See Also: Open, the(dictionary)
US Open, the(dictionary)
Open(medicine)
Open(money)
OPEN(finance)
open bar(dictionary)
open day(dictionary)
Open up(finance)
open-air(dictionary)
open(2)(dictionary)

open(1) (iou)



open adjective & adverb.
[Old English open = Old Frisian open, Old Saxon opan (Dutch open), Old High German offan (German offen), Old Norse opin, from Germanic base having the form of a strong pa. pple from UP adverb1.]
A. adjective.
I. Physical senses.
Of a door, gate, etc.: not closed, shut, or locked; set so as to allow access or free passage through. OE.
Tennyson The voice of Enid..rang Clear thro' the open casement of the Hall, Singing. M. Roberts Helen has left the hall door propped open. J. Irving He lay with his head by the open tent flap.
a. Of an enclosed space, a house, room, box, etc.: having its gate, door, lid, or some part of its enclosing boundary drawn aside or removed so that there is free access to its interior; not shut up. Also spec., (of the mouth) with lips apart, esp. in surprise or incomprehension, or to receive food. OE.
Ouida The earth had yawned open in many places. C. Isherwood Closes the empty drawer in his desk, which has been pulled open a little. A. Sillitoe Smoke drifted from his open mouth.
b. Of a shop, public house, etc.: accessible to customers, esp. at a particular time; available for business. E19.
P. Fitzgerald The market was open every week-day.
c. Of a prison etc.: in which the inmates are seldom or never locked up. M20.
a. Of a space: not enclosed or confined; not walled, fenced, or otherwise shut in; to which there is free access or passage on all or nearly all sides. OE.
O. Manning The army men slept under an open sky. R. Dahl We were out in the open water beyond the chain of islands.
b. Of a battle: fought in the open as opp. to in a fortress or stronghold, and so with full forces. M16.
Not covered over or covered in; having no roof, lid, or other covering. OE.
R. C. Hutchinson Except that his eyes were open he might have been in the deepest sleep. G. V. Higgins A small four-passenger open car with a canvas roof. R. Whelan A soldier standing in the open turret of his tank.
Not covered so as to be concealed or protected; bare, exposed. OE.
A. Thwaite I took the open razor to my throat.
b. Medicine. (Of a wound) exposed to the air; (of a surgical operation) involving the exposure of an interior part of the body. L18.
c. Of a telephone line or other transmission line: above ground. L19.
d. Medicine. Of (a case of) tuberculosis: accompanied by the discharge of infectious material. M20.
a. (Of a passage or space) not occupied by something that prevents access or view; free from objects or obstructions; unobstructed, clear; (of an expanse of ground) free from a covering of trees, buildings, etc.; (of a river, port, etc.) not frozen over, free from ice. LME.
E. A. Freeman The besieged must have had the river and the sea open to them during..the siege. Punch His decision to move to the wide open spaces of Montana.
b. Not constipated. M16.
c. Sport. Of a player: unmarked by a member of the opposite team. M20.
Not having the marginal parts drawn, folded, or rolled together; expanded, spread out. LME.
A. Trollope Having an open letter in his hand.
Nautical. Seen with an opening between; clear, detached. Formerly also, in full view. L15.
(Of a vocal sound) made or uttered with the mouth open; Phonetics (of a vowel) articulated with the tongue in a relatively low position. L15.
a. Of a line, fabric, etc.: having apertures or spaces; containing interstices or gaps; perforated; porous. E17.
b. Sport. Of a game or style of play: characterized by action which is spread out over the field. M20.
a. (Of weather or a season) free from frost or (Nautical) fog or mist. E17.
D. C. Murray The weather being fine and open and dry.
b. Of soil: unbound by frost or heat; loose, permeable. M17.
Music. Of a (part of) a musical instrument: not stopped or muted in the production of a sound or note. Also, (of a note) sounded without restriction of the instrument, string, etc., producing it. L17.
Guitar Player Notice how the left-hand fingering combines open and stopped notes.
Electricity. Having a break in the conducting path for an electric current. E19.
Medicine. Designating a method of administering anaesthetics in which the patient's respiratory tract is in communication with the air so that exhaled air is not rebreathed. L19.
a. Math. Of a set of points: not containing any of its boundary points. Of an interval in the real line: not containing either of its end points. E20.
b. Math. & Logic. Of a statement or equation: containing at least one free variable or undetermined quantity. M20.
c. Astronomy. Of the universe: having a negative or zero radius of curvature; spatially infinite and always expanding. M20.
II. Non-physical senses.
Exposed to the mental view, brought to light; evident, clear. OE.
W. Irving They..laid open to him the whole scheme.
a. Exposed to general view or knowledge; existing or performed without concealment; public; (of a person) acting publicly or without concealment; (of a style of administration or government) in which the public is kept well-informed and may participate. OE.
W. Gerhardie This open display of hostility. G. Santayana Mother and son avoided an open rupture by never referring to their differences. M. Foot In the interests of open government..it may now be revealed. USA Today There is a need for an open press.
b. Of a workplace: in which both union and non-union workers are employed. L19.
Not confined or limited to a few; generally accessible or available; that may be used, shared, entered, or competed for without restriction. Also, accessible to someone or something specified. OE.
J. Wilson Even the house of God Was open to the Plague. V. Woolf All professions are open to women of your generation. Times The match was a curtain-raiser to the Wills Open Tournament. P. Erdmann Get yourself an open airplane ticket.
b. Of a person: having won an open championship, scholarship, tournament, etc. L19.
Of a person: not given to concealing thoughts or feelings; frank, candid. Also (of a quality, manner, etc.) showing or marked by candour. ME.
A. Koestler The barber, whose broad open face he liked. M. Gordon She had been too trusting, too open with her stories.
Free in giving or communicating; generous, bounteous. LME.
Without (esp. mental or spiritual) defence or protection; exposed, liable, or subject to. L15.
W. N. Harben I'm open to criticism. R. V. Jones I could hardly believe the extent to which he had left himself open. E. Newman Should I tell my boy..not to hit his boy when he's open?
Of a thing, course of action, etc.: not closed or shut against access; not denied; accessible or available without hindrance to. E16.
Manchester Examiner There are three, or perhaps four, courses open to us.
Of a matter, discussion, etc.: not finally settled or determined; that may be decided according to circumstances or at will; uncertain. Formerly also, (of a period of time) not completed. M16.
Law Times Lord Justice Cotton..left the matter open for future consideration.
Of a person: accessible to appeals, emotions, or ideas; ready to receive impressions, respond to sympathy, etc.; amenable or receptive to. L17.
A. France He..was open to new suggestions.
Special collocations, phrases, & comb.: be open with speak frankly to. cut open: see CUT verb 9. in open court in a public court of justice, before the judge and the public. keep an eye open, keep one's eye(s) open: see EYE noun. keep one's options open: see OPTION noun 1. keep open house: see open house s.v. HOUSE noun1. lay open to make liable to expose to. open access ease of availability; availability to all; spec. a system whereby users of a library have direct access to bookshelves. open-access adjective easily available; available to all. open admission US = open enrolment below. open air (the) free or unenclosed space outdoors; the unconfined atmosphere. open-air adjective existing, taking place in, or characteristic of the open air. open-and-shut adjective & noun (a) adjective simple, straightforward; in which there is no doubt; also, (of weather) alternately sunny and cloudy; (b) noun a simple or straightforward operation, case, etc.; also, alternately sunny and cloudy conditions. open-armed adjective cordial, warm, receptive. open-arse (now dial.) [in ref. to the wide gap between the persistent calyx lobes] (the fruit of) the medlar, Mespilus germanica. open bar a bar at a special function at which the drinks have been paid for by the host or are prepaid through the admission fee. open-bill (stork) either of two storks of the genus Anastomus found in Africa and Asia, having bills which when shut are in contact only at the ends. open bite Dentistry lack of occlusion of the front teeth when the jaw is closed normally. open book fig. a person who or thing which can be readily understood; a person who conceals nothing. open-breasted adjective (a) with the breast exposed; (b) not secretive, frank. Open Brethren: see BROTHER noun. opencast noun & adjective (Mining) (a) noun an open working; also, a method of mining coal, ore, etc., by removing surface layers and working from above, rather than from shafts; (b) adjective designating or pertaining to this method of mining. open chain Chemistry an open-ended chain of atoms with no closed rings. open cheque (a) an uncrossed cheque; (b) a cheque for an unstated amount. open circuit a circuit, esp. an electric circuit, that is incomplete. open-circuited adjective consisting of or containing an open circuit. open city an undefended city; spec. one declared as such and exempt from enemy bombardment. open class a class of which the numbers cannot be specified. open classroom: in which instruction is informal, individual, and free-ranging. open cluster Astronomy an open or loose grouping of stars. open college an adult-education college having few if any restrictions on admission, and usu. teaching mainly by correspondence and broadcasting. open Communion: see COMMUNION. open community Ecology an area in which plants do not completely cover the ground. open compound a compound word printed or written with a space between the component elements. open cover marine insurance that covers all shipments made by a person or firm without advance specification of the details of each shipment. open cycle a cycle of operations in which a working fluid, coolant, etc., is used only once. open date (a) US Sport a future available date for which no fixture has yet been arranged; (b) a future unspecified date, esp. one left undetermined when a travel ticket is bought; (c) a date on which perishable goods were prepacked, or by which they should be sold. open dating the marking of packaged goods with an open date for consumption, sale, etc. open day a day when a school, university, or other institution normally closed to the public is made accessible to visitors. open door a free or available way in; free admission or access; spec. free admission to a country of foreign imports and immigrants. open-door adjective done publicly or with doors open; (of a policy, system, etc.) unrestricted, advocating or providing freedom of access etc.; (of a prison etc.) allowing freedom of access or movement where locking in is more usual. open-end, open-ended adjectives having an open end; fig. having no predetermined limit, boundary, or outcome; spec. (of a question or test) not limiting the respondent in the range of his or her answer. open-endedness the quality of being open-ended. open enrolment US the unrestricted enrolment of students at schools, colleges, etc., of their choice. open-eyed adjective having or done with the eyes open; aware, perceptive. open-faced adjective (a) having the face uncovered; (b) having a frank or ingenuous face; (c) (of a sandwich, pie, etc.) without an upper layer of bread or pastry. open field an unenclosed field; arable land without physical division by hedges, ditches, etc. open fire, open fireplace: that is not enclosed in a stove etc. open fracture Medicine: in which the broken bone protrudes through the skin. open go Austral. colloq. an unimpeded opportunity; a fair chance. open goal (Football & Hockey etc.) an undefended goal(-mouth); a goal scored into this. open-handed adjective generous. open-handedly adverb generously. open-handedness generosity. open harmony Music: in which the chords are separated by wide intervals. open-heart adjective pertaining to or designating surgery in which the heart has been temporarily by-passed and opened. open-hearted adjective unreserved, frank; kindly, generous. open-heartedness open-hearted quality. open-hearth furnace a shallow reverberatory furnace for making steel. open-hearth process the making of steel in an open-hearth furnace. open house: see HOUSE noun1. open housing US property that can be rented or bought without restriction on racial or ethnic grounds. open interest Commerce the number of contracts or commitments outstanding in financial trading at any one time. open interval: see INTERVAL noun. open juncture Linguistics the type of juncture found at word boundaries or marked syllable division in the word. open learning: based on independent study or initiative rather than formal classroom instruction. open letter a letter, esp. of protest, addressed to a particular person or persons but made public, esp. in a newspaper etc. open line a telephone line on which conversations can be overheard or intercepted by others. open-line adjective designating a radio or television programme in which the public can participate by telephone. open loop a control loop without feedback, each operation or activity being affected only by those earlier in the sequence. open market an unrestricted market with free competition both of buyers and sellers. open marriage a marriage in which partners agree that each may have sexual relations with other people. open-mic, open-mike adjective denoting a session in a club where anyone who chooses is welcome to sing, perform stand-up comedy, etc. open mind a mind accessible to new arguments or ideas; a mind open to influence or persuasion. open-minded adjective having an open mind. open-mindedly adverb in an open-minded manner. open-mindedness the quality of being open-minded. open-mouthed adjective with the mouth open, esp. in surprise or incomprehension. open-neck a collar of a kind that leaves the neck unrestricted; an unbuttoned collar. open-necked adjective (of a shirt) worn with the collar unbuttoned, without a tie. open newel: see NEWEL noun 1b. open occupancy US occupancy of housing available to people of any racial or ethnic group. open outcry Commerce a system of financial trading in which dealers shout their bids and contracts aloud. open-pit adjective (chiefly N. Amer.) = opencast (b) above. open-plan adjective (of a house, office, etc.) having few or no internal walls or partitions. open question a matter on which differences of opinion are legitimate, a matter not yet decided. open range N. Amer. a tract of land without fences etc. open-range adjective = free-range adjective s.v. FREE adjective, noun, & adverb. open-reel adjective using tape reels which are accessible and require individual threading, as opp. to being contained in cassettes etc. open road (a) US a road that is not private; (b) a country road; a main road outside an urban area; a road along which one can travel without care or hindrance. open sandal an open-toed sandal. open sandwich a sandwich without a top slice of bread. open score Music: in which each voice is written on a separate staff. open season the season when hunting or fishing is allowed; transf. a time when something is unrestricted. open secret: see SECRET noun. open shelf a shelf that is not shut in by doors etc.; a bookshelf in a library from which readers can take books themselves. open shop a system whereby employees in a company etc. do not have to join a union; a company etc. which follows this system. open-skies, open-sky adjectives designating or pertaining to a system whereby aircraft of any nation may fly over a particular territory or whereby two or more nations permit air surveillance of one another. open slather: see SLATHER noun. open society: characterized by a flexible structure, freedom of belief, wide dissemination of information, and much contact with other peoples. open space (a) an area without buildings in a city or town; a small public park etc.; (b) in pl., tracts of open country (freq. in wide open spaces). open stage a stage in the same area as the audience; esp. one surrounded on three sides by the audience. open-stock N. Amer. goods, esp. sets of crockery, that are always kept in stock by a shop etc. open subroutine Computing a routine that is written, in full, directly into a program wherever it occurs. open syllable: ending in a vowel. open system (a) a material system in which mass or energy can be lost or gained from the environment; an incomplete or alterable system of ideas, things, etc.; (b) Computing a system in which the components and protocols conform to standards independent of a particular supplier. open texture Philosophy the inability of certain concepts etc. to be fully or precisely defined. open-toe, open-toed adjectives designating a shoe or sandal in which the upper does not cover the toes. open-top adjective & noun (designating) a vehicle, trailer, etc. without a (fixed) top. open-topped adjective not having a (fixed) top. open town (a) US a town characterized by a lack of restrictions on places for drinking, gambling, etc.; (b) = open city above. open-tread adjective (of a staircase) having no risers. open university a university having few if any restrictions on admission, spec. (with cap. initials) a university in the UK which accepts people without qualifications and teaches mainly by correspondence and broadcasting. open verdict: see VERDICT noun. open ward a hospital ward allowing relative freedom of movement to patients. open water spec. (chiefly Canad.) the melting of ice on rivers and lakes in spring; the time when this happens; a stretch of water with little or no ice. open window unit Acoustics = SABIN. open woods N. Amer. a patch of woodland in which there is no undergrowth. openwork metalwork, needlework (as lace or embroidery), etc., having ornamental gaps or openings. openworked adjective made in openwork. pound open: see POUND noun2 1a. seize the open file: see FILE noun2. under the open sky: see SKY noun. wide open: see WIDE adverb. with one's eyes open: see EYE noun. with open arms: see ARM noun1. with open face with uncovered face; confidently, brazenly. with open mouth: esp. in surprise or incomprehension.
b. adverb. = OPENLY. ME.