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to overripen

to overripen

5.9
To make fruit become too ripe and lose freshness
  • verb
  • /ˌoʊvərˈaɪpən/
translation icon : hacer madurar en exceso
  • Farmers must harvest crops before they overripen and lose their quality.

Examples

  • If you leave bananas in the sun, they will overripen and become mushy.

  • The peaches overripened on the tree because no one picked them in time.

  • Don't overripen those bananas!

  • The fruit will overripen if left out too long.

  • If you leave bananas in the sun, they will overripen and become mushy.

  • Farmers must harvest crops before they overripen and lose their quality.

  • The peaches overripened on the tree because no one picked them in time.

Antonyms

15 2.9

To become ready to eat or use

How Ripe

to spoil
30 1.6
to overripen
5.9
to ripen
15 2.9

Surface Forms

overripen infinitive
overripened past participle
overripening present participle
overripens third person singular

Morphology

overripen = ripen (transparent) = over + ripen

Productive English prefix 'over-' meaning 'excessively' combines with the verb 'ripen' to give the obvious meaning 'cause to become too ripe'.

Etymology

Overripen is formed from over- 'too much' plus ripen 'to become ready to eat', so to overripen something is to make it 'too ripe' or to let it spoil by staying too long.