flame definition | Dictionary.com

flame

[fleym]

noun, verb, flamed, flam⋅ing.

–noun

1.	burning gas or vapor, as from wood or coal, that is undergoing combustion; a portion of ignited gas or vapor.

2.	Often, flames. the state or condition of blazing combustion: to burst into flames.

3.	any flamelike condition; glow; inflamed condition.

4.	brilliant light; scintillating luster.

5.	bright coloring; a streak or patch of color.

6.	flame color.

7.	intense ardor, zeal, or passion.

8.	Informal. an object of one's passionate love; sweetheart: He's taking out his new flame tonight.

9.	Computer Slang. an angry, critical, or disparaging electronic message, as an e-mail or newsgroup post.

–verb (used without object)

10.	to burn with a flame or flames; burst into flames; blaze.

11.	to glow like flame; shine brilliantly; flash.

12.	to burn or burst forth with strong emotion; break into open anger, indignation, etc.

13.	Computer Slang. to send an angry, critical, or disparaging electronic message.

–verb (used with object)

14.	to subject to the action of flame or fire.

15.	to flambé.

16.	Computer Slang. to insult or criticize angrily in an electronic message.

—Verb phrase

17.

flame out,

a.	(of a jet engine) to cease to function due to an interruption of the fuel supply or to faulty combustion.

b.	to burst out in or as if in flames.

Origin:
1300–50; (n.) ME flaume < AF, var. of flaumbe; OF flambe, earlier flamble < L flammula, dim. of flamma flame (see -ule ); (v.) ME flaumen < AF flaum(b)er; OF flamber < L flammāre, deriv. of flamma

Related forms:

flamer, noun

flameless, adjective

flamelike, adjective

Synonyms:
1. fire. Flame, blaze, conflagration refer to the light and heat given off by combustion. Flame is the common word, referring to a combustion of any size: the light of a match flame. Blaze usually denotes a quick, hot, bright, and comparatively large flame: The fire burst into a blaze. Conflagration refers to destructive flames which spread over a considerable area: A conflagration destroyed Chicago.

flame color

–noun

bright reddish-orange.

Also called flame.

Origin:
1600–10

Related forms:

flame-colored, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To flame

flame (flām)

The zone of burning gases and fine suspended matter associated with rapid combustion; a hot, glowing mass of burning gas or vapor.
The condition of active, blazing combustion: burst into flame.
Something resembling a flame in motion, brilliance, intensity, or shape.
A violent or intense passion.
Informal A sweetheart.
Informal An insulting criticism or remark meant to incite anger, as on a computer network.

v. flamed, flam·ing, flames

v. intr.

To burn brightly; blaze.
To color or flash suddenly: cheeks that flamed with embarrassment.
Informal To make insulting criticisms or remarks, as on a computer network, to incite anger.

v. tr.

To burn, ignite, or scorch (something) with a flame.
Informal To insult or criticize provokingly, as on a computer network.
Obsolete To excite; inflame.

Phrasal Verb(s):
flame outTo fail: "Only a handful of companies have flamed out in the two decades since the birth of the [biotech] industry" (Rhonda L. Rundle).

[Middle English, from Anglo-Norman flaumbe, variant of Old French flambe, from flamble, from Latin flammula, diminutive of flamma; see bhel-¹ in Indo-European roots.]
flam'er n.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Flame

Flame\ (fl[=a]m), n. [OE. flame, flaume, flaumbe, OF. flame, flambe, F. flamme, fr. L. flamma, fr. flamma, fr. flagrare to burn. See Flagrant, and cf. Flamneau, Flamingo.]

1. A stream of burning vapor or gas, emitting light and heat; darting or streaming fire; a blaze; a fire.

2. Burning zeal or passion; elevated and noble enthusiasm; glowing imagination; passionate excitement or anger. "In a flame of zeal severe." --Milton.

Where flames refin'd in breasts seraphic glow. --Pope.

Smit with the love of sister arts we came, And met congenial, mingling flame with flame. --Pope.

3. Ardor of affection; the passion of love. --Coleridge.

4. A person beloved; a sweetheart. --Thackeray.

Syn: Blaze; brightness; ardor. See Blaze.

Flame bridge, a bridge wall. See Bridge, n., 5.

Flame color, brilliant orange or yellow. --B. Jonson.

Flame engine, an early name for the gas engine.

Flame manometer, an instrument, invented by Koenig, to obtain graphic representation of the action of the human vocal organs. See Manometer.

Flame reaction (Chem.), a method of testing for the presence of certain elements by the characteristic color imparted to a flame; as, sodium colors a flame yellow, potassium violet, lithium crimson, boracic acid green, etc. Cf. Spectrum analysis, under Spectrum.

Flame tree (Bot.), a tree with showy scarlet flowers, as the Rhododendron arboreum in India, and the Brachychiton acerifolium of Australia.

Flame

Flame\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Flamed; p. pr. & vb. n. Flaming.] [OE. flamen, flaumben, F. flamber, OF. also, flamer. See Flame, n.]

1. To burn with a flame or blaze; to burn as gas emitted from bodies in combustion; to blaze.

The main blaze of it is past, but a small thing would make it flame again. --Shak.

2. To burst forth like flame; to break out in violence of passion; to be kindled with zeal or ardor.

He flamed with indignation. --Macaulay.

Flame

Flame\, v. t. To kindle; to inflame; to excite.

And flamed with zeal of vengeance inwardly. --Spenser.

Language Translation for : flame

Spanish: llama,

German: die Flamme,

Japanese: 炎

More Translations »

flame

[at MIT, orig. from the phrase `flaming asshole']
1. vi. To post an email message intended to insult and provoke.
2. vi. To speak incessantly and/or rabidly on some relatively uninteresting subject or with a patently ridiculous attitude.
3. vt. Either of senses 1 or 2, directed with hostility at a particular person or people.
4. n. An instance of flaming. When a discussion degenerates into useless controversy, one might tell the participants "Now you're just flaming" or "Stop all that flamage!" to try to get them to cool down (so to speak).

The term may have been independently invented at several different places. It has been reported from MIT, Carleton College and RPI (among many other places) from as far back as 1969, and from the University of Virginia in the early 1960s.

It is possible that the hackish sense of `flame' is much older than that. The poet Chaucer was also what passed for a wizard hacker in his time; he wrote a treatise on the astrolabe, the most advanced computing device of the day. In Chaucer's "Troilus and Cressida", Cressida laments her inability to grasp the proof of a particular mathematical theorem; her uncle Pandarus then observes that it's called "the fleminge of wrecches." This phrase seems to have been intended in context as "that which puts the wretches to flight" but was probably just as ambiguous in Middle English as "the flaming of wretches" would be today. One suspects that Chaucer would feel right at home on Usenet.

Jargon File 4.2.0
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flame (n.)

c.1340, from Anglo-Fr. flaume, from O.Fr. flamme, from L. flammula "small flame," dim. of flamma "flame," from PIE *bhleg-/*phleg-. The meaning "a sweetheart" is attested from 1647; the fig sense of "burning passion" was in M.E. The verb is M.E. flamen, from O.Fr. flamer; the verb sense of "unleash invective on a computer network" is from 1980s. Flamer, flaming "glaringly homosexual" are homosexual slang from 1970s, but flamer "glaringly conspicuous person or thing" (1809) and flaming "glaringly conspicuous" (1781) are much earlier in the general sense, both originally with reference to "wenches." Flaming as an intensifying adj. dates from late 19c. Flame-thrower (1917) translates Ger. flammenwerfer (1915).

Main Entry: flame
Pronunciation: 'flAm
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Forms: flamed; flam·ing
: to cleanse or sterilize by fire

flame (flām) Pronunciation Key
The hot, glowing mixture of burning gases and tiny particles that arises from combustion. Flames get their light either from the fluorescence of molecules or ions that have become excited, or from the incandescence of solid particles involved in the combustion process, such as the carbon particles from a candle.

flame messaging
To rant, to speak or write incessantly and/or rabidly on some relatively uninteresting subject or with a patently ridiculous attitude or with hostility toward a particular person or group of people. "Flame" is used as a verb ("Don't flame me for this, but..."), a flame is a single flaming message, and "flamage" /flay'm*j/ the content.
Flamage may occur in any medium (e.g. spoken, electronic mail, Usenet news, World-Wide Web). Sometimes a flame will be delimited in text by marks such as "...".
The term was probably independently invented at several different places.
Mark L. Levinson says, "When I joined the Harvard student radio station (WHRB) in 1966, the terms flame and flamer were already well established there to refer to impolite ranting and to those who performed it. Communication among the students who worked at the station was by means of what today you might call a paper-based Usenet group. Everyone wrote comments to one another in a large ledger. Documentary evidence for the early use of flame/flamer is probably still there for anyone fanatical enough to research it."
It is reported that "flaming" was in use to mean something like "interminably drawn-out semi-serious discussions" (late-night bull sessions) at Carleton College during 1968-1971.
Usenetter Marc Ramsey, who was at WPI from 1972 to 1976, says: "I am 99% certain that the use of "flame" originated at WPI. Those who made a nuisance of themselves insisting that they needed to use a TTY for "real work" came to be known as "flaming asshole lusers". Other particularly annoying people became "flaming asshole ravers", which shortened to "flaming ravers", and ultimately "flamers". I remember someone picking up on the Human Torch pun, but I don't think "flame on/off" was ever much used at WPI." See also asbestos.
It is possible that the hackish sense of "flame" is much older than that. The poet Chaucer was also what passed for a wizard hacker in his time; he wrote a treatise on the astrolabe, the most advanced computing device of the day. In Chaucer's "Troilus and Cressida", Cressida laments her inability to grasp the proof of a particular mathematical theorem; her uncle Pandarus then observes that it's called "the fleminge of wrecches." This phrase seems to have been intended in context as "that which puts the wretches to flight" but was probably just as ambiguous in Middle English as "the flaming of wretches" would be today. One suspects that Chaucer would feel right at home on Usenet.
[The Jargon File]
(2001-03-11)

flame

see add fuel to the fire (flames); burst into (flames); fan the flames; go up in flames; shoot down (in flames).

FLAME
Family Life and Maternity Education

flame

rapidly reacting body of gas, commonly a mixture of air and a combustible gas, that gives off heat and, usually, light and is self-propagating. Flame propagation is explained by two theories: heat conduction and diffusion. In heat conduction, heat flows from the flame front, the area in a flame in which combustion occurs, to the inner cone, the area containing the unburned mixture of fuel and air. When the unburned mixture is heated to its ignition temperature, it combusts in the flame front, and heat from that reaction again flows to the inner cone, thus creating a cycle of self-propagation. In diffusion, a similar cycle begins when reactive molecules produced in the flame front diffuse into the inner cone and ignite the mixture. A mixture can support a flame only above some minimum and below some maximum percentage of fuel gas. These percentages are called the lower and upper limits of inflammability. Mixtures of natural gas and air, for example, will not propagate flame if the proportion of gas is less than about 4 percent or more than about 15 percent.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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