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Glite Dictionary
ripener

ripener

5.4
A substance or device that makes fruit ready to eat sooner
  • noun
  • /ˈraɪpənər/
  • Specialized
translation icon : madurador
  • Ethylene gas acts as a ripener, helping tomatoes grow ripe faster.

Examples

  • By adding a ripener to the storage process, the company reduces the time needed for fruits to reach peak freshness.

  • But a reliable ripener is hard to argue with!

    Blog text (31)

  • This will be followed by the late ripeners like Grenache and Petit Verdot.

    Blog text (22)

  • In California, the early-ripeners such as Chardonnay, followed by Pinot Noir, have been harvested.

    Blog text (22)

  • Farmers use a natural ripener to speed up the maturation of their fruits.

Surface Forms

ripener singular
ripeners plural

Morphology

ripener = ripen (transparent) = ripe + en + er

The suffix '-er' is transparently used to indicate an agent or tool that performs the action of ripening.

Etymology

Ripener comes from the verb ripen, which comes from ripe meaning 'ready to eat', plus the ending -er meaning 'one that makes'. So a ripener is something that makes fruit or food ripe faster, which is why it means a substance or device used to speed ripening.