flare

1 of 2

noun

1
: a fire or blaze of light used especially to signal, illuminate, or attract attention
also : a device or composition used to produce such a flare
The airport set flares to guide the landing plane at night.
2
a
: an unsteady glaring light
b
: solar flare
also : a sudden increase and decrease in the brightness of a star often amounting to a difference of several magnitudes (see magnitude sense 3)
3
a
: a sudden outburst (as of excitement or anger)
a flare of tempers in the courtroom
b
: flare-up sense 3
a flare of disease
4
a
: a spreading outward
also : a place or part that spreads
b
: an area of skin flush
a flare of reddened skin
5
: light resulting from reflection (as between lens surfaces) or an effect of this light (such as a fogged or dense area in a photographic negative)
6
a
: a short pass in football thrown to a back who is running toward the sideline
b
: a weakly hit fly ball in baseball
a flare into short right field
7
flares plural : pants that flare toward the bottom

flare

2 of 2

verb

flared; flaring

intransitive verb

1
a
: to burn with an unsteady flame
b
: to stream in the wind
2
a
: to shine with a sudden light
a match flares in the darkness
b(1)
: to become suddenly excited or angry
usually used with up
(2)
: to break out or intensify usually suddenly or violently
often used with up
c
: to express strong emotion (such as anger)
3
: to open or spread outward
the pants flare at the bottom

transitive verb

1
: to display conspicuously
flaring her scarf to attract attention
2
: to cause to flare
the breeze flares the candle
3
: to signal with a flare or by flaring
4
: to burn (a jet of waste gas) in the open air

Examples of flare in a Sentence

Noun the sudden flare of the match When the crew saw flares, they knew the other ship was in trouble. Verb pants that flare at the bottom The bull flared its nostrils.
Recent Examples on the Web
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Noun
Guests can order off the menu which features dishes with a Latin flare made with fresh, local ingredients and settle in for whale spotting. Passport: Explore the finest destinations and experiences around the world in the Forbes Passport newsletter. Caitlin Palumbo, Forbes, 15 Jan. 2025 Of the 12 people voters named, all are current or former officeholders except mega-Democratic donor George Soros (who was named by many more Republicans than Democrats in a flare of MAGA sarcasm). David Paleologos, USA TODAY, 14 Jan. 2025
Verb
Air quality can differ significantly from day to day as winds switch direction and fires flare up in different locations. Clara Harter, Los Angeles Times, 14 Jan. 2025 About 400 firefighters remained on scene overnight to guard against the fire flaring up. John Seewer, Chicago Tribune, 10 Jan. 2025 See all Example Sentences for flare 

Word History

Etymology

Noun and Verb

origin unknown

First Known Use

Noun

1580, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

1616, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of flare was in 1580

Dictionary Entries Near flare

Cite this Entry

“Flare.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flare. Accessed 21 Jan. 2025.

Kids Definition

flare

1 of 2 noun
ˈfla(ə)r How to pronounce flare (audio)
ˈfle(ə)r
1
: a fire or blaze of light used to signal, light up something, or attract attention
also : a device or material that produces such a flare
2
: an unsteady glaring light
3
4
: a spreading outward
also : a place or part that spreads
5
plural : bell-bottom trousers

flare

2 of 2 verb
flared; flaring
1
: to burn with an unsteady flame
2
a
: to shine or blaze suddenly
b
: to become suddenly excited or angry
flare up
3
: to open or spread outward
pants that flare at the bottom

Medical Definition

flare

1 of 2 intransitive verb
flared; flaring
: to break out or intensify rapidly : become suddenly worse or more painful
often used with up
your gallstones flare upW. A. Nolen

flare

2 of 2 noun
1
: flare-up
Without effective urate lowering, many such patients progress to severe chronic gout characterized by frequent arthritic flaresJohn S. Sundy et al., The Journal of the American Medical Association
2
: an area of skin flush resulting from and spreading out from a local center of vascular dilation and hyperemia
urticarial flare
3
: a cloudy or smoky appearance of the fluid of the anterior chamber of the eye that is seen when a beam of light (as from a slit lamp) is passed through it and that is caused by the presence of floating protein material in the fluid which is a symptom of inflammation
Flare means that we can actually see the beam of light from the slit lamp traveling through the aqueous humor. This is similar to being able to see the beam of light coming from a movie projector in a dusty room.Jay B. Lavine, The Eye Care Sourcebook

called also aqueous flare

More from Merriam-Webster on flare

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