full-blown

full-blown

English

Etymology 1

From full +‎ blow (“to blossom”).

Adjective

full-blown (comparative more full-blown, superlative most full-blown)

1. (figuratively) 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 688657546, 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.

2. At the peak of blossom; ripe.

   The trees in the garden were resplendent with full-blown white gardenias.

   • 1814 July, [Jane Austen], chapter VII, in Mansfield Park: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] T[homas] Egerton, […], OCLC 39810224:

     “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 13623666:

     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

German: voll entfaltet, (colloquial) vollendet (de), ausgewachsen (de), komplett (de) Italian: in piena regola Russian: настоящий (ru) (nastojaščij), форменный (ru) (formennyj) Turkish: tam gelişmiş (tr)

at the peak of blossom

German: in voller Blüte, voll aufgeblüht Swedish: fullt utslagen Turkish: tamamen açılmış (tr)/açmış (tr)

Etymology 2

From full +‎ blow (“to produce an air current”).

Adjective

full-blown (comparative more full-blown, superlative most full-blown)

1. Filled with wind; puffed up.

   The schooner took to sea with full-blown sails.

Translations

filled with wind

German: vollgeblasen Turkish: tamamen şişmiş

References

• “full-blown”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “full-blown”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
• Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1989.
• Random House Webster's Unabridged Electronic Dictionary, 1987-1996.