Also, figuratively, used of the ways of communication of the mind, as
by the senses; ready to hear, see, etc.; as, to keep one's eyes and
ears open.
His ears are open unto their cry.
Ps. xxxiv. 15.
2. Free to be used, enjoyed, visited, or the like; not private; public;
unrestricted in use; as, an open library, museum, court, or other
assembly; liable to the approach, trespass, or attack of any one;
unprotected; exposed.
If Demetrius . . . have a matter against any man, the law is open
and there are deputies.
Acts xix. 33.
The service that I truly did his life, Hath left me open to all
injuries.
Shak.
3. Free or cleared of obstruction to progress or to view; accessible;
as, an open tract; the open sea.
4. Not drawn together, closed, or contracted; extended; expanded; as,
an open hand; open arms; an open flower; an open prospect.
Each, with open arms, embraced her chosen knight.
Dryden.
5. Hence: (a) Without reserve or false pretense; sincere; characterized
by sincerity; unfeigned; frank; also, generous; liberal; bounteous; --
applied to personal appearance, or character, and to the expression of
thought and feeling, etc.
With aspect open, shall erect his head.
Pope.
The Moor is of a free and open nature.
Shak.
The French are always open, familiar, and talkative.
Addison.
(b) Not concealed or secret; not hidden or disguised; exposed to view
or to knowledge; revealed; apparent; as, open schemes or plans; open
shame or guilt.
His thefts are too open.
Shak.
That I may find him, and with secret gaze Or open admiration him
behold.
Milton.
6. Not of a quality to prevent communication, as by closing water ways,
blocking roads, etc.; hence, not frosty or inclement; mild; -- used of
the weather or the climate; as, an open season; an open winter. Bacon.
7. Not settled or adjusted; not decided or determined; not closed or
withdrawn from consideration; as, an open account; an open question; to
keep an offer or opportunity open.
8. Free; disengaged; unappropriated; as, to keep a day open for any
purpose; to be open for an engagement.
9. (Phon.) (a) Uttered with a relatively wide opening of the
articulating organs; -- said of vowels; as, the än fär is open as
compared with the in sy. (b) Uttered, as a consonant, with the oral
passage simply narrowed without closure, as in uttering s.
10. (Mus.) (a) Not closed or stopped with the finger; -- said of the
string of an instrument, as of a violin, when it is allowed to vibrate
throughout its whole length. (b) Produced by an open string; as, an
open tone.
The open air, the air out of doors. -- Open chain. (Chem.) See Closed
chain, under Chain. -- Open circuit (Elec.), a conducting circuit which
is incomplete, or interrupted at some point; -- opposed to an
uninterrupted, or closed circuit. -- Open communion, communion in the
Lord's supper not restricted to persons who have been baptized by
immersion. Cf. Close communion, under Close, a. -- Open diapason
(Mus.), a certain stop in an organ, in which the pipes or tubes are
formed like the mouthpiece of a flageolet at the end where the wind
enters, and are open at the other end. -- Open flank (Fort.), the part
of the flank covered by the orillon. -- Open-front furnace (Metal.), a
blast furnace having a forehearth. -- Open harmony (Mus.), harmony the
tones of which are widely dispersed, or separated by wide intervals. --
Open hawse (Naut.), a hawse in which the cables are parallel or
slightly divergent. Cf. Foul hawse, under Hawse. -- Open hearth
(Metal.), the shallow hearth of a reverberatory furnace. -- Open-hearth
furnace, a reverberatory furnace; esp., a kind of reverberatory furnace
in which the fuel is gas, used in manufacturing steel. -- Open-hearth
process (Steel Manuf.), a process by which melted cast iron is
converted into steel by the addition of wrought iron, or iron ore and
manganese, and by exposure to heat in an open-hearth furnace; -- also
called the Siemens- Martin process, from the inventors. -- Open-hearth
steel, steel made by an open-hearth process; -- also called
Siemens-Martin steel. -- Open newel. (Arch.) See Hollow newel, under
Hollow. -- Open pipe (Mus.), a pipe open at the top. It has a pitch
about an octave higher than a closed pipe of the same length. -- Open-
timber roof (Arch.), a roof of which the constructional parts, together
with the under side of the covering, or its lining, are treated
ornamentally, and left to form the ceiling of an apartment below, as in
a church, a public hall, and the like. -- Open vowel or consonant. See
Open, a., 9.
Open is used in many compounds, most of which are self-explaining; as,
open-breasted, open-minded.
Syn. -- Unclosed; uncovered; unprotected; exposed; plain; apparent;
obvious; evident; public; unreserved; frank; sincere; undissembling;
artless. See Candid, and Ingenuous.
O"pen (?), n. Open or unobstructed space; clear land, without trees or
obstructions; open ocean; open water. "To sail into the open." Jowett
(Thucyd. ).
Then we got into the open.
W. Black.
In open, in full view; without concealment; openly. [Obs.] Beau. & Fl.
O"pen v. t. [imp. & p. p. Opened (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Opening.] [AS.
openian. See Open,a.] 1. To make or set open; to render free of access;
to unclose; to unbar; to unlock; to remove any fastening or covering
from; as, to open a door; to open a box; to open a room; to open a
letter.
And all the windows of my heart I open to the day.
Whittier.