- ripe
- ripe [rīp]adj.riper, ripest [OE, akin to REAP]1. fully grown or developed; specif., ready to be harvested and used for food, as grain or fruit2. like ripe fruit, as in being ruddy and full [ripe lips]3. sufficiently advanced, as by being kept in storage or subjected to treatment, to be ready for use [ripe wine, ripe cheese]4. fully or highly developed by study, experience, etc.; mature as in judgment, knowledge, etc. [ripe wisdom]5.a) characterized by full physical or mental development [a person of ripe years]b) advanced in years [the ripe age of ninety]6. ready to do, receive, or undergo something; fully prepared [ripe for marriage]7. ready for some operation, treatment, or process [a boil ripe for lancing]8. sufficiently advanced; far enough along (for some purpose): said of time9. having a strong, unpleasant smellripelyadv.ripenessn.SYN.- RIPE, in its basic application, implies readiness to be harvested, eaten, used, etc. [ripe apples, cheese, etc. ] and, in extended use, full readiness for action, etc. [ripe for change ]; MATURE implies full growth or development, as of living organisms, the mind, etc. [a mature tree, mature judgment ]; MELLOW suggests the qualities typical of ripe fruit, such as softness, sweetness, etc. and therefore stresses the absence of sharpness, harshness, etc. [a mellow flavor, mood, etc. ]; ADULT is applied to a person who has reached complete physical or mental maturity, or legal majority, and to ideas, etc. that show mature thinking-ANT. UNRIPE, IMMATURE
English World dictionary. V. Neufeldt. 2014.