adjective
- in a state which permits access, entrance, or exit; not closed, covered, clogged, or shut: open doors
- closed, but unlocked: the car is open
- in a state which permits freedom of view or passage; not enclosed, fenced in, sheltered, screened, etc.; unobstructed; clear: open fields
- having few or no trees, houses, etc.: open country
- unsealed; unwrapped
- not covered over; without covering, top, etc.
- vulnerable to attack, etc.; unprotected or undefended
- spread out; unfolded; unclosed; expanded: an open book
- having spaces between; having gaps, holes, interstices, etc.: open ranks
- free from ice: the lake is open
- having relatively little snow or frost; mild: an open winter
- that may be entered, used, competed in, shared, visited, etc. by all: an open meeting
- ready to admitcustomers, clients, etc.
- free to be argued or contested; not settled or decided: an open question
- free from prejudice or bigotry; not closed to new ideas, etc.: an open mind
- liberal; generous
- ☆ free from legal restrictions: an open season on deer
- ☆ free from discriminatory restrictions based on race, religion, etc.: open housing
- ☆ free from effective regulation with respect to drinking, gambling, etc.: the city is wide open
- not regulated, organized, or conducted along traditional or conventional lines: open marriage, open education
- characterized by social mobility, political freedom, diversity of opinion, etc.: an open society
- in force or operation: an open account
- not already taken, occupied, or engaged: the job is still open
- free to be accepted or rejected
- not closed against access; accessible; available
- not hidden or secret; generally known; public: an open quarrel
- frank; candid; direct; honest: an open manner
- Math. of a set of points that is the complement of a closed set of points, as the set of all points outside a circle
- Music
- not stopped by the finger: said of a string
- not closed at the top: said of an organ pipe
- produced by an open string or pipe, or, in wind instruments, brasses, etc., without a slide or key: said of a tone
- not muted
- Phonet.
- articulated with the tongue as low as possible in the mouth; low: said of certain vowels
- articulated with the tongue in the lower of two possible positions: the open e and close e in Italian
- articulated with the organs of speech not in close contact; fricative: said of certain consonants
- ending in a vowel or diphthong: said of a syllable
- Printing
- designating or of a style of type the letters of which are cast in outline so that the inside of letters shows white
- with wide spacing between words or lines of type; not solid
- Sports designating a stance, as of a golfer or batter in baseball, in which the front foot is farther than the rear foot from an imaginary straight line, as one joining tee and green or one joining home plate and second base
Origin:
ME < OE, akin to Ger offen < PGmc *upana: for IE base see up
noun
any of various tournaments, esp. in golf or tennis, open to both professionals and amateurs