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• v  cause to ripen or develop fully
  The sun ripens the fruit
• v  grow ripe
  The plums ripen in July

• As a ripening thug he shuttled between homes and detention centers and the safe houses maintained by his gang.
• In politics it can sometimes ripen and harden into a tough kernel of ambition, as the unimaginable slowly becomes transformed into the attainable.
• Connoisseurs of the French scene have learned to grade local political ferment in terms of what they call ripeness.

• mature

News & Articles

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• Why fruit ripens and spoils: Thousands of plant genes activated by ethylene gas
  It's common wisdom that one rotten apple in a barrel spoils all the other apples, and that an apple ripens a green banana if they are put together in a paper bag. Ways to ripen, or spoil, fruit have been known for thousands of years -- as the Bible can attest -- but now the genes underlying these phenomena of nature have been revealed. Scientists have now traced the thousands of genes in a plant ...
  June 11, 2013 - Science Daily
• Scientists Identify Thousands of Plant Genes Activated by Ethylene Gas
  It's common wisdom that one rotten apple in a barrel spoils all the other apples, and that an apple ripens a green banana if they are put together in a paper bag. Ways to ripen, or spoil, fruit have been known for thousands of years--as the Bible can attest--but now the genes underlying these phenomena of nature have been revealed.
  June 11, 2013 - Newswise
• No 'matoes in Bradley Co. for annual Pink Tomato Festival
  The annual Bradley County Pink Tomato Festival , scheduled for this weekend in Warren, will have crafts, food and music. but few tomatoes , organizers say. A cooperative extension agent told KATV that three April temperature dips delayed the usual harvest time in Bradley County by up to three weeks and stunted what did ripen to "finger food" size. Get thee to the Piggly Wiggly, Warrenites ...
  June 10, 2013 - Arkansas Times

Quotes

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• Ehud Olmert in Daily Times
  As I've said in the past, we want to make peace with everyone,Olmert said in the Monday meeting. "If the conditions ripen, we are ready to make peace with Syria, with no preconditions and no ultimatums."
• Rio Ferdinand in The Cheers
  Ferdinand, 29, said: "We are on the cusp of something very good. I've been here through a transitional period and I can see the fruits beginning to ripen. We have a strong bond and a great bunch of players ready to achieve."
• Lorenzo Romar in Seattle Times
  They are definitely playing with more confidence,said Romar of the Bears, who are 4-2 since that game. "You are looking at a new system and a whole new culture being implemented, you are seeing the fruit starting to ripen a little bit."