bloom

1
[ bloom ]
See synonyms for bloom on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. the flower of a plant.

  2. flowers collectively: the bloom of the cherry tree.

  1. state of having the buds opened: The gardens are all in bloom.

  2. a flourishing, healthy condition; the time or period of greatest beauty, artistry, etc.: the bloom of youth;the bloom of Romanticism.

  3. a glow or flush on the cheek indicative of youth and health: a serious illness that destroyed her bloom.

  4. the glossy, healthy appearance of the coat of an animal.

  5. a moist, lustrous appearance indicating freshness in fish.

  6. redness or a fresh appearance on the surface of meat.

  7. Botany. a whitish powdery deposit or coating, as on the surface of certain fruits and leaves: the bloom of the grape.

  8. any similar surface coating or appearance: the bloom of newly minted coins.

  9. any of certain minerals occurring as powdery coatings on rocks or other minerals.

  10. Also called chill . a clouded or dull area on a varnished or lacquered surface.

  11. Also called al·gal bloom [al-guhl bloom], /ˈæl gəl ˈblum/, water bloom . the sudden development of conspicuous masses of organisms, as algae, on the surface of a body of water.

  12. Television. image spread produced by excessive exposure of highlights in a television image.

verb (used without object)
  1. to produce or yield blossoms.

  2. to flourish or thrive: a recurrent fad that blooms from time to time.

  1. to be in or achieve a state of healthful beauty and vigor: a sickly child who suddenly bloomed;a small talent that somehow bloomed into major artistry.

  2. to glow with warmth or with a warm color.

verb (used with object)
  1. to cause to yield blossoms.

  2. to make bloom or cause to flourish: a happiness that blooms the cheek.

  1. to invest with luster or beauty: an industry that blooms one's talents.

  2. to cause a cloudy area on (something shiny); dampen; chill: Their breath bloomed the frosty pane.

  3. Optics. to coat (a lens) with an antireflection material.

Idioms about bloom

  1. take the bloom off, to remove the enjoyment or ultimate satisfaction from; dampen the enthusiasm over: The coach's illness took the bloom off the team's victory.

  2. the bloom is off (the rose), the excitement, enjoyment, interest, etc., has ended or been dampened.

Origin of bloom

1
First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English noun blom, blome, from Old Norse blōm, blōmi; cognate with Gothic blōma “lily,” German Blume “flower”; akin to blow3; verb derivative of the noun

word story For bloom

Bloom “flower” comes from the Proto-Indo-European root bhel-, bhol-, bhlē-, bhlō- (with still other variants) “to bloom, thrive.” Initial Proto-Indo-European bh- usually becomes b- in the Germanic languages, f- in the ancient Italic languages (Latin, Oscan, Umbrian), and ph- in Greek. Therefore the root variant bhlō- yields Latin flōs (inflectional stem flōr- ) “flower” and its derivatives flōrēre “to blossom, bloom” and flōrescere “to come into bloom,” from which English derives florescence and florescent. Flower and flour, which English borrowed from Old French, were originally only spelling variants. The root variant bhol- yields folium in Latin and phúllon in Greek, both meaning “leaf.”

Other words for bloom

Other words from bloom

  • bloom·less, adjective

Other definitions for bloom (2 of 3)

bloom2
[ bloom ]

noun
  1. a piece of steel, square or slightly oblong in section, reduced from an ingot to dimensions suitable for further rolling.

  2. a large lump of iron and slag, of pasty consistency when hot, produced in a puddling furnace or bloomery and hammered into wrought iron.

verb (used with object)
  1. to make (an ingot) into a bloom.

Origin of bloom

2
First recorded before 1000; from Middle English blome “squared mass of metal of aproximately standard weight,” Old English blōma “mass of iron”; perhaps akin to bloom1

Other definitions for Bloom (3 of 3)

Bloom
[ bloom ]

noun
  1. Harold, 1930–2019, U.S. literary critic and teacher.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use bloom in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for bloom (1 of 2)

bloom1

/ (bluːm) /


noun
  1. a blossom on a flowering plant; a flower

  2. the state, time, or period when flowers open (esp in the phrases in bloom, in full bloom)

  1. open flowers collectively: a tree covered with bloom

  2. a healthy, vigorous, or flourishing condition; prime (esp in the phrase the bloom of youth)

  3. youthful or healthy rosiness in the cheeks or face; glow

  4. a fine whitish coating on the surface of fruits, leaves, etc, consisting of minute grains of a waxy substance

  5. any coating similar in appearance, such as that on new coins

  6. ecology a visible increase in the algal constituent of plankton, which may be seasonal or due to excessive organic pollution

  7. Also called: chill a dull area formed on the surface of gloss paint, lacquer, or varnish

verb(mainly intr)
  1. (of flowers) to open; come into flower

  2. to bear flowers; blossom

  1. to flourish or grow

  2. to be in a healthy, glowing, or flourishing condition

  3. (tr) physics to coat (a lens) with a thin layer of a substance, often magnesium fluoride, to eliminate surface reflection

Origin of bloom

1
C13: of Germanic origin; compare Old Norse blōm flower, Old High German bluomo, Middle Dutch bloeme; see blow ³

British Dictionary definitions for bloom (2 of 2)

bloom2

/ (bluːm) /


noun
  1. a rectangular mass of metal obtained by rolling or forging a cast ingot: See also billet 1 (def. 2)

verb
  1. (tr) to convert (an ingot) into a bloom by rolling or forging

Origin of bloom

2
Old English blōma lump of metal

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012