ripeadj.n.²adv.

Brit.

/rʌɪp/, U.S.

/raɪp/

Forms: Old English– ripe, Middle English riip, Middle English rijp, Middle English rijpe, Middle English rippe, Middle English ryp, Middle English ryppe, Middle English–1600s rip, Middle English–1600s (1800s regional) rype, late Middle English rypy (probably transmission error); Scottish pre-1700 reyp, pre-1700 rip, pre-1700 ryip, pre-1700 ryipe, pre-1700 ryp, pre-1700 rype, pre-1700 1700s– ripe.

Origin: A word inherited from Germanic.

Etymology: Cognate with West Frisian ryp , †rijp , Middle Dutch rīpe , rijp , riep (Dutch rijp ), Old Saxon rīp , rīpi (Middle Low German rīpe , German regional (Low German) rīp ), Old High German rīfi , rīfe (Middle High German rīf , rīfe , German reif ), all showing a similar range of meanings < the same Germanic base as reap v.¹ (see discussion at that entry), probably with original sense ‘that which is (ready to be) reaped or harvested’. Compare rife adj.In sense A. 2 after the corresponding sense of classical Latin mātūrus mature adj.

A. adj.

a. Of grain, fruit, etc.: having developed to the point of readiness for harvesting and eating, or for the dispersal of seed for propagation; that is at the full extent of natural growth.Also in the second element of compounds, as blood-, cherry-, red-, sheaf-ripe, etc. (see at first word).

ΘΚΠ

the world > plants > by age or cycles > [adjective] > ripe or ripened

ripedOE

ripeOE

mature?1440

cherry-ripec1450

coct1497

thorough ripe1534

well-ripened1559

ripened1561

mellowy1612

summer-ripea1670

augusted1675

drop-ripe1829

blood-ripe1846

enripened1855

the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > crop or crops > [adjective] > ripe

ripeOE

murea1500

sheaf-ripe1879

OE tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. (Cambr. Univ. Libr.) i. ix. 44 Hi..slogan eall & cwealdon..; & swa swa ripe yrð fortreddon.

lOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Bodl.) (2009) I. xxxix. 369 Be þæs cyninges gebode..se [wæ]stmbæra hærfest bryn[g]ð ripa bleda.

c1225 (?c1200) St. Juliana (Royal) l. 570 (MED) Reope we of þet ripe sed þet we seowen.

c1300 St. Brendan (Laud) l. 696 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 239 (MED) Þe Applene weren ripe inouȝ, riȝt ase it heruest were.

1340 Ayenbite (1866) 28 Þet corn..is uol of frut and al ripe.

a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) i. l. 2822 The leves weren faire and large, Of fruit it bare so ripe a charge.

a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) Lev. xxiii. 10 Ȝe schulen bere handfuls of eeris of corn, the firste fruytis of ȝoure rype corn, to the preest.

1483 Catholicon Anglicum (BL Add. 89074) (1881) 309 A Rype fige, precoqua, precox.

a1500 (?a1450) Treat. Gardening l. 91 in Archaeologia (1894) 54 163 (MED) The sede..wul be rype at the full At lammasse of peter Apostull.

1579 E. K. in E. Spenser Shepheardes Cal. Nov. Gloss. We fall like rotted ripe fruite fro the tree.

1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) V. xii. 507 When the fruit is ripe, the first and outermost part openeth.

1676 M. Lister in J. Ray Corr. (1848) 124 I gathered the ears a little before they were ripe.

1744 W. Ellis Mod. Husbandman Feb. 139 The green French Pippin, green at the Ripest; which is a Winter-Apple.

1781 W. Cowper Heroism 54 Through the ripe harvest lies their destin'd road.

1832 J. Lindley Introd. Bot. i. ii. 186 It [sc. the aril] more properly comes under consideration along with the ripe seed.

1864 Ld. Tennyson Enoch Arden in Enoch Arden, etc. 25 If the nuts..be ripe again.

1904 Emu 3 235 The small Sanguineous Honey-eaters (Myzomela sanguinolenta) waged ceaseless war on the ripe figs.

1952 Sci. News Let. 26 July 59/1 The riper fruit becomes, the less pectin it contains.

1985 P. Farmer Eve iii. 25 An orchard of comfortable and aged-looking apple and pear trees, covered in ripe fruit.

2005 T. Hall Salaam Brick Lane v. 101 She liked shopping at Taj Stores, where she could buy every ingredient she needed to cook Indian food—as well as ripe Alfonso mangoes and pistachio kulfi.

b. Of herbs or grass: ready to be harvested, mown, etc. Now rare.

ΚΠ

a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 125 Þe sonne comeþ in to þe signe þat hatte cancer, &..þat tyme hey is ripe [L. matura] in meedys.

c1475 (?c1400) J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) III. 439 Herbis þat groweden in a orchard, and weren nyȝ rype.

1565 T. Cooper Thesaurus Prata arida, when the grasse is ripe, and redy to mow.

1652 P. Heylyn Cosmographie iv. ii. sig. Zzzz4 In the space of sixteen dayes Herbs and Roots will grow ripe, & be fit to be eaten.

1678 E. R. Experienced Farrier 76 Gather the Rind or Bark of any Simple when the Herb is ripe.

1730 S. Duck Poems 18 Before the Door our welcome Master stands, And tells us the ripe Grass requires our hands.

1752 L. Chappelow Comm. Bk. Job I. viii. 116 Ratab..is used in Chaldee, and frequently in Arabic, denoting the time that fruits and herbs grow ripe.

1846 Cultivator June 188/1 Admitting there is more substance in ripe grass, is it a kind of substance which affords more nourishment to animals.

1884 C. Neill tr. Virgil in Poet. Musings 159 Ripe downy herbs, by moonlight cut with brazen hooks and juices of black poison are diligently sought.

1913 C. Pettman Africanderisms 278 Koper draad,..Aristida sp. This name describes this grass when ripe... When ripe it is hard and wiry and of little worth as food for stock.

1939 Times 27 Mar. 18/7 Some forms of fibre, as for example, old, dead, ripe grass, never contain much water.

1987 D. Eddings Guardians of West 99 The golden tassels of the ripe grass.

c. figurative and in figurative context: developed to the stage of being ready; mature, full.

ΚΠ

c1400 Bk. to Mother (Bodl.) 104 (MED) He..soweþ oure sedis; and whanne þei ben ripe, he wol ripe us wiþ his angelis and lede us up to his berne of þe blisse of heuene.

c1439 in H. Anstey Epistolae Academicae Oxon. (1898) I. 184 Noryshed..with the rype frute of Konnyng in..the Universite of Oxon.

?a1475 G. Banester Guiscardo & Ghismonda (BL Add.) l. 483 in H. G. Wright Tales from Decameron (1937) 28 (MED) They with ioy nor gladness No koude hyr chere, so rype was hyr hewynesse.

1551 T. Wilson Rule of Reason sig. Ovii I meane not that honestie it self is so, for I neuer knew it ripe as yeat, but euer rawe.

1595 R. Southwell St. Peters Complaint To Rdr. sig. A3^v So ripe is vice, so greene is vertues bud: The world doth waxe in ill, but waine in good.

1613 T. Jackson Eternall Truth Script. i. 136 Vntill they be ripe of death in the Autumne.

c1620 W. Mure Sonn. vi. 13 Those fayre brests' rype clusters quho myt presse.

1715 A. Pope Temple of Fame 41 When thus ripe Lyes are to perfection sprung,..Thro thousand Vents, impatient forth they flow.

1771 ‘Junius’ Stat Nominis Umbra (1772) II. lxvii. 308 When you are ripe, you shall be plucked.

1818 J. Keats Endymion ii. 72 Coverlids gold-tinted like the peach, Or ripe October's faded marigolds.

1861 C. Reade Cloister & Hearth xxxviii Thy beard is ripe, thy fellow's is green; he shall be the younger.

1903 H. James Ambassadors iv. viii. 112 There was a fascination for that companion in its not being, this ripe physiognomy, the face that, under observation at least, he had originally carried away.

1936 A. Rand We the Living ii. x. 352 It flung brief, blunt notes out into space, as if tearing them off the strings before they were ripe.

2004 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 9 Mar. c16/4 It is not the 1950's of ripe cinema goddesses but the decade of the adorable Z-movie geeks who appeared in films like ‘Plan 9 from Outer Space’.

d. Esp. of the complexion or lips: resembling ripe fruit; red and full.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > the body > skin > complexion > redness > [adjective] > of lips

cherry-lipped1595

ripe1600

1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream iii. ii. 140 O, how ripe, in showe, Thy lippes, those kissing cherries, tempting growe!

a1616 W. Shakespeare As you like It (1623) iii. v. 122 There was a pretty rednesse in his lip A little riper, and more lustie red Then that mixt in his cheeke.

1725 A. Ramsay Gentle Shepherd ii. iv. 33 Red cheeked you completely ripe appear.

1796 Berkeley Hall; or, Pupil of Experience II. ix. 82 What a luxury of love and joy in those ripe blushing lips!

1855 Ld. Tennyson Maud ii, in Maud & Other Poems 11 An underlip, you may call it a little too ripe, too full.

1894 H. Caine Manxman iii. iii With..her ripe mouth twitching merrily.

1911 P. H. Blades Don Sagasto's Daughter xx. 364 He really kissed a pair of the scarletest, ripest, dewiest lips that ever tempted an honest, mortal adoring lover!

1938 S. Spender Trial of Judge iv. 72 The fine globular fruit clustering around the ripe cheeks of our laughing children and young wives.

2005 E. J. Dickey Genevieve (2006) 70 I stand where I am, stare at her full lips, ripe lips that curve up even when she is living in anger.

2. Of a death: coming at what is seen as a fitting time, after a long or full life; timely.

ΚΠ

OE Antwerp Gloss. (1955) 145 Matura, ripe deaþ uel mitia mors. Inmatura, unripe deaþ.

a1475 Sidrak & Bokkus (Lansd.) (Ph.D. diss., Univ. of Washington) (1965) l. 2514 (MED) Þre maneres of deeþis þer is: Oon þat noght ripe ne is, As of children þat beeþ ȝynge.

1612 J. Cotta Short Discouerie Dangers Ignorant Practisers Physicke iii. iii. 135 Thus maist thou both liue in more free content, and oft more happie daies, and die in thy full time by a ripe and mature death.

?1744 Epit. on Duchess of Marlborough in O. Colville Duchess Sarah (1904) 374 Who Can Lament a full Ripe Death, When 85 Resigns its breath?

1884 T. E. Page Q. Horatii Flacci Carminum Liber III 96 (note) Cease, daily nearer to a ripe death [L. maturo funeri], to sport amid young girls.

1986 Pastoral Psychol. 35 16 Death is a universal experience of loss. Sometimes it comes at the end of a full life—a ripe death.

a. Of a person: of mature judgement or knowledge; fully informed; thoroughly qualified by study and thought. Frequently in ripe scholar. Now rare.In quot. OE the glossator appears to have misunderstood the Latin (in which the sense of matura is clearly ‘fully grown’: compare sense A. 5b).

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > understanding > wisdom, sagacity > [adjective] > mature

ripeOE

fara1400

mature1667

adult1906

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > scholarly knowledge, erudition > [adjective] > very learned

ripeOE

deepc1175

profoundc1300

well-lettereda1387

well-groundeda1438

sad1523

well-knowledged1595

solid1600

well-tutored1600

accomplished1603

grounded1613

deep-read1639

scientissimous1650

OE Sedulius Glosses (Corpus Cambr. 173) in F. Sandgren Otium et Negotium (1973) 212 Matura : wis, ripe [L. filia..unica, virgineis nec adhuc matura sub annis].

a1225 ( Rule St. Benet (Winteney) (1888) xlvi. 99 Beon ȝesette an odðe twa ealde swustre, wise an[d] ripe.

a1225 (c1200) Vices & Virtues (1888) 135 Nis þat non god tocne of ripe manne.

c1275 (?c1250) Owl & Nightingale (Calig.) (1935) 211 (MED) He is him ripe & fastrede; Ne lust him nu to none unrede.

Remonstr. against Romish Corruptions (Titus) in Eng. Hist. Rev. (1911) 26 748 Iugis & mynistris of þe king..owen to be ripe men.

c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Reeve's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) Prol. l. 21 We olde men..Til we be roten, kan we noght be rype.

c1475 (?c1400) J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) III. 438 (MED) Crist sente hise apostlis, when þei weren rype, to diverse londis to sowe wateris of wisdom.

a1568 R. Ascham Scholemaster (1570) ii. f. 42^v This exercise may bring moch profite to ripe heads.

1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie iii. xviii. 162 No lesse plaine to a ripe reader, then if it were named expresly.

1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII iv. ii. 51 He was a Scholler, and a ripe, and good one.

1657 J. Trapp Comm. Job xxxii. 6 Some young men are ripe betime, and more ready-headed than their ancients.

1695 in J. D. Marwick Rec. Convent. Royal Burghs Scotl. (1880) IV. 203 To the effect the royall borrowes may be the more rype and deliberat..as to [etc.].

1719 E. Settle Threnodia Apollinaris 6 So early Ripe the Lab'ring Student grew.

1867 A. Trollope Last Chron. Barset I. i. 7 Mr. Crawley in his early days had been a ripe scholar.

1883 S. C. Hall Retrospect Long Life I. 367 A ripe scholar and in many ways an eloquent teacher.

1905 W. J. Locke Morals of Marcus Ordeyne (1906) i. x. 130 He is a ripe and whimsical scholar.

1941 Times 17 Feb. 5/4 The writer in the Literary Supplement told a pretty tale of a ripe scholar who kept a large Bodoni Virgil to read.

1999 D. Dalen Mystic i. 25 Carel, as the older and riper person, guided Bertus into the world of art and into the more worldly aspects of life.

b. Of the mind: that displays mature judgement or knowledge. Of judgement, etc.: characterized by maturity and experience.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > discernment, discrimination > [adjective] > showing sound judgement

stablec1290

ripec1405

judging1546

sound1577

judiciala1586

judicious1598

judgmatical1709

well-judged1717

judgmatic1787

veracious1851

c1405 (c1395) G. Chaucer Clerk's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 220 Thogh this mayde tendre were of age Yet in the brest of hir virginitee Ther was enclosed rype and sad corage.

1438 in F. B. Bickley Little Red Bk. Bristol (1900) II. 168 (MED) Which Crafte..is gretely sclaundred..withoute it be remedied be your most sadde and ripe discrecions.

1483 W. Caxton tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende 339/2 A longe vysage or chyere and enclyned, whiche is a signe of maturyte or rype sadnes.

a1500 (a1450) tr. Secreta Secret. (Ashm. 396) (1977) 40 (MED) Wonderstande wele that ripe discrecion, wele handled, is glory of mageste.

1567 Compend. Bk. Godly Songs (1897) 106 With mynde rype and degest.

a1591 H. Smith Wks. (1867) I. 476 Every man thinks his own wit ripest.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Two Gentlemen of Verona (1623) ii. iv. 68 His head vn-mellowed, but his Iudgement ripe .

1647 J. Sprigge Anglia Rediviva ii. ii. 68 A Gentleman..of a most dexterous and ripe invention for all such things.

1693 J. Dryden Disc. conc. Satire in J. Dryden et al. tr. Juvenal Satires p. xii His Natural Endowments, of a large Invention, a ripe Judgment, and a strong Memory.

1745 R. Mead Mech. Acct. Poisons (ed. 3) Advt. p. iv The reasonings upon them would often require more patient thinking, and a riper judgment.

1788 T. Reid Aristotle's Logic vi. § i. 136 The most important parts of this science require a ripe understanding.

1871 B. Disraeli Lothair Pref. p. xviii His intimates only were acquainted with his..ripe scholarship.

1894 H. Drummond Lowell Lect. Ascent of Man 164 Mind, in Man, does not start into being fully ripe.

1932 S. Gibbons Cold Comfort Farm (1938) 8 The only beauty that lights your pages is the grave peace of fulfilled passion,and the ripe humour that lies over your minor characters like a mellow light.

1993 T. A. B. Corley in J. Brown & M. B. Rose Entrepreneurship i. ii. 18 A businessman required a ripe judgement and experience, since there was a learning process with knowledge.

c. Of a person: mature in judgement, experienced, or informed in (also upon) a matter, quality, etc. Now somewhat rare.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > scholarly knowledge, erudition > intellectual command, mastery > [adjective]

well-learedeOE

well-learned1425

ripe1458

well-informeda1500

well-studied1530

travailed1551

great1552

learned1556

well-read1574

long on1875

1458 in J. Raine Testamenta Eboracensia (1855) II. 228 (MED) Sir Thomas..requirith his..executors yat yai..make prevay for the executyng of..his wille Robert Clifton..and Thomas Nevill..be cawse yai have been moost ripe ther ine.

a1500 Partenay (Trin. Cambr.) l. 7 A man ful ripe in other clerigie.

1525 in State Papers Henry VIII (1849) VI. 397 Almost impossible it shuld be to make the Poopes Holynes so ripe in the Kinges particuler causes as were nedefull.

1549 Forme & Maner consecratyng Archebishoppes sig. G.iiii Ye maie waxe riper and stronger in youre Ministerye.

1615 G. Sandys Relation of Journey 218 As sound in judgement as ripe in experience.

1699 W. Dampier Voy. & Descr. i. iii. 60 Money changing..is managed by Women, who are very dextrous and ripe in this Employment.

1723 R. Wodrow Corr. (1843) III. 11 I cannot say I am so ripe upon that subject as to answer the difficulty Mr. Masterton moves.

1752 W. Guthrie tr. Cicero Epist. Atticus I. i. i. 2 As I knew, you to be ripe in the Matter, I chose that Peduceus, rather than I, should give you Advice of it by Letters.

1847 H. W. Longfellow Evangeline i. iii. 11 Ripe in wisdom was he.

1873 Pop. Sci. Monthly Feb. 511 Many people reach the age of fifty, sixty, or even seventy, measurably free from most of the pains and infirmities of age, cheery in heart, and sound in health, ripe in wisdom and experience.

1910 F. L. Dyer & T. C. Martin Edison I. vi. 111 He was far riper in experience and practice of his art than any other telegrapher of his age.

1954 R. C. Chambliss Social Thought i. iv. 96 He could not trust wholly the dictates of his own heart until he was ripe in wisdom.

4. Properly considered or deliberated; matured by reflection or study. Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > thought > continued thinking, reflection, contemplation > thinking about, consideration, deliberation > [adjective] > weighed mentally, considered > with due deliberation

ripec1230

mure deliberation1442

mature1454

studieda1616

c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 59 Ripe wordes, lates ripe & werkes bilimpeð to ancre.

a1350 (c1250) Prov. Hendyng (Harl.) l. 84 in K. Böddeker Altengl. Dichtungen (1878) 291 He wol speke wordes grene, Er þen hue buen rype.

c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Melibeus (Hengwrt) (2003) §231 Thow shalt also eschue the conseilyng of yong folk for hir conseil is nat rype.

1439–40 Rolls of Parl.: Henry VI (Electronic ed.) Parl. Nov. 1439 §17. m. 14 The gode and effectuell execucion of the kynges saide entent, asketh a gode and a ripe deliberacion and avys.

a1500 ( J. Yonge tr. Secreta Secret. (Rawl.) (1898) 179 (MED) Tyberius, the Emperoure of Rome, in al his dedis was taryynge, and wythout ripe consaille nothynge he didd.

1540 Act 32 Hen. VIII c. 26 The true diffinition..therof requierith ripe and mature deliberation and advise.

1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie iii. xiv. 97 b Yeres and long experience..brought more wisdome and rype doctrine.

1638 F. Junius Painting of Ancients 42 Such Images as after a ripe debate were found to admit an explication consenting with Nature.

1682 A. Marsh Ten Pleasures of Marriage vii. 118 After a ripe deliberation of the good woman, the lot fell so that she made choice of this grave and experienced Midwife.

?1793 T. Priestley New Hist. Life Jesus Christ xiii. 320 Upon a full hearing, ripe deliberation, and exquisitely-judicial proceeding, we have sentenced this malefactor to death.

1841 E. Robinson Bibl. Res. Palestine I. vi. 334 By ripe deliberation and mutual concession, to arrive in every case at some conclusion in which all might cordially unite.

1881 A. Austin Savonarola ii. iii. 93 He is too young, and of too crude a brain To give ripe counsel.

1910 Jrnl. Amer. Inst. Criminal Law & Criminol. 1 351 The conclusions of a municipal judge in a metropolitan center are..the product of a considerable first-hand experience and ripe deliberation.

1949 Times 22 Apr. 9/7 We shall very much miss his ripe counsel and advice.

a. Of a bird or other animal: fully fledged or developed; esp. having reached a fit condition for being killed and used as food. Also: sexually mature.In quot. 1575: figurative. With ripe peeler (in quot. 1952) cf. peeler n.¹ 4.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > family unit > [adjective] > mature

ripec1325

greata1375

flight-ripe1398

well-moutheda1425

staggy1933

c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 3673 (MED) Wanne hor briddes rype beþ, Þer hii findeþ more mete, in londes aboute hii fleþ.

a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 143 Suche hawkes beþ cruel aȝenste hire briddes so þat þey bynemeþ hem mete whanne þey ben flegge ripe [L. cum sint habiles ad volandum].

1575 R. B. Apius & Virginia C 8 Under the Hedge with a payre of new Cardes both rip and fledge.

1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry iv. f. 169 To fatte Pigions..it is good to bring them to the Kitchin, before they be full rype.

1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 582 A little Kyd..being ripe, the maister killed it, and layed it before the Panther to be eaten.

1623 C. Butler Feminine Monarchie (rev. ed.) sig. H3^v The Bees assoone as they haue bred their first brood of females, doe presently breed Drones..(both which, when they are ripe, multiply together).

1762 tr. Comte de Buffon Nat. Hist. Horse 161 The female [ass] is even sooner ripe than the male, and full as lascivious.

1837 W. Macgillivray Hist. Brit. Birds II. 403 I caught the birds with much difficulty in a trap-cage when their young were nearly ripe.

1844 H. Stephens Bk. of Farm II. 94 A ripe sheep..is easily known..by the fulness exhibited in all the external parts.

1889 Pall Mall Gaz. 14 May 3/1 The ducklings..must be killed as soon as they are ready, and not kept a day longer than the hour when they are ripe.

1952 Sun (Baltimore) 23 June (B ed.) 12/5 Language peculiar only to soft-crabbing... Ripe peeler—Has the same characteristics as the ‘green peeler’ but is more advanced in the shedding process.

b. Of a person: fully developed in body or mind; mature, fully grown; (also) †marriageable (obsolete). Cf. sense A. 8a.husband-, market-ripe: see at the first word.Earlier currency is perhaps shown by the use in quot. OE at sense A. 3a (see note at that sense).

ΘΚΠ

the world > people > person > adult > [adjective]

mucha1154

of (formerly also at, to) agec1300

perfect agec1384

full-growna1393

ripea1393

greatc1515

adult1531

maturate1556

mellowed1575

mellow1592

full-aged1596

mature1609

timed1611

grown-upa1640

adulted1645

grown1645

upgrown1667

matured1805

coming of age1858

the world > life > source or principle of life > age > maturity > [adjective]

oldlyOE

rankOE

ripedOE

thowenc1200

waxena1325

ripea1393

thrivena1400

provect1531

big1552

mellowed1575

adulted1645

full agea1658

adult1742

ripeful?1836

unyouthful1859

untender1879

maturish1885

society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > fitness for marriage > [adjective]

marriable1440

wedlockable1558

marriageablea1575

weddable1611

ripe1616

a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) ii. 2579 (MED) This mihti Soldan be his wif A Dowhter hath..Sche scholde ben hir fader hair, And was of yeres ripe ynowh.

c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Physician's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 68 Festes, reuels, and..daunces..Swiche thyng maken children for to be To soone rype and boold.

a1450 (c1412) T. Hoccleve De Regimine Principum (Harl. 4866) (1897) 1642 (MED) Among þe ryche also is an vsage, Eche of hem his childe vn-to oþres wedde, Þogh þei be al to yong & tendre of age, No-wher my [perh. read ny] ripe ynow to go to bedde.

a1500 in R. L. Greene Early Eng. Carols (1935) 268 (MED) Women..Som be browne, and some be whit..And some of theym be chiry ripe.

a1535 T. More Hist. Richard III in Wks. (1557) 56/2 They were coupled ere she wer wel ripe.

1563 W. Baldwin et al. Myrrour for Magistrates (new ed.) ii. 148 These two noble ympes I caused to be slayne, Of yeares not ful rype as yet to rule and raygne.

1616 B. Jonson Forrest ii. 54 in Wks. I Some..send By their ripe daughters, whom they would commend This way to husbands.

1617 Despauterii Grammaticæ Institutionis Lib. VII (new ed.) 45 Puber, ripe of age to engender.

1745 P. Morris Favour'd Moment Pref. p. iv Happiness salutes us in every Stage of Life, it springs to the Infant from its Mother's Breast, it moulds itself into a Toy for the riper Child.

1785 W. Cowper Task vi. 598 He..being ripe in years, And conscious of the outrage he commits.

1837 W. Wordsworth White Doe of Rylstone (new version) iii, in Poet. Wks. (new ed.) IV. 74 (Ripe men, or blooming in life's spring).., Stood by their Sire, on Clifford-moor.

1876 ‘G. Eliot’ Daniel Deronda IV. viii. lx. 202 Since I was a ripe man, I have been what I am now.

1904 J. W. Streeter Doctor Tom iii. 24 Ruth Raymond, at twenty-five, was a ripe, beautiful woman.

1949 G. Davenport Family Fortunes i. iv. 54 I swear, Martha, if I'd of met you when you was still ripe, I'd have left Hattie's mother, kids and all, to follow you clear to California, I would.

1991 J. Barth Last Voy. Somebody the Sailor 361 Yasmīn, while unquestionably still virginal, was a ripe young woman.

c. Of a fetus: that has developed to the stage of being ready for birth. Also in figurative context. Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > source or principle of life > birth > confinement > [adjective] > giving birth > ready for birth

ripe1565

near-term1930

1565 T. Cooper Thesaurus Fœtus maturos edere, to brynge foorth yonge when they be rype.

1597 W. Shakespeare Richard II ii. ii. 10 Some vnborne sorrow ripe in Fortunes wombe, Is comm[i]ng towardes me.

1609 T. Heywood Troia Britanica ix. 197 In my Mothers wombe full ripe I lay, Ready the first houre to be hold the day.

1695 J. Pechey Store-house Physical Pract. cvi. 401 Whether alive or dead Child be brought forth not being ripe, nor having attained to the just growth in the Womb, it is to be termed abortive.

1732 A. Monro Anat. Humane Bones (ed. 2) ii. 296 The superior Extremity of this third Phalanx is a Cartilage in a ripe Child.

1782 J. Aitken Elements Theory & Pract. Physic & Surg. II. 457 Parturition... The expulsion of the ripe child and after-birth from the womb.

1869 Trans. Eclectic Med. Soc. N.Y. 1868 200 in Docs. Assembly State N.Y. (92nd Session, Doc. No. 71) How am I to get the foetus from your womb before it is ripe, without injury to that delicate and important organ?

1884 Amer. Jrnl. Obstetr. 17 1300 Birth of a living, ripe child, who was attacked on the eleventh day with variola syphilitica on the soles of the feet.

1914 H. O. Taylor Mediaeval Mind (ed. 2) II. vii. xliii. 554 Was the embryo ripe, that the womb had become its mephitic prison?

2005 L. Gasparini Broken World 110 I think of the ripe fetus that floats in the moon of your belly.

d. Medicine and Zoology. Of an egg (or sperm) cell: mature; ready to undergo (or undertake) fertilization. Also (of an ovarian follicle): ready to release an egg cell.

ΚΠ

1674 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 9 11 These Eggs, when ripe, are cast out.

1716 Rational Acct. Nat. Weaknesses Women (ed. 2) 66 It..makes the Ova, or Eggs in the Ovaria, full, ripe, and apt to be fœcundated.

1762 J. Cook New Theory Generation 21 For the gradual Expulsion of these Vesicles or Eggs when ripe, from the said Cells of the Ovary, this Corpus luteum..is very useful and necessary.

1800 Trans. Dublin Soc. 1799 1 ii. 127 Their eggs and milts are ripe and abundant, in the months of December and January.

1876 A. S. Packard Life Hist. Animals 79 The ovaries open externally on the pinnules of the arms... The ripe eggs hang for three or four days from the opening like a bunch of grapes.

1932 T. H. Morgan Sci. Basis Evol. vii. 164 The ripe spermatozoa contain each a Z-chromosome.

1949 H. W. C. Vines Green's Man. Pathol. (ed. 17) xxxvi. 1006 Progesterone [is] derived from the corpus luteum which is formed after the ripe follicle has ruptured and ovulation has occurred.

2000 L. R. Schover & A. J. Thomas Overcoming Male Infertility i. 7 In any type of IVF, the woman takes hormone injections to stimulate her ovaries to produce a number of ripe eggs.

e. Of a fish, insect, etc.: ready to lay eggs or release sperm.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > fish > [adjective] > ready to spawn or full of spawn

fulla1398

roed1598

ripe1853

1853 Times 9 Dec. 5/6 Two fine female fish ripe for spawning.

1861 R. T. Hulme tr. C. H. Moquin-Tandon Elements Med. Zool. ii. iii. i. 78 The insect is collected..towards the end of the month of June, when the females are ripe [Fr. mûres].

1868 W. Peard Pract. Water-farming viii. 85 Out of twenty, or thirty fish, not more than two or three will in all probability be found ripe.

1920 Times 26 June 17/5 There are always possible breeding-places which cannot be removed or securely protected by wire gauze against the access of the ripe females [sc. mosquitoes].

1947 F. C. Edminster Fish Ponds for Farm i. 3 In 1420, a monk named Dom Pinchon is supposed to have conceived the means of artificially fecundating trout eggs by pressing out the spawn and milt, in turn, from ripe female and male fish.

1997 Aquaculture Feb. 10/1 When the female is what we call ‘ripe’, we gently remove the eggs from the fish.

a. Fully prepared, ready, or able, to do or undergo something.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > undertaking > preparation > [adjective] > prepared or ready

i-radc888

yarec888

i-redec1000

i-redya1175

boundc1175

graith?c1225

aready1250

alreadyc1275

readyc1275

armedc1300

prestc1300

bentc1330

ripec1330

purveyed1435

mature?1440

apt1474

habile1485

in (a) case to (also for)1523

provided1533

in procinct1540

weeping-ripe1548

furnished1553

fit1569

preta1600

expedite1604

predy1613

procinct1618

foreprepared1642

presto1644

apparated1663

(ready) in one's gears1664

fallow1850

standby1893

organized1926

(to be) all set1949

c1330 Roland & Vernagu (Auch.) (1882) l. 312 (MED) Braunches of vines charls sett In marche moneþ..& amorwe grapes þai bere, Red & ripe to kerue þere.

c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. v. 396 (MED) Sholde no ryngynge do me ryse ar I were rype to dyne.

c1400 Comm. on Canticles (Bodl. 288) in T. Arnold Sel. Eng. Wks. J. Wyclif (1871) III. 61 (MED) For now I am riip to dye.

?1462 J. Paston in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) I. 105 What incidentes ye knowe, I preie yow by wrytinge certefie me in all hast, þat I may be þe more ripe to answer to þis.

1543 R. Record Ground of Artes i. sig. F.vii You shal be rype and perfecte to subtracte any other summe lyghtly.

1595 S. Daniel First Fowre Bks. Ciuile Warres iv. lxxix. sig. Y Where states are ripe to fall, and vertue spent.

1606 T. Heywood 2nd Pt. If you know not Me sig. G Sweet youth thou art too yong, and yet scarse ripe To taste the sweetnesse of my mellowed loue.

1675 A. Marvell Let. 21 Dec. in Poems & Lett. (1971) II. 285 That I might at the same time be ripe to giue you account of your businesse.

1768 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. III. 450 The cause is then ripe to be set down for hearing.

1788 T. Jefferson Writings (1859) II. 548 It does not appear to me that the nation is ripe to accept of these.

1815 W. Wordsworth White Doe of Rylstone ii. 27 But now the inly-working North Was ripe to send its thousands forth.

1875 A. Helps Educ. Man Business in Ess. 66 He will let opportunities grow before his eyes, until they are ripe to be seized.

1908 J. London Iron Heel x. 170 Beaten on their chosen field, they were ripe to seek revenge.

1985 ‘J. Kincaid’ Annie John (1986) iv. 68 Almonds, nutmegs, cloves, dasheen, cassavas, all depending on what was ripe to be harvested.

b. With preceding noun: fully prepared or ready for the action or thing specified, as Bedlam-, gallows-, rope-ripe, etc. (see at the first word).Recorded earliest in flight-ripe adj. at flight n.¹ Compounds 2 (1398).

c. Ready or fit for some end or purpose.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > undertaking > preparation > [adjective] > prepared or ready > for some purpose

ripe?a1500

?a1500 in C. Brown Relig. Lyrics 15th Cent. (1939) 246 (MED) Liffe so that deth take the yn sesone, ffor deth to make the ripe, I shal teche the thynges three, Which, and thou vse, owte of sesone thou can not dye.

1606 No-body & Some-body sig. I2^v I know by your complexion you wer ripe for the hangman.

1642 T. Fuller Holy State iv. i. 242 These Reversions will be ripe for his heir, by that time his heir shall be ripe for them.

a1682 Sir T. Browne Certain Misc. Tracts (1683) 169 Ripe and ready for destruction.

1701 W. Wotton Hist. Rome v. 77 His Designs were not ripe enough for Execution.

1768 O. Goldsmith Good Natur'd Man v. 68 It goes no farther, things are not yet ripe for a discovery.

1781 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall (1787) II. xviii. 111 The conspiracy was ripe for execution.

1808 C. Vancouver Gen. View Agric. Devon xi. 299 Salt-marsh,..when ripe and ready for embankment.

1885 Manch. Examiner 12 May 5/1 The plans of the Government..are not yet ripe for criticism.

1921 R. Graves Pier-glass 49 Was Sisera then more ripe for the knife or nail Than rat-soul'd Becker?

1940 W. L. Shirer Berlin Diary (1941) 378 Stuka dive-bombers are softening the Allied defense positions, making them ripe for an easy attack.

1980 K. Amis Russian Hide & Seek iii. 34 But I should have thought anybody not a female or a child could have seen that Mrs Korotchenko was ripe for the plucking.

2005 C. Tudge Secret Life Trees xiv. 366 Agrarian economies that have ticked along for thousands of years in perfect harmony with their surroundings are said to be ‘stagnant’, and ‘ripe for development’.

d. With preceding gerund. Cf. also swooning-ripe adj. at swooning n. Compounds, weeping-ripe adj. at weeping n. Compounds 2. Now archaic (and poetic) in reeling ripe adj.

ΚΠ

1548 T. Cooper Bibliotheca Eliotæ (rev. ed.) Lachrymabundus,..weepyng rype.

1573 T. Twyne tr. Virgil in T. Phaer & T. Twyne tr. Virgil Whole .xii. Bks. Æneidos xii. Mm iv Dying-ripe with nayles her purple robes in ragges she hales.

1589 W. Warner Albions Eng. (new ed.) vi. xxx. 132 Her Lubber now was snorting ripe.

1600 R. Armin Foole vpon Foole sig. D1^v In an enuious spleene smarting ripe, [he] runnes after him.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) v. i. 282 He is drunke now;..And Trinculo is reeling ripe.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Comedy of Errors (1623) i. i. 77 The Sailors..left the ship then sinking ripe to vs.

a1625 J. Fletcher Womans Prize ii. i, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Nnnnn4/2 He's like little Children That loose their Bables, crying ripe.

1683 I. Walton Chalkhill's Thealma & Clearchus 112 With that he leaps unto her cursing ripe.

1711 J. Dennis Ess. Publick Spirit 15 British Maids, who in the Times of our Henries were not held marriageable til turn'd of Twenty, are now become falling ripe at twelve, forc'd to Prematureness by the Heat of adventitious Fire.

e. Quite prepared (and eager) for action of some kind, esp. mischief, revolt, etc.

ΘΚΠ

the world > time > a suitable time or opportunity > [adjective]

timelyOE

tidefula1300

tidya1375

duea1387

timefula1400

seasonablec1412

convenient1415

opportunec1425

seasonedc1440

tempestivous1574

timed1592

ripe1595

well-timed1604

opportuneful1605

mature1608

advantageous1609

opportunous1609

punctual1611

tempestive1611

timeousa1626

time-serving1627

timed1656

tidive?17..

1595 S. Daniel First Fowre Bks. Ciuile Warres v. cxviii. sig. Ee4^v Mischiefe was not full ripe for such a deede.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry V (1623) i. ii. 121 My thrice-puissant Liege Is..Ripe for Exploits and mightie Enterprises.

1659 T. Burton Diary (1828) IV. 6 You are not ripe for judgment. One affirms, the other denies.

a1662 P. Heylyn Cyprianus Anglicus (1668) 3 Those libels..inflamed the people, till they had made them ripe for mischeife.

1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Voy. round World by Anson ii. xiv. 282 The Indians, on almost every frontier, were ripe for a revolt.

1777 W. Robertson Hist. Amer. II. vi. 265 Where there were disappointed leaders ripe for revolt..it was not difficult to kindle combustion.

1835 E. Bulwer-Lytton Rienzi I. ii. vii. 285 Are thy friends ripe for the saddle?

1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. vii. 191 England, though heated by grievances, was by no means ripe for revolution.

1879 F. W. Farrar Life & Work St. Paul I. vi. xxi. 385 The mob were only too ripe for a tumult.

1904 Contemp. Rev. June 806 In praeter-diplomatic ways..Mr. Chamberlain received excellent grounds for believing that Germany was ripe for an alliance with Great Britain.

1947 P. Newton Wayleggo (1949) ix. 103 By the time the dance was under way I was as ‘full as a bull’ and ripe for anything.

2003 G. Burn North of Eng. Home Service (2004) iv. 120 All they mostly were was a collection of small-time, coarse and common grober yung ripe for any mischief.

a. Of a natural product, etc.: that has arrived at a mature or perfect state; fully matured, ready to be used or consumed. In early use esp. of honey and oil; in later use frequently of cheese. Also figurative.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > undertaking > preparation > [adjective] > prepared or ready > mature or matured

digesta1398

ripea1398

fledge1398

concoct1534

seasoned1545

well-seasoned1545

ripened1561

seeded1567

fledged1579

thorough-seasoned1605

matured1626

well-matured1626

advanced1646

concocted1647

digested1657

well-digested1657

predigested1663

maturated1698

drop-ripe1724

well-developed1769

mellowed1798

fully-fledged1906

a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 288 Whanne hony bigynneþ to be rype [L. matura], he dryueþ hem alway fro þe hony and punyscheþ hem and chaseþ.

?a1425 MS Hunterian 95 f. 162^v (MED) Take oile þat is menelie ripe..& sex ounce of mastik and boile hem in a doubel vessel.

c1475 ( Surg. Treat. in MS Wellcome 564 f. 71 (MED) Þou schalt helden in to þat wounde oile of rosis swote smellynge þat is maad of oile de oliue þat is not ripe.

1525 tr. H. von Brunschwig Noble Experyence Vertuous Handy Warke Surg. liii. sig. M ^v/2 Þe rype oyle olyue is good to make rype þe yl accident.

1597 Bp. J. King Lect. Ionas xxxii. 424 When the honey is ripe they drive them [sc. the drones] from their dwellings.

1656 A. Cowley Davideis iv. 142 in Poems Clouds with ripe Thunder charg'ed some thither drew.

1698 Golden Age 10 Their Gold is twofold, viz. Ripe Gold and Crude Gold.

1700 S. L. tr. C. Schweitzer Relation Voy. in tr. C. Frick & C. Schweitzer Relation Two Voy. E.-Indies 316 There are People to look every year, and see whether the Pearls are ripe.

1726 A. Pope tr. Homer Odyssey IV. xvii. 30 With riper beams when Phœbus warms the day.

1808 C. Vancouver Gen. View Agric. Devon x. 268 It is much to be lamented that the ripe timber only had not been selected.

1865 T. Richardson & H. Watts Chem. Technol. (ed. 2) II. iv. 294 The successive operations to which the ripe earth is submitted, are undertaken for the purpose of separating the nitrates from it.

1910 Encycl. Brit. VII. 749/2 Lancashire cheese, when well made and ripe, is loose in texture and is mellow.

1949 Sci. News Let. 16 Apr. 250/1 He must know the best logging procedures to get out the ripe timber without injury to the younger trees.

2004 F. Lawrence Not on Label 235 Madalena Bonino, the Italian chef who runs it, will give me a new cheese to try—a meltingly ripe yet fresh soft cheese like the Lo Straccino I'd never heard of, perhaps.

b. Of alcoholic drink: advanced to the state of being ready for use; fully matured, mellow.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > types or qualities of intoxicating liquor > [adjective] > mature

ripec1400

well-brewed1570

reserve2006

c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xviii. 368 May no drynke..my thruste slake, Tyl þe vendage falle in þe vale of iosephath, Þat I drynke riȝte ripe must.

a1500 ( J. Yonge tr. Secreta Secret. (Rawl.) (1898) 245 (MED) Hit nedyth to vse in this tymes hote mettys and..good Swete wyne and ripe.

1562 W. Fulwood tr. G. Gratarolus Castel of Mem. ii. sig. C.i ^v The wine must be red, ripe & alaied with water.

1607 J. Harington tr. J. de Mediolano Englishmans Docter sig. A8^v In measure drinke, let wine be ripe, not thicke.

a1665 K. Digby Closet Opened (1669) 32 When it is cold, put in it six spoonfuls of barm, and when it is ripe, it will hiss in the pail.

1742 W. Ellis London & Country Brewer (ed. 4) I. 80 Nor will they be so soon ripe and fit to tap as the high dried Malt-Drink will.

1789 W. Cullen Treat. Materia Medica I. i. 414 Ripe and perfect wine..is fit to strengthen the stomach.

1834 Tennyson in Memoir (1897) I. 134 He..Gives stouter ale and riper port Than any in the country-side.

1853 A. Ure Dict. Arts (ed. 4) I. 158 The casks..in which the ripe beer is kept and exported.

1916 P. Bottome Dark Tower i. ix. 105 They drank velvety ripe old port.

1930 P. G. Wodehouse Very Good, Jeeves iv. 102 Having got me in sporting mood with a bottle of the ripest.

2000 Wine May 11/1 While you're waiting for it to mature, enjoy this ripe, sappy Riesling, with its lemon and lime fruit, toasty, minerally hints and a streak of honey.

c. Of an abscess, pustule, etc.: that has come to a head; that is ready to discharge its contents or to be drained. Also: ready for curative or definitive treatment. Cf. mature adj. 6.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > suppuration > [adjective] > abscess > stage of

ripec1425

pointing1880

c1425 Edward, Duke of York Master of Game (Vesp. B.xii) (1904) 55 (MED) Menge þis erbis..and lay som vpon þe botches, and þat shal make hem ripe, and whan þei be ripe, slitt hem wiþ a sharpe knyff.

?a1450 Agnus Castus (Stockh.) (1950) 175 (MED) Þis herbe is good to makyn skabbys rype.

a1500 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (Wellcome) f. 24 (MED) No wounde that hath enpostume shall not be soweded till þat it be rype and swellyng and Akyng sesyd.

?1550 H. Llwyd tr. Pope John XXI Treasury of Healthe sig. a.ii^v Horsnesse, and continuall fluxion of snevil in old men, do in no means waxe rype.

1580 T. Blundeville Foure Offices Horsemanship (rev. ed.) iv. xxxv. 17 Thrust it in..so as the point of the iron may come out at the ripest place.

1743 tr. N. Andry Orthopædia II. 116 Repeat this several times a day, till the Pustules of the Small-Pox are quite ripe.

1810 E. Weeton Let. 25 Feb. (1969) I. 240 I have had another boil on my face... I neither lanced, nor poulticed it, but when ripe, let the matter out with a needle.

1889 Lancet 16 Nov. 994/1 In 1888 I operated on twenty-six ripe cataracts.

1906 Edinb. Med. Jrnl. 19 297 From these specimens I am able to illustrate the anatomy of the lesion in three stages—(1) the quiescent focus; (2) the ripe abscess; (3) the abscess after it has ruptured and discharged externally.

1987 E. Chaney Eyes Have It i. 25 Once a ripe cataract develops in one eye, physicians often remove the lens in both eyes, even though the ‘good’ eye has only the bare beginnings of a cataract.

2005 A. Lovejoy Acid Alex vii. 116 I saw ous suck the etter out of ripe boils with five fat white heads in one hole.

d. Of a flavour or scent: characteristic of a food or drink in its ripened state; rich, intense; pungent. Hence (in later use) of body odour: pungent, rank.

ΚΠ

1693 W. Congreve in J. Dryden tr. Juvenal Satires xi. 224 Apples, of a Ripe Flavour [L. odoris mala recentis], Fresh and Fair.

1820 F. Accum Treat. Adulterations of Food 272 Oak saw-dust, and a spirituous tincture of raisin stones, are likewise used to impart to new brandy and rum a ripe taste, resembling brandy or rum long kept in oaken casks.

1837 Gardener's Mag. Sept. 405 They have not the ripe smell that is peculiar to truffles.

1878 T. Hardy Return of Native (1990) ii. ii. 110 Another nook, where more mellow fruit greeted her with its ripe smell.

1920 R. Curle Wanderings vi. 76 I sucked a piece of fresh cane and experienced, at last, the real, ripe flavour of the raw sugar.

1962 J. H. Giles Voy. to Santa Fe xxii. 268 Jesse, he smells right ripe, though likely you ain't noticed it.

1991 O. Clarke Webster's Wine Guide 1992 45/2 The wines are not big, but are almost creamy in their gorgeous ripe taste, deliciously so.

2002 N. Griffiths Kelly + Victor 26 I..am acutely aware of the smell, the stink, the ripe bleedin stench rising up from me crotch an armpits.

e. Obstetrics. Of the cervix: fully effaced (softened and retracted); ready for the expulsion of the fetus. Also: designating this condition.

ΚΠ

1886 Boston Med. & Surg. Jrnl. 115 403/2 The cervix..was not in that ripe and mature condition that commonly requires nine months for its full development.

1940 Amer. Jrnl. Surg. 48 106/1 The careful medical management of the toxaemic patient..will usually prevent further increase in the severity of the symptoms and signs until the cervix is ‘ripe’.

1981 S. Kitzinger Experience of Childbirth (ed. 4) ix. 210 The cervical canal..gets shorter and shorter until the cervix is of the same thickness as the uterine wall. The cervix is now said to be ‘taken up’ or ‘ripe’ for labour.

2009 South Carolina Lawyers Weekly (Nexis) 23 Feb. The fetal monitor showed the mother was having contractions, although her cervix was not ripe and the baby was still high in the pelvis.

f. Of dough: that has proved (undergone fermentation) sufficiently to allow its gluten to reach the desired state of elasticity.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > preparation for table or cooking > preparation of bread > [adjective] > ready for sealing

ripe1902

1902 E. Braun Baker's Bk. II. 369 A dough that would be overripe for two pound loaves is only ripe for rolls or one that is just ripe enough for very crusty bread, baked in a hot oven, would be overripe for very crumby bread.

1919 Chem. Abstr. 13 47 When ripe, the dough is cut up, proved and baked in a slow oven.

1949 A. R. Daniel Bakers' Dict. Ripe dough, technical term for a dough ready for scaling having received a period of fermentation sufficiently protracted to enable the gluten to reach its most extensible condition.

1962 Listener 22 Mar. 511/1 There is a stage in breadmaking when the dough is said to be ‘ripe’.

2001 J. Robinson et al. Food Technol. i. 41/3 A ripe dough has the gluten distributed throughout.

8. Of a person's age.

a. Characterized by full development of the physical or mental powers. Now largely superseded by sense A. 8b. Cf. sense A. 5b.

ΚΠ

c1480 (a1400) St. John Evangelist 399 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 120 Bot fra he to rype elde wane he lefit þe bischope.

1531 T. Elyot Bk. named Gouernour ii. xii. sig. Svii^v He than beinge of ripe yeres,..his frendes..exhorted hym busely to take a wyfe.

1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. clxxij Some man of rype yeares and counsell.

a1593 C. Marlowe Tragicall Hist. Faustus (1604) sig. A2 Of riper yeeres to Wertenberg he went.

c1614 W. Mure tr. Virgil Dido & Æneas To Rdr., in Wks. (1898) I. 8 Till ryper ȝeirs her infancy subdue.

1671 J. Milton Paradise Regain'd iii. 31 Thy years are ripe, and over-ripe.

1708 E. Ward Mod. World Disrob'd i. 89 When the little draggle-tail'd Meretrix is shot forward into riper Years..she is employ'd..to cry Beef and Broth for some Boiling-Cook.

1838 W. H. Prescott Hist. Reign Ferdinand & Isabella II. i. xvii. 138 A riper period of her life.

1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. i. 8 Simplicity of treatment,..out of place if intended for a reader of riper years.

1904 G. S. Hall Adolescence II. xi. 105 There is a marked early and pre-adolescent proclivity to focus affection at least quite as sharply differentiated from that felt for parents as from the love of riper years, upon older counterparts.

1954 D. Erdman Blake i. iv. 61 The reader who views them [sc. the Poetical Sketches] as the serious work of riper years..can easily mistake these scenes for the author's personal expression of a ‘boylike’ delight in ‘the picturesqueness of war’.

b. Advanced; far on in years. Now frequently in ripe old age.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > source or principle of life > age > old age > [adjective] > old (of beings, etc.)

oldeOE

winteredeOE

oldlyOE

over-oldOE

eldernc1175

at-oldc1200

stricken on, in age, in eldec1380

oldlya1382

(well, far, etc.) stepped in age, in or into yearsc1386

ancientc1400

aged1420

well-agedc1450

ripec1480

passing oldc1485

(well) shot in years1530

old aged1535

agey1547

Ogygian1567

strucken1576

oldish1580

stricken in yearsa1586

declined1591

far1591

struck1597

Nestorian1605

overripe1605

elderly1611

eld1619

antiquated1631

enaged1631

thorough-old1639

emerita1643

grandevous1647

magnaevous1727

badgerly1753

(as) old as the hills1819

olden days1823

crusted1833

long in the tooth1841

oldened1854

mature1867

over the hill1950

c1480 (a1400) St. Ninian 609 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 321 Þe tyme..þat he of þis lyf suld pas, of parfit dat & rype elde.

1563 N. Winȝet Certain Tractates (1890) II. 58/17 Quhat euery thingis thai ar quhilkis be proces of the rypear aige ar generit [etc.].

1567 W. Painter Palace of Pleasure II. xxiv. f. 209 So that shame separate from before the eyes of youth, riper age noursed in impudency, their sight is so daseled, as they can see nothing that either shame or feare can make them blush.

1627 in J. Hunter Diocese & Presbytery Dunkeld (1918) II. 369 Whyles to the..hazarding off the lyffis off these off ryper age.

1665 T. Herbert Some Years Trav. (new ed.) 243 He died at a ripe age and was buried at Persepolis.

1711 Ld. Shaftesbury Characteristicks I. iii. 333 As if a Homer or a Xenophon imperfectly learnt, in raw years, might not afterwards, in a riper Age, be study'd.

1785 W. Cowper Task iv. 713 At so ripe an age As twice sev'n years.

1824 Ld. Byron Don Juan: Canto XV lxx. 40 Also the younger men too; for a springald Can't like ripe age in gourmandise excel.

1884 Chambers's Jrnl. 10 May 293/1 Zeno hanged himself at the ripe old age of ninety-eight.

1923 National Geographic Mag. Jan. 49/1 Some of the wares on the shelves seem as if they might have attained a ripe old age before Columbus set out on his famous voyage.

1989 J. Updike Self-consciousness iii. 101 Nevertheless, both cats lived to a ripe age. They outlived my tenancy with my family, in fact.

2007 H. Swanson Super Nat. Cooking 87 One of my favourite stories is the legend of..a Chinese man who faithfully ate gojis and lived to the ripe old age of 252.

a. Of time: sufficiently advanced, esp. for a particular action or purpose. Frequently in (when) the time is ripe.

ΚΠ

a1542 T. Wyatt Coll. Poems (1969) cviii. 122 He seith that word, when full rype tyme shold come.

1598 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 1 i. iii. 288 I by letters shall direct your course When time is ripe .

1682 J. Banks Vertue Betray'd i i. i. 22 They By Letters and Devices in their absence Have hourly plotted to deceive you, Sir; And put in practice when the time is ripe.

1721 J. Mottley Antiochus iii. i. 31 Confine Arsaces strait, till Time is ripe To make thy Proofs appear.

1791 S. J. Pratt Fair Circassian ii. ii. 22 Now the time is ripe To note thy subject services more amply.

1850 Ld. Tennyson In Memoriam Epil. 210 The man..was a noble type Appearing ere the times were ripe .

1864 J. Bryce Holy Rom. Empire ii. 21 The great scheme for whose accomplishment the time was now ripe.

1908 Daily Chron. 10 Jan. 4/7 The time is ripe..for the pressman to reap a little of the benefits of the better times which are coming to Australia.

1958 J. Kerouac Let. 28 Oct. in Sel. Lett. 1957–69 (1999) 160 The situation about Tuttle etc. and Grove I just dont [sic] understand but let me know when time is ripe.

2005 P. R. Keefe Chatter ix. 211 The Bush administration and its allies were effectively betting the farm on persuading the international community that the time was ripe to depose Saddam Hussein.

b. Of a plan, plot, etc.: ready for execution, action, or use; that has arrived at the fitting stage or time for some purpose.

ΚΠ

1603 R. Knolles Gen. Hist. Turkes 148 This enuious plot was not yet ripe.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Julius Caesar (1623) iv. ii. 267 Our Legions are brim full, our cause is ripe .

1713 J. Addison Cato ii. i Should they submit ere our designs are ripe, We both must perish in the common wreck.

1789 ‘P. Pindar’ Subj. for Painters 36 With a lie Ripe at their fingers' ends.

1838 T. B. Macaulay Sir W. Temple in Ess. (1897) 439 At length, in June, 1671, the designs of the Cabal were ripe.

1860 J. L. Motley Hist. United Netherlands I. v. 145 The insubordination, which was so ripe in the city.

1879 F. W. Farrar Life & Work St. Paul I. ii. viii. 153 Their plot was soon ripe.

1910 Times 4 Nov. 10/1 He was careful not to define his intentions before his plans were ripe.

1967 Internat. Rev. Educ. 13 15 The question at issue here, however, is..not as to whether programmed learning is ripe for school application yet, but whether such application is in principle justified, assuming that the matter is ripe.

2001 R. Reisert Third Witch 47 My plan is ripe. By the end of the week, He will be dead.

10. With with. Full of; amply endowed with. Cf. rife adj. 2c(b).

ΘΚΠ

the mind > possession > supply > [adjective] > provided or supplied with something > well-provided or supplied > with, in, or for something

richc1175

repletec1384

strongc1450

ripe1579

wealthy1608

well off1775

rife1787

plus1808

well to pass1809

long on1929

1579 T. Churchyard Gen. Rehearsall Warres sig. Ee.iij A face so fraught, with fauour bloomyng still,..A hedde so ripe, with grace and connyng skill.

1648 R. Herrick Hesperides sig. L6 ^v Thus ripe with tears,..Doting, Ile weep and say (In Truth) Baucis, these were my sins of youth.

1705 S. Centlivre Gamester i. 2 He's a Lover ripe with Discretion.

1830 I. L. Robertson Sketches of Public Characters 20 In the open air, exposed to sun and winds, stood an orator ripe with the thoughts of manhood.

1887 Unity (Chicago) 19 Mar. 37/1 As wholesome to the soul as a memory filled with scientific knowledge, or a mind ripe with reason.

1916 Eng. Jrnl. 5 4 The newly organized Committee on Normal Schools enters on its work in a field ripe with opportunity.

2005 J. R. Welsch & J. Q. Adams Multicultural Films 189 The film is ripe with gun violence.

11.

a. Of a sound: full, rich; resonant.

ΚΠ

1821 New Monthly Mag. 3 59/1 Braham's splendid voice and science, and the ripe tones and delicate sprightliness of Madame Vestris, have diffused no common enjoyment.

1849 V. Pike Minstrel's Lay & Other Poems 98 Pouring athwart the tranced ear a strain Of rich, ripe melody.

1921 R. Macauley Dangerous Ages ii. 41 Rosalind was crying to her in her rich, ripe voice out of the splashing waves.

1966 Times 16 May 14/3 [She] drew such strong, ripe, indeed voluptuous, tone from her harp..that it was difficult at first not to suspect some artful kind of electrical amplification.

2002 A. J. Morin Classical Music 1070 The Corda Quartet plays with a full, ripe sound that lends weight, impact, and nobility.

b. Of an accent: having strong regional characteristics; marked, thick. Also occasionally: having characteristics associated with the educated English upper classes; plummy.

ΚΠ

1886 R. L. Stevenson in New Amphion 228 He had something of a rustic air, sturdy and fresh and plain; he spoke with a ripe east-country accent, which I used to admire.

1933 Amer. Mercury Sept. 77/2 True enough, the dialect now called Standard English is not the rich, ripe Cockney of the East End, but it is certainly its misbegotten child.

1960 M. Howard Not Word about Nightingales iii. 101 His British accent was ripe. ‘How beastly of me not to have helped you out.’

1971 L. Blackwell Blackwell Remembers xvi. 139 Swift was a North-countryman who spoke with a ripe Lancashire brogue.

1986 Toronto Star (Nexis) 2 Aug. f2 He certainly had the ripe accent and patronizing snobbery appropriate to the role.

2003 N.Y. Times 18 Aug. d5/5 This pilgrimage always happens when the Yankees play in Baltimore—ripe accents from New Jersey and Long Island descend on the Inner Harbor.

12.

a. slang. Drunk. Cf. sense A. 6d. Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > drink > thirst > excess in drinking > [adjective] > drunk

fordrunkenc897

drunkena1050

cup-shottenc1330

drunka1400

inebriate1497

overseenc1500

liquor1509

fou1535

nase?1536

full1554

intoxicate1554

tippled1564

intoxicated1576

pepst1577

overflown1579

whip-cat1582

pottical1586

cup-shota1593

fox-drunk1592

lion-drunk1592

nappy1592

sack-sopped1593

in drink1598

disguiseda1600

drink-drowned1600

daggeda1605

pot-shotten1604

tap-shackled1604

high1607

bumpsy1611

foxed1611

in one's cups1611

liquored1611

love-pot1611

pot-sick1611

whift1611

owl-eyed1613

fapa1616

hota1616

inebriated1615

reeling ripea1616

in one's (or the) pots1618

scratched1622

high-flown?1624

pot-shot1627

temulentive1628

ebrious1629

temulent1629

jug-bitten1630

pot-shaken1630

toxed1635

bene-bowsiea1637

swilled1637

paid1638

soaken1651

temulentious1652

flagonal1653

fuddled1656

cut1673

nazzy1673

concerned1678

whittled1694

suckey1699

well-oiled1701

tippeda1708

tow-row1709

wet1709

swash1711

strut1718

cocked1737

cockeyed1737

jagged1737

moon-eyed1737

rocky1737

soaked1737

soft1737

stewed1737

stiff1737

muckibus1756

groggy1770

muzzeda1788

muzzya1795

slewed1801

lumpy1810

lushy1811

pissed1812

blue1813

lush1819

malty1819

sprung1821

three sheets in the wind1821

obfuscated1822

moppy1823

ripe1823

mixed1825

queer1826

rosined1828

shot in the neck1830

tight1830

rummy1834

inebrious1837

mizzled1840

obflisticated1840

grogged1842

pickled1842

swizzled1843

hit under the wing1844

obfusticatedc1844

ebriate1847

pixilated1848

boozed1850

ploughed1853

squiffy?1855

buffy1858

elephant trunk1859

scammered1859

gassed1863

fly-blown1864

rotten1864

shot1864

ebriose1871

shicker1872

parlatic1877

miraculous1879

under the influence1879

ginned1881

shickered1883

boiled1886

mosy1887

to be loaded for bear(s)1888

squiffeda1890

loaded1890

oversparred1890

sozzled1892

tanked1893

orey-eyed1895

up the (also a) pole1897

woozy1897

toxic1899

polluted1900

lit-up1902

on (also upon) one's ear1903

pie-eyed1903

pifflicated1905

piped1906

spiflicated1906

jingled1908

skimished1908

tin hat1909

canned1910

pipped1911

lit1912

peloothered1914

molo1916

shick1916

zigzag1916

blotto1917

oiled-up1918

stung1919

stunned1919

bottled1922

potted1922

rotto1922

puggled1923

puggle1925

fried1926

crocked1927

fluthered1927

lubricated1927

whiffled1927

liquefied1928

steamed1929

mirackc1930

overshot1931

swacked1932

looped1934

stocious1937

whistled1938

sauced1939

mashed1942

plonked1943

stone1945

juiced1946

buzzed1952

jazzed1955

schnockered1955

honkers1957

skunked1958

bombed1959

zonked1959

bevvied1960

mokus1960

snockered1961

plotzed1962

over the limit1966

the worse for wear1966

wasted1968

wired1970

zoned1971

blasted1972

Brahms and Liszt?1972

funked up1976

trousered1977

motherless1980

tired and emotional1981

ratted1982

rat-arsed1984

wazzed1990

mullered1993

twatted1993

bollocksed1994

lashed1996

1823 ‘J. Bee’ Slang 149 Ripe—drunk. First cousin to mellow.

1925 Flynn's 14 Mar. 281/1 Ripe, drunk.

b. colloquial. That is beyond reasonable bounds, excessive; (of language, etc.) colourful, expressive; (hence) beyond the bounds of propriety; coarse, obscene, vulgar.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > quantity > sufficient quantity, amount, or degree > excessive amount or degree > [adjective] > excessive or too great in amount or degree > excessive in degree

unmeasurablea1398

dismeasurec1400

dismeasurable1477

dismeasured1483

over1494

endlya1513

intolerable1544

wide1574

overloading1576

unconscionable1576

meanless1587

powerable1588

hyperbolical1589

extravagant1598

grievous1632

flagrant1634

exorbitant1648

overbearinga1708

unbalanced1712

well-favoured1746

steep1856

thick1884

ripe1918

1918 W. D. Newton War Cache 140 Phillip's arm felt flayed, but from the ripe language of the big man he guessed Germany had felt it most.

1932 A. J. Worrall Eng. Idioms 33 He was shooting at cats with darts. I told him it was a bit ripe and asked him to stop.

1948 E. Partridge et al. Dict. Forces' Slang 156 Ripe, complete, thoroughgoing. Usually allied with ‘bastard’.

1952 T. Armstrong Adam Brunskill v. 159 Unluckily for Bart Hugill, he remembered far more clearly his future father-in-law's extremely ripe sally.

1969 ‘J. Fraser’ Cock-pit of Roses xvi. 127 ‘What the bloody hell are you playing at?’ ‘That's ripe considering you just near broke my arm!’

1988 P. Fussell Power of Facing Unpleasant Facts in Thank God for Atom Bomb (1990) 85 This was not the first time unpleasant facts had been deemed too ripe for the university's clientele.

2007 N. Atherton Aunt Dimity goes West (2008) 268 If you must know, Will and Rob used some pretty ripe language at the ranch yesterday.

c. colloquial. Fine, excellent; thoroughgoing (also used ironically).

ΘΚΠ

the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > excellence > [adjective]

faireOE

bremea1000

goodlyOE

goodfulc1275

noblec1300

pricec1300

specialc1325

gentlec1330

fine?c1335

singulara1340

thrivena1350

thriven and throa1350

gaya1375

properc1380

before-passinga1382

daintiful1393

principala1398

gradelya1400

burlyc1400

daintyc1400

thrivingc1400

voundec1400

virtuousc1425

hathelc1440

curiousc1475

singlerc1500

beautiful1502

rare?a1534

gallant1539

eximious1547

jolly1548

egregious?c1550

jellyc1560

goodlike1562

brawc1565

of worth1576

brave?1577

surprising1580

finger-licking1584

admirablea1586

excellinga1586

ambrosial1598

sublimated1603

excellent1604

valiant1604

fabulous1609

pure1609

starryc1610

topgallant1613

lovely1614

soaringa1616

twanging1616

preclarent1623

primea1637

prestantious1638

splendid1644

sterling1647

licking1648

spankinga1666

rattling1690

tearing1693

famous1695

capital1713

yrare1737

pure and —1742

daisy1757

immense1762

elegant1764

super-extra1774

trimming1778

grand1781

gallows1789

budgeree1793

crack1793

dandy1794

first rate1799

smick-smack1802

severe1805

neat1806

swell1810

stamming1814

divine1818

great1818

slap-up1823

slapping1825

high-grade1826

supernacular1828

heavenly1831

jam-up1832

slick1833

rip-roaring1834

boss1836

lummy1838

flash1840

slap1840

tall1840

high-graded1841

awful1843

way up1843

exalting1844

hot1845

ripsnorting1846

clipping1848

stupendous1848

stunning1849

raving1850

shrewd1851

jammy1853

slashing1854

rip-staving1856

ripping1858

screaming1859

up to dick1863

nifty1865

premier cru1866

slap-bang1866

clinking1868

marvellous1868

rorty1868

terrific1871

spiffing1872

all wool and a yard wide1882

gorgeous1883

nailing1883

stellar1883

gaudy1884

fizzing1885

réussi1885

ding-dong1887

jim-dandy1888

extra-special1889

yum-yum1890

out of sight1891

outasight1893

smooth1893

corking1895

large1895

super1895

hot dog1896

to die for1898

yummy1899

deevy1900

peachy1900

hi1901

v.g.1901

v.h.c.1901

divvy1903

doozy1903

game ball1905

goodo1905

bosker1906

crackerjack1910

smashinga1911

jake1914

keen1914

posh1914

bobby-dazzling1915

juicy1916

pie on1916

jakeloo1919

snodger1919

whizz-bang1920

wicked1920

four-star1921

wow1921

Rolls-Royce1922

whizz-bang1922

wizard1922

barry1923

nummy1923

ripe1923

shrieking1926

crazy1927

righteous1930

marvy1932

cool1933

plenty1933

brahmaa1935

smoking1934

solid1935

mellow1936

groovy1937

tough1937

bottler1938

fantastic1938

readyc1938

ridge1938

super-duper1938

extraordinaire1940

rumpty1940

sharp1940

dodger1941

grouse1941

perfecto1941

pipperoo1945

real gone1946

bosting1947

supersonic1947

whizzo1948

neato1951

peachy-keen1951

ridgey-dite1953

ridgy-didge1953

top1953

whizzing1953

badass1955

wild1955

belting1956

magic1956

bitching1957

swinging1958

ridiculous1959

a treat1959

fab1961

bad-assed1962

uptight1962

diggish1963

cracker1964

marv1964

radical1964

bakgat1965

unreal1965

pearly1966

together1968

safe1970

bad1971

brilliant1971

fabby1971

schmick1972

butt-kicking1973

ripper1973

Tiffany1973

bodacious1976

rad1976

kif1978

awesome1979

death1979

killer1979

fly1980

shiok1980

stonking1980

brill1981

dope1981

to die1982

mint1982

epic1983

kicking1983

fabbo1984

mega1985

ill1986

posho1989

pukka1991

lovely jubbly1992

awesomesauce2001

nang2002

bess2006

amazeballs2009

boasty2009

daebak2009

beaut2013

1923 P. G. Wodehouse Inimitable Jeeves ix. 89 I liked the place, and was having quite a ripe time there.

1964 Australasian Post (Melbourne) 21 May 13 Even a ripe shiner isn't just a black eye to the man in the white coat. It is a peri-optic ecchymosis.

1967 R. Campbell in Coast to Coast 1965–6 20 Jack'll be ripe pickings by the time that old buzzard comes around from the police station to close the pub.

2007 M. Desmond On Fireline 83 We were all drinking and trash-talking each other and having a ripe old time.

d. colloquial. Angry. rare.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > anger > [adjective]

irrec825

gramec893

wemodc897

wrothc950

bolghenc1000

gramelyc1000

hotOE

on fireOE

brathc1175

moodyc1175

to-bollenc1175

wrethfulc1175

wraw?c1225

agrameda1300

wrathfula1300

agremedc1300

hastivec1300

irousa1340

wretheda1340

aniredc1350

felonc1374

angryc1380

upreareda1382

jealous1382

crousea1400

grieveda1400

irefula1400

mada1400

teena1400

wraweda1400

wretthy14..

angryc1405

errevousa1420

wrothy1422

angereda1425

passionatec1425

fumous1430

tangylc1440

heavy1452

fire angry1490

wrothsomea1529

angerful?1533

wrothful?1534

wrath1535

provoked1538

warm1547

vibrant1575

chauffe1582

fuming1582

enfeloned1596

incensed1597

choleric1598

inflameda1600

raiseda1600

exasperate1601

angried1609

exasperated1611

dispassionate1635

bristlinga1639

peltish1648

sultry1671

on (also upon) the high ropes (also rope)1672

nangry1681

ugly1687

sorea1694

glimflashy1699

enraged1732

spunky1809

cholerous1822

kwaai1827

wrathy1828

angersome1834

outraged1836

irate1838

vex1843

raring1845

waxy1853

stiff1856

scotty1867

bristly1872

hot under the collar1879

black angry1894

spitfire1894

passionful1901

ignorant1913

hairy1914

snaky1919

steamed1923

uptight1934

broigus1937

lemony1941

ripped1941

pissed1943

crooked1945

teed off1955

ticked off1959

ripe1966

torqued1967

bummed1970

1966 R. Jeffries Death in Coverts iii. 93 We all joked about it and Bill got really ripe. No sense of humour.

B. n.²

As a mass noun: those that are ripe or have reached the peak of their natural development (frequently with the); (also as a count noun) something that is ripe.

ΚΠ

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 6044 Þat beist þan gneu vp al..bath ripe and grene.

c1400 (?a1387) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Huntington HM 137) (1873) C. xix. 107 He het elde an hih for to clymbe And shaken hit sharply, þe ripen sholden falle.

1674 Hogan-Moganides 69 Hee'd truck a Cargo off unseen, And put one ripe betwixt two green.

1890 L. F. Baum Our Landlady 180 Along came the farmer the very next day, And picked both the ripe and the green.

1915 Forestry Q. 13 161 In practice the cut in the selection forest takes the ripe and the poor, it thins, and is to assist reproduction.

1992 S. Friedlander Whirling Dervishes 107 The ‘ripe’ were men of the heart involved with the interiorization of self. The raw could not comprehend the state of the ripe.

†C. adv.

Ripely. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > understanding > wisdom, sagacity > [adverb] > maturely

ripely1425

ripea1632

maturelya1639

a1632 T. Taylor God's Judgem. (1642) i. ii. iii. 172 But the King..handled them so ripe and handsomely, that..he dealt with them as pleased him.

1884 T. Woolner Silenus i. i. i. 6 No other fruit can blush so ripe and sweet.

Phrases

Proverbs. Chiefly in soon ripe, soon rotten.

ΚΠ

1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue i. x. sig. Civ ^v But soone ripe sone rotten.

a1569 A. Kingsmill Most Excellent & Comfortable Treat. (new ed.) (1585) C ii All the glorie of man..is as the flower of the fielde, soone ripe, soone rotten.

1600 W. Fulbecke Direct. Study Lawe ii. f. 10^v They which are borne vnder Mercury, are of quick conceit, but quickly vnconceited, soone ripe and soone rotten.

1670 J. Ray Coll. Eng. Prov. 149 Time and straw make medlars ripe.

?1706 E. Hickeringill Priest-craft: 2nd Pt. i. 6 The old Proverb prov'd true, for, he was soon ripe, and soon rotten.

1736 W. R. Chetwood Voy. W. O. G. Vaughan I. 58 My Uncle..told me, Ripe Fruit was soon rotten.

1816 Let. 4 July in Edinb. Rev. & West Indies xxv. 201 ‘Soon ripe, soon rotten’ will be the fate of the empire of Hayti.

1890 Lancet 11 Jan. 66 With patience and straw even medlars get ripe.

1901 Jrnl. Amer. Med. Assoc. 4 May 1271/1 The truth of the popular opinion of precocity—early ripe, early rotten—is illustrated very frequently.

1956 Times 23 Mar. 17/7 The ‘soon ripe soon rotten’ policy..is the basis of the present replanting scheme.

2008 T. Kearney Who owns Future? 73 They could see that the fast changes in history are the ones that do not last... Nature has a law, which is: soon ripe soon rotten.

Compounds

C1. Parasynthetic, as ripe-aged, ripe-coloured, ripe-faced, ripe-tongued, ripe-witted, etc. In later use chiefly poetic.

ΚΠ

c1485 ( G. Hay Bk. Gouernaunce of Princis (1993) xxv. 114 The lave yat thou fyndis nocht sa traist, na sa rype wittit [etc.].

1548 W. Patten Exped. Scotl. Pref. †v A righte ripetungued deponent.

1567 T. Drant in tr. Horace Arte of Poetrie To Rdr. sig. *vj I take them to be rype toungned tryfles.

a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1593) iii. sig. Kk2 Alas how ripe witted these young folkes be now adayes.

1698 F. B. Free but Modest Censure 10 Bestowing upon him the Epithets of Learned, Ingenious, Thoughtful, Ripe-witted, &c.

1725 E. Haywood tr. P. de Boisguillebert Mary Stuart iii. 220 He being a young Gentleman of good Birth, rich, ripe-witted, and learned.

1818 J. Keats Endymion iii. 106 Fire-branded foxes to sear up..Our gold and ripe-ear'd hopes.

1826 T. Hood Love ii Grave ripe-fac'd wisdom made an April fool?

1827 C. Webbe Harvest-home ii Armfuls of ripe-coloured corn.

1944 E. Sitwell Song of Cold 11 We heard in the dawn the first ripe-bearded fire Of wheat.

1952 C. Day Lewis tr. Virgil Aeneid v. 95 Ripe-aged Acestes.

2005 Time Out N.Y. 29 Sept. 177/3 Andrew Manze replaces the boy choristers of Biber's day with ripe-toned female sopranos.

C2. Complementary, similative, etc., as ripe-bending, ripe-grown, ripe-looking, ripe-red, etc.

ΚΠ

1594 W. Shakespeare Venus & Adonis (new ed.) sig. Giiij Mulberies & ripe-red cherries.

1599 T. Nashe Lenten Stuffe 30 The light-foot tripper..who would run ouer the ripe-bending eares of corne.

1687 J. Norris Coll. Misc. 120 That world..thou'lt see, Ripe-grown, in full maturity.

1850 Cottage Gardener 7 Feb. 260/1 If ripe looking, reserve them, immature, it may be well to prune back to ripe-looking portions.

1873 M. Collins Miranda III. 63 An old-fangled ripe-red house.

1878 Z. B. Gustafson Meg 26 No vision of scythe and ripe-bending grain! Ah! more than his stock, or than harvest gain, Is his innocent darling's need to him.

1993 D. Ambrose Man who turned into Himself (1995) 108 Tickelbakker poked appreciatively at a ripe-looking brie and said he would have some of that along with a piece of fine English stilton.

2002 High Country News 13 May 1/1 Ive been ripping off the seedheads wholesale from their ripe-waving steams.

Derivatives

† ripe-like adj. Obsolete

ΚΠ

1640 S. Rutherford Lett. (1664) ii. xxxvii. 517 The field of heaven's glory is white and ripe-like.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2010; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

ripev.²

Brit.

/rʌɪp/, U.S.

/raɪp/, Scottish English

/rʌip/

Forms: Old English hrypa (Northumbrian), Old English ripan, Old English ripte (past tense), Old English rypan, Old English rypte (past tense), late Old English repan, early Middle English rippe ( Ormulum), early Middle English rupe (south-west midlands), Middle English–1600s (1800s– English regional (northern)) rype, Middle English– ripe, 1800s– rip (English regional (northern)), 1900s– reype (English regional (Cumberland)); Scottish pre-1700 reape, pre-1700 ryip, pre-1700 1700s–1800s ryp, pre-1700 1700s– ripe, pre-1700 1700s– rype, pre-1700 1800s rip, pre-1700 1800s– reip.

Origin: A word inherited from Germanic.

Etymology: Cognate with Gothic raupjan to pluck, tear out, and probably further with Middle Dutch rōpen , roopen to pluck, pull, Old Saxon -rōpian (only in the prefixed verb birōpian to plunder, despoil; Middle Low German rȫpen , rōpen , rōfen to pluck, pull, tear out, (used reflexively) to fight), Old High German roufen to pluck, pull, to tear out (Middle High German roufen , German raufen , also (used reflexively) in sense ‘to fight’); further etymology uncertain: perhaps ultimately < the same Germanic base as reave v.¹, although the exact relationship is difficult to explain phonologically. Compare Middle Low German roppen (German regional (Low German) ruppen , roppen ), Middle High German rupfen , ropfen (German rupfen , (now regional) ropfen , (now regional: Central) roppen , ruppen ), all in sense ‘to pluck, pull’, which represent derivatives with expressive gemination of the medial consonant. Compare reave v.¹ and later rip v.¹Sense 5a originated by association with rip v.¹ Compare also with sense 4b, to rip up 4 at rip v.¹ Phrasal verbs 1. Forms in the Ormulum apparently show shortening of the vowel, which may have originated in past tense forms (before a homorganic double consonant cluster), although it is perhaps possible that these examples may instead show earlier occurrences of rip v.¹ In Old English (Northumbrian) the prefixed form gehrȳpa (compare y- prefix) is also attested; compare also arȳpan to strip away, tear off (compare a- prefix¹), berȳpan to rob, plunder, steal (compare be- prefix), tōrȳpan to scratch (compare to- prefix²).

In later use chiefly Scottish.

†a. intransitive. To engage in robbery. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > robbery > rob [verb (intransitive)]

ripeOE

robc1325

to-reavea1400

to have it off1865

OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Matt. vi. 19 Nolite thesaurizare uobis thesauros in terra..ubi fures effodiunt et furentur : nællas gie gestrionaige iuh gestriono in eorðo..ðer ðeafas ofdelfes uel hrypes & forstealas.

OE Wulfstan Sermo ad Anglos (Nero) (1957) 272 Hy hergiað & hy bærnað, rypaþ & reafiað & to scipe lædað.

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) 5279 Heo rupten, heo ræfden, noht heo ne bi-læfden.

b. transitive. To rob or plunder (a person). Now Scottish and rare.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > robbery > rob [verb (transitive)] > specifically a person

ripeOE

robc1225

ravishc1384

to-reave1393

to shake (a person) out ofc1412

to purge a person's purse1528

cashiera1616

to rob someone blind1897

OE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Tiber. B.i) anno 1011 Hi..heregodon ure earme folc, & hi rypton & slogon.

OE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Tiber. B.i) anno 1065 Forþam þe [he] rypte God ærost & ealle þa bestrypte þe he ofermihte æt life & æt lande.

OE Wulfstan Institutes of Polity (Junius) 81 Hy rypað þa earman butan ælcere scylde.

c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 10238 Þatt teȝȝ ne sholldenn nohht te follc Þurrh grediȝnesse rippenn.

1904 ‘H. Foulis’ Erchie 83 Dae ye think he wad sell mony to the young chaps like whit Maud riped? Nae fears!

2007 S. Blackhall Quarry iii. 22 Wi gey fyew o them deein o auld age itsel,..there wis scarce ony bodies fit tae be rypit.

2. intransitive. To search or rummage (for or after something hidden); to grope about. Scottish in later use.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > endeavour > searching or seeking > make a search [verb (intransitive)]

seekc1000

ofsechec1300

searchc1330

laita1400

ripea1400

to cast about1575

to fall about1632

quest1669

to bush about or out1686

beat1709

to cast about one1823

feather1892

a1400 (c1300) Northern Homily: Knight who did Penance among Worms (Coll. Phys.) in Middle Eng. Dict. at Ripen This forsaid arc he..opened..And riped [c1390 Vernon groped] imang tha wormes lathe..And forthe he gan tha banes draw.

a1500 (c1425) Andrew of Wyntoun Oryg. Cron. Scotl. (Nero) v. l. 2903 A mattok syne he tuk,..And wiþe þat ripit to þe grunde.

1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 691/2 I rype in olde maters, je fouble.

1562 Bp. J. Pilkington Expos. Abdyas Pref. sig. A a viij As he that ripes in a dungehyll, is infect with the smell therof a longe time after.

1580 in D. Masson Reg. Privy Council Scotl. (1880) 1st Ser. III. 309 Thay rypit for the saidis guidis.

1640 in J. Nicholson Minute Bk. War Comm. Covenanters Kirkcudbright 4 Nov. (1855) 81 Ordaines the Captaines..to send their constables..to rype throw the parochess for suspectit gudes.

1696 in R. Renwick Extracts Rec. Burgh Peebles (1910) 155 Sent to watch in the back yeard, quhill the officers came to ryp.

1715 Trans. Gaelic Soc. Inv. 39 113 To kill any that would offer to rype or make search for any such thing.

1814 in R. Chambers Misc. Pop. Scottish Poems (1862) 68 He rypit, maybe for his knife, I thought I saw it glancin.

1887 R. L. Stevenson Underwoods 77 It's possible..That some ane, ripin' after lear.., May find an' read me.

1995 A. Fenton Craiters i. 7 E ripit in eez pooch again an brocht oot a wee boxie.

a. transitive. To search (a place, receptacle, etc.) in a thorough manner in order to find something; to rifle, ransack; (also) to pick (a pocket). Scottish and English regional (northern) in later use.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > endeavour > searching or seeking > search for or seek [verb (transitive)] > search a place or receptacle thoroughly

asearch1382

searcha1387

ransacka1400

ripea1400

upripe?a1400

riflec1400

ruffle1440

gropea1529

rig1572

rake1618

rummage1621

haul1666

fish1727

call1806

ratch1859

to turn over1859

to go through ——1861

rifle1894

rancel1899

to take apart1920

fine-tooth comb1949

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 4893 Yon er theues..Dos folus þam to ripe [Gött. and ransakis] þair war.

a1425 Rule St. Benet (Lansd.) (1902) 36 (MED) Þair beddis sal þabbes ofte ripe, þat tay ne haue na propirte.

a1500 (c1425) Andrew of Wyntoun Oryg. Cron. Scotl. (Nero) vi. l. 315 Þe graf qwhar in Charllis Marschel lay Þai ripit, and þe body soucht.

1535 Bible (Coverdale) Obad. 6 But how shall they rype Esau, and seke out his treasures?

1590 Reg. Privy Council Scotl. IV. 491 [They] sercheit the haill houssis,..and rypit all pairtis sa narrowlie as they could.

a1698 W. Row Contin. in R. Blair Life (1848) (modernized text) xii. 540 Their houses were ryped but none were found.

1721 A. Ramsay Lucky Spence vi Ryp ilka pouch frae nook to nook.

a1774 R. Fergusson Poems (1785) 149 The benmost part o' my kist nook I'll ripe for thee.

1824 W. Scott Redgauntlet I. xi. 257 Sir John, when he had riped the turret weel, led my gudesire into the dining-parlour.

1858–61 E. B. Ramsay Reminisc. Sc. Life (1867) ii. 30 The sacks of Joseph's brethren were ripit.

1894 R. O. Heslop Northumberland Words (at cited word) Coroner..: ‘Did you take any steps to resuscitate the deceased?’ Witness (promptly): ‘Yes, sor, we riped 'ees pockets.’

1927 J. Buchan Witch Wood xv. 253 They're riping the ports for Mark Kerr, once captain of Mackay's and till late a brigadier under the King's Captain-general.

1934 H. B. Cruickshank Noran Water 15 Ye've riped the pirlie mony's the time Withooten ony skaith.

2000 D. Kerr Puckle Poems 36 A gambler o fame, McGrew wis his name,..saw rypin his pooches her due.

†b. transitive. With up. To search out. Obsolete. rare.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > discovery > find out, discover [verb (transitive)]

seeOE

fanda1000

finda1200

kenc1330

lenda1350

agropea1393

contrive1393

to find outc1405

outsearch?a1439

ripec1440

inventc1475

disclose?a1500

fish1531

agnize?1570

discover1585

to grope out1590

out-find1590

expiscate1598

vent1611

to learn out1629

to get to know1643

develop1653

ascertain1794

stag1796

root1866

to get a line on1903

establish1919

c1440 (?a1400) Morte Arthure 1877 (MED) Thare myght men see the ryche ryde in the schawes, To rype vpe the Romaynez ruydlyche wondyde.

c. transitive. Scottish. To search (a person) thoroughly in order to find something. Now rare.

ΚΠ

1464 in Rec. Parl. Scotl. to 1707 (2007) 1464/1/5 Serchearis at all the portis..hawand power of the king to serche, ripe & conpell all personis..to mak gude faith that thai sal have na monay..out of the realme.

1534 in W. Fraser Douglas Bk. (1885) IV. 350 My folkis..have not riped you so wel as they shuld.

1659 in Notes & Queries 6th Ser. 7 264/2 Quhen the corporall was ryping me at the gate.

1698 in D. Hume Punishment of Crimes (1797) II. 569 You were ryped, and the said false keys..found upon you.

1842 Children's Employment Commission Rep. II. p. I 46 in Parl. Papers XIV. 1 Their persons are searched, or as it is called ‘riped’, every time they leave the [tobacco] works.

a1930 N. Munro Carnegie's wee Lassie in B. D. Osborne & R. Armstrong Erchie & Jimmy Swan (1993) i. vii. 33 ‘Then ye can ripe me,’ says her paw, and the wee tot'll feel in a' his pooches, and find half a sovereign in his waistcoat.

†d. transitive. Scottish. In extended use. Obsolete.

ΚΠ

a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1959) x. x. l. 134 Tharwithall the hyrnys of hys gost He rypyt wyth the swerd amyd his cost.

1604 A. Craig Poet. Ess. sig. F When I am dead, caus rype my hart sayd shee; And in the same shall Calice writen bee.

†4.

a. transitive. To examine thoroughly; to investigate, scrutinize, search into. Obsolete (Scottish in later use).

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > enquiry > investigation, inspection > close examination, scrutiny > scrutinize [verb (transitive)]

through-seekOE

gropea1250

to search outa1382

ensearch1382

boltc1386

examinea1387

ransackc1390

ripea1400

search1409

overreach?a1425

considerc1425

perquirec1460

examec1480

peruse?1520

grounda1529

study1528

oversearch1532

perscrute1536

scrute1536

to go over ——1537

scan1548

examinate1560

rifle1566

to consider of1569

excuss1570

ripe1573

sift1573

sift1577

to pry into ——1581

dive1582

rub1591

explore1596

pervestigate1610

dissecta1631

profound1643

circumspect1667

scrutinize1671

perscrutatea1679

introspect1683

rummage1690

reconnoitre1740

scrutinate1742

to look through1744

scrutiny1755

parse1788

gun1819

cat-haul1840

vivisect1876

scour1882

microscope1888

tooth-comb1893

X-ray1896

comb1904

fine-tooth comb1949

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 26702 Cums his freind ripand [Fairf. he ripis] his state, And he sceus him all þat he wate.

c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness (1920) 592 (MED) For he is þe gropande God, þe grounde of alle dedez, Rypande of uche a ring þe reynyez and hert.

1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid ii. iii. 29 Lefull is..Thair hid slycht als to rype furth to the ground.

1552 Abp. J. Hamilton Catech. iii. x. f. 153^v Examine, discus, serche and rype weil thi conscience.

a1599 R. Rollock Sel. Wks. (1844) II. 271 It goes down to the inward affections to ripe and search them.

1637 S. Rutherford Lett. (1664) i. cliv. 307 Each man had need twice a day & oftner, to be ryped & searched with candles.

1822 H. Ainslie Pilgrimage to Land of Burns 108 Our bairnly recollections ryped and rummaged up.

1887 J. Service Life Dr. Duguid 109 To rype this kittle affair to the bottom.

b. transitive. With up in same sense; (also) to bring to light or notice. Cf. to rip up 4 at rip v.¹ Phrasal verbs 1. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > enquiry > investigation, inspection > close examination, scrutiny > scrutinize [verb (transitive)]

through-seekOE

gropea1250

to search outa1382

ensearch1382

boltc1386

examinea1387

ransackc1390

ripea1400

search1409

overreach?a1425

considerc1425

perquirec1460

examec1480

peruse?1520

grounda1529

study1528

oversearch1532

perscrute1536

scrute1536

to go over ——1537

scan1548

examinate1560

rifle1566

to consider of1569

excuss1570

ripe1573

sift1573

sift1577

to pry into ——1581

dive1582

rub1591

explore1596

pervestigate1610

dissecta1631

profound1643

circumspect1667

scrutinize1671

perscrutatea1679

introspect1683

rummage1690

reconnoitre1740

scrutinate1742

to look through1744

scrutiny1755

parse1788

gun1819

cat-haul1840

vivisect1876

scour1882

microscope1888

tooth-comb1893

X-ray1896

comb1904

fine-tooth comb1949

1573 in J. Cranstoun Satirical Poems Reformation (1891) I. xlii. 107 I sall rype vp the mater haill.

1621 in R. Pitcairn Criminal Trials Scotl. (1833) III. 503 And the forme and circumstances of the samyn being narowlie examined and ryped vp by thame.

1690 W. Walker Idiomatologia Anglo-Lat. 535 He ripes up (rehearses) what wrong his enemies had done him.

1695 A. Wood Diary 9 Oct. in Life & Times (1894) III. 490 There I began to ripe up all the matter, how unworthily he had dealt with me.

1717 W. Mitchell in Misc. Spalding Club (1841) I. 236 We had reason to think that fact would not only be denyed, but occasion riping up some things in that affair.

1864 W. D. Latto Tammas Bodkin xvii. 170 Flamin' speeches were delivered by the respective agents, wha rypit up the facts o' the case to the very fundamentals.

a. transitive. Scottish and English regional (northern). To break, dig, or plough up (ground). Also with up. Now rare. Sc. National Dict. (at cited word) records this sense as still in use in Wigtownshire in 1968.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > breaking up land > break up land [verb (transitive)]

inhook1265

upbreak1382

becarvea1425

subvert1479

ripea1500

outrive1598

a1500 (c1425) Andrew of Wyntoun Oryg. Cron. Scotl. (Nero) iv. l. 91 As þai war þe grounde ripande, Off a man the hewide þai fande.

1541 in J. Stuart Extracts Council Reg. Aberdeen (1844) I. 453 Bot eftirwart quhen he ripis his grond forther giue he kan get ony forthir document of grond he sal haue than be lynaris that resone will.

1828 W. Carr Dial. Craven (ed. 2) Rype, to break up rough and uncultivated ground.

1882 J. Lucas Stud. Nidderdale xxvii. 273 When ‘Turner Carr’ was riped a few years ago there were brears, chewps, &c.

1897 G. O. Elder Borgue iii. 29 Ripin' up a' the bits o' green hoams, and forcing wheat to grow.

b. transitive. Scottish (Shetland). To dig up (potatoes).

ΚΠ

1897 Shetland News 16 Oct. 8/1 Hit wid only be a just puneshment if He didna gie wis a' a tattie ta ripe.

1916 J. J. H. Burgess Rasmie's Smaa Murr Oct. Da grice needs nae böddie, whin he's rypin taaties.

1979 J. J. Graham Shetland Dict. 70/1 Hit's a slester o a job, ripin tatties wi dis weet wadder.

6. transitive. Scottish. To clear out (a fire, pipe, etc.); to cleanse.

ΘΚΠ

the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > clearing of refuse matter > clear of refuse [verb (transitive)]

winnowa900

rinse?a1400

rid1421

redd1446

rede1450

card1612

unrubbish1645

flux1651

ripe1720

ream1967

1720 A. Ramsay Poems 301 Then fling on Coals, and ripe the Ribs.

a1800 Robin Hood & Beggar in F. J. Child Eng. & Sc. Pop. Ballads (1888) III. v. 163/2 In the thick wood the beggar fled, Eer they riped their eyne.

1841 in Catholic News (1899) 3 June 15/4 She went afterwards to ‘ripe’ the fire.

1887 J. Service Life Dr. Duguid xii. 73 Robin ryped the dottle oot o' his pipe.

1895 W. C. Fraser Whaups of Durley xv. 209 I sometimes ripe oot Tammy's pipe.

1925 Trans. Dmf. & Gall. Antiq. Soc. 17 Bence, the plant stool-bent. The hard stems are used by the herds to ripe the pipe.

1946 Scots Mag. Dec. 219 Erchie lights the double-burner lamp..rypes the stove, and arrays the china mugs on one of the lockers.

1979 J. J. Graham Shetland Dict. 70/1 Dunna ripe da fire sae faerce, boy; du'll pit him oot.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	ripe
释义	† ripen.¹ Forms: Old English ripu (see note below), Middle English ripe. Origin: A word inherited from Germanic. Etymology: Cognate with Middle Low German rīpe , Old High German rīfī (German Reife ; rare before 18th cent.) < the same Germanic base as ripe adj. Compare ripeness n.Originally a Germanic īn-stem, which in Old English was, like other feminine abstract nouns of this declension, probably attracted to the ō-stems, although the nominative form rīpu is not attested (see A. Campbell Old Eng. Gram. (1959) §589.7). Obsolete. Ripeness. ΘΚΠ the world > plants > by age or cycles > [noun] > state of being or becoming ripe or mature ripingeOE ripenessOE ripeOE maturity?1440 ripening1561 maturation1621 superbience1672 coction1693 overripeness1806 blood-ripeness1826 the world > action or operation > undertaking > preparation > [noun] > state of being prepared or ready > state of being ripe or mature ripenessOE ripeOE melchheadc1350 perfectiona1398 perfecturea1552 maturity1568 matureness1661 age1795 development1803 coming of age1881 OE Paris Psalter (1932) cxviii. 147 And ic ðe on ripe forecom [L. praeveni in maturitate]. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Trin. Cambr.) l. 18834 (MED) His chere was dredeful on to loke..His heer like to þe note broun whenne hit for ripe [Vesp. ripnes] falleþ doun. a1500 (c1477) T. Norton Ordinal of Alchemy (BL Add.) (1975) l. 1280 (MED) For fowle & clene bi naturalle lawe Haue grete discorde, & so hath Ripe & rawe. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2010; most recently modified version published online December 2020). ripen.³ Brit. /rʌɪp/, U.S. /raɪp/ Forms: late Middle English rype (in a late copy), late Middle English– ripe. Origin: Probably of multiple origins. Probably partly a variant or alteration of another lexical item. Probably partly a borrowing from Latin. Etymons: English rīp; Latin rīpa. Etymology: Probably partly (especially in regional use) the reflex of Old English rīp (only in place names: see note), cognate with Middle Dutch rīpe riverbank, edge (of a page) (Dutch regional (north-eastern) rijp , ripe , riep pavement), Middle Low German ripe bank, shore (German regional (Low German: East Friesland) ripe , rîp riverbank, pavement, edge), Middle High German rīf riverbank, riverside timber-yard, export duty, Old Icelandic ríp cliff, cliff-edge (Icelandic ríp ; also rípur ridge, hill, gravel-bank, cliff-edge), Norwegian rip , (Bokmål) ripe edge, gunwale of a boat (perhaps < the same Germanic base as reap v.¹, and hence perhaps ultimately from the same Indo-European base as rive v.¹), and partly < classical Latin rīpa riverbank (see ripa n.²). The Latin word has sometimes been suggested as the etymon of the Germanic words cited above, but this is implausible given the widespread attestation and variety of sense of the latter. Compare earlier rive n.¹ Eng. Dial. Dict. (at cited word) records use from Sussex and Kent. Attested earlier in place names, as Ripp , Sussex (mid 8th cent.; also Ripe (1086), Rhip (12th cent. in a copy of a charter of 741); now Ripe), Fealcingrip , Kent (mid 10th cent.; now lost), Riptune , Huntingdonshire (1086; now Ripton), Rypthornes (field name), Broughton, Huntingdonshire (13th cent.; now Ripthornes); the original meaning of the word in these names is uncertain, perhaps ‘ridge of land’. The base is also attested as a place-name element in other Germanic languages; compare Akmarijp , Friesland, Netherlands (Old Frisian Akomerîp , West Frisian Eagmaryp ), Zeerijp , Groningen, Netherlands, Reif (mountain name), Czech Republic (Czech Říp ), Ríp , northern Iceland, Ribe , Denmark, etc.; compare also Ripuarian n. and adj. Now rare. The bank of a river; (also occasionally) the seashore. ΘΚΠ the world > the earth > land > land mass > shore or bank > seashore or coast > [noun] sea-warthc888 sea-rimOE sea-strandc1000 sandc1275 rive1296 bankc1350 sea-banka1375 sea-coasta1400 coastc1400 warthc1450 ripec1475 landsidec1515 seashore1526 banksidec1540 brinish brink1594 shorea1616 ore1652 outland1698 sea beach1742 table-shore1849 playa1898 treaty coast1899 treaty shore1901 beach1903 the world > the earth > land > land mass > shore or bank > bank > [noun] > of river sidec1275 rive1296 bankc1303 brae1330 riversidea1425 brook-sidec1450 ripec1475 pleyc1503 riverbanka1522 burn-sidec1540 greave1579 wharf1603 watera1800 riva1819 brook-bank1861 riverine1864 hag1886 c1475 ( J. Hardyng Chron. (Harl.) (1812) 419 (MED) Blak been thi bankes and thi ripes also, Thou sorowfull see full of stremys blak, Wher Pluto, kinge of Hell, reigneth in wo. 1543 ( Chron. J. Hardyng (1812) 30 (MED) This ysle of Albion had name Of the see bankes full whyte..That circuyte the ysle..for rypes and roches whyte To shipmen were greate gladnesse and delyte. a1552 J. Leland Itinerary (1710) I. 28 The Ripe of Trent againe it is low and medow Ground. 1577 W. Harrison Hist. Descr. Islande Brit. iii. xvii. f. 115/2, in R. Holinshed Chron. I On the left ripe (for so he [sc. Leland] calleth the bancke of euery brooke thorow out all his Englishe treatizes) of a pretie ryuer. 1691 A. Wood Athenæ Oxonienses I. 364 Their Ancestours, descended from the Bunneys of Bunney, a Town so called, near to the ripe of the River Loir. 1701 J. Prince Danmonii Orientales Illustres 333 The opposite ripe of that River. 1798 E. Hargrove Hist. Knaresborough (ed. 5) 246 On the ripe or bank of the river here, was formerly a marble quarry. 1838 W. Holloway Gen. Dict. Provincialisms Ripe, a bank; the sea-shore; as ‘Lydd Ripe’. 1880 Stringer in Archaeologia Cantiana 13 255 The rights of the inhabitants of Lydd to the ripe and common. 1900 Messiah Pulpit 9 Mar. 17 He was waiting in his Beulah, where the sun shineth always on the ripe of the river. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022). ripeadj.n.²adv. Brit. /rʌɪp/, U.S. /raɪp/ Forms: Old English– ripe, Middle English riip, Middle English rijp, Middle English rijpe, Middle English rippe, Middle English ryp, Middle English ryppe, Middle English–1600s rip, Middle English–1600s (1800s regional) rype, late Middle English rypy (probably transmission error); Scottish pre-1700 reyp, pre-1700 rip, pre-1700 ryip, pre-1700 ryipe, pre-1700 ryp, pre-1700 rype, pre-1700 1700s– ripe. Origin: A word inherited from Germanic. Etymology: Cognate with West Frisian ryp , †rijp , Middle Dutch rīpe , rijp , riep (Dutch rijp ), Old Saxon rīp , rīpi (Middle Low German rīpe , German regional (Low German) rīp ), Old High German rīfi , rīfe (Middle High German rīf , rīfe , German reif ), all showing a similar range of meanings < the same Germanic base as reap v.¹ (see discussion at that entry), probably with original sense ‘that which is (ready to be) reaped or harvested’. Compare rife adj.In sense A. 2 after the corresponding sense of classical Latin mātūrus mature adj. A. adj. 1. a. Of grain, fruit, etc.: having developed to the point of readiness for harvesting and eating, or for the dispersal of seed for propagation; that is at the full extent of natural growth.Also in the second element of compounds, as blood-, cherry-, red-, sheaf-ripe, etc. (see at first word). ΘΚΠ the world > plants > by age or cycles > [adjective] > ripe or ripened ripedOE ripeOE mature?1440 cherry-ripec1450 coct1497 thorough ripe1534 well-ripened1559 ripened1561 mellowy1612 summer-ripea1670 augusted1675 drop-ripe1829 blood-ripe1846 enripened1855 the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > crop or crops > [adjective] > ripe ripeOE murea1500 sheaf-ripe1879 OE tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. (Cambr. Univ. Libr.) i. ix. 44 Hi..slogan eall & cwealdon..; & swa swa ripe yrð fortreddon. lOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Bodl.) (2009) I. xxxix. 369 Be þæs cyninges gebode..se [wæ]stmbæra hærfest bryn[g]ð ripa bleda. c1225 (?c1200) St. Juliana (Royal) l. 570 (MED) Reope we of þet ripe sed þet we seowen. c1300 St. Brendan (Laud) l. 696 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 239 (MED) Þe Applene weren ripe inouȝ, riȝt ase it heruest were. 1340 Ayenbite (1866) 28 Þet corn..is uol of frut and al ripe. a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) i. l. 2822 The leves weren faire and large, Of fruit it bare so ripe a charge. a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) Lev. xxiii. 10 Ȝe schulen bere handfuls of eeris of corn, the firste fruytis of ȝoure rype corn, to the preest. 1483 Catholicon Anglicum (BL Add. 89074) (1881) 309 A Rype fige, precoqua, precox. a1500 (?a1450) Treat. Gardening l. 91 in Archaeologia (1894) 54 163 (MED) The sede..wul be rype at the full At lammasse of peter Apostull. 1579 E. K. in E. Spenser Shepheardes Cal. Nov. Gloss. We fall like rotted ripe fruite fro the tree. 1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) V. xii. 507 When the fruit is ripe, the first and outermost part openeth. 1676 M. Lister in J. Ray Corr. (1848) 124 I gathered the ears a little before they were ripe. 1744 W. Ellis Mod. Husbandman Feb. 139 The green French Pippin, green at the Ripest; which is a Winter-Apple. 1781 W. Cowper Heroism 54 Through the ripe harvest lies their destin'd road. 1832 J. Lindley Introd. Bot. i. ii. 186 It [sc. the aril] more properly comes under consideration along with the ripe seed. 1864 Ld. Tennyson Enoch Arden in Enoch Arden, etc. 25 If the nuts..be ripe again. 1904 Emu 3 235 The small Sanguineous Honey-eaters (Myzomela sanguinolenta) waged ceaseless war on the ripe figs. 1952 Sci. News Let. 26 July 59/1 The riper fruit becomes, the less pectin it contains. 1985 P. Farmer Eve iii. 25 An orchard of comfortable and aged-looking apple and pear trees, covered in ripe fruit. 2005 T. Hall Salaam Brick Lane v. 101 She liked shopping at Taj Stores, where she could buy every ingredient she needed to cook Indian food—as well as ripe Alfonso mangoes and pistachio kulfi. b. Of herbs or grass: ready to be harvested, mown, etc. Now rare. ΚΠ a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 125 Þe sonne comeþ in to þe signe þat hatte cancer, &..þat tyme hey is ripe [L. matura] in meedys. c1475 (?c1400) J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) III. 439 Herbis þat groweden in a orchard, and weren nyȝ rype. 1565 T. Cooper Thesaurus Prata arida, when the grasse is ripe, and redy to mow. 1652 P. Heylyn Cosmographie iv. ii. sig. Zzzz4 In the space of sixteen dayes Herbs and Roots will grow ripe, & be fit to be eaten. 1678 E. R. Experienced Farrier 76 Gather the Rind or Bark of any Simple when the Herb is ripe. 1730 S. Duck Poems 18 Before the Door our welcome Master stands, And tells us the ripe Grass requires our hands. 1752 L. Chappelow Comm. Bk. Job I. viii. 116 Ratab..is used in Chaldee, and frequently in Arabic, denoting the time that fruits and herbs grow ripe. 1846 Cultivator June 188/1 Admitting there is more substance in ripe grass, is it a kind of substance which affords more nourishment to animals. 1884 C. Neill tr. Virgil in Poet. Musings 159 Ripe downy herbs, by moonlight cut with brazen hooks and juices of black poison are diligently sought. 1913 C. Pettman Africanderisms 278 Koper draad,..Aristida sp. This name describes this grass when ripe... When ripe it is hard and wiry and of little worth as food for stock. 1939 Times 27 Mar. 18/7 Some forms of fibre, as for example, old, dead, ripe grass, never contain much water. 1987 D. Eddings Guardians of West 99 The golden tassels of the ripe grass. c. figurative and in figurative context: developed to the stage of being ready; mature, full. ΚΠ c1400 Bk. to Mother (Bodl.) 104 (MED) He..soweþ oure sedis; and whanne þei ben ripe, he wol ripe us wiþ his angelis and lede us up to his berne of þe blisse of heuene. c1439 in H. Anstey Epistolae Academicae Oxon. (1898) I. 184 Noryshed..with the rype frute of Konnyng in..the Universite of Oxon. ?a1475 G. Banester Guiscardo & Ghismonda (BL Add.) l. 483 in H. G. Wright Tales from Decameron (1937) 28 (MED) They with ioy nor gladness No koude hyr chere, so rype was hyr hewynesse. 1551 T. Wilson Rule of Reason sig. Ovii I meane not that honestie it self is so, for I neuer knew it ripe as yeat, but euer rawe. 1595 R. Southwell St. Peters Complaint To Rdr. sig. A3^v So ripe is vice, so greene is vertues bud: The world doth waxe in ill, but waine in good. 1613 T. Jackson Eternall Truth Script. i. 136 Vntill they be ripe of death in the Autumne. c1620 W. Mure Sonn. vi. 13 Those fayre brests' rype clusters quho myt presse. 1715 A. Pope Temple of Fame 41 When thus ripe Lyes are to perfection sprung,..Thro thousand Vents, impatient forth they flow. 1771 ‘Junius’ Stat Nominis Umbra (1772) II. lxvii. 308 When you are ripe, you shall be plucked. 1818 J. Keats Endymion ii. 72 Coverlids gold-tinted like the peach, Or ripe October's faded marigolds. 1861 C. Reade Cloister & Hearth xxxviii Thy beard is ripe, thy fellow's is green; he shall be the younger. 1903 H. James Ambassadors iv. viii. 112 There was a fascination for that companion in its not being, this ripe physiognomy, the face that, under observation at least, he had originally carried away. 1936 A. Rand We the Living ii. x. 352 It flung brief, blunt notes out into space, as if tearing them off the strings before they were ripe. 2004 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 9 Mar. c16/4 It is not the 1950's of ripe cinema goddesses but the decade of the adorable Z-movie geeks who appeared in films like ‘Plan 9 from Outer Space’. d. Esp. of the complexion or lips: resembling ripe fruit; red and full. ΘΚΠ the world > life > the body > skin > complexion > redness > [adjective] > of lips cherry-lipped1595 ripe1600 1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream iii. ii. 140 O, how ripe, in showe, Thy lippes, those kissing cherries, tempting growe! View more context for this quotation a1616 W. Shakespeare As you like It (1623) iii. v. 122 There was a pretty rednesse in his lip A little riper, and more lustie red Then that mixt in his cheeke. View more context for this quotation 1725 A. Ramsay Gentle Shepherd ii. iv. 33 Red cheeked you completely ripe appear. 1796 Berkeley Hall; or, Pupil of Experience II. ix. 82 What a luxury of love and joy in those ripe blushing lips! 1855 Ld. Tennyson Maud ii, in Maud & Other Poems 11 An underlip, you may call it a little too ripe, too full. 1894 H. Caine Manxman iii. iii With..her ripe mouth twitching merrily. 1911 P. H. Blades Don Sagasto's Daughter xx. 364 He really kissed a pair of the scarletest, ripest, dewiest lips that ever tempted an honest, mortal adoring lover! 1938 S. Spender Trial of Judge iv. 72 The fine globular fruit clustering around the ripe cheeks of our laughing children and young wives. 2005 E. J. Dickey Genevieve (2006) 70 I stand where I am, stare at her full lips, ripe lips that curve up even when she is living in anger. 2. Of a death: coming at what is seen as a fitting time, after a long or full life; timely. ΚΠ OE Antwerp Gloss. (1955) 145 Matura, ripe deaþ uel mitia mors. Inmatura, unripe deaþ. a1475 Sidrak & Bokkus (Lansd.) (Ph.D. diss., Univ. of Washington) (1965) l. 2514 (MED) Þre maneres of deeþis þer is: Oon þat noght ripe ne is, As of children þat beeþ ȝynge. 1612 J. Cotta Short Discouerie Dangers Ignorant Practisers Physicke iii. iii. 135 Thus maist thou both liue in more free content, and oft more happie daies, and die in thy full time by a ripe and mature death. ?1744 Epit. on Duchess of Marlborough in O. Colville Duchess Sarah (1904) 374 Who Can Lament a full Ripe Death, When 85 Resigns its breath? 1884 T. E. Page Q. Horatii Flacci Carminum Liber III 96 (note) Cease, daily nearer to a ripe death [L. maturo funeri], to sport amid young girls. 1986 Pastoral Psychol. 35 16 Death is a universal experience of loss. Sometimes it comes at the end of a full life—a ripe death. 3. a. Of a person: of mature judgement or knowledge; fully informed; thoroughly qualified by study and thought. Frequently in ripe scholar. Now rare.In quot. OE the glossator appears to have misunderstood the Latin (in which the sense of matura is clearly ‘fully grown’: compare sense A. 5b). ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > understanding > wisdom, sagacity > [adjective] > mature ripeOE fara1400 mature1667 adult1906 the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > scholarly knowledge, erudition > [adjective] > very learned ripeOE deepc1175 profoundc1300 well-lettereda1387 well-groundeda1438 sad1523 well-knowledged1595 solid1600 well-tutored1600 accomplished1603 grounded1613 deep-read1639 scientissimous1650 OE Sedulius Glosses (Corpus Cambr. 173) in F. Sandgren Otium et Negotium (1973) 212 Matura : wis, ripe [L. filia..unica, virgineis nec adhuc matura sub annis]. a1225 ( Rule St. Benet (Winteney) (1888) xlvi. 99 Beon ȝesette an odðe twa ealde swustre, wise an[d] ripe. a1225 (c1200) Vices & Virtues (1888) 135 Nis þat non god tocne of ripe manne. c1275 (?c1250) Owl & Nightingale (Calig.) (1935) 211 (MED) He is him ripe & fastrede; Ne lust him nu to none unrede. Remonstr. against Romish Corruptions (Titus) in Eng. Hist. Rev. (1911) 26 748 Iugis & mynistris of þe king..owen to be ripe men. c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Reeve's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) Prol. l. 21 We olde men..Til we be roten, kan we noght be rype. c1475 (?c1400) J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) III. 438 (MED) Crist sente hise apostlis, when þei weren rype, to diverse londis to sowe wateris of wisdom. a1568 R. Ascham Scholemaster (1570) ii. f. 42^v This exercise may bring moch profite to ripe heads. 1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie iii. xviii. 162 No lesse plaine to a ripe reader, then if it were named expresly. 1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII iv. ii. 51 He was a Scholler, and a ripe, and good one. View more context for this quotation 1657 J. Trapp Comm. Job xxxii. 6 Some young men are ripe betime, and more ready-headed than their ancients. 1695 in J. D. Marwick Rec. Convent. Royal Burghs Scotl. (1880) IV. 203 To the effect the royall borrowes may be the more rype and deliberat..as to [etc.]. 1719 E. Settle Threnodia Apollinaris 6 So early Ripe the Lab'ring Student grew. 1867 A. Trollope Last Chron. Barset I. i. 7 Mr. Crawley in his early days had been a ripe scholar. 1883 S. C. Hall Retrospect Long Life I. 367 A ripe scholar and in many ways an eloquent teacher. 1905 W. J. Locke Morals of Marcus Ordeyne (1906) i. x. 130 He is a ripe and whimsical scholar. 1941 Times 17 Feb. 5/4 The writer in the Literary Supplement told a pretty tale of a ripe scholar who kept a large Bodoni Virgil to read. 1999 D. Dalen Mystic i. 25 Carel, as the older and riper person, guided Bertus into the world of art and into the more worldly aspects of life. b. Of the mind: that displays mature judgement or knowledge. Of judgement, etc.: characterized by maturity and experience. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > discernment, discrimination > [adjective] > showing sound judgement stablec1290 ripec1405 judging1546 sound1577 judiciala1586 judicious1598 judgmatical1709 well-judged1717 judgmatic1787 veracious1851 c1405 (c1395) G. Chaucer Clerk's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 220 Thogh this mayde tendre were of age Yet in the brest of hir virginitee Ther was enclosed rype and sad corage. 1438 in F. B. Bickley Little Red Bk. Bristol (1900) II. 168 (MED) Which Crafte..is gretely sclaundred..withoute it be remedied be your most sadde and ripe discrecions. 1483 W. Caxton tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende 339/2 A longe vysage or chyere and enclyned, whiche is a signe of maturyte or rype sadnes. a1500 (a1450) tr. Secreta Secret. (Ashm. 396) (1977) 40 (MED) Wonderstande wele that ripe discrecion, wele handled, is glory of mageste. 1567 Compend. Bk. Godly Songs (1897) 106 With mynde rype and degest. a1591 H. Smith Wks. (1867) I. 476 Every man thinks his own wit ripest. a1616 W. Shakespeare Two Gentlemen of Verona (1623) ii. iv. 68 His head vn-mellowed, but his Iudgement ripe . View more context for this quotation 1647 J. Sprigge Anglia Rediviva ii. ii. 68 A Gentleman..of a most dexterous and ripe invention for all such things. 1693 J. Dryden Disc. conc. Satire in J. Dryden et al. tr. Juvenal Satires p. xii His Natural Endowments, of a large Invention, a ripe Judgment, and a strong Memory. 1745 R. Mead Mech. Acct. Poisons (ed. 3) Advt. p. iv The reasonings upon them would often require more patient thinking, and a riper judgment. 1788 T. Reid Aristotle's Logic vi. § i. 136 The most important parts of this science require a ripe understanding. 1871 B. Disraeli Lothair Pref. p. xviii His intimates only were acquainted with his..ripe scholarship. 1894 H. Drummond Lowell Lect. Ascent of Man 164 Mind, in Man, does not start into being fully ripe. 1932 S. Gibbons Cold Comfort Farm (1938) 8 The only beauty that lights your pages is the grave peace of fulfilled passion,and the ripe humour that lies over your minor characters like a mellow light. 1993 T. A. B. Corley in J. Brown & M. B. Rose Entrepreneurship i. ii. 18 A businessman required a ripe judgement and experience, since there was a learning process with knowledge. c. Of a person: mature in judgement, experienced, or informed in (also upon) a matter, quality, etc. Now somewhat rare. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > scholarly knowledge, erudition > intellectual command, mastery > [adjective] well-learedeOE well-learned1425 ripe1458 well-informeda1500 well-studied1530 travailed1551 great1552 learned1556 read1574 well-read1574 long on1875 1458 in J. Raine Testamenta Eboracensia (1855) II. 228 (MED) Sir Thomas..requirith his..executors yat yai..make prevay for the executyng of..his wille Robert Clifton..and Thomas Nevill..be cawse yai have been moost ripe ther ine. a1500 Partenay (Trin. Cambr.) l. 7 A man ful ripe in other clerigie. 1525 in State Papers Henry VIII (1849) VI. 397 Almost impossible it shuld be to make the Poopes Holynes so ripe in the Kinges particuler causes as were nedefull. 1549 Forme & Maner consecratyng Archebishoppes sig. G.iiii Ye maie waxe riper and stronger in youre Ministerye. 1615 G. Sandys Relation of Journey 218 As sound in judgement as ripe in experience. 1699 W. Dampier Voy. & Descr. i. iii. 60 Money changing..is managed by Women, who are very dextrous and ripe in this Employment. 1723 R. Wodrow Corr. (1843) III. 11 I cannot say I am so ripe upon that subject as to answer the difficulty Mr. Masterton moves. 1752 W. Guthrie tr. Cicero Epist. Atticus I. i. i. 2 As I knew, you to be ripe in the Matter, I chose that Peduceus, rather than I, should give you Advice of it by Letters. 1847 H. W. Longfellow Evangeline i. iii. 11 Ripe in wisdom was he. 1873 Pop. Sci. Monthly Feb. 511 Many people reach the age of fifty, sixty, or even seventy, measurably free from most of the pains and infirmities of age, cheery in heart, and sound in health, ripe in wisdom and experience. 1910 F. L. Dyer & T. C. Martin Edison I. vi. 111 He was far riper in experience and practice of his art than any other telegrapher of his age. 1954 R. C. Chambliss Social Thought i. iv. 96 He could not trust wholly the dictates of his own heart until he was ripe in wisdom. 4. Properly considered or deliberated; matured by reflection or study. Now rare. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > thought > continued thinking, reflection, contemplation > thinking about, consideration, deliberation > [adjective] > weighed mentally, considered > with due deliberation ripec1230 mure deliberation1442 mature1454 studieda1616 c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 59 Ripe wordes, lates ripe & werkes bilimpeð to ancre. a1350 (c1250) Prov. Hendyng (Harl.) l. 84 in K. Böddeker Altengl. Dichtungen (1878) 291 He wol speke wordes grene, Er þen hue buen rype. c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Melibeus (Hengwrt) (2003) §231 Thow shalt also eschue the conseilyng of yong folk for hir conseil is nat rype. 1439–40 Rolls of Parl.: Henry VI (Electronic ed.) Parl. Nov. 1439 §17. m. 14 The gode and effectuell execucion of the kynges saide entent, asketh a gode and a ripe deliberacion and avys. a1500 ( J. Yonge tr. Secreta Secret. (Rawl.) (1898) 179 (MED) Tyberius, the Emperoure of Rome, in al his dedis was taryynge, and wythout ripe consaille nothynge he didd. 1540 Act 32 Hen. VIII c. 26 The true diffinition..therof requierith ripe and mature deliberation and advise. 1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie iii. xiv. 97 b Yeres and long experience..brought more wisdome and rype doctrine. 1638 F. Junius Painting of Ancients 42 Such Images as after a ripe debate were found to admit an explication consenting with Nature. 1682 A. Marsh Ten Pleasures of Marriage vii. 118 After a ripe deliberation of the good woman, the lot fell so that she made choice of this grave and experienced Midwife. ?1793 T. Priestley New Hist. Life Jesus Christ xiii. 320 Upon a full hearing, ripe deliberation, and exquisitely-judicial proceeding, we have sentenced this malefactor to death. 1841 E. Robinson Bibl. Res. Palestine I. vi. 334 By ripe deliberation and mutual concession, to arrive in every case at some conclusion in which all might cordially unite. 1881 A. Austin Savonarola ii. iii. 93 He is too young, and of too crude a brain To give ripe counsel. 1910 Jrnl. Amer. Inst. Criminal Law & Criminol. 1 351 The conclusions of a municipal judge in a metropolitan center are..the product of a considerable first-hand experience and ripe deliberation. 1949 Times 22 Apr. 9/7 We shall very much miss his ripe counsel and advice. 5. a. Of a bird or other animal: fully fledged or developed; esp. having reached a fit condition for being killed and used as food. Also: sexually mature.In quot. 1575: figurative. With ripe peeler (in quot. 1952) cf. peeler n.¹ 4. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > family unit > [adjective] > mature ripec1325 greata1375 flight-ripe1398 well-moutheda1425 staggy1933 c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 3673 (MED) Wanne hor briddes rype beþ, Þer hii findeþ more mete, in londes aboute hii fleþ. a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 143 Suche hawkes beþ cruel aȝenste hire briddes so þat þey bynemeþ hem mete whanne þey ben flegge ripe [L. cum sint habiles ad volandum]. 1575 R. B. Apius & Virginia C 8 Under the Hedge with a payre of new Cardes both rip and fledge. 1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry iv. f. 169 To fatte Pigions..it is good to bring them to the Kitchin, before they be full rype. 1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 582 A little Kyd..being ripe, the maister killed it, and layed it before the Panther to be eaten. 1623 C. Butler Feminine Monarchie (rev. ed.) sig. H3^v The Bees assoone as they haue bred their first brood of females, doe presently breed Drones..(both which, when they are ripe, multiply together). 1762 tr. Comte de Buffon Nat. Hist. Horse 161 The female [ass] is even sooner ripe than the male, and full as lascivious. 1837 W. Macgillivray Hist. Brit. Birds II. 403 I caught the birds with much difficulty in a trap-cage when their young were nearly ripe. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. of Farm II. 94 A ripe sheep..is easily known..by the fulness exhibited in all the external parts. 1889 Pall Mall Gaz. 14 May 3/1 The ducklings..must be killed as soon as they are ready, and not kept a day longer than the hour when they are ripe. 1952 Sun (Baltimore) 23 June (B ed.) 12/5 Language peculiar only to soft-crabbing... Ripe peeler—Has the same characteristics as the ‘green peeler’ but is more advanced in the shedding process. b. Of a person: fully developed in body or mind; mature, fully grown; (also) †marriageable (obsolete). Cf. sense A. 8a.husband-, market-ripe: see at the first word.Earlier currency is perhaps shown by the use in quot. OE at sense A. 3a (see note at that sense). ΘΚΠ the world > people > person > adult > [adjective] mucha1154 of (formerly also at, to) agec1300 perfect agec1384 full-growna1393 ripea1393 greatc1515 adult1531 maturate1556 mellowed1575 mellow1592 full-aged1596 mature1609 timed1611 grown-upa1640 adulted1645 grown1645 upgrown1667 matured1805 coming of age1858 the world > life > source or principle of life > age > maturity > [adjective] oldlyOE rankOE ripedOE thowenc1200 waxena1325 ripea1393 thrivena1400 provect1531 big1552 mellowed1575 adulted1645 full agea1658 adult1742 ripeful?1836 unyouthful1859 untender1879 maturish1885 society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > fitness for marriage > [adjective] marriable1440 wedlockable1558 marriageablea1575 weddable1611 ripe1616 a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) ii. 2579 (MED) This mihti Soldan be his wif A Dowhter hath..Sche scholde ben hir fader hair, And was of yeres ripe ynowh. c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Physician's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 68 Festes, reuels, and..daunces..Swiche thyng maken children for to be To soone rype and boold. a1450 (c1412) T. Hoccleve De Regimine Principum (Harl. 4866) (1897) 1642 (MED) Among þe ryche also is an vsage, Eche of hem his childe vn-to oþres wedde, Þogh þei be al to yong & tendre of age, No-wher my [perh. read ny] ripe ynow to go to bedde. a1500 in R. L. Greene Early Eng. Carols (1935) 268 (MED) Women..Som be browne, and some be whit..And some of theym be chiry ripe. a1535 T. More Hist. Richard III in Wks. (1557) 56/2 They were coupled ere she wer wel ripe. 1563 W. Baldwin et al. Myrrour for Magistrates (new ed.) ii. 148 These two noble ympes I caused to be slayne, Of yeares not ful rype as yet to rule and raygne. 1616 B. Jonson Forrest ii. 54 in Wks. I Some..send By their ripe daughters, whom they would commend This way to husbands. 1617 Despauterii Grammaticæ Institutionis Lib. VII (new ed.) 45 Puber, ripe of age to engender. 1745 P. Morris Favour'd Moment Pref. p. iv Happiness salutes us in every Stage of Life, it springs to the Infant from its Mother's Breast, it moulds itself into a Toy for the riper Child. 1785 W. Cowper Task vi. 598 He..being ripe in years, And conscious of the outrage he commits. 1837 W. Wordsworth White Doe of Rylstone (new version) iii, in Poet. Wks. (new ed.) IV. 74 (Ripe men, or blooming in life's spring).., Stood by their Sire, on Clifford-moor. 1876 ‘G. Eliot’ Daniel Deronda IV. viii. lx. 202 Since I was a ripe man, I have been what I am now. 1904 J. W. Streeter Doctor Tom iii. 24 Ruth Raymond, at twenty-five, was a ripe, beautiful woman. 1949 G. Davenport Family Fortunes i. iv. 54 I swear, Martha, if I'd of met you when you was still ripe, I'd have left Hattie's mother, kids and all, to follow you clear to California, I would. 1991 J. Barth Last Voy. Somebody the Sailor 361 Yasmīn, while unquestionably still virginal, was a ripe young woman. c. Of a fetus: that has developed to the stage of being ready for birth. Also in figurative context. Now rare. ΘΚΠ the world > life > source or principle of life > birth > confinement > [adjective] > giving birth > ready for birth ripe1565 near-term1930 1565 T. Cooper Thesaurus Fœtus maturos edere, to brynge foorth yonge when they be rype. 1597 W. Shakespeare Richard II ii. ii. 10 Some vnborne sorrow ripe in Fortunes wombe, Is comm[i]ng towardes me. View more context for this quotation 1609 T. Heywood Troia Britanica ix. 197 In my Mothers wombe full ripe I lay, Ready the first houre to be hold the day. 1695 J. Pechey Store-house Physical Pract. cvi. 401 Whether alive or dead Child be brought forth not being ripe, nor having attained to the just growth in the Womb, it is to be termed abortive. 1732 A. Monro Anat. Humane Bones (ed. 2) ii. 296 The superior Extremity of this third Phalanx is a Cartilage in a ripe Child. 1782 J. Aitken Elements Theory & Pract. Physic & Surg. II. 457 Parturition... The expulsion of the ripe child and after-birth from the womb. 1869 Trans. Eclectic Med. Soc. N.Y. 1868 200 in Docs. Assembly State N.Y. (92nd Session, Doc. No. 71) How am I to get the foetus from your womb before it is ripe, without injury to that delicate and important organ? 1884 Amer. Jrnl. Obstetr. 17 1300 Birth of a living, ripe child, who was attacked on the eleventh day with variola syphilitica on the soles of the feet. 1914 H. O. Taylor Mediaeval Mind (ed. 2) II. vii. xliii. 554 Was the embryo ripe, that the womb had become its mephitic prison? 2005 L. Gasparini Broken World 110 I think of the ripe fetus that floats in the moon of your belly. d. Medicine and Zoology. Of an egg (or sperm) cell: mature; ready to undergo (or undertake) fertilization. Also (of an ovarian follicle): ready to release an egg cell. ΚΠ 1674 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 9 11 These Eggs, when ripe, are cast out. 1716 Rational Acct. Nat. Weaknesses Women (ed. 2) 66 It..makes the Ova, or Eggs in the Ovaria, full, ripe, and apt to be fœcundated. 1762 J. Cook New Theory Generation 21 For the gradual Expulsion of these Vesicles or Eggs when ripe, from the said Cells of the Ovary, this Corpus luteum..is very useful and necessary. 1800 Trans. Dublin Soc. 1799 1 ii. 127 Their eggs and milts are ripe and abundant, in the months of December and January. 1876 A. S. Packard Life Hist. Animals 79 The ovaries open externally on the pinnules of the arms... The ripe eggs hang for three or four days from the opening like a bunch of grapes. 1932 T. H. Morgan Sci. Basis Evol. vii. 164 The ripe spermatozoa contain each a Z-chromosome. 1949 H. W. C. Vines Green's Man. Pathol. (ed. 17) xxxvi. 1006 Progesterone [is] derived from the corpus luteum which is formed after the ripe follicle has ruptured and ovulation has occurred. 2000 L. R. Schover & A. J. Thomas Overcoming Male Infertility i. 7 In any type of IVF, the woman takes hormone injections to stimulate her ovaries to produce a number of ripe eggs. e. Of a fish, insect, etc.: ready to lay eggs or release sperm. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > fish > [adjective] > ready to spawn or full of spawn fulla1398 roed1598 ripe1853 1853 Times 9 Dec. 5/6 Two fine female fish ripe for spawning. 1861 R. T. Hulme tr. C. H. Moquin-Tandon Elements Med. Zool. ii. iii. i. 78 The insect is collected..towards the end of the month of June, when the females are ripe [Fr. mûres]. 1868 W. Peard Pract. Water-farming viii. 85 Out of twenty, or thirty fish, not more than two or three will in all probability be found ripe. 1920 Times 26 June 17/5 There are always possible breeding-places which cannot be removed or securely protected by wire gauze against the access of the ripe females [sc. mosquitoes]. 1947 F. C. Edminster Fish Ponds for Farm i. 3 In 1420, a monk named Dom Pinchon is supposed to have conceived the means of artificially fecundating trout eggs by pressing out the spawn and milt, in turn, from ripe female and male fish. 1997 Aquaculture Feb. 10/1 When the female is what we call ‘ripe’, we gently remove the eggs from the fish. 6. a. Fully prepared, ready, or able, to do or undergo something. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > undertaking > preparation > [adjective] > prepared or ready i-radc888 yarec888 i-redec1000 i-redya1175 boundc1175 graith?c1225 aready1250 alreadyc1275 readyc1275 armedc1300 prestc1300 bentc1330 ripec1330 purveyed1435 mature?1440 apt1474 habile1485 in (a) case to (also for)1523 provided1533 in procinct1540 weeping-ripe1548 furnished1553 fit1569 preta1600 expedite1604 predy1613 procinct1618 foreprepared1642 presto1644 apparated1663 (ready) in one's gears1664 fallow1850 standby1893 organized1926 (to be) all set1949 c1330 Roland & Vernagu (Auch.) (1882) l. 312 (MED) Braunches of vines charls sett In marche moneþ..& amorwe grapes þai bere, Red & ripe to kerue þere. c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. v. 396 (MED) Sholde no ryngynge do me ryse ar I were rype to dyne. c1400 Comm. on Canticles (Bodl. 288) in T. Arnold Sel. Eng. Wks. J. Wyclif (1871) III. 61 (MED) For now I am riip to dye. ?1462 J. Paston in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) I. 105 What incidentes ye knowe, I preie yow by wrytinge certefie me in all hast, þat I may be þe more ripe to answer to þis. 1543 R. Record Ground of Artes i. sig. F.vii You shal be rype and perfecte to subtracte any other summe lyghtly. 1595 S. Daniel First Fowre Bks. Ciuile Warres iv. lxxix. sig. Y Where states are ripe to fall, and vertue spent. 1606 T. Heywood 2nd Pt. If you know not Me sig. G Sweet youth thou art too yong, and yet scarse ripe To taste the sweetnesse of my mellowed loue. 1675 A. Marvell Let. 21 Dec. in Poems & Lett. (1971) II. 285 That I might at the same time be ripe to giue you account of your businesse. 1768 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. III. 450 The cause is then ripe to be set down for hearing. 1788 T. Jefferson Writings (1859) II. 548 It does not appear to me that the nation is ripe to accept of these. 1815 W. Wordsworth White Doe of Rylstone ii. 27 But now the inly-working North Was ripe to send its thousands forth. 1875 A. Helps Educ. Man Business in Ess. 66 He will let opportunities grow before his eyes, until they are ripe to be seized. 1908 J. London Iron Heel x. 170 Beaten on their chosen field, they were ripe to seek revenge. 1985 ‘J. Kincaid’ Annie John (1986) iv. 68 Almonds, nutmegs, cloves, dasheen, cassavas, all depending on what was ripe to be harvested. b. With preceding noun: fully prepared or ready for the action or thing specified, as Bedlam-, gallows-, rope-ripe, etc. (see at the first word).Recorded earliest in flight-ripe adj. at flight n.¹ Compounds 2 (1398). c. Ready or fit for some end or purpose. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > undertaking > preparation > [adjective] > prepared or ready > for some purpose ripe?a1500 ?a1500 in C. Brown Relig. Lyrics 15th Cent. (1939) 246 (MED) Liffe so that deth take the yn sesone, ffor deth to make the ripe, I shal teche the thynges three, Which, and thou vse, owte of sesone thou can not dye. 1606 No-body & Some-body sig. I2^v I know by your complexion you wer ripe for the hangman. 1642 T. Fuller Holy State iv. i. 242 These Reversions will be ripe for his heir, by that time his heir shall be ripe for them. a1682 Sir T. Browne Certain Misc. Tracts (1683) 169 Ripe and ready for destruction. 1701 W. Wotton Hist. Rome v. 77 His Designs were not ripe enough for Execution. 1768 O. Goldsmith Good Natur'd Man v. 68 It goes no farther, things are not yet ripe for a discovery. 1781 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall (1787) II. xviii. 111 The conspiracy was ripe for execution. 1808 C. Vancouver Gen. View Agric. Devon xi. 299 Salt-marsh,..when ripe and ready for embankment. 1885 Manch. Examiner 12 May 5/1 The plans of the Government..are not yet ripe for criticism. 1921 R. Graves Pier-glass 49 Was Sisera then more ripe for the knife or nail Than rat-soul'd Becker? 1940 W. L. Shirer Berlin Diary (1941) 378 Stuka dive-bombers are softening the Allied defense positions, making them ripe for an easy attack. 1980 K. Amis Russian Hide & Seek iii. 34 But I should have thought anybody not a female or a child could have seen that Mrs Korotchenko was ripe for the plucking. 2005 C. Tudge Secret Life Trees xiv. 366 Agrarian economies that have ticked along for thousands of years in perfect harmony with their surroundings are said to be ‘stagnant’, and ‘ripe for development’. d. With preceding gerund. Cf. also swooning-ripe adj. at swooning n. Compounds, weeping-ripe adj. at weeping n. Compounds 2. Now archaic (and poetic) in reeling ripe adj. ΚΠ 1548 T. Cooper Bibliotheca Eliotæ (rev. ed.) Lachrymabundus,..weepyng rype. 1573 T. Twyne tr. Virgil in T. Phaer & T. Twyne tr. Virgil Whole .xii. Bks. Æneidos xii. Mm iv Dying-ripe with nayles her purple robes in ragges she hales. 1589 W. Warner Albions Eng. (new ed.) vi. xxx. 132 Her Lubber now was snorting ripe. 1600 R. Armin Foole vpon Foole sig. D1^v In an enuious spleene smarting ripe, [he] runnes after him. a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) v. i. 282 He is drunke now;..And Trinculo is reeling ripe. a1616 W. Shakespeare Comedy of Errors (1623) i. i. 77 The Sailors..left the ship then sinking ripe to vs. View more context for this quotation a1625 J. Fletcher Womans Prize ii. i, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Nnnnn4/2 He's like little Children That loose their Bables, crying ripe. 1683 I. Walton Chalkhill's Thealma & Clearchus 112 With that he leaps unto her cursing ripe. 1711 J. Dennis Ess. Publick Spirit 15 British Maids, who in the Times of our Henries were not held marriageable til turn'd of Twenty, are now become falling ripe at twelve, forc'd to Prematureness by the Heat of adventitious Fire. e. Quite prepared (and eager) for action of some kind, esp. mischief, revolt, etc. ΘΚΠ the world > time > a suitable time or opportunity > [adjective] timelyOE tidefula1300 tidya1375 duea1387 timefula1400 seasonablec1412 convenient1415 opportunec1425 seasonedc1440 tempestivous1574 timed1592 ripe1595 well-timed1604 opportuneful1605 mature1608 advantageous1609 opportunous1609 punctual1611 tempestive1611 timeousa1626 time-serving1627 timed1656 tidive?17.. 1595 S. Daniel First Fowre Bks. Ciuile Warres v. cxviii. sig. Ee4^v Mischiefe was not full ripe for such a deede. a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry V (1623) i. ii. 121 My thrice-puissant Liege Is..Ripe for Exploits and mightie Enterprises. View more context for this quotation 1659 T. Burton Diary (1828) IV. 6 You are not ripe for judgment. One affirms, the other denies. a1662 P. Heylyn Cyprianus Anglicus (1668) 3 Those libels..inflamed the people, till they had made them ripe for mischeife. 1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Voy. round World by Anson ii. xiv. 282 The Indians, on almost every frontier, were ripe for a revolt. 1777 W. Robertson Hist. Amer. II. vi. 265 Where there were disappointed leaders ripe for revolt..it was not difficult to kindle combustion. 1835 E. Bulwer-Lytton Rienzi I. ii. vii. 285 Are thy friends ripe for the saddle? 1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. vii. 191 England, though heated by grievances, was by no means ripe for revolution. 1879 F. W. Farrar Life & Work St. Paul I. vi. xxi. 385 The mob were only too ripe for a tumult. 1904 Contemp. Rev. June 806 In praeter-diplomatic ways..Mr. Chamberlain received excellent grounds for believing that Germany was ripe for an alliance with Great Britain. 1947 P. Newton Wayleggo (1949) ix. 103 By the time the dance was under way I was as ‘full as a bull’ and ripe for anything. 2003 G. Burn North of Eng. Home Service (2004) iv. 120 All they mostly were was a collection of small-time, coarse and common grober yung ripe for any mischief. 7. a. Of a natural product, etc.: that has arrived at a mature or perfect state; fully matured, ready to be used or consumed. In early use esp. of honey and oil; in later use frequently of cheese. Also figurative. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > undertaking > preparation > [adjective] > prepared or ready > mature or matured digesta1398 ripea1398 fledge1398 concoct1534 seasoned1545 well-seasoned1545 ripened1561 seeded1567 fledged1579 thorough-seasoned1605 matured1626 well-matured1626 advanced1646 concocted1647 digested1657 well-digested1657 predigested1663 maturated1698 drop-ripe1724 well-developed1769 mellowed1798 fully-fledged1906 a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 288 Whanne hony bigynneþ to be rype [L. matura], he dryueþ hem alway fro þe hony and punyscheþ hem and chaseþ. ?a1425 MS Hunterian 95 f. 162^v (MED) Take oile þat is menelie ripe..& sex ounce of mastik and boile hem in a doubel vessel. c1475 ( Surg. Treat. in MS Wellcome 564 f. 71 (MED) Þou schalt helden in to þat wounde oile of rosis swote smellynge þat is maad of oile de oliue þat is not ripe. 1525 tr. H. von Brunschwig Noble Experyence Vertuous Handy Warke Surg. liii. sig. M ^v/2 Þe rype oyle olyue is good to make rype þe yl accident. 1597 Bp. J. King Lect. Ionas xxxii. 424 When the honey is ripe they drive them [sc. the drones] from their dwellings. 1656 A. Cowley Davideis iv. 142 in Poems Clouds with ripe Thunder charg'ed some thither drew. 1698 Golden Age 10 Their Gold is twofold, viz. Ripe Gold and Crude Gold. 1700 S. L. tr. C. Schweitzer Relation Voy. in tr. C. Frick & C. Schweitzer Relation Two Voy. E.-Indies 316 There are People to look every year, and see whether the Pearls are ripe. 1726 A. Pope tr. Homer Odyssey IV. xvii. 30 With riper beams when Phœbus warms the day. 1808 C. Vancouver Gen. View Agric. Devon x. 268 It is much to be lamented that the ripe timber only had not been selected. 1865 T. Richardson & H. Watts Chem. Technol. (ed. 2) II. iv. 294 The successive operations to which the ripe earth is submitted, are undertaken for the purpose of separating the nitrates from it. 1910 Encycl. Brit. VII. 749/2 Lancashire cheese, when well made and ripe, is loose in texture and is mellow. 1949 Sci. News Let. 16 Apr. 250/1 He must know the best logging procedures to get out the ripe timber without injury to the younger trees. 2004 F. Lawrence Not on Label 235 Madalena Bonino, the Italian chef who runs it, will give me a new cheese to try—a meltingly ripe yet fresh soft cheese like the Lo Straccino I'd never heard of, perhaps. b. Of alcoholic drink: advanced to the state of being ready for use; fully matured, mellow. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > types or qualities of intoxicating liquor > [adjective] > mature ripec1400 well-brewed1570 reserve2006 c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xviii. 368 May no drynke..my thruste slake, Tyl þe vendage falle in þe vale of iosephath, Þat I drynke riȝte ripe must. a1500 ( J. Yonge tr. Secreta Secret. (Rawl.) (1898) 245 (MED) Hit nedyth to vse in this tymes hote mettys and..good Swete wyne and ripe. 1562 W. Fulwood tr. G. Gratarolus Castel of Mem. ii. sig. C.i ^v The wine must be red, ripe & alaied with water. 1607 J. Harington tr. J. de Mediolano Englishmans Docter sig. A8^v In measure drinke, let wine be ripe, not thicke. a1665 K. Digby Closet Opened (1669) 32 When it is cold, put in it six spoonfuls of barm, and when it is ripe, it will hiss in the pail. 1742 W. Ellis London & Country Brewer (ed. 4) I. 80 Nor will they be so soon ripe and fit to tap as the high dried Malt-Drink will. 1789 W. Cullen Treat. Materia Medica I. i. 414 Ripe and perfect wine..is fit to strengthen the stomach. 1834 Tennyson in Memoir (1897) I. 134 He..Gives stouter ale and riper port Than any in the country-side. 1853 A. Ure Dict. Arts (ed. 4) I. 158 The casks..in which the ripe beer is kept and exported. 1916 P. Bottome Dark Tower i. ix. 105 They drank velvety ripe old port. 1930 P. G. Wodehouse Very Good, Jeeves iv. 102 Having got me in sporting mood with a bottle of the ripest. 2000 Wine May 11/1 While you're waiting for it to mature, enjoy this ripe, sappy Riesling, with its lemon and lime fruit, toasty, minerally hints and a streak of honey. c. Of an abscess, pustule, etc.: that has come to a head; that is ready to discharge its contents or to be drained. Also: ready for curative or definitive treatment. Cf. mature adj. 6. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > suppuration > [adjective] > abscess > stage of ripec1425 pointing1880 c1425 Edward, Duke of York Master of Game (Vesp. B.xii) (1904) 55 (MED) Menge þis erbis..and lay som vpon þe botches, and þat shal make hem ripe, and whan þei be ripe, slitt hem wiþ a sharpe knyff. ?a1450 Agnus Castus (Stockh.) (1950) 175 (MED) Þis herbe is good to makyn skabbys rype. a1500 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (Wellcome) f. 24 (MED) No wounde that hath enpostume shall not be soweded till þat it be rype and swellyng and Akyng sesyd. ?1550 H. Llwyd tr. Pope John XXI Treasury of Healthe sig. a.ii^v Horsnesse, and continuall fluxion of snevil in old men, do in no means waxe rype. 1580 T. Blundeville Foure Offices Horsemanship (rev. ed.) iv. xxxv. 17 Thrust it in..so as the point of the iron may come out at the ripest place. 1743 tr. N. Andry Orthopædia II. 116 Repeat this several times a day, till the Pustules of the Small-Pox are quite ripe. 1810 E. Weeton Let. 25 Feb. (1969) I. 240 I have had another boil on my face... I neither lanced, nor poulticed it, but when ripe, let the matter out with a needle. 1889 Lancet 16 Nov. 994/1 In 1888 I operated on twenty-six ripe cataracts. 1906 Edinb. Med. Jrnl. 19 297 From these specimens I am able to illustrate the anatomy of the lesion in three stages—(1) the quiescent focus; (2) the ripe abscess; (3) the abscess after it has ruptured and discharged externally. 1987 E. Chaney Eyes Have It i. 25 Once a ripe cataract develops in one eye, physicians often remove the lens in both eyes, even though the ‘good’ eye has only the bare beginnings of a cataract. 2005 A. Lovejoy Acid Alex vii. 116 I saw ous suck the etter out of ripe boils with five fat white heads in one hole. d. Of a flavour or scent: characteristic of a food or drink in its ripened state; rich, intense; pungent. Hence (in later use) of body odour: pungent, rank. ΚΠ 1693 W. Congreve in J. Dryden tr. Juvenal Satires xi. 224 Apples, of a Ripe Flavour [L. odoris mala recentis], Fresh and Fair. 1820 F. Accum Treat. Adulterations of Food 272 Oak saw-dust, and a spirituous tincture of raisin stones, are likewise used to impart to new brandy and rum a ripe taste, resembling brandy or rum long kept in oaken casks. 1837 Gardener's Mag. Sept. 405 They have not the ripe smell that is peculiar to truffles. 1878 T. Hardy Return of Native (1990) ii. ii. 110 Another nook, where more mellow fruit greeted her with its ripe smell. 1920 R. Curle Wanderings vi. 76 I sucked a piece of fresh cane and experienced, at last, the real, ripe flavour of the raw sugar. 1962 J. H. Giles Voy. to Santa Fe xxii. 268 Jesse, he smells right ripe, though likely you ain't noticed it. 1991 O. Clarke Webster's Wine Guide 1992 45/2 The wines are not big, but are almost creamy in their gorgeous ripe taste, deliciously so. 2002 N. Griffiths Kelly + Victor 26 I..am acutely aware of the smell, the stink, the ripe bleedin stench rising up from me crotch an armpits. e. Obstetrics. Of the cervix: fully effaced (softened and retracted); ready for the expulsion of the fetus. Also: designating this condition. ΚΠ 1886 Boston Med. & Surg. Jrnl. 115 403/2 The cervix..was not in that ripe and mature condition that commonly requires nine months for its full development. 1940 Amer. Jrnl. Surg. 48 106/1 The careful medical management of the toxaemic patient..will usually prevent further increase in the severity of the symptoms and signs until the cervix is ‘ripe’. 1981 S. Kitzinger Experience of Childbirth (ed. 4) ix. 210 The cervical canal..gets shorter and shorter until the cervix is of the same thickness as the uterine wall. The cervix is now said to be ‘taken up’ or ‘ripe’ for labour. 2009 South Carolina Lawyers Weekly (Nexis) 23 Feb. The fetal monitor showed the mother was having contractions, although her cervix was not ripe and the baby was still high in the pelvis. f. Of dough: that has proved (undergone fermentation) sufficiently to allow its gluten to reach the desired state of elasticity. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > preparation for table or cooking > preparation of bread > [adjective] > ready for sealing ripe1902 1902 E. Braun Baker's Bk. II. 369 A dough that would be overripe for two pound loaves is only ripe for rolls or one that is just ripe enough for very crusty bread, baked in a hot oven, would be overripe for very crumby bread. 1919 Chem. Abstr. 13 47 When ripe, the dough is cut up, proved and baked in a slow oven. 1949 A. R. Daniel Bakers' Dict. Ripe dough, technical term for a dough ready for scaling having received a period of fermentation sufficiently protracted to enable the gluten to reach its most extensible condition. 1962 Listener 22 Mar. 511/1 There is a stage in breadmaking when the dough is said to be ‘ripe’. 2001 J. Robinson et al. Food Technol. i. 41/3 A ripe dough has the gluten distributed throughout. 8. Of a person's age. a. Characterized by full development of the physical or mental powers. Now largely superseded by sense A. 8b. Cf. sense A. 5b. ΚΠ c1480 (a1400) St. John Evangelist 399 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 120 Bot fra he to rype elde wane he lefit þe bischope. 1531 T. Elyot Bk. named Gouernour ii. xii. sig. Svii^v He than beinge of ripe yeres,..his frendes..exhorted hym busely to take a wyfe. 1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. clxxij Some man of rype yeares and counsell. a1593 C. Marlowe Tragicall Hist. Faustus (1604) sig. A2 Of riper yeeres to Wertenberg he went. c1614 W. Mure tr. Virgil Dido & Æneas To Rdr., in Wks. (1898) I. 8 Till ryper ȝeirs her infancy subdue. 1671 J. Milton Paradise Regain'd iii. 31 Thy years are ripe, and over-ripe. View more context for this quotation 1708 E. Ward Mod. World Disrob'd i. 89 When the little draggle-tail'd Meretrix is shot forward into riper Years..she is employ'd..to cry Beef and Broth for some Boiling-Cook. 1838 W. H. Prescott Hist. Reign Ferdinand & Isabella II. i. xvii. 138 A riper period of her life. 1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. i. 8 Simplicity of treatment,..out of place if intended for a reader of riper years. 1904 G. S. Hall Adolescence II. xi. 105 There is a marked early and pre-adolescent proclivity to focus affection at least quite as sharply differentiated from that felt for parents as from the love of riper years, upon older counterparts. 1954 D. Erdman Blake i. iv. 61 The reader who views them [sc. the Poetical Sketches] as the serious work of riper years..can easily mistake these scenes for the author's personal expression of a ‘boylike’ delight in ‘the picturesqueness of war’. b. Advanced; far on in years. Now frequently in ripe old age. ΘΚΠ the world > life > source or principle of life > age > old age > [adjective] > old (of beings, etc.) oldeOE winteredeOE oldlyOE over-oldOE eldernc1175 at-oldc1200 stricken on, in age, in eldec1380 oldlya1382 (well, far, etc.) stepped in age, in or into yearsc1386 ancientc1400 aged1420 well-agedc1450 ripec1480 passing oldc1485 (well) shot in years1530 old aged1535 agey1547 Ogygian1567 strucken1576 oldish1580 stricken in yearsa1586 declined1591 far1591 struck1597 Nestorian1605 overripe1605 elderly1611 eld1619 antiquated1631 enaged1631 thorough-old1639 emerita1643 grandevous1647 magnaevous1727 badgerly1753 (as) old as the hills1819 olden days1823 crusted1833 long in the tooth1841 oldened1854 mature1867 over the hill1950 c1480 (a1400) St. Ninian 609 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 321 Þe tyme..þat he of þis lyf suld pas, of parfit dat & rype elde. 1563 N. Winȝet Certain Tractates (1890) II. 58/17 Quhat euery thingis thai ar quhilkis be proces of the rypear aige ar generit [etc.]. 1567 W. Painter Palace of Pleasure II. xxiv. f. 209 So that shame separate from before the eyes of youth, riper age noursed in impudency, their sight is so daseled, as they can see nothing that either shame or feare can make them blush. 1627 in J. Hunter Diocese & Presbytery Dunkeld (1918) II. 369 Whyles to the..hazarding off the lyffis off these off ryper age. 1665 T. Herbert Some Years Trav. (new ed.) 243 He died at a ripe age and was buried at Persepolis. 1711 Ld. Shaftesbury Characteristicks I. iii. 333 As if a Homer or a Xenophon imperfectly learnt, in raw years, might not afterwards, in a riper Age, be study'd. 1785 W. Cowper Task iv. 713 At so ripe an age As twice sev'n years. 1824 Ld. Byron Don Juan: Canto XV lxx. 40 Also the younger men too; for a springald Can't like ripe age in gourmandise excel. 1884 Chambers's Jrnl. 10 May 293/1 Zeno hanged himself at the ripe old age of ninety-eight. 1923 National Geographic Mag. Jan. 49/1 Some of the wares on the shelves seem as if they might have attained a ripe old age before Columbus set out on his famous voyage. 1989 J. Updike Self-consciousness iii. 101 Nevertheless, both cats lived to a ripe age. They outlived my tenancy with my family, in fact. 2007 H. Swanson Super Nat. Cooking 87 One of my favourite stories is the legend of..a Chinese man who faithfully ate gojis and lived to the ripe old age of 252. 9. a. Of time: sufficiently advanced, esp. for a particular action or purpose. Frequently in (when) the time is ripe. ΚΠ a1542 T. Wyatt Coll. Poems (1969) cviii. 122 He seith that word, when full rype tyme shold come. 1598 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 1 i. iii. 288 I by letters shall direct your course When time is ripe . View more context for this quotation 1682 J. Banks Vertue Betray'd i i. i. 22 They By Letters and Devices in their absence Have hourly plotted to deceive you, Sir; And put in practice when the time is ripe. 1721 J. Mottley Antiochus iii. i. 31 Confine Arsaces strait, till Time is ripe To make thy Proofs appear. 1791 S. J. Pratt Fair Circassian ii. ii. 22 Now the time is ripe To note thy subject services more amply. 1850 Ld. Tennyson In Memoriam Epil. 210 The man..was a noble type Appearing ere the times were ripe . View more context for this quotation 1864 J. Bryce Holy Rom. Empire ii. 21 The great scheme for whose accomplishment the time was now ripe. 1908 Daily Chron. 10 Jan. 4/7 The time is ripe..for the pressman to reap a little of the benefits of the better times which are coming to Australia. 1958 J. Kerouac Let. 28 Oct. in Sel. Lett. 1957–69 (1999) 160 The situation about Tuttle etc. and Grove I just dont [sic] understand but let me know when time is ripe. 2005 P. R. Keefe Chatter ix. 211 The Bush administration and its allies were effectively betting the farm on persuading the international community that the time was ripe to depose Saddam Hussein. b. Of a plan, plot, etc.: ready for execution, action, or use; that has arrived at the fitting stage or time for some purpose. ΚΠ 1603 R. Knolles Gen. Hist. Turkes 148 This enuious plot was not yet ripe. a1616 W. Shakespeare Julius Caesar (1623) iv. ii. 267 Our Legions are brim full, our cause is ripe . View more context for this quotation 1713 J. Addison Cato ii. i Should they submit ere our designs are ripe, We both must perish in the common wreck. 1789 ‘P. Pindar’ Subj. for Painters 36 With a lie Ripe at their fingers' ends. 1838 T. B. Macaulay Sir W. Temple in Ess. (1897) 439 At length, in June, 1671, the designs of the Cabal were ripe. 1860 J. L. Motley Hist. United Netherlands I. v. 145 The insubordination, which was so ripe in the city. 1879 F. W. Farrar Life & Work St. Paul I. ii. viii. 153 Their plot was soon ripe. 1910 Times 4 Nov. 10/1 He was careful not to define his intentions before his plans were ripe. 1967 Internat. Rev. Educ. 13 15 The question at issue here, however, is..not as to whether programmed learning is ripe for school application yet, but whether such application is in principle justified, assuming that the matter is ripe. 2001 R. Reisert Third Witch 47 My plan is ripe. By the end of the week, He will be dead. 10. With with. Full of; amply endowed with. Cf. rife adj. 2c(b). ΘΚΠ the mind > possession > supply > [adjective] > provided or supplied with something > well-provided or supplied > with, in, or for something richc1175 repletec1384 strongc1450 ripe1579 wealthy1608 well off1775 rife1787 plus1808 well to pass1809 long on1929 1579 T. Churchyard Gen. Rehearsall Warres sig. Ee.iij A face so fraught, with fauour bloomyng still,..A hedde so ripe, with grace and connyng skill. 1648 R. Herrick Hesperides sig. L6 ^v Thus ripe with tears,..Doting, Ile weep and say (In Truth) Baucis, these were my sins of youth. 1705 S. Centlivre Gamester i. 2 He's a Lover ripe with Discretion. 1830 I. L. Robertson Sketches of Public Characters 20 In the open air, exposed to sun and winds, stood an orator ripe with the thoughts of manhood. 1887 Unity (Chicago) 19 Mar. 37/1 As wholesome to the soul as a memory filled with scientific knowledge, or a mind ripe with reason. 1916 Eng. Jrnl. 5 4 The newly organized Committee on Normal Schools enters on its work in a field ripe with opportunity. 2005 J. R. Welsch & J. Q. Adams Multicultural Films 189 The film is ripe with gun violence. 11. a. Of a sound: full, rich; resonant. ΚΠ 1821 New Monthly Mag. 3 59/1 Braham's splendid voice and science, and the ripe tones and delicate sprightliness of Madame Vestris, have diffused no common enjoyment. 1849 V. Pike Minstrel's Lay & Other Poems 98 Pouring athwart the tranced ear a strain Of rich, ripe melody. 1921 R. Macauley Dangerous Ages ii. 41 Rosalind was crying to her in her rich, ripe voice out of the splashing waves. 1966 Times 16 May 14/3 [She] drew such strong, ripe, indeed voluptuous, tone from her harp..that it was difficult at first not to suspect some artful kind of electrical amplification. 2002 A. J. Morin Classical Music 1070 The Corda Quartet plays with a full, ripe sound that lends weight, impact, and nobility. b. Of an accent: having strong regional characteristics; marked, thick. Also occasionally: having characteristics associated with the educated English upper classes; plummy. ΚΠ 1886 R. L. Stevenson in New Amphion 228 He had something of a rustic air, sturdy and fresh and plain; he spoke with a ripe east-country accent, which I used to admire. 1933 Amer. Mercury Sept. 77/2 True enough, the dialect now called Standard English is not the rich, ripe Cockney of the East End, but it is certainly its misbegotten child. 1960 M. Howard Not Word about Nightingales iii. 101 His British accent was ripe. ‘How beastly of me not to have helped you out.’ 1971 L. Blackwell Blackwell Remembers xvi. 139 Swift was a North-countryman who spoke with a ripe Lancashire brogue. 1986 Toronto Star (Nexis) 2 Aug. f2 He certainly had the ripe accent and patronizing snobbery appropriate to the role. 2003 N.Y. Times 18 Aug. d5/5 This pilgrimage always happens when the Yankees play in Baltimore—ripe accents from New Jersey and Long Island descend on the Inner Harbor. 12. a. slang. Drunk. Cf. sense A. 6d. Now rare. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > drink > thirst > excess in drinking > [adjective] > drunk fordrunkenc897 drunkena1050 cup-shottenc1330 drunka1400 inebriate1497 overseenc1500 liquor1509 fou1535 nase?1536 full1554 intoxicate1554 tippled1564 intoxicated1576 pepst1577 overflown1579 whip-cat1582 pottical1586 cup-shota1593 fox-drunk1592 lion-drunk1592 nappy1592 sack-sopped1593 in drink1598 disguiseda1600 drink-drowned1600 daggeda1605 pot-shotten1604 tap-shackled1604 high1607 bumpsy1611 foxed1611 in one's cups1611 liquored1611 love-pot1611 pot-sick1611 whift1611 owl-eyed1613 fapa1616 hota1616 inebriated1615 reeling ripea1616 in one's (or the) pots1618 scratched1622 high-flown?1624 pot-shot1627 temulentive1628 ebrious1629 temulent1629 jug-bitten1630 pot-shaken1630 toxed1635 bene-bowsiea1637 swilled1637 paid1638 soaken1651 temulentious1652 flagonal1653 fuddled1656 cut1673 nazzy1673 concerned1678 whittled1694 suckey1699 well-oiled1701 tippeda1708 tow-row1709 wet1709 swash1711 strut1718 cocked1737 cockeyed1737 jagged1737 moon-eyed1737 rocky1737 soaked1737 soft1737 stewed1737 stiff1737 muckibus1756 groggy1770 muzzeda1788 muzzya1795 slewed1801 lumpy1810 lushy1811 pissed1812 blue1813 lush1819 malty1819 sprung1821 three sheets in the wind1821 obfuscated1822 moppy1823 ripe1823 mixed1825 queer1826 rosined1828 shot in the neck1830 tight1830 rummy1834 inebrious1837 mizzled1840 obflisticated1840 grogged1842 pickled1842 swizzled1843 hit under the wing1844 obfusticatedc1844 ebriate1847 pixilated1848 boozed1850 ploughed1853 squiffy?1855 buffy1858 elephant trunk1859 scammered1859 gassed1863 fly-blown1864 rotten1864 shot1864 ebriose1871 shicker1872 parlatic1877 miraculous1879 under the influence1879 ginned1881 shickered1883 boiled1886 mosy1887 to be loaded for bear(s)1888 squiffeda1890 loaded1890 oversparred1890 sozzled1892 tanked1893 orey-eyed1895 up the (also a) pole1897 woozy1897 toxic1899 polluted1900 lit-up1902 on (also upon) one's ear1903 pie-eyed1903 pifflicated1905 piped1906 spiflicated1906 jingled1908 skimished1908 tin hat1909 canned1910 pipped1911 lit1912 peloothered1914 molo1916 shick1916 zigzag1916 blotto1917 oiled-up1918 stung1919 stunned1919 bottled1922 potted1922 rotto1922 puggled1923 puggle1925 fried1926 crocked1927 fluthered1927 lubricated1927 whiffled1927 liquefied1928 steamed1929 mirackc1930 overshot1931 swacked1932 looped1934 stocious1937 whistled1938 sauced1939 mashed1942 plonked1943 stone1945 juiced1946 buzzed1952 jazzed1955 schnockered1955 honkers1957 skunked1958 bombed1959 zonked1959 bevvied1960 mokus1960 snockered1961 plotzed1962 over the limit1966 the worse for wear1966 wasted1968 wired1970 zoned1971 blasted1972 Brahms and Liszt?1972 funked up1976 trousered1977 motherless1980 tired and emotional1981 ratted1982 rat-arsed1984 wazzed1990 mullered1993 twatted1993 bollocksed1994 lashed1996 1823 ‘J. Bee’ Slang 149 Ripe—drunk. First cousin to mellow. 1925 Flynn's 14 Mar. 281/1 Ripe, drunk. b. colloquial. That is beyond reasonable bounds, excessive; (of language, etc.) colourful, expressive; (hence) beyond the bounds of propriety; coarse, obscene, vulgar. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > quantity > sufficient quantity, amount, or degree > excessive amount or degree > [adjective] > excessive or too great in amount or degree > excessive in degree unmeasurablea1398 dismeasurec1400 dismeasurable1477 dismeasured1483 over1494 endlya1513 intolerable1544 wide1574 overloading1576 unconscionable1576 meanless1587 powerable1588 hyperbolical1589 extravagant1598 grievous1632 flagrant1634 exorbitant1648 overbearinga1708 unbalanced1712 well-favoured1746 steep1856 thick1884 ripe1918 1918 W. D. Newton War Cache 140 Phillip's arm felt flayed, but from the ripe language of the big man he guessed Germany had felt it most. 1932 A. J. Worrall Eng. Idioms 33 He was shooting at cats with darts. I told him it was a bit ripe and asked him to stop. 1948 E. Partridge et al. Dict. Forces' Slang 156 Ripe, complete, thoroughgoing. Usually allied with ‘bastard’. 1952 T. Armstrong Adam Brunskill v. 159 Unluckily for Bart Hugill, he remembered far more clearly his future father-in-law's extremely ripe sally. 1969 ‘J. Fraser’ Cock-pit of Roses xvi. 127 ‘What the bloody hell are you playing at?’ ‘That's ripe considering you just near broke my arm!’ 1988 P. Fussell Power of Facing Unpleasant Facts in Thank God for Atom Bomb (1990) 85 This was not the first time unpleasant facts had been deemed too ripe for the university's clientele. 2007 N. Atherton Aunt Dimity goes West (2008) 268 If you must know, Will and Rob used some pretty ripe language at the ranch yesterday. c. colloquial. Fine, excellent; thoroughgoing (also used ironically). ΘΚΠ the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > excellence > [adjective] faireOE bremea1000 goodlyOE goodfulc1275 noblec1300 pricec1300 specialc1325 gentlec1330 fine?c1335 singulara1340 thrivena1350 thriven and throa1350 gaya1375 properc1380 before-passinga1382 daintiful1393 principala1398 gradelya1400 burlyc1400 daintyc1400 thrivingc1400 voundec1400 virtuousc1425 hathelc1440 curiousc1475 singlerc1500 beautiful1502 rare?a1534 gallant1539 eximious1547 jolly1548 egregious?c1550 jellyc1560 goodlike1562 brawc1565 of worth1576 brave?1577 surprising1580 finger-licking1584 admirablea1586 excellinga1586 ambrosial1598 sublimated1603 excellent1604 valiant1604 fabulous1609 pure1609 starryc1610 topgallant1613 lovely1614 soaringa1616 twanging1616 preclarent1623 primea1637 prestantious1638 splendid1644 sterling1647 licking1648 spankinga1666 rattling1690 tearing1693 famous1695 capital1713 yrare1737 pure and —1742 daisy1757 immense1762 elegant1764 super-extra1774 trimming1778 grand1781 gallows1789 budgeree1793 crack1793 dandy1794 first rate1799 smick-smack1802 severe1805 neat1806 swell1810 stamming1814 divine1818 great1818 slap-up1823 slapping1825 high-grade1826 supernacular1828 heavenly1831 jam-up1832 slick1833 rip-roaring1834 boss1836 lummy1838 flash1840 slap1840 tall1840 high-graded1841 awful1843 way up1843 exalting1844 hot1845 ripsnorting1846 clipping1848 stupendous1848 stunning1849 raving1850 shrewd1851 jammy1853 slashing1854 rip-staving1856 ripping1858 screaming1859 up to dick1863 nifty1865 premier cru1866 slap-bang1866 clinking1868 marvellous1868 rorty1868 terrific1871 spiffing1872 all wool and a yard wide1882 gorgeous1883 nailing1883 stellar1883 gaudy1884 fizzing1885 réussi1885 ding-dong1887 jim-dandy1888 extra-special1889 yum-yum1890 out of sight1891 outasight1893 smooth1893 corking1895 large1895 super1895 hot dog1896 to die for1898 yummy1899 deevy1900 peachy1900 hi1901 v.g.1901 v.h.c.1901 divvy1903 doozy1903 game ball1905 goodo1905 bosker1906 crackerjack1910 smashinga1911 jake1914 keen1914 posh1914 bobby-dazzling1915 juicy1916 pie on1916 jakeloo1919 snodger1919 whizz-bang1920 wicked1920 four-star1921 wow1921 Rolls-Royce1922 whizz-bang1922 wizard1922 barry1923 nummy1923 ripe1923 shrieking1926 crazy1927 righteous1930 marvy1932 cool1933 plenty1933 brahmaa1935 smoking1934 solid1935 mellow1936 groovy1937 tough1937 bottler1938 fantastic1938 readyc1938 ridge1938 super-duper1938 extraordinaire1940 rumpty1940 sharp1940 dodger1941 grouse1941 perfecto1941 pipperoo1945 real gone1946 bosting1947 supersonic1947 whizzo1948 neato1951 peachy-keen1951 ridgey-dite1953 ridgy-didge1953 top1953 whizzing1953 badass1955 wild1955 belting1956 magic1956 bitching1957 swinging1958 ridiculous1959 a treat1959 fab1961 bad-assed1962 uptight1962 diggish1963 cracker1964 marv1964 radical1964 bakgat1965 unreal1965 pearly1966 together1968 safe1970 bad1971 brilliant1971 fabby1971 schmick1972 butt-kicking1973 ripper1973 Tiffany1973 bodacious1976 rad1976 kif1978 awesome1979 death1979 killer1979 fly1980 shiok1980 stonking1980 brill1981 dope1981 to die1982 mint1982 epic1983 kicking1983 fabbo1984 mega1985 ill1986 posho1989 pukka1991 lovely jubbly1992 awesomesauce2001 nang2002 bess2006 amazeballs2009 boasty2009 daebak2009 beaut2013 1923 P. G. Wodehouse Inimitable Jeeves ix. 89 I liked the place, and was having quite a ripe time there. 1964 Australasian Post (Melbourne) 21 May 13 Even a ripe shiner isn't just a black eye to the man in the white coat. It is a peri-optic ecchymosis. 1967 R. Campbell in Coast to Coast 1965–6 20 Jack'll be ripe pickings by the time that old buzzard comes around from the police station to close the pub. 2007 M. Desmond On Fireline 83 We were all drinking and trash-talking each other and having a ripe old time. d. colloquial. Angry. rare. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > anger > [adjective] irrec825 gramec893 wemodc897 wrothc950 bolghenc1000 gramelyc1000 hotOE on fireOE brathc1175 moodyc1175 to-bollenc1175 wrethfulc1175 wraw?c1225 agrameda1300 wrathfula1300 agremedc1300 hastivec1300 irousa1340 wretheda1340 aniredc1350 felonc1374 angryc1380 upreareda1382 jealous1382 crousea1400 grieveda1400 irefula1400 mada1400 teena1400 wraweda1400 wretthy14.. angryc1405 errevousa1420 wrothy1422 angereda1425 passionatec1425 fumous1430 tangylc1440 heavy1452 fire angry1490 wrothsomea1529 angerful?1533 wrothful?1534 wrath1535 provoked1538 warm1547 vibrant1575 chauffe1582 fuming1582 enfeloned1596 incensed1597 choleric1598 inflameda1600 raiseda1600 exasperate1601 angried1609 exasperated1611 dispassionate1635 bristlinga1639 peltish1648 sultry1671 on (also upon) the high ropes (also rope)1672 nangry1681 ugly1687 sorea1694 glimflashy1699 enraged1732 spunky1809 cholerous1822 kwaai1827 wrathy1828 angersome1834 outraged1836 irate1838 vex1843 raring1845 waxy1853 stiff1856 scotty1867 bristly1872 hot under the collar1879 black angry1894 spitfire1894 passionful1901 ignorant1913 hairy1914 snaky1919 steamed1923 uptight1934 broigus1937 lemony1941 ripped1941 pissed1943 crooked1945 teed off1955 ticked off1959 ripe1966 torqued1967 bummed1970 1966 R. Jeffries Death in Coverts iii. 93 We all joked about it and Bill got really ripe. No sense of humour. B. n.² As a mass noun: those that are ripe or have reached the peak of their natural development (frequently with the); (also as a count noun) something that is ripe. ΚΠ a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 6044 Þat beist þan gneu vp al..bath ripe and grene. c1400 (?a1387) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Huntington HM 137) (1873) C. xix. 107 He het elde an hih for to clymbe And shaken hit sharply, þe ripen sholden falle. 1674 Hogan-Moganides 69 Hee'd truck a Cargo off unseen, And put one ripe betwixt two green. 1890 L. F. Baum Our Landlady 180 Along came the farmer the very next day, And picked both the ripe and the green. 1915 Forestry Q. 13 161 In practice the cut in the selection forest takes the ripe and the poor, it thins, and is to assist reproduction. 1992 S. Friedlander Whirling Dervishes 107 The ‘ripe’ were men of the heart involved with the interiorization of self. The raw could not comprehend the state of the ripe. †C. adv. Ripely. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > understanding > wisdom, sagacity > [adverb] > maturely ripely1425 ripea1632 maturelya1639 a1632 T. Taylor God's Judgem. (1642) i. ii. iii. 172 But the King..handled them so ripe and handsomely, that..he dealt with them as pleased him. 1884 T. Woolner Silenus i. i. i. 6 No other fruit can blush so ripe and sweet. Phrases Proverbs. Chiefly in soon ripe, soon rotten. ΚΠ 1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue i. x. sig. Civ ^v But soone ripe sone rotten. a1569 A. Kingsmill Most Excellent & Comfortable Treat. (new ed.) (1585) C ii All the glorie of man..is as the flower of the fielde, soone ripe, soone rotten. 1600 W. Fulbecke Direct. Study Lawe ii. f. 10^v They which are borne vnder Mercury, are of quick conceit, but quickly vnconceited, soone ripe and soone rotten. 1670 J. Ray Coll. Eng. Prov. 149 Time and straw make medlars ripe. ?1706 E. Hickeringill Priest-craft: 2nd Pt. i. 6 The old Proverb prov'd true, for, he was soon ripe, and soon rotten. 1736 W. R. Chetwood Voy. W. O. G. Vaughan I. 58 My Uncle..told me, Ripe Fruit was soon rotten. 1816 Let. 4 July in Edinb. Rev. & West Indies xxv. 201 ‘Soon ripe, soon rotten’ will be the fate of the empire of Hayti. 1890 Lancet 11 Jan. 66 With patience and straw even medlars get ripe. 1901 Jrnl. Amer. Med. Assoc. 4 May 1271/1 The truth of the popular opinion of precocity—early ripe, early rotten—is illustrated very frequently. 1956 Times 23 Mar. 17/7 The ‘soon ripe soon rotten’ policy..is the basis of the present replanting scheme. 2008 T. Kearney Who owns Future? 73 They could see that the fast changes in history are the ones that do not last... Nature has a law, which is: soon ripe soon rotten. Compounds C1. Parasynthetic, as ripe-aged, ripe-coloured, ripe-faced, ripe-tongued, ripe-witted, etc. In later use chiefly poetic. ΚΠ c1485 ( G. Hay Bk. Gouernaunce of Princis (1993) xxv. 114 The lave yat thou fyndis nocht sa traist, na sa rype wittit [etc.]. 1548 W. Patten Exped. Scotl. Pref. †v A righte ripetungued deponent. 1567 T. Drant in tr. Horace Arte of Poetrie To Rdr. sig. vj I take them to be rype toungned tryfles. a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia* (1593) iii. sig. Kk2 Alas how ripe witted these young folkes be now adayes. 1698 F. B. Free but Modest Censure 10 Bestowing upon him the Epithets of Learned, Ingenious, Thoughtful, Ripe-witted, &c. 1725 E. Haywood tr. P. de Boisguillebert Mary Stuart iii. 220 He being a young Gentleman of good Birth, rich, ripe-witted, and learned. 1818 J. Keats Endymion iii. 106 Fire-branded foxes to sear up..Our gold and ripe-ear'd hopes. 1826 T. Hood Love ii Grave ripe-fac'd wisdom made an April fool? 1827 C. Webbe Harvest-home ii Armfuls of ripe-coloured corn. 1944 E. Sitwell Song of Cold 11 We heard in the dawn the first ripe-bearded fire Of wheat. 1952 C. Day Lewis tr. Virgil Aeneid v. 95 Ripe-aged Acestes. 2005 Time Out N.Y. 29 Sept. 177/3 Andrew Manze replaces the boy choristers of Biber's day with ripe-toned female sopranos. C2. Complementary, similative, etc., as ripe-bending, ripe-grown, ripe-looking, ripe-red, etc. ΚΠ 1594 W. Shakespeare Venus & Adonis (new ed.) sig. Giiij Mulberies & ripe-red cherries. 1599 T. Nashe Lenten Stuffe 30 The light-foot tripper..who would run ouer the ripe-bending eares of corne. 1687 J. Norris Coll. Misc. 120 That world..thou'lt see, Ripe-grown, in full maturity. 1850 Cottage Gardener 7 Feb. 260/1 If ripe looking, reserve them, immature, it may be well to prune back to ripe-looking portions. 1873 M. Collins Miranda III. 63 An old-fangled ripe-red house. 1878 Z. B. Gustafson Meg 26 No vision of scythe and ripe-bending grain! Ah! more than his stock, or than harvest gain, Is his innocent darling's need to him. 1993 D. Ambrose Man who turned into Himself (1995) 108 Tickelbakker poked appreciatively at a ripe-looking brie and said he would have some of that along with a piece of fine English stilton. 2002 High Country News 13 May 1/1 Ive been ripping off the seedheads wholesale from their ripe-waving steams. Derivatives † ripe-like adj. Obsolete ΚΠ 1640 S. Rutherford Lett. (1664) ii. xxxvii. 517 The field of heaven's glory is white and ripe-like. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2010; most recently modified version published online June 2022). ripev.¹ Brit. /rʌɪp/, U.S. /raɪp/ Forms: Old English ripian, Middle English repe, Middle English rip, Middle English rippe, Middle English ryppe, Middle English–1500s rype, Middle English– ripe, 1600s reape; also Scottish pre-1700 rip, pre-1700 ryip, pre-1700 ryp, pre-1700 rype. Origin: A word inherited from Germanic. Etymology: Cognate with West Frisian rypje to become ripe, Middle Dutch rīpen to become ripe, to make ripe (Dutch rijpen ), Old Saxon rīpon to become ripe (Middle Low German rīpen , German regional (Low German) rīpen to become ripe, to make ripe), Old High German rīfen , rīfēn to become ripe (also in prefixed form girifēn ; Middle High German rīfen to become ripe, German reifen to become ripe, to make ripe) < the Germanic base of ripe adj. Compare later ripen v., which is now the more usual word.In Old English the prefixed form gerīpian (compare y- prefix) is also attested. Now rare (chiefly poetic). 1. a. intransitive. Of fruit, grain, etc.: to grow or become ripe. Cf. ripen v. 1b. ΘΚΠ the world > plants > by age or cycles > age or be defined by cyclical growth periods [verb (intransitive)] > ripen ripeOE concoct1555 ripen1573 mature1626 maturate1665 the world > action or operation > undertaking > preparation > prepare or get ready [verb (intransitive)] > mature ripeOE ripen1549 seed1594 develop1744 mature1805 perfect1870 OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 2nd Ser. (Cambr. Gg.3.28) vii. 62 Do þæt sunne scine, þæt ðine æceras ripion. OE Byrhtferð Enchiridion (Ashm.) (1995) ii. i. 82 On lengtentima springað oððe greniað wæstmas, and on sumera hig weaxað, and on hærfest hig ripiað. a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 2062 A win-tre... Blomede and siðen bar, Ðe beries ripe wurð ic war [L. Videbam..uvas maturescere]. a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 126^v In þe mydday..fruyt and corn most ripiþ. ?a1450 Siege Calais (Galba) in T. Wright Polit. Poems & Songs (1861) II. 152 Fruyte on tre both gret and smale Gan for to rip and wex fulle pale. a1500 (?a1450) Treat. Gardening l. 87 in Archaeologia (1894) 54 163 (MED) When they rype..The sede wt-yn wul schewe blake. a1500 R. Henryson tr. Æsop Fables: Preaching of Swallow l. 1825 in Poems (1981) 71 The lint ryipit, the carll pullit the lyne. 1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. liii. 75 Whan..that the corne beganne to rype, he departed fro Gaunt. 1556 J. Heywood Spider & Flie i. 2 What time euery growing thinge That ripeth by roote, hath liuely taken hart. 1614 J. Day tr. St. Cyprian in Dyall iv. 69 The fruits of the Vine do ripe in season. 1657 R. Ligon True Hist. Barbados 15 They can never ripe together, but one is green, another ripe, another rotten. 1720 A. Pennecuik Streams from Helicon (ed. 2) ii. 127 Vines do flourish, and their Grapes appear, Hast'ning to ripe, the Planter's Heart to chear. 1721 R. Bradley Philos. Acct. Wks. Nature 192 The Fruits they bear are much larger, and ripe earlier, than what we find growing upon the old Stocks. 1772 G. A. Stevens Songs Comic & Satyrical xlii. 80 Life's vegetation ripes and rots. 1817 W. Scott Rob Roy I. vi. 135 There's aye..something to ripe that I would like to see ripen. 1892 ‘M. Field’ Sight & Song 60 The peach that ripes. 1935 R. P. Warren Sel. Poems (1944) 43 No leaf falls, and the grape, unripening, ripes. b. intransitive. figurative. To come to a state of maturity or fullness. ΚΠ OE [implied in: Ælfric Old Eng. Hexateuch: Gen. (Claud.) xviii. 12 Sarra..hloh digollice ðus cweðende: Syððan ic ealdode & min hlaford geripod ys [L. dominus meus uetulus est], sceal ic nu æniges lustes gyman. (at riped adj.)]. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 11812 (MED) His vn-rightes biginnes to ripe. c1460 (?c1400) Tale of Beryn 677 (MED) By þat tyme þey were there, þe day be-gan to rype, And the sonne..vpward gan..pike. a1500 R. Henryson tr. Æsop Fables: Preaching of Swallow l. 1910 in Poems (1981) 74 The sin ryipis, and schame is set on syde. 1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 691/2 It shall be well done for hym to make his testament, for he rypeth a pace. a1616 W. Shakespeare As you like It (1623) ii. vii. 26 And so from houre to houre, we ripe, and ripe. View more context for this quotation a1631 J. Donne Poems (1635) 386 Till death us lay To ripe and mellow here, we are stubborne Clay. 1647 J. Cleveland Poems in Char. London-diurnall (Wing C4662) 34 At my next view, my pur-blind fancy ripes. 1704 J. Swift Tale of Tub (ed. 3) vi. 129 How it first proceeded from a Notion into a Word, and from thence in a hot Summer, riped into a tangible substance. 1711 W. Oldisworth in State Tracts (1715) II. 128 Is not that Pillar, his peculiar Care, Which ripes with such Strength and solemn Air. 1834 Tait's Edinb. Mag. Aug. 488 We have been fated from reign to reign to ripe and ripe, and then from reign to reign to rot and rot. 1878 W. M. Taylor Daniel the Beloved xi. 203 So from hour to hour, he ripes into maturity. 1914 ‘M. Field’ Dedicated 21 The god whose sap is wine, who ripes for doom. 2. a. transitive. To make (fruit, grain, etc.) ripe; to bring to ripeness. Cf. ripen v. 1. ΘΚΠ the world > plants > by age or cycles > ripen [verb (transitive)] > ripen ripea1398 ripenc1450 concoct1555 maturate1628 to bring on1629 mature1701 the world > action or operation > undertaking > preparation > prepare [verb (transitive)] > mature perfecta1398 ripea1398 season1545 ripen?1560 digest1607 mature1626 maturate1628 enripena1631 age1675 august1855 a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 29^v Hete defieþ and..ripiþ grene þinges. Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 434/2 Rypyn, or make rype, maturo. c1484 (a1475) J. de Caritate tr. Secreta Secret. (Takamiya) (1977) 137 (MED) God..rypyth þe frutys of treis. a1533 Ld. Berners tr. A. de Guevara Golden Bk. M. Aurelius (1546) sig. B.j^v Haruest cometh, whiche tyme doth better rype them. 1555 R. Eden Briefe Descr. Moscouia in tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde f. 259^v They are sumtimes inforced to rype and dry them in theyr stooues. 1600 tr. Ovid Remedie of Love i. xxi. sig. B^v Delay giues strength, time ripes the greenest grape. 1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. i. ii. 52 On Trees anon they ripe the Plumbe and Peare. a1704 T. Brown Wks. (1715) IV. 70 'Tis the Sun ripes the Grape. 1775 W. Hilton Poet. Wks. I. 72 Here, yet some summer-fruits remain, Tho' autumn ripes the teeming grain. 1868 ‘G. Eliot’ Spanish Gypsy i. 5 Away from all the fruit its years have riped. 1874 G. H. Calvert Maid of Orleans iii. i. 51 Is Count Gaucourt so pious suddenly? Healthy religion ripes more foodful fruit. 1916 J. Barlow Between Doubting & Daring ii. 1 Yet shined This summer day that ripes the red-gold corn. 1948 R. Jeffers Double Axe ii. 18 Hell, we'll have a fine orchard When the sun ripes the plums. b. transitive. figurative. To bring to a state of maturity or fullness. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > undertaking > preparation > prepare [verb (transitive)] > mature > specifically a plan or work ripea1522 mature1605 a1522 G. Douglas in tr. Virgil Æneid (1957) iv. Prol. l. 13 Oft to revolue ane onleful consait Rypys [1553 Ripis] ȝour peralus frutis and oncorn. ?1529 R. Hyrde tr. J. L. Vives Instr. Christen Woman i. xii. sig. O.ij^v What shulde that serue fore, but to rype them and prepare redy for suche as be moore lewde. 1598 J. Marston Scourge of Villanie i. ii. sig. C3^v When rapine feedes our pomp, pomp ripes our fall. 1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 iv. i. 13 He is retirde to ripe his growing fortunes, To Scotland. View more context for this quotation 1638 J. Kirke Seven Champions i. sig. C4 Love ease and sleepe, it ripes the memory. 1735 B. Higgons Poem on Nature 18 Phoebus shines, With Rays direct, to ripe Peruvian Mines. 1863 ‘W. Lancaster’ Praeterita 26 We are riped with joy, and marr'd with tears. 1896 R. Kipling Seven Seas 36 The Leevin' God, That does not kipper souls for sport or break a life in jest, But swells the ripenin' cocoanuts an' ripes the woman's breast. 1917 P. Worth Sorry Tale i. i. 4 When time hath riped the hate,..thou mayest pluck the fruit and bear it back and tell unto Rome its bearing place. †3. transitive. Medicine = ripen v. 5a. Also intransitive. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > suppuration > cause suppuration [verb (transitive)] > bring to head ripea1398 to bring to a head1566 concoct1584 ripen1590 a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 226^v Mele of whete..y-sode wiþ wyne and wiþ grece..rypeþ [L. maturat] postemes and gaderyng of yuel humours. ?c1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (Paris) (1971) 577 (MED) Some..ben cleped þe substanciales in here manere, as þai þat haue..to resolue, to softene, to rype, to clense..and also to lisse akþe. c1450 Med. Recipes (BL Add. 33996) in F. Heinrich Mittelengl. Medizinbuch (1896) 215 To rype þe quinesye, tak smale snayles..& stampe hem & playster hem aboue þe sore. a1500 (?1451) in D. Gray & E. G. Stanley Middle Eng. Stud. (1983) 140 (MED) The roote ys medicinable, as phisik can hit dyght, To rype an empostem engendryde in a man. 1544 T. Phaer Of Pestilence (1553) sig. Pij A plaister to ripe a botche comming of the pestilence. 1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball 211 It..ripeth and breaketh harde impostumes. 1614 S. Latham Falconry ii. xlii. 145 It doth ripe and digest tough slime or glut that commeth of cold. †4. a. transitive. To prepare (a matter) by careful consideration. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > undertaking > preparation > prepare [verb (transitive)] > prepare (a matter) by consideration ripea1475 the mind > mental capacity > thought > continued thinking, reflection, contemplation > thinking about, consideration, deliberation > consider, deliberate [verb (transitive)] > beforehand forethinkc897 advise1385 ripea1475 prepense1509 premeditate?1526 forecast1534 prepend1534 precogitate1569 ruminatea1592 preponderate1599 preponder1624 study1663 a1475 J. Fortescue Governance of Eng. (Laud) (1885) 148 Yff þe amendynge þeroff be not debatyd, and be such counsell ryped to thair handes. 1533 in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxf. (1880) 115 And if it may be soe, to ripe the matter unto the Kings gracious hands. b. transitive. To make (a person) fully informed. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > education > teaching > [verb (transitive)] > teach thoroughly ripe1513 perfectc1540 edoctrinate1625 1513 T. Howard Let. 15 May in Publ. Navy Records Soc. 10 165 I trust to rype him well in every cause, for, when I am not occupied, it is my most besynes to be instructed of them that can skyll. 1523 in J. Strype Eccl. Memorials (1733) I. i. iii. 43 To ripe, inform and instruct him in the Specialities..of all such..Ordinances. a1575 N. Harpsfield Treat. Divorce Henry VIII (1878) (modernized text) 76 Himself being afterwards furnished and riped with greater learning. a1575 N. Harpsfield Treat. Divorce Henry VIII (1878) (modernized text) 188 The King's said orators shall..rype and instruct themselves by their secret learned counsell. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022). ripev.² Brit. /rʌɪp/, U.S. /raɪp/, Scottish English /rʌip/ Forms: Old English hrypa (Northumbrian), Old English ripan, Old English ripte (past tense), Old English rypan, Old English rypte (past tense), late Old English repan, early Middle English rippe ( Ormulum), early Middle English rupe (south-west midlands), Middle English–1600s (1800s– English regional (northern)) rype, Middle English– ripe, 1800s– rip (English regional (northern)), 1900s– reype (English regional (Cumberland)); Scottish pre-1700 reape, pre-1700 ryip, pre-1700 1700s–1800s ryp, pre-1700 1700s– ripe, pre-1700 1700s– rype, pre-1700 1800s rip, pre-1700 1800s– reip. Origin: A word inherited from Germanic. Etymology: Cognate with Gothic raupjan to pluck, tear out, and probably further with Middle Dutch rōpen , roopen to pluck, pull, Old Saxon -rōpian (only in the prefixed verb birōpian to plunder, despoil; Middle Low German rȫpen , rōpen , rōfen to pluck, pull, tear out, (used reflexively) to fight), Old High German roufen to pluck, pull, to tear out (Middle High German roufen , German raufen , also (used reflexively) in sense ‘to fight’); further etymology uncertain: perhaps ultimately < the same Germanic base as reave v.¹, although the exact relationship is difficult to explain phonologically. Compare Middle Low German roppen (German regional (Low German) ruppen , roppen ), Middle High German rupfen , ropfen (German rupfen , (now regional) ropfen , (now regional: Central) roppen , ruppen ), all in sense ‘to pluck, pull’, which represent derivatives with expressive gemination of the medial consonant. Compare reave v.¹ and later rip v.¹Sense 5a originated by association with rip v.¹ Compare also with sense 4b, to rip up 4 at rip v.¹ Phrasal verbs 1. Forms in the Ormulum apparently show shortening of the vowel, which may have originated in past tense forms (before a homorganic double consonant cluster), although it is perhaps possible that these examples may instead show earlier occurrences of rip v.¹ In Old English (Northumbrian) the prefixed form gehrȳpa (compare y- prefix) is also attested; compare also arȳpan to strip away, tear off (compare a- prefix¹), berȳpan to rob, plunder, steal (compare be- prefix), tōrȳpan to scratch (compare to- prefix²). In later use chiefly Scottish. 1. †a. intransitive. To engage in robbery. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > robbery > rob [verb (intransitive)] ripeOE robc1325 to-reavea1400 to have it off1865 OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Matt. vi. 19 Nolite thesaurizare uobis thesauros in terra..ubi fures effodiunt et furentur : nællas gie gestrionaige iuh gestriono in eorðo..ðer ðeafas ofdelfes uel hrypes & forstealas. OE Wulfstan Sermo ad Anglos (Nero) (1957) 272 Hy hergiað & hy bærnað, rypaþ & reafiað & to scipe lædað. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) 5279 Heo rupten, heo ræfden, noht heo ne bi-læfden. b. transitive. To rob or plunder (a person). Now Scottish and rare. ΘΚΠ the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > robbery > rob [verb (transitive)] > specifically a person ripeOE robc1225 ravishc1384 to-reave1393 to shake (a person) out ofc1412 to purge a person's purse1528 cashiera1616 to rob someone blind1897 OE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Tiber. B.i) anno 1011 Hi..heregodon ure earme folc, & hi rypton & slogon. OE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Tiber. B.i) anno 1065 Forþam þe [he] rypte God ærost & ealle þa bestrypte þe he ofermihte æt life & æt lande. OE Wulfstan Institutes of Polity (Junius) 81 Hy rypað þa earman butan ælcere scylde. c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 10238 Þatt teȝȝ ne sholldenn nohht te follc Þurrh grediȝnesse rippenn. 1904 ‘H. Foulis’ Erchie 83 Dae ye think he wad sell mony to the young chaps like whit Maud riped? Nae fears! 2007 S. Blackhall Quarry iii. 22 Wi gey fyew o them deein o auld age itsel,..there wis scarce ony bodies fit tae be rypit. 2. intransitive. To search or rummage (for or after something hidden); to grope about. Scottish in later use. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > endeavour > searching or seeking > make a search [verb (intransitive)] seekc1000 ofsechec1300 searchc1330 laita1400 ripea1400 to cast about1575 to fall about1632 quest1669 to bush about or out1686 beat1709 to cast about one1823 feather1892 a1400 (c1300) Northern Homily: Knight who did Penance among Worms (Coll. Phys.) in Middle Eng. Dict. at Ripen This forsaid arc he..opened..And riped [c1390 Vernon groped] imang tha wormes lathe..And forthe he gan tha banes draw. a1500 (c1425) Andrew of Wyntoun Oryg. Cron. Scotl. (Nero) v. l. 2903 A mattok syne he tuk,..And wiþe þat ripit to þe grunde. 1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 691/2 I rype in olde maters, je fouble. 1562 Bp. J. Pilkington Expos. Abdyas Pref. sig. A a viij As he that ripes in a dungehyll, is infect with the smell therof a longe time after. 1580 in D. Masson Reg. Privy Council Scotl. (1880) 1st Ser. III. 309 Thay rypit for the saidis guidis. 1640 in J. Nicholson Minute Bk. War Comm. Covenanters Kirkcudbright 4 Nov. (1855) 81 Ordaines the Captaines..to send their constables..to rype throw the parochess for suspectit gudes. 1696 in R. Renwick Extracts Rec. Burgh Peebles (1910) 155 Sent to watch in the back yeard, quhill the officers came to ryp. 1715 Trans. Gaelic Soc. Inv. 39 113 To kill any that would offer to rype or make search for any such thing. 1814 in R. Chambers Misc. Pop. Scottish Poems (1862) 68 He rypit, maybe for his knife, I thought I saw it glancin. 1887 R. L. Stevenson Underwoods 77 It's possible..That some ane, ripin' after lear.., May find an' read me. 1995 A. Fenton Craiters i. 7 E ripit in eez pooch again an brocht oot a wee boxie. 3. a. transitive. To search (a place, receptacle, etc.) in a thorough manner in order to find something; to rifle, ransack; (also) to pick (a pocket). Scottish and English regional (northern) in later use. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > endeavour > searching or seeking > search for or seek [verb (transitive)] > search a place or receptacle thoroughly asearch1382 searcha1387 ransacka1400 ripea1400 upripe?a1400 riflec1400 ruffle1440 gropea1529 rig1572 rake1618 rummage1621 haul1666 fish1727 call1806 ratch1859 to turn over1859 to go through ——1861 rifle1894 rancel1899 to take apart1920 fine-tooth comb1949 a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 4893 Yon er theues..Dos folus þam to ripe [Gött. and ransakis] þair war. a1425 Rule St. Benet (Lansd.) (1902) 36 (MED) Þair beddis sal þabbes ofte ripe, þat tay ne haue na propirte. a1500 (c1425) Andrew of Wyntoun Oryg. Cron. Scotl. (Nero) vi. l. 315 Þe graf qwhar in Charllis Marschel lay Þai ripit, and þe body soucht. 1535 Bible (Coverdale) Obad. 6 But how shall they rype Esau, and seke out his treasures? 1590 Reg. Privy Council Scotl. IV. 491 [They] sercheit the haill houssis,..and rypit all pairtis sa narrowlie as they could. a1698 W. Row Contin. in R. Blair Life (1848) (modernized text) xii. 540 Their houses were ryped but none were found. 1721 A. Ramsay Lucky Spence vi Ryp ilka pouch frae nook to nook. a1774 R. Fergusson Poems (1785) 149 The benmost part o' my kist nook I'll ripe for thee. 1824 W. Scott Redgauntlet I. xi. 257 Sir John, when he had riped the turret weel, led my gudesire into the dining-parlour. 1858–61 E. B. Ramsay Reminisc. Sc. Life (1867) ii. 30 The sacks of Joseph's brethren were ripit. 1894 R. O. Heslop Northumberland Words (at cited word) Coroner..: ‘Did you take any steps to resuscitate the deceased?’ Witness (promptly): ‘Yes, sor, we riped 'ees pockets.’ 1927 J. Buchan Witch Wood xv. 253 They're riping the ports for Mark Kerr, once captain of Mackay's and till late a brigadier under the King's Captain-general. 1934 H. B. Cruickshank Noran Water 15 Ye've riped the pirlie mony's the time Withooten ony skaith. 2000 D. Kerr Puckle Poems 36 A gambler o fame, McGrew wis his name,..saw rypin his pooches her due. †b. transitive. With up. To search out. Obsolete. rare. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > discovery > find out, discover [verb (transitive)] seeOE fanda1000 finda1200 kenc1330 lenda1350 agropea1393 contrive1393 to find outc1405 outsearch?a1439 ripec1440 inventc1475 disclose?a1500 fish1531 agnize?1570 discover1585 to grope out1590 out-find1590 expiscate1598 vent1611 to learn out1629 to get to know1643 develop1653 ascertain1794 stag1796 root1866 to get a line on1903 establish1919 c1440 (?a1400) Morte Arthure 1877 (MED) Thare myght men see the ryche ryde in the schawes, To rype vpe the Romaynez ruydlyche wondyde. c. transitive. Scottish. To search (a person) thoroughly in order to find something. Now rare. ΚΠ 1464 in Rec. Parl. Scotl. to 1707 (2007) 1464/1/5 Serchearis at all the portis..hawand power of the king to serche, ripe & conpell all personis..to mak gude faith that thai sal have na monay..out of the realme. 1534 in W. Fraser Douglas Bk. (1885) IV. 350 My folkis..have not riped you so wel as they shuld. 1659 in Notes & Queries 6th Ser. 7 264/2 Quhen the corporall was ryping me at the gate. 1698 in D. Hume Punishment of Crimes (1797) II. 569 You were ryped, and the said false keys..found upon you. 1842 Children's Employment Commission Rep. II. p. I 46 in Parl. Papers XIV. 1 Their persons are searched, or as it is called ‘riped’, every time they leave the [tobacco] works. a1930 N. Munro Carnegie's wee Lassie in B. D. Osborne & R. Armstrong Erchie & Jimmy Swan (1993) i. vii. 33 ‘Then ye can ripe me,’ says her paw, and the wee tot'll feel in a' his pooches, and find half a sovereign in his waistcoat. †d. transitive. Scottish. In extended use. Obsolete. ΚΠ a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1959) x. x. l. 134 Tharwithall the hyrnys of hys gost He rypyt wyth the swerd amyd his cost. 1604 A. Craig Poet. Ess. sig. F When I am dead, caus rype my hart sayd shee; And in the same shall Calice writen bee. †4. a. transitive. To examine thoroughly; to investigate, scrutinize, search into. Obsolete (Scottish in later use). ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > enquiry > investigation, inspection > close examination, scrutiny > scrutinize [verb (transitive)] through-seekOE gropea1250 to search outa1382 ensearch1382 boltc1386 examinea1387 ransackc1390 ripea1400 search1409 overreach?a1425 considerc1425 perquirec1460 examec1480 peruse?1520 grounda1529 study1528 oversearch1532 perscrute1536 scrute1536 to go over ——1537 scan1548 examinate1560 rifle1566 to consider of1569 excuss1570 ripe1573 sift1573 sift1577 to pry into ——1581 dive1582 rub1591 explore1596 pervestigate1610 dissecta1631 profound1643 circumspect1667 scrutinize1671 perscrutatea1679 introspect1683 rummage1690 reconnoitre1740 scrutinate1742 to look through1744 scrutiny1755 parse1788 gun1819 cat-haul1840 vivisect1876 scour1882 microscope1888 tooth-comb1893 X-ray1896 comb1904 fine-tooth comb1949 a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 26702 Cums his freind ripand [Fairf. he ripis] his state, And he sceus him all þat he wate. c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness (1920) 592 (MED) For he is þe gropande God, þe grounde of alle dedez, Rypande of uche a ring þe reynyez and hert. 1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid ii. iii. 29 Lefull is..Thair hid slycht als to rype furth to the ground. 1552 Abp. J. Hamilton Catech. iii. x. f. 153^v Examine, discus, serche and rype weil thi conscience. a1599 R. Rollock Sel. Wks. (1844) II. 271 It goes down to the inward affections to ripe and search them. 1637 S. Rutherford Lett. (1664) i. cliv. 307 Each man had need twice a day & oftner, to be ryped & searched with candles. 1822 H. Ainslie Pilgrimage to Land of Burns 108 Our bairnly recollections ryped and rummaged up. 1887 J. Service Life Dr. Duguid 109 To rype this kittle affair to the bottom. b. transitive. With up in same sense; (also) to bring to light or notice. Cf. to rip up 4 at rip v.¹ Phrasal verbs 1. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > enquiry > investigation, inspection > close examination, scrutiny > scrutinize [verb (transitive)] through-seekOE gropea1250 to search outa1382 ensearch1382 boltc1386 examinea1387 ransackc1390 ripea1400 search1409 overreach?a1425 considerc1425 perquirec1460 examec1480 peruse?1520 grounda1529 study1528 oversearch1532 perscrute1536 scrute1536 to go over ——1537 scan1548 examinate1560 rifle1566 to consider of1569 excuss1570 ripe1573 sift1573 sift1577 to pry into ——1581 dive1582 rub1591 explore1596 pervestigate1610 dissecta1631 profound1643 circumspect1667 scrutinize1671 perscrutatea1679 introspect1683 rummage1690 reconnoitre1740 scrutinate1742 to look through1744 scrutiny1755 parse1788 gun1819 cat-haul1840 vivisect1876 scour1882 microscope1888 tooth-comb1893 X-ray1896 comb1904 fine-tooth comb1949 1573 in J. Cranstoun Satirical Poems Reformation (1891) I. xlii. 107 I sall rype vp the mater haill. 1621 in R. Pitcairn Criminal Trials Scotl. (1833) III. 503 And the forme and circumstances of the samyn being narowlie examined and ryped vp by thame. 1690 W. Walker Idiomatologia Anglo-Lat. 535 He ripes up (rehearses) what wrong his enemies had done him. 1695 A. Wood Diary 9 Oct. in Life & Times (1894) III. 490 There I began to ripe up all the matter, how unworthily he had dealt with me. 1717 W. Mitchell in Misc. Spalding Club (1841) I. 236 We had reason to think that fact would not only be denyed, but occasion riping up some things in that affair. 1864 W. D. Latto Tammas Bodkin xvii. 170 Flamin' speeches were delivered by the respective agents, wha rypit up the facts o' the case to the very fundamentals. 5. a. transitive. Scottish and English regional (northern). To break, dig, or plough up (ground). Also with up. Now rare. Sc. National Dict. (at cited word) records this sense as still in use in Wigtownshire in 1968. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > breaking up land > break up land [verb (transitive)] inhook1265 upbreak1382 becarvea1425 subvert1479 ripea1500 outrive1598 a1500 (c1425) Andrew of Wyntoun Oryg. Cron. Scotl. (Nero) iv. l. 91 As þai war þe grounde ripande, Off a man the hewide þai fande. 1541 in J. Stuart Extracts Council Reg. Aberdeen (1844) I. 453 Bot eftirwart quhen he ripis his grond forther giue he kan get ony forthir document of grond he sal haue than be lynaris that resone will. 1828 W. Carr Dial. Craven (ed. 2) Rype, to break up rough and uncultivated ground. 1882 J. Lucas Stud. Nidderdale xxvii. 273 When ‘Turner Carr’ was riped a few years ago there were brears, chewps, &c. 1897 G. O. Elder Borgue iii. 29 Ripin' up a' the bits o' green hoams, and forcing wheat to grow. b. transitive. Scottish (Shetland). To dig up (potatoes). ΚΠ 1897 Shetland News 16 Oct. 8/1 Hit wid only be a just puneshment if He didna gie wis a' a tattie ta ripe. 1916 J. J. H. Burgess Rasmie's Smaa Murr Oct. Da grice needs nae böddie, whin he's rypin taaties. 1979 J. J. Graham Shetland Dict. 70/1 Hit's a slester o a job, ripin tatties wi dis weet wadder. 6. transitive. Scottish. To clear out (a fire, pipe, etc.); to cleanse. ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > clearing of refuse matter > clear of refuse [verb (transitive)] winnowa900 rinse?a1400 rid1421 redd1446 rede1450 card1612 unrubbish1645 flux1651 ripe1720 ream1967 1720 A. Ramsay Poems 301 Then fling on Coals, and ripe the Ribs. a1800 Robin Hood & Beggar in F. J. Child Eng. & Sc. Pop. Ballads (1888) III. v. 163/2 In the thick wood the beggar fled, Eer they riped their eyne. 1841 in Catholic News (1899) 3 June 15/4 She went afterwards to ‘ripe’ the fire. 1887 J. Service Life Dr. Duguid xii. 73 Robin ryped the dottle oot o' his pipe. 1895 W. C. Fraser Whaups of Durley xv. 209 I sometimes ripe oot Tammy's pipe. 1925 Trans. Dmf. & Gall. Antiq. Soc. 17 Bence, the plant stool-bent. The hard stems are used by the herds to ripe the pipe. 1946 Scots Mag. Dec. 219 Erchie lights the double-burner lamp..rypes the stove, and arrays the china mugs on one of the lockers. 1979 J. J. Graham Shetland Dict. 70/1 Dunna ripe da fire sae faerce, boy; du'll pit him oot. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.¹OEn.³c1475adj.n.²adv.OEv.¹OEv.²OE
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† ripen.1

ripen.3

ripeadj.n.2adv.

Phrases

Compounds

Derivatives

ripev.1

ripev.2

† ripen.¹

ripen.³

ripeadj.n.²adv.

ripev.¹

ripev.²