full-blown
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
English
Etymology 1
From full + blow (“to blossom”).
Adjective
full-blown (comparative more full-blown, superlative most full-blown)
- (figurative) Completely developed or formed.
- Synonyms: full-fledged, full-bore
- We are in the midst of a full-blown crisis.
- 1897, Bram Stoker, chapter II, in Dracula, New York, N.Y.: Modern Library, →OCLC, chapter II, pages 16–17:
- Solicitor—for just before leaving London I got word that my examination was successful; and I am now a full-blown solicitor!
- 2012, Lydia Pyne, Stephen J. Pyne, The Last Lost World, Penguin, →ISBN:
- The Little Ice Age that chilled Europe […] should, according to past precedents, have snowballed into a full-blown ice age.
- At the peak of blossom; ripe.
- The trees in the garden were resplendent with full-blown white gardenias.
- 1785, William Cowper, “Book I. The Sofa.”, in The Task, a Poem, […], London: […] J[oseph] Johnson; […], →OCLC, page 3:
- There might ye ſee the pioney ſpread vvide, / The full-blovvn roſe, the ſhepherd and his laſs, / Lap-dog and lambkin vvith black ſtaring eyes, / And parrots vvith tvvin cherries in their beak.
- 1814 May 9, [Jane Austen], chapter VII, in Mansfield Park: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC:
- “Fanny has been cutting roses, has she?” “Yes, and I am afraid they will be the last this year. Poor thing! She found it hot enough; but they were so full-blown that one could not wait.”
- 1891, Thomas Hardy, chapter L, in Tess of the d’Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: James R[ipley] Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., […], →OCLC:
- Above, Jupiter hung like a full-blown jonquil, so bright as almost to throw a shade.
- 1916, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “The God of Tarzan”, in Jungle Tales of Tarzan:
- What made the flower open? What made it grow from a tiny bud to a full-blown bloom? Why was it at all? Why was he?
Translations
completely developed or formed
Etymology 2
From full + blow (“to produce an air current”).
Adjective
full-blown (comparative more full-blown, superlative most full-blown)
Translations
References
- “full-blown”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
- Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “full-blown”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
- Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1989.
- Random House Webster's Unabridged Electronic Dictionary, 1987-1996.
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