full

full¹

adjective

1》 containing or holding as much or as many as possible; having no empty space.

    ↘having eaten as much as one is able.

    ↘filled with intense emotion.

    ↘(full of) having a large number or quantity of.

    ↘(full of) unable to stop talking or thinking about: they had their photographs taken and he was full of it.

2》 not lacking or omitting anything; complete.

    ↘(of a covering material in bookbinding) used for the entire cover.

3》 plump or rounded: a full figure.

    ↘(of the hair) having body.

    ↘(of a garment) made using much material.

    ↘(of a sound or colour) strong and rich.

4》 involving a lot of activities: he lived a full life.

5》 Austral./NZ & Scottish informal drunk.

adverb

1》 straight; directly.

2》 very: he knew full well she was too polite to barge in.

    ↘archaic entirely.

noun (the full)

1》 archaic the period, point, or state of the greatest fullness or strength.

2》 the state or time of full moon.

verb

1》 black English make full; fill up.

2》 gather or pleat so as to make a garment full.

3》 dialect or US (of the moon or tide) become full.

Phrases

full and by Sailing close-hauled but with sails filling.

full of oneself very self-satisfied and with an exaggerated sense of self-worth.

full of years archaic having lived to a considerable age.

full on

1》 running at or providing maximum power or capacity.

2》 so as to make a direct or significant impact.

    ↘informal not diluted in nature or effect: hours of full-on fun.

full out

1》 with maximum effort or power.

2》 Printing flush with the margin.

full steam (or speed) ahead proceeding with as much speed or energy as possible.

full up filled to capacity.

in full

1》 with nothing omitted.

2》 to the full amount due.

3》 to the utmost; completely.

to the full to the greatest possible extent.

Origin

OE, of Gmc origin.

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full²

verb [often as noun fulling] clean, shrink, and felt (cloth) by heat, pressure, and moisture.

Origin

ME: prob. a back-form. from fuller, influenced by OFr. fouler 'press hard upon' or med. L. fullare, based on L. fullo 'fuller', of unknown origin.