a full or abundant supply or amount: There is plenty of time.
2.
the state or quality of being plentiful; abundance: resources in plenty.
3.
an abundance, as of goods or luxuries, or a time of such abundance: the plenty of a rich harvest; the plenty that comes with peace.
–adjective
4.
existing in ample quantity or number; plentiful; abundant: Food is never too plenty in the area.
5.
more than sufficient; ample: That helping is plenty for me.
–adverb
6.
Informal. fully; quite: plenty good enough.
[Origin: 1175–1225; ME plente < OF; r. ME plenteth < OF plented, plentet < L plénitāt- (s. of plénitās) fullness. See plenum, -ity]
—Synonyms 2. plenteousness, copiousness, luxuriance, affluence. Plenty,abundance,profusion refer to a large quantity or supply. Plenty suggests a supply that is fully adequate to any demands: plenty of money. Abundance implies a great plenty, an ample and generous oversupply: an abundance of rain. Profusion applies to such a lavish and excessive abundance as often suggests extravagance or prodigality: luxuries in great profusion.
—Usage note The construction plenty of is standard in all varieties of speech and writing: plenty of room in the shed. The use of plenty preceding a noun, without an intervening of, first appeared in the late 19th century: plenty room in the shed. It occurs today chiefly in informal speech. As an adverb, a use first recorded in the mid-19th century, plenty is also informal and is found chiefly in speech or written representations of speech.
c.1225, from O.Fr. plentet (12c., Mod.Fr. dial. plenté), from L. plenitatem (nom. plenitas) "fullness," from plenus "complete, full" (see plenary). The colloquial adv. meaning "very much" is first attested 1842. Plentiful is first recorded c.1470.
as much as necessary; "Have I eaten enough?"; ('plenty' is nonstandard) "I've had plenty, thanks" [syn: enough]
noun
1.
a full supply; "there was plenty of food for everyone"
2.
(often followed by 'of') a large number or amount or extent; "a batch of letters"; "a deal of trouble"; "a lot of money"; "he made a mint on the stock market"; "see the rest of the winners in our huge passel of photos"; "it must have cost plenty"; "a slew of journalists"; "a wad of money" [syn: batch]
A*bun"dance\, n. [OE. (h)abundaunce, abundance, F. abondance, L. abundantia, fr. abundare. See Abound.] An overflowing fullness; ample sufficiency; great plenty; profusion; copious supply; superfluity; wealth: -- strictly applicable to quantity only, but sometimes used of number. It is lamentable to remember what abundance of noble blood hath been shed with small benefit to the Christian state. --Raleigh. Syn: Exuberance; plenteousness; plenty; copiousness; overflow; riches; affluence; wealth. Usage: Abundance, Plenty, Exuberance. These words rise upon each other in expressing the idea of fullness. Plenty denotes a sufficiency to supply every want; as, plenty of food, plenty of money, etc. Abundance express more, and gives the idea of superfluity or excess; as, abundance of riches, an abundance of wit and humor; often, however, it only denotes plenty in a high degree. Exuberance rises still higher, and implies a bursting forth on every side, producing great superfluity or redundance; as, an exuberance of mirth, an exuberance of animal spirits, etc.
Full\, a. [Compar. Fuller; superl. Fullest.] [OE. & AS. ful; akin to OS. ful, D. vol, OHG. fol, G. voll, Icel. fullr, Sw. full, Dan. fuld, Goth. fulls, L. plenus, Gr. ?, Skr. p?rna full, pr? to fill, also to Gr. ? much, E. poly-, pref., G. viel, AS. fela. [root]80. Cf. Complete, Fill, Plenary, Plenty.]1. Filled up, having within its limits all that it can contain; supplied; not empty or vacant; -- said primarily of hollow vessels, and hence of anything else; as, a cup full of water; a house full of people. Had the throne been full, their meeting would not have been regular. --Blackstone. 2. Abundantly furnished or provided; sufficient in. quantity, quality, or degree; copious; plenteous; ample; adequate; as, a full meal; a full supply; a full voice; a full compensation; a house full of furniture. 3. Not wanting in any essential quality; complete, entire; perfect; adequate; as, a full narrative; a person of full age; a full stop; a full face; the full moon. It came to pass, at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed. --Gen. xii. 1. The man commands Like a full soldier. --Shak. I can not Request a fuller satisfaction Than you have freely granted. --Ford. 4. Sated; surfeited. I am full of the burnt offerings of rams. --Is. i. 11. 5. Having the mind filled with ideas; stocked with knowledge; stored with information. Reading maketh a full man. --Bacon. 6. Having the attention, thoughts, etc., absorbed in any matter, and the feelings more or less excited by it, as, to be full of some project. Every one is full of the miracles done by cold baths on decayed and weak constitutions. --Locke. 7. Filled with emotions. The heart is so full that a drop overfills it. --Lowell. 8. Impregnated; made pregnant. [Obs.] Ilia, the fair, . . . full of Mars. --Dryden. At full, when full or complete. --Shak. Full age (Law) the age at which one attains full personal rights; majority; -- in England and the United States the age of 21 years. --Abbott. Full and by (Naut.), sailing closehauled, having all the sails full, and lying as near the wind as poesible. Full band (Mus.), a band in which all the instruments are employed. Full binding, the binding of a book when made wholly of leather, as distinguished from half binding. Full bottom, a kind of wig full and large at the bottom. Fullbrother or sister, a brother or sister having the same parents as another. Full cry (Hunting), eager chase; -- said of hounds that have caught the scent, and give tongue together. Full dress, the dress prescribed by authority or by etiquette to be worn on occasions of ceremony. Full hand (Poker), three of a kind and a pair. Full moon. (a) The moon with its whole disk illuminated, as when opposite to the sun. (b) The time when the moon is full. Full organ (Mus.), the organ when all or most stops are out. Full score (Mus.), a score in which all the parts for voices and instruments are given. Full sea, high water. Full swing, free course; unrestrained liberty; "Leaving corrupt nature to . . . the full swing and freedom of its own extravagant actings." South (Colloq.) In full, at length; uncontracted; unabridged; written out in words, and not indicated by figures. In full blast. See under Blast.
![[P]](http://cache.lexico.com/g/d/premium_mh.gif){kind=small}
Audio Help [plen-tee] Pronunciation Key noun, plural -ties, adjective, adverb 
