[Elamur Dictionary](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/ripen/)

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# ripen

verb (ripen, ripens, ripened, ripening)

«ripen» in the English dictionary: everyday and in Jewish tradition — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. To ripen means to become ready to eat, soft and sweet, as fruit and crops do. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/ripen/#m1)
2. To ripen something means to make it ripe. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/ripen/#m2)
3. A plan or a situation ripens when it becomes ready or right for action. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/ripen/#m3)

### In the lessons

In science, fruits ripen as they change colour and their starch turns to sugar; bananas give off a gas (ethylene) that ripens other fruit. In farming, wheat ripens before harvest. «Ripen» uses «-en» to mean «become»: ripe → ripen, wide → widen.

### Examples

- The tomatoes ripened in the sun. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/ripen/#x1)
- Put the avocado in a bag with a banana to ripen it. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/ripen/#x2)
- The wheat ripens in late summer. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/ripen/#x3)
- Green bananas ripen in a few days. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/ripen/#x4)
- The apples are ripening on the tree. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/ripen/#x5)
- Cheese ripens slowly in a cave. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/ripen/#x6)

### Note

Past: ripened. Adjective: ripe. Opposite: unripe; too ripe = overripe.

## In Jewish tradition

Here it describes how the wheat and spelt were not harmed by the plague of hail because they ripen late.

**Interpretation.** Tradition notes that the late crops were spared as a sign of God's careful control over the plagues.

### Examples

- But the wheat and the spelt were not smitten; for they ripen late. — (Torah EXO.9.32, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/R/ripen/#x1)

### Note

Past: ripened. Adjective: ripe. Opposite: unripe; too ripe = overripe.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «ripen» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/ripen/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«ripen» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/ripen.html) on Mova free.
- [Trees and pragmatics of «ripen» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/R/ripen/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«ripen» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/judaism/w/ripen.html) on Mova free.