Ful
noun
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Ful
1 American
[fool]
/ fʊl /
noun
plural
Fuls,plural
Ful
-ful
2
American
-ful
British
suffix
-
(forming adjectives) full of or characterized by
painful
spiteful
restful
-
(forming adjectives) able or tending to
helpful
useful
-
(forming nouns) indicating as much as will fill the thing specified
mouthful
spoonful
Spelling
The plurals of nouns ending in -ful are usually formed by adding -s to the suffix: two cupfuls; two scant teaspoonfuls. Perhaps influenced by the phrase in which a noun is followed by the adjective full ( both arms full of packages ), some speakers and writers pluralize such nouns by adding -s before the suffix: two cupsful.
Usage
What does -ful mean? The suffix -ful means “full of,” “characterized by,” “tending to,” “able to,” or “as much as will fill.” It is often used in a variety of technical and everyday terms. The suffix -ful comes from Old English -full, meaning “full.” The Latin equivalent of -ful is -ōsus, meaning “full of,” which has become the English adjectival suffixes -ose, as in jocose, and -ous, as in glorious. To learn more, check out all four entries.
Etymology
Origin of -ful
Middle English, Old English -full, -ful, representing full, ful full 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Ful medames, fava beans cooked low and slow until they’re as soft as can be, are beloved in Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and elsewhere in the region.
From Washington Post • Jan. 3, 2022
Ful medames is cooked ahead to give the favas time to soften and collapse into a creamy spread with a seemingly unlimited capacity to drink up olive oil.
From New York Times • Nov. 2, 2021
Ful – we call it maraq digir – is a great way to feed a big family.
From The Guardian • Jul. 14, 2019
Ful means “fava” while medames comes from a Coptic word for “buried.”
From Scientific American • May 13, 2013
Everiche man shulde be seke, And though they dye, they set not a leke After: whan they the gold have take Ful litel care for hem they make.
From Legal Lore Curiosities of Law and Lawyers by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.