adj.1. a. Affording unobstructed entrance and exit; not shut or closed.
b. Affording unobstructed passage or view: open waters; the open countryside.
2. a. Having no protecting or concealing cover: an open wound; an open sports car.
b. Completely obvious; blatant: open disregard of the law.
c. Carried on in full view of others; not hidden or private: open warfare; open family strife.
d. Sports Not defended or not closely defended by an opponent: an open goal; an open receiver.
3. a. Not sealed or tied: an open envelope.
b. Spread out; unfolded: an open book.
4. Having interspersed gaps, spaces, or intervals: open ranks; an open weave.
5. a. Accessible to all; unrestricted as to participants: an open competition.
b. Free from limitations, boundaries, or restrictions: open registration.
c. Enterable by registered voters regardless of political affiliation: an open primary.
d. Computers Of or relating to a file that can be accessed.
6. a. Lacking effective regulation: an open town in which gambling predominated.
b. Not legally repressed: open drug trafficking.
7. a. Susceptible; vulnerable: open to interpretation; an issue that is open to question.
b. Willing to consider or deal with something: open to suggestions.
8. a. Available; obtainable: The job is still open.
b. Available for use: an open account; the only course open to us.
9. Ready to transact business: The store is open.
10. Not engaged or filled: has an open hour for emergency cases.
11. Not yet decided; subject to further thought: an open question.
12. a. Characterized by lack of secrecy or reserve; candid:
Please be open with me. See Synonyms at
frank1.
b. Free of prejudice; receptive to new ideas and arguments: She listened to the proposal with an open mind.
c. Generous: He is very open with his time.
13. Printing a. Widely spaced or leaded. Used of typeset or other printed matter.
b. Having constituent elements separated by a space in writing or printing: The word sea lion is an open compound.
14. Music a. Not stopped by a finger. Used of a string or hole of an instrument.
b. Produced by an unstopped string or hole or without the use of slides, valves, or keys: an open note on a trumpet.
c. Played without a mute: an open wind instrument.
15. Linguistics a. Articulated with the tongue in a low position, as the vowel in far.
b. Ending in a vowel or diphthong: an open syllable.
16. Designating a method of punctuation in which commas and other marks are used sparingly.
17. Being in operation; live: an open microphone.
18. New England Clear. Used of weather.
fair1 19. Electricity Containing a gap across which electricity cannot pass: an open circuit.
20. Mathematics a. Of or relating to an interval containing neither of its endpoints.
b. Of or being a set such that at least one neighborhood of every point in the set is within the set.
c. Of or being a set that is the complement of a closed set.
21. Sports a. Having the forward foot farther from the intended point of impact with the ball than the rear foot: an open batting stance.
b. Held or swung with the top or outer edge of the striking face pointing slightly farther away from the objective than the lower or inner edge: The club struck the ball with an open face, causing a slice.
22. Physics a. Of or relating to an open system.
b. Of or relating to an open universe.