in 1555–65; ripe + -en¹

OTHER WORDS FROM ripen

rip·en·er, nounhalf-rip·ened, adjectiveo·ver·rip·en, verbun·der·rip·ened, adjective

un·rip·ened, adjectiveun·rip·en·ing, adjectivewell-rip·ened, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Examples from the Web for ripen

The motions will “ripen,” in the rather charming legislative argot applied to this aggressively charmless process, next Tuesday.
Reid Awakening|Michael Tomasky|July 12, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Perhaps Snickers should have let Barr and Lewis ripen another 20 years.
Super Bowl Ads 2011: Report Card|James P. Othmer|February 7, 2011|DAILY BEAST
The first, in 1990-91, was necessary, launched only after circumstance and great diplomatic effort had allowed it to “ripen.”
Secrets of Two Iraq Wars|Nathaniel Fick|April 30, 2009|DAILY BEAST
Only as fast as we need additional activities do they ripen.
The Mind and Its Education|George Herbert Betts

They eat many, roast and boiled, and leave them on the trees to ripen.
The Voyages of Pedro Fernandez de Quiros|Pedro Fernandez de Quiros
It is cooked much dryer in the making, so it takes longer to ripen and then keeps longer than any other.
The Complete Book of Cheese|Robert Carlton Brown
The broom corn is not left to ripen, as formerly, but is cut when it is quite green, and the seed not much past the milk.
The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom|P. L. Simmonds
It shall But haste the confirmation of our loves, And ripen the delights of marriage, Seleucus.
Beaumont & Fletcher's Works (8 of 10)|Francis Beaumont

British Dictionary definitions for ripen

ripen

/ (ˈraɪpən) /

verb

to make or become ripe

Derived forms of ripen

ripener, noun

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

ripen

verb (used with or without object)

Words related to ripen

Words nearby ripen

Origin of ripen

OTHER WORDS FROM ripen

Examples from the Web for ripen

British Dictionary definitions for ripen

verb

Derived forms of ripen