| ̷ ̷ ̷ ̷| ̷ ̷ adjective
: organized, formulated, or constituted to contain possibilities for various contingencies whether unspecified, merely inferable, or definitely stated: as
a. : permitting additional debt to be incurred under the original indenture subject to specified conditions
an open-end bond issue
— compare open-end mortgage
b. : offering for sale or having issued outstanding capital shares redeemable on demand usually at liquidating value or at a slight discount
an open-end investment company
— opposed to closed-end
c. : calling for the filling by a particular contractor of all government needs for a specific product during a specified period
an open-end contract
d. : having blank spaces for the insertion of commercials
open-end transcription for a new TV program
e. usually open-ended | ̷ ̷ ̷ ̷| ̷ ̷ ̷ ̷ : having no fixed set of alternative replies and permitting spontaneous and unguided responses for expression (as of attitudes, opinions, and intent)
an open-ended question
open-ended interview