Word.ws English Dictionary

full

/fʊl/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Northern Ireland/fʉl/

full adjective: containing the maximum possible amount that can fit in the space available.

Adjective

full (comparative fuller or more full, superlative fullest or most full)

  1. Containing the maximum possible amount that can fit in the space available.
    • The jugs were full to the point of overflowing.
    Synonyms:
    abounding, brimful, bursting, chock-a-block, chock-full, full up, full to bursting, full to overflowing, jam full, jammed
  2. Complete; with nothing omitted.
    • Our book gives full treatment to the subject of angling.
    • 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...1976 March 27, F. Dudley Hart, “History of the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis”, in British Medical Journal, volume 1, number 6012, →DOI, →JSTOR, page 763
    1. Surjective as a map of morphisms
    2. Including all morphisms. Formally: Such that for every pairs of objects (X, Y) in S, the hom-sets operatorname Hom_S(X,Y) and operatorname Hom_C(X,Y) are equal.
  3. Total, entire.
    • '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.1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC
    • She had tattoos the full length of her arms. He was prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
    Synonyms:
    entire, total
  4. Completely empowered, authorized or qualified (in some role); not limited.
    • full member
    • full officer
  5. (informal) Having eaten to satisfaction, having a "full" stomach; replete.
    • "I'm full," he said, pushing back from the table.
  6. (informal) Replete, abounding with.
    • This movie doesn't make sense; it's full of plot holes.
    • I prefer my pizzas full of toppings.
  7. (in plural, informal) Carrying as much as possible.
    • Hang on - my hands are full; just let me put these down.
  8. Plump, round.
    • full lips; a full face; a full figure
  9. Having its entire face illuminated.
    • 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.1969, Alan S. Feinstein, Folk tales from Siam, page 82
  10. Of a size that is ample, wide, or having ample folds or pleats to be comfortable.
    • a full pleated skirt; She needed her full clothing during her pregnancy.
  11. Having depth and body; rich.
    • a full singing voice
  12. (obsolete) Having the mind filled with ideas; stocked with knowledge; stored with information.
    • Reading maketh a full man.1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Studies”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC
Show 5 more meaningsShow fewer meanings
  1. Having the attention, thoughts, etc., absorbed in any matter, and the feelings more or less excited by it.
    • She's full of her latest project.
    • Everyone is now full of the miracles done by cold baths on decayed and weak constitutions.1693, [John Locke], “§7”, in Some Thoughts Concerning Education, London: […] A[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […], →OCLC
  2. Filled with emotions.
    • The heart is so full that a drop overfills it.1848, James Russell Lowell, The Vision of Sir Launfal
  3. (obsolete) Impregnated; made pregnant.
    • Ilia, the fair, […] full of Mars.1697, Virgil, “(please specify the book number)”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC
  4. (postpositional) Said of the three cards of the same rank in a full house.
    • nines full of aces
    • I'll beat him with my kings full!
  5. (Australia) Drunk, intoxicated.
    • 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?1925, United States House Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee No. 1, Charges Against William E. Baker, U.S. District Judge
    Synonyms:
    drunk

Adverb

full (not comparable)

  1. (archaic) Fully; quite; very; thoroughly; completely; exactly; entirely.
    • Prospero:
      I have done nothing but in care of thee,
      Of thee, my dear one, thee, my daughter, who
      Art ignorant of what thou art; naught knowing
      Of whence I am, nor that I am more better
      Than Prospero, master of a full poor cell,
      And thy no greater father.1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published...
    • […] full in the centre of the sacred wood1697, Virgil, “(please specify the book number)”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC

Noun

full (plural fulls)

  1. Utmost measure or extent; highest state or degree; the state, position, or moment of fullness; fill.
    • The swan's-down feather,
      That stands upon the swell at full of tide.c. 1606–1607 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard...
    • Sicilian tortures and the brazen bull,
      Are emblems, rather than express the full
      Of what he feels.1693, Decimus Junius Juvenalis, John Dryden, transl., “[The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis.] The Third Satyr”, in The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis. Translated into English Verse. […]...
  2. The phase of the moon when its entire face is illuminated, full moon.
    • It is like, that the brain of man waxeth moister and fuller upon the full of the moon: …a. 1622, Francis Bacon, Natural History, in The works of Francis Bacon, 1765, page 322
    • a. 1656, Joseph Hall, Josiah Pratt (editor), Works, Volume VII: Practical Works, Revised edition, 1808 page 219,
      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.
  3. A flip involving a complete turn in midair.
  4. (freestyle skiing) An aerialist maneuver consisting of a backflip in conjunction and simultaneous with a complete twist.

Verb (1)

full (third-person singular simple present fulls, present participle fulling, simple past and past participle fulled)

  1. To become full or wholly illuminated.
    • The September moon fulls on the 20th at 24 minutes past midnight, and is called the harvest moon.1888 September 20, “The Harvest Moon”, in New York Times, retrieved 10 Apr 2013
    • "By the black cave of Atropos, when the moon fulls, keep thy tryst!"1905, Annie Fellows Johnston, chapter 4, in The Little Colonel's Christmas Vacation

Verb (2)

full (third-person singular simple present fulls, present participle fulling, simple past and past participle fulled)

  1. (transitive) To baptise.
    • And thy diſciples fulleden men in thy name, in forgiueneſſe of her ſinnes.1610 October, John Foxe, “An Old Ancient Writing Intituled, The Praier and Complaint of the Ploughman”, in Actes and Monuments of Matters Most Speciall and Memorable, Happening in the Church, with an...

Verb (3)

full (third-person singular simple present fulls, present participle fulling, simple past and past participle fulled)

  1. To make cloth denser and firmer by soaking, beating and pressing; to waulk or walk.
    Synonyms:
    tuck, walk, waulk

Proper noun capitalized: Full

Full (plural Fulls)

  1. A surname from German.

full meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

full in Hindi

containing the maximum possible amount
पूर्ण pūrṇ, पूरा pūrā

full in Tamil

containing the maximum possible amount
முழு muḻu

full in Marathi

full
पूर्ण pūrṇa
full, complete
पुरते purte

full in Urdu

containing the maximum possible amount
پورن pūrṇ, پورا pūrā
More languagesFewer languages
full in Bengali
ভরতি bhorti, ভর্তি bhorti, পুরো purō, গোটা gōṭa
full in Telugu
సంపూర్ణము sampūrṇamu, నిండు niṇḍu, మొత్తము mottamu, సంతృప్తి santr̥pti
full in Malayalam
നിറഞ്ഞ niṟañña, മുഴു muḻu
full in Kannada
ಪೂರ್ಣ pūrṇa, ತುಂಬು tumbu
full in Punjabi
ਪੂਰਾ pūrā, ਪੂਰਨ pūran, ਢੱਠ ḍhaṭṭha
full in Gujarati
આખું ākhũ, પૂરું pūrũ
full in Odia
ସାରା sārā, ସମୃଦ୍ଧ samruddha
full in Sanskrit
पूर्ण pūrṇa
full in Nepali
पूर्ण pūrṇa
full in Pashto
ډک ḍak, موړ moṛ
full in Tagalog
puno, busog
full in Arabic
مُمْتَلِئ mumtaliʔ, مَلِيء malīʔ, مَلْآن malʔān, مليان malyān
full in Malay
penuh, kenyang
full in Indonesian
lengkap, penuh, menyeluruh, kenyang
full in Persian
پر por, سیر sir, sêr
full in Thai
เต็ม dtem, อิ่ม ìm
full in Vietnamese
đầy đủ, toàn phần, đầy, cả
full in Myanmar
ပြည့် prany., ဝ wa.

Examples of full in a sentence

  • I was fed to the full.
  • Some claim he wanted to substitute his own culture to insure fuller credit for the CDC in the event of a breakthrough.1986 February 15, Elizabeth Pincus, “The CDC: When Politics & Egos Hamper Saving Lives”, in Gay Community News, volume 14, number 39, page...
  • 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.2013 July-August, Catherine Clabby, “Focus on Everything”, in American Scientist:
  • You know full well what makes me look so pale.1819, John Keats, Otho the Great, act IV, scene I, verse 112:
  • 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.1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:

All 40 example sentences with full

Synonyms of full

29 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of full

Forms of full

Adjective
comparativefuller
comparativemore full
superlativefullest
superlativemost full
Noun
pluralfulls
Verb
third-person singular presentfulls
present participlefulling
past participlefulled
pastfulled
Proper noun
pluralFulls

Origin of full

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, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish full. Proto-Indo-European cognates include English plenty (via Latin, compare plēnus), Welsh llawn, Russian по́лный (pólnyj), Lithuanian pilnas, Persian پر (por), Sanskrit पूर्ण (pūrṇá). See also fele and Scots fou (whence the English doublet fou (“drunk”)). For the "drunk, intoxicated" sense, compare also Swedish full and other Scandinavian languages.

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.

From Middle English fullen, fulwen (“to baptise”), from Old English fullian, fulwian (“to baptise”), from full- + *wīhan (later *wēon (“to make holy”)). Compare Old English fulluht, fulwiht (“baptism”).

Words formed from full

Phrases with full

160 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with full

Questions about full

What does full mean?
Full means containing the maximum possible amount that can fit in the space available.
What is full in Hindi?
Full in Hindi is पूर्ण (pūrṇ), पूरा (pūrā). See Full meaning in Hindi.
How do you use full in a sentence?
I was fed to the full.
What part of speech is full?
Full can be an adjective, an adverb, a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce full?
Full is pronounced /fʊl/.

Words near full in the dictionary

  1. Fuling
  2. Fulk
  3. Fulkerson
  4. Fulks
  5. Fulkses
  6. full
  7. full adder
  8. full adders
  9. full agricultural tenancies
  10. full agricultural tenancy
  11. full AI

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: full (page history and authors); Full (page history and authors); पुरते (Marathi) (page history and authors); നിറഞ്ഞ (Malayalam) (page history and authors); ತುಂಬು (Kannada) (page history and authors); ਢੱਠ (Punjabi) (page history and authors); આખું (Gujarati) (page history and authors); ସମୃଦ୍ଧ (Odia) (page history and authors); पूर्ण (Nepali) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-full.ogg, EN-AU ck1 full.ogg.

Cite this entry: “full.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/full. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.