Etimology
From Middle English ful, from Old English full (“full”), from Proto-West Germanic *full, from Proto-Germanic *fullaz (“full”), from Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₁nós (“full”). Germanic cognates include West Frisian fol, Low German vull, Dutch vol, German voll, Danish fuld, and Norwegian and Swedish full (the latter three via Old Norse). Proto-Indo-European cognates include English plenty (via Latin, compare plēnus), Welsh llawn, Russian по́лный (pólnyj), Lithuanian pilnas, Persian پر (por), Sanskrit पूर्ण (pūrṇa). See also fele and Scots fou. For the "drunk, intoxicated" sense, compare also Swedish full and other Scandinavian languages.
adjective
full (comparative fuller or more full, superlative fullest or most full)
Containing the maximum possible amount that can fit in the space available.
Complete; with nothing omitted.
Total, entire.
Completely empowered, authorized or qualified (in some role); not limited.
(informal) Having eaten to satisfaction, having a "full" stomach; replete.
(informal, with "of") Replete, abounding with.
(informal, of hands, chiefly in the plural) Carrying as much as possible.
(of physical features) Plump, round.
(of the moon) Having its entire face illuminated.
(of garments) Of a size that is ample, wide, or having ample folds or pleats to be comfortable.
Having depth and body; rich.
(obsolete) Having the mind filled with ideas; stocked with knowledge; stored with information.
Having the attention, thoughts, etc., absorbed in any matter, and the feelings more or less excited by it.
Filled with emotions.
(obsolete) Impregnated; made pregnant.
(poker, postnominal) Said of the three cards of the same rank in a full house.
(chiefly Australia) Drunk, intoxicated.
Examples
The jugs were full to the point of overflowing.
Anybody can cure a curable disease if he happens to have the right drug at hand, but the treatment of a condition for which there is no positive cure makes much greater demands on the doctor, who has to be practical pharmacologist, human being, psychiatrist, and father confessor—he has, in fact, to be a proper physician in the fullest sense of the word.
Not long ago, it was difficult to produce photographs of tiny creatures with every part in focus. […] A photo processing technique called focus stacking has changed that. Developed as a tool to electronically combine the sharpest bits of multiple digital images, focus stacking is a boon to biologists seeking full focus on a micron scale.
Our book gives full treatment to the subject of angling.
'Twas early June, the new grass was flourishing everywheres, the posies in the yard—peonies and such—in full bloom, the sun was shining, and the water of the bay was blue, with light green streaks where the shoal showed.
She had tattoos the full length of her arms. He was prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
full member
full officer
"I'm full," he said, pushing back from the table.
This movie doesn't make sense; it's full of plot holes.
I prefer my pizzas full of toppings.
Hang on - my hands are full; just let me put these down.
full lips; a full face; a full figure
For on those evenings, when the moon is full and bright and clear, mothers and fathers in Siam tell their children to look up at the moon and then ask them what they see there.
a full pleated skirt; She needed her full clothing during her pregnancy.
a full singing voice
Reading maketh a full man.
She's full of her latest project.
Everyone is now full of the miracles done by cold baths on decayed and weak constitutions.
The heart is so full that a drop overfills it.
Ilia, the fair, […] full of Mars.
nines full of aces
I'll beat him with my kings full!
Mr. Coniff: That is the only evidence you gave of his being intoxicated, that his hat was on the side? […] Mr. Coniff: That is the only indication you gave the committee when you were asked if the judge was full, that his hat was on the side of his head; is that right?
Related words
synonyms
(containing the maximum possible amount): abounding, brimful, bursting, chock-a-block, chock-full, full up, full to bursting, full to overflowing, jam full, jammed, jam-packed, laden, loaded, overflowing, packed, rammed, stuffed
(complete): complete, thorough
(total): entire, total
(satisfied, in relation to eating): glutted, gorged, sated, satiate, satiated, satisfied, stuffed
(of a garment): baggy, big, large, loose, outsized, oversized, voluminous
(drunk): See Thesaurus:drunk
antonyms
(antonym(s) of "containing the maximum possible amount"): empty
(antonym(s) of "complete"): incomplete
(antonym(s) of "total"): partial
(antonym(s) of "satisfied, in relation to eating"): empty, hungry, starving
(antonym(s) of "of a garment"): close-fitting, small, tight, tight-fitting
related terms
fill
-ful
fulfil
fulsome
fulth
adverb
full (not comparable)
(archaic) Fully; quite; very; thoroughly; completely; exactly; entirely.
Examples
Prospero:I have done nothing but in care of thee,Of thee, my dear one, thee, my daughter, whoArt ignorant of what thou art; naught knowingOf whence I am, nor that I am more betterThan Prospero, master of a full poor cell,And thy no greater father.
[…] full in the centre of the sacred wood
You know full well what makes me look so pale.
This cupboard […] this other one, His true wife's charge, full oft to their abode Yielded for daily bread the martyr's stone,
It is full strange to him who hears and feels, When wandering there in some deserted street, The booming and the jar of ponderous wheels, […]
I turned my head, and as I lay gasping in the throes of that awful struggle I could see that Leo was off the rock now, for the lamplight fell full upon him.
Serene, smiling, enigmatic, she faced him with no fear whatever showing in her dark eyes. […] She put back a truant curl from her forehead where it had sought egress to the world, and looked him full in the face now, […].
Etimology
From Middle English fulle, fylle, fille, from Old English fyllu, fyllo (“fullness, fill, plenty”), from Proto-Germanic *fullį̄, *fulnō (“fullness, filling, overflow”), from Proto-Indo-European *plūno-, *plno- (“full”), from *pelh₁-, *pleh₁- (“to fill; full”). Cognate with German Fülle (“fullness, fill”), Icelandic fylli (“fulness, fill”). More at fill.
noun
full (plural fulls)
Utmost measure or extent; highest state or degree; the state, position, or moment of fullness; fill.
(of the moon) The phase of the moon when its entire face is illuminated, full moon.
(freestyle skiing) An aerialist maneuver consisting of a backflip in conjunction and simultaneous with a complete twist.
Examples
The swan's-down feather, That stands upon the swell at full of tide.
Sicilian tortures and the brazen bull, Are emblems, rather than express the full Of what he feels.
I was fed to the full.
[…] he had tasted their food, and found it so palatable that he had eaten his full before he knew it.
Early next morning we were over at the elk carcass, and, as we expected, found that the bear had eaten his full at it during the night.
When he had eaten his full, they set to work again.
It is like, that the brain of man waxeth moister and fuller upon the full of the moon: [...]
This earthly moon, the Church, hath her fulls and wanings, and sometimes her eclipses, while the shadow of this sinful mass hides her beauty from the world.
verb
full (third-person singular simple present fulls, present participle fulling, simple past and past participle fulled)
(of the moon) To become full or wholly illuminated.
Examples
The September moon fulls on the 20th at 24 minutes past midnight, and is called the harvest moon.
"By the black cave of Atropos, when the moon fulls, keep thy tryst!"
"The moon fulls to-night, don't it?"
Etimology
From Middle English fullen (“to baptise”), fulwen, from Old English fullian, fulwian (“to baptise”), from full- + *wīhan (later *wēon). Compare Old English fulluht, fulwiht (“baptism”).
verb
full (third-person singular simple present fulls, present participle fulling, simple past and past participle fulled)
(transitive) To baptise.
Examples
And thy diſciples fulleden men in thy name, in forgiueneſſe of her ſinnes.
Etimology
From Middle English fullen (“to full”), from Middle French fouler, from Old French foler, fouler (“to tread, to stamp, to full”), from Medieval Latin fullare, from Latin fullo (“a fuller”).
verb
full (third-person singular simple present fulls, present participle fulling, simple past and past participle fulled)
To make cloth denser and firmer by soaking, beating and pressing; to waulk or walk.
Examples
Synonyms: walk, waulk