open season

Definitions

1. 1

   A period of time during the calendar year when authorities within a jurisdiction permit…

   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."
2. 2

   A situation in which someone is endangered, blamed, harassed, or opposed in a sustained…

   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.

   • In the country of the Clantons there was always an open season on any one of his name.
   • The court thus overruled all the states' protective laws, except against outright fraud, and declared open season on any products not protected by patents.
   • The paparazzi and gossip hounds have declared open season on celebrities.
3. 3

   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."
   • The open season on culture in Manhattan used to begin with the first stroke of a Metropolitan Opera baton.

The neighborhood

• antonymclose seasonantonym(s) of “hunting”
• antonymclosed seasonantonym(s) of “hunting”
• neighboropen field
• neighborwide open