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flourish

 - 3 dictionary results

flour⋅ish

  [flur-ish, fluhr-]
Use flourish in a Sentence
–verb (used without object)
1. to be in a vigorous state; thrive: a period in which art flourished.
2. to be in its or in one's prime; be at the height of fame, excellence, influence, etc.
3. to be successful; prosper.
4. to grow luxuriantly, or thrive in growth, as a plant.
5. to make dramatic, sweeping gestures: Flourish more when you act out the king's great death scene.
6. to add embellishments and ornamental lines to writing, letters, etc.
7. to sound a trumpet call or fanfare.
–verb (used with object)
8. to brandish dramatically; gesticulate with: a conductor flourishing his baton for the crescendo.
9. to decorate or embellish (writing, a page of script, etc.) with sweeping or fanciful curves or lines.
–noun
10. an act or instance of brandishing.
11. an ostentatious display.
12. a decoration or embellishment, esp. in writing: He added a few flourishes to his signature.
13. Rhetoric. a parade of fine language; an expression used merely for effect.
14. a trumpet call or fanfare.
15. a condition or period of thriving: in full flourish.
Origin:
1250–1300; ME florisshen < MF floriss-, long s. of florir ≪ L flōrēre to bloom, deriv. of flōs flower

Related forms:
flour⋅ish⋅er, noun

Synonyms:
1. grow, increase. See succeed. 9. ornament. 12. ornament, adornment.

Antonyms:
1. fade, decline.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To flourish
flour·ish   (flûr'ĭsh, flŭr'-)   
v.   flour·ished, flour·ish·ing, flour·ish·es

v.   intr.

  1. To grow well or luxuriantly; thrive: The crops flourished in the rich soil.

  2. To do or fare well; prosper: "No village on the railroad failed to flourish" (John Kenneth Galbraith).

  3. To be in a period of highest productivity, excellence, or influence: a poet who flourished in the tenth century.

  4. To make bold, sweeping movements: The banner flourished in the wind.

v.   tr.
To wield, wave, or exhibit dramatically.
n.  

  1. A dramatic or stylish movement, as of waving or brandishing: "A few ... musicians embellish their performance with a flourish of the fingers" (Frederick D. Bennett).

  2. An embellishment or ornamentation: a signature with a distinctive flourish.

  3. An ostentatious act or gesture: a flourish of generosity.

  4. Music A showy or ceremonious passage, such as a fanfare.


[Middle English florishen, from Old French florir, floriss-, from Vulgar Latin *flōrīre, from Latin flōrēre, to bloom, from flōs, flōr-, flower; see bhel-3 in Indo-European roots.]
flour'ish·er n.
Synonyms: These verbs mean to swing back and forth boldly and dramatically: flourished her newly signed contract; brandish a sword; waving a baton.
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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Word Origin & History

flourish 
c.1300, "to blossom, grow," from O.Fr. floriss-, stem of florir, from L. florere "to bloom, blossom, flower," from flos "a flower" (see flora). Metaphoric sense of "thrive" is c.1340. Meaning "to brandish (a weapon)" first attested 1382. The noun meaning "literary or rhetorical embellishment" is from 1603.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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