flare
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /flɛə̯/
ipa: /flɛɚ̯/
ipa: /fleː/
note: without the cheer–chair merger
ipa: /fleə/
note: New Zealand, cheer–chair merger
ipa: /fliə/
ipa: /fleɹ/
note: Lancashire, fair–fur merger
ipa: /flɜː(ɹ)/
rhymes: -ɛə(ɹ)
homophone: flair
homophone: fleer (cheer–chair merger)
homophone: fleur (fair–fur merger)
Forms: form: flares
form: flaring
form: flared
form: flared
Etymology: Origin unknown, first recorded in the mid 16th century, probably related to Latin flagrō (“I burn”). Norwegian flara (“to blaze; to flaunt in gaudy attire”) has a similar meaning, but the English word predates it. Possibly related to Middle High German vlederen (“to flutter”), represented by modern German flattern.
The noun is derived from the verb.
Senses: examples: text: Qatar joined the World Bank's Global Gas Flaring Reduction programme in early 2008, indicating its commitment to reducing the process of flaring the gas found with oil deposits.
ref: 2008, “Going Green: The Country is Keen to Increase Its Environmental Credentials”, in The Report: Qatar 2008, [s.l.]: Oxford Business Group, →ISBN, marginal note, page 247:
text: One time I was working with the Orange Water and Sewer Authority (OWASA) on fueling their fleet, and I was surprised to see them flaring the methane at their wastewater facility.
ref: 2013 April, Blair L. Pollock, “Doing New Things”, in Lyle Estill, editor, Small Stories Big Changes: Agents of Change on the Frontlines of Sustainability, Gabriola Island, B.C.: New Society Publishers, →ISBN, page 147:
glosses: To cause to burn; in particular, to burn off excess gas.
examples: text: Trying to draw a breath flared the pressure on his chest into searing agony.
ref: 2012, John Fisk, “October Fifth; Saturday”, in Monk’s Hood, [Bloomington, Ind.]: Xlibris, →ISBN, book 2 (Comes the Demon), page 229:
text: Adequate rest is incorporated into upper extremity training program so as not to flare the joint.
ref: 2015, Theresa A. Chiaia, Miho J. Tanaka, Christopher S. Ahmad, “[Acromioclavicular Joint Injuries and Sternoclavicular Joint Injuries] Nonoperative Rehabilitation of Clavicular Fractures”, in Bruce Reider, George J. Davies, Matthew T. Provencher, Orthopaedic Rehabilitation of the Athlete: Getting Back in the Game, Philadelphia, Pa.: Elsevier Saunders, →ISBN, page 383, column 1:
glosses: To cause inflammation; to inflame.
examples: text: The cat flared its nostrils while sniffing at the air. (transitive)
text: The cat’s nostrils flared when it sniffed at the air. (intransitive)
text: The building flared from the third through the seventh floors to occupy the airspace over the entrance plaza. (intransitive)
text: The sides of a bowl flare. (intransitive)
text: We claim as our invention—The rigid parts G and H′, and flexible part H with screws I, for forcibly operating when the parts are flared, as represented, and the strap H is drawn obliquely inward or together at the sides, so as to press all the surface of the bent and flared casket end, as herein set forth.
ref: 1871 May 30, Edward T. Smith, Joseph S. Winston, Improvement in Devices for Making Ends of Burial-cases, US Patent 115,536, page 3:
text: That portion of said wrist eye beyond the pitman forms a cylindrical orifice, e, which, towards its other end, gradually flares outward, as at e′.
ref: 1872 December 20, Joseph A. Shephard, Improvement in Pitman Connections, US Patent 140,312, page 2, column 2:
text: Everywhere one sees the blouse, buttoned up the front to the top of a tight collar, which either flares up suddenly under the ears or droops dejectedly to the shoulders.
ref: 1915 May, “What They Wear in Vanity Fair: From Top to Toe of the Parisienne”, in Frank Crowninshield, editor, Vanity Fair, volume 4, number 3, New York, N.Y.: Vanity Fair Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 67, column 3:
text: Damon's nostrils flared, the only sign of anger he showed. The sign of a professional.
ref: 2012, Paula Graves, chapter 13, in Secret Assignment, Don Mills, Ont.: Harlequin Enterprises, →ISBN, page 150:
glosses: To open outward in shape.
examples: text: After a brief refueling stop in Fairbanks, Billy continued on to the cabin. As he flared the Huey [a helicopter] to land, he could see Moses running out of the cabin to greet him
ref: 2012, Wil Johnson, chapter 6, in Revenge and Restoration, [Bloomington, Ind.]: Xlibris, →ISBN, page 35:
text: I had one instructor that called and said he had tried everything to solo his student but the guy just couldn't get the picture of what was expected. One time around the airport the student would flare the airplane twenty feet in the air, and the next time around he would fly the nose into the ground. […] He either flared out very high, or didn't flare out at all.
ref: 2013 May 31, Steve Grizzle, “As Flight Instructor”, in The 3 ‘P’ Man: Memoirs of a Perfect Life Adventure: A Preacher, a Pilot, and a Police Officer All in One Person, Bloomington, Ind.: iUniverse, →ISBN, pages 71–72:
topics: aeronautics
aerospace
aviation
business
engineering
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
glosses: To (operate an aircraft to) transition from downward flight to level flight just before landing.
examples: text: The blast furnace flared in the night.
text: Thou rear'st thy stately neck, / And, while I list, thou flarest in men's eyes / A gorgeous queen; […]
ref: 1802, Joanna Baillie, “Ethwald: A Tragedy, in Five Acts. Part Second.”, in A Series of Plays: In which It is Attempted to Delineate the Stronger Passions of the Mind. […], volume II, London: […] T[homas] Cadell, Jun. and W[illiam] Davies, […], →OCLC, Act V, scene v, page 351:
text: And when Slaughter and Pillage begin to tire, / High flareth red Fire! / How he roars and hisses and flashes! / His frenzy soon turns / The proud pile to a mass of grey ashes, […]
ref: 1846 June, “Anthologia Germanica, No. XXII. Uhland’s Ballads.”, in The Dublin University Magazine, a Literary and Political Journal, volume XXVII, number CLXII, Dublin: James McGlashan, […]; London: W[illiam] S[omerville] Orr and Company, →OCLC, page 678:
text: This phrase was "Flare up!" and it is, even now, a colloquialism in common use. It took its rise in the time of the Reform riots, when Bristol was nearly half burned by the infuriated populace. The flames were said to have flared up in the devoted city.
ref: 1850, Charles Mackay, “Popular Follies in Great Cities”, in Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions, volume I, Philadelphia, Pa.: Lindsay and Blackiston, →OCLC, page 218:
text: Now spent night her watchers spareth, / Now the sun's bright banner flareth, / Now morn's gale day's trump is blowing.
ref: 1860, R[obert] W[ilson] Evans, “XV. Christian Battle.”, in Daily Hymns, London: Joseph Masters, […], →OCLC, page 38:
text: On he went a few paces and touched a second, then a third, and a fourth, till at last we were surrounded on all three sides by a great ring of bodies flaring furiously, the material with which they were preserved having rendered them so inflammable that the flames would literally spout out of the ears and mouth in tongues of fire a foot or more in length.
ref: 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:
glosses: To blaze brightly.
examples: text: The candle flared in a sudden draught.
text: The substance to which all common flames owe their brightness is finely-divided charcoal. […] Of this formation of charcoal the proof is obvious whenever a candle flares and smokes; for the unburnt charcoal soon collects in the upper part of the flame, and if not removed is apt to fall into the cup of the candle, where it forms a kind of second wick, rapidly melting away the tallow, and disfiguring the candle, […]
ref: 1850 March 9, “The Candle”, in The Working Man’s Friend, and Family Instructor, volume I, number 10, London: Printed and published by John Cassell, […], →OCLC, page 302, column 2:
glosses: To shine out with a sudden and unsteady light; to emit a dazzling or painfully bright light.
examples: text: [B]y a robe of white, the which ſhe weares, / With ribones pendant flaring bout her head, / I ſhalbe ſure to know her, […]
ref: c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, […] [T]he Merrie Wiues of Windsor. […] (First Quarto), London: […] T[homas] C[reede] for Arthur Ihonson, […], published 1602, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene vi]:
text: Wealth's golden key displayeth she, / And robes of state she weareth, / And the jewell'd star of high degree, / Fix'd at her bosom flareth.
ref: 1850, N. J. H., “To a Sister on Attaining the Age of Twenty-one”, in F[rancis] W[illiam] Newman, editor, A Collection of Poetry for the Practice of Elocution. […], London: Taylor, Walton, and Maberly, […], →OCLC, page 32:
glosses: To shine out with gaudy colours; to be offensively bright or showy.
examples: text: The genius of the poet [John Keats] flares up, dies out, and flares again, as if there were a dearth of fuel to feed it; and by this fault, more than any other, he is removed out of the class of great poets, and occupies but the second rank.
ref: 1851 October, J[ames] D[avenport] W[helpley], “The ‘Hyperion’ of John Keats”, in The American Whig Review, volume XIII, number LXXXII (volume VIII, number IV (New Series)), New York, N.Y.: Published at 120 Nassau Street; John A. Gray, printer, […], →OCLC, page 312, column 1:
synonyms: flare up
glosses: To suddenly happen or intensify.
examples: text: [H]e flared up very much when I told him I could not give him the schedule.
ref: 1868, “[Sale of Iron-clads.] Testimony. Appendix C.”, in Reports of Committees of the House of Representatives for the Second Session of the Fortieth Congress, 1867–’68 (Report; no. 64), volume 2, Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 57:
text: One of the most heated periods occurred in 1965 when the Forest Service decided forest lands could no longer tolerate unrestricted grazing by livestock, especially hogs. […] Notice went out to local residents, and the following year, 1966, Forest Service personnel began trapping hogs grazing in trespass. Both hog owners and cattlemen were angry. Tempers flared, and so did the fires. The number of incendiary fires increased and it seems reasonable to assume some relationship between the two events.
ref: 1981, Sharon M. W. Bass, “Years of Challenge”, in For the Trees: An Illustrated History of the Ozark–St. Francis National Forests, 1908–1978, [Atlanta, Ga.?]: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Region, →OCLC, page 123:
synonyms: flare up
glosses: To suddenly erupt in anger.
examples: text: […] I [Satan] cannot ſtay / Flaring in ſun-ſhine all the day: / For, entre nous, we helliſh ſprites, / Love more the freſco of the nights; […]
ref: a. 1722 (date written), Matthew Prior, “Hans Carvel”, in The Poetical Works of Matthew Prior […], volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Strahan, […], published 1779, →OCLC, page 124:
glosses: To be exposed to too much light.
Derived terms: aflare
flarability
flarable
flareability
flareable
flare out
flarer
flare up
nonflared
outflare
unflared
upflare