ripen

B2 Topic:Gardening & Horticulture

US /ˈraɪ.pən/ UK /ˈraɪ.pən/ See IPA manual

Freq #40255

Meanings

1

verb
to become ripe and ready to eat or harvest

The peaches ripen in late summer.
2

verb
to cause fruit, grain, or another food to become ripe

Warm days and cool nights ripen the grapes slowly.
3

verb
figurative: to develop into a fuller, more mature, or ready state

Their cautious friendship ripened into trust.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to become ripe and ready to... maturecome to maturity

2 verb · to cause fruit, grain, or... maturebring to maturity

3 verb · figurative: to develop into... mature developcome to fruition

Word family

Forms ripenedripeningripens

Derived forms ripeneroverripen

Related forms ripe ripeness mature

Etymology

From Middle English ripenen, based on ripe + the verb-forming suffix -en. It inherited both intransitive 'become ripe' and transitive 'make ripe' uses.

Topics

Gardening & Horticulture Actions & Processes

External links

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