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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

open season en · NOUN

Pronunciation

Meanings

  1. (countable, followed by on or for to designate the kind of animal hunted, sometimes, uncountable) A period of time during the calendar year when authorities within a jurisdiction permit the unrestricted hunting of one or more kinds of animal wildlife.
    • "But there weren't many crabs in those days," the old man wandered on. "They were fished out, and they were great delicacies. The open season was only a month long, too." 1912, Jack London, chapter 1, in The Scarlet Plague (fiction):
  2. (countable, figuratively, followed by on or for, often, uncountable) A situation in which someone is endangered, blamed, harassed, or opposed in a sustained manner by a number of others; a situation in which something is endangered or otherwise opposed.
    • The paparazzi and gossip hounds have declared open season on celebrities. 2009, Tawny Weber, Coming on Strong (fiction), →ISBN, page 37:
    • The court thus overruled all the states' protective laws, except against outright fraud, and declared open season on any products not protected by patents. 1964 March 20, “Patents: Knocking Down the Pole”, in Time, →OCLC, archived from the original on 16 Apr 2016:
    • She's fair game, Joe. It's always open season on princesses. 1953, Dalton Trumbo, Ian McLellan Hunter, John Dighton, Roman Holiday, spoken by Irving Radovich (Eddie Albert):
    • In the country of the Clantons there was always an open season on any one of his name. 1919, William MacLeod Raine, “Prologue”, in A Man Four-Square (fiction):
    • On aviation, the Chancellor seemed to suggest it was open season for expanding airports across the UK, irrespective of the fact that flying is a major source of CO² in the atmosphere. 2025 February 19, Christian Wolmar, “Reeves talks of 'growth' but pays lip service to the railway”, in RAIL, number 1029, page 35:
  3. (countable, followed by on or for, idiomatic, often, uncountable) A situation or period in which some activity is routinely carried on.
    • "My dear Miss Parker, this is the open season on terrible practical jokes." 1921, Peter B. Kyne, chapter 15, in The Pride of Palomar (fiction), page 155:
    • The open season on culture in Manhattan used to begin with the first stroke of a Metropolitan Opera baton. 1959 October 26, “Music: Curtains Up!”, in Time, →OCLC, archived from the original on 04 Aug 2014:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
open seasons Number=Plur lexicographic

Antonyms

close season (antonym(s) of “hunting”) · closed season (antonym(s) of “hunting”)

Relateds

open field · wide open

Translations (11)

de Jagdsaison (time period for hunting) · pl sezon łowiecki (time period for hunting) · fi pyyntikausi (time period for hunting) · hu vadászidény (time period for hunting) · nb fritt fram (figuratively) · sv jaktsäsong (time period for hunting) · nb jaktsesong (time period for hunting) · nb fritt frem (figuratively) · pl sezon łowiecki (figuratively) · hu vadászidény (figuratively) · de Jagdzeit (time period for hunting)