It can be used as an adjective to describe fruit, vegetables, or other things that have reached a state of readiness, like "ripe tomatoes" or "a ripe idea."
It can also be used as a verb, meaning "to become ripe" or "to mature," as in "the fruit is ripening on the vine."
There are suffixes related to "ripe," such as "-ripe," which can be added to words to indicate a state of ripeness or maturity, like "overripe" or "unripe."