flourette 
flourettet, . '< jimn-i-ii. 
flour-gold (flour'gold), it. In /iliiccr-mining, a 
name sometimes given to gold occurring in 
exceedingly fine particles. 
flouring-mill (flour' ing-mil), ii. A mill for 
making flour, usually on a large scale : distin- 
guished from yritst-iHill. [U. !>.] 
The way from the mealing-stoue to t]\L- jtiint-iii'i-mi/l is 
lon^. Ainei\ Antknpotoffia, I. 807. 
flourish (flur'ish), r. [< ME. flourixlti-ii, ftu- 
i-ix/irit. florixlit-n, fliirixrhrii, etc., bloom, flower, 
adorn with flowers, adorn, ornament, rarely (in 
Wyclif) of a spear, tr. brandish, intr. be bran- 
dished; < OF.floariss-,floriss-,fluri38-, stem of 
certain parts x>f flourir, flurir, 'jlitrir, F. fleurir 
(ppr.fli-iirixxniit, florinsant, blooming, Jtorissant, 
flourisliing, prosperous), bloom, blossom, flow- 
er, flourish, prosper, = Pr. florire = Ii. florire (< 
L. florere) = Sp. Pg. florecer, < L. florescere, be- 
gin to blossom, begin to prosper, inceptive of 
florere, blossom, flower, prosper, flourish; of. 
flog (flor-), a blossom, a flower : see flower, n. 
and '.] I. intrans. If. To bloom; blossom; 
flower. 
The ftjgetree shall not florisshe. 
Wyclif, Hal), ill. 17 (Oxf.). 
Let us see if the vine flourish, whether the tendergrape 
appear, and the pomegranates bud forth. Cant. vfl. 12. 
Wither one rose, and let the other flourish ! 
SlMk., 3 Hen. VI., II. 5. 
2. To thrive under natural forces or condi- 
tions ; be in a state of natural vigor or devel- 
opment ; grow or be developed vigorously. 
A golden troop doth puss on every aide 
nt flourishing young men and virgins gay, 
Which keep fair measure all the flow'ry way. 
Sir J. Davits, Dancing. 
When he [the cunning enemy] had thus covertly sown 
them (tares), what wonder was it that they should grow 
up together with the corn and flourish ? 
Bp. Atterbury, Sermons, I. iii. 
By continual meditations in sacred writings a man as 
naturally improves and advances in holiness as a tree 
thrives and flourishes in a kindly and well-watered soil. 
Bp. Ilarne, On Ps. i. 
3. To thrive under social or spiritual forces or 
relations; be vigorous in action or develop- 
ment ; be successful or prosperous. 
Jews that were zealous for the Law, but withal infidels 
in respect of Christianity. ... did while they flourished 
no less persecute the Church than heathens. 
Hooker, Eccles. Polity, iv. 11. 
After kingdoms and commonwealths have flourished for 
a time, disturbances, seditions, and wars often arise. 
Bacon, Physical Fables, iii., Expl. 
But thou shall flourish in immortal youth, 
Unhurt amid the war of elements. 
Addison, Cato, v. 1. 
Our farmers round, well pleased with constant gain, 
Like other farmers, flourish and complain. 
Crablte, Works, I. 46. 
4. To be in a state of active existence or ac- 
tual exercise ; exist in activity or practice. 
In our school-books we say, 
Of those that held their heads above the crowd, 
They flourish'd then or then. Tennyson, The Brook. 
John Woolton, bishop of Exeter, who flourished soon 
after the Reformation, . . . was bom in the year 1537. 
Baities, Hist. Lancashire, II. 12. 
The grammatical sciences on the one hand, the mathe- 
matical and physical on the other, flourished in Alexan- 
dria side by side, and formed a foundation for all the later 
science of the world. 
Von Ranke, Univ. Hist, (trans.), p. 468. 
5. To make flourishes ; use flowery or fanciful 
embellishments: as, to flourish in writing or 
speech. 
My sad thoughts 
Told me some poisonous snake was closely hid 
Under your flourishing words. 
Beau, and Fl. (?), Faithful Friends, ii. 2. 
They dilate sometimes and flourish long on little inci- 
dents. Watts, Logic. 
True, ma'am, as you say, one should be quick in di- 
vulging matters of this nature ; for should we be tedious, 
perhaps, while we are flourishing on the subject, two or 
three lives may be lost ! Sheridan, The Rivals, v. 1. 
His [name], that seraphs tremble at, is hung 
Disgracefully on ev'ry trifler's tongue, 
Or serves the champion in forensic war 
To flourish and parade with at the bar. 
Cowper, Expostulation, 1. 665. 
6. To move or be moved in fantastic, irregular 
figures ; play with fantastic or wavering mo- 
tion. 
Impetuous spread 
The stream, and smoking, flourish'd o'er his head. 
Pope, Dunciad, ii. 180. 
7. In music : (a) To play an elaborate, osten- 
tatious passage, or to play in an ostentatious 
or showy manner. (6) To play a trumpet-call 
or fanfare. 
2282 
Why do the emperor's trumpets flourish thus? 
Shak., Tit. And.,iv. >. 
8. Toboast; vaunt;brag. Pope. 9f. Toshake; 
be brandished. 
He schal scorne a florischynae spere [vibrantem h:i.s. 
tarn, Vulgate]. Wyclif, Job xli. 26 (1'urv.). 
II. trans. If. To cause to bloom ; cause to 
thrive or grow luxuriantly. 
How God almyghti of his grete grace 
Hath flourished the erthe on every side ! 
Lydyate, Minor Poems, p. 78. 
I must confess you have express'd a lover, 
Wanted no art toflourixh jour warm passion. 
Shirley, Love in a Maze. iii. :i. 
2f. To cause to prosper; preserve. 
The flerthe (fourth] is a fortune that floritsheth the soule 
Wy th sobrete fram al synne. Piers Plowman (B), xiv. 294. 
3. To embellish with flourishes, as handwrit- 
ing, diction, etc. ; adorn with flowery or showy 
words, figures, or lines ; in general, to ornament 
profusely in any way: as, to flourish a signa- 
ture. 
Floryishe thy dysshe with ponder thou mygt. 
Liber Cure Cocorum, p. 9. 
I saw sixe very precious sockets made indeede but of 
timber work, but flowrished over with a triple gilting. 
Coryat, Crudities, I. 178. 
His son's fine taste an opener vista loves, 
Foe to the Dryads of his father's groves ; 
One boundless green, or flourish'd carpet views. 
Pope, Moral Essays, iv. 95. 
The day book and inventory book shall be flourished. 
Tr. of French Com. Code. 
4. To finish with care ; enlarge and embellish ; 
elaborate. 
All that I shall say will be but like bottoms of thread 
close wound up, which, with a good needle, perhaps may 
be flourished into large works. Bacon, War with Spain. 
5. To brandish ; hold in the hand and shake or 
wave about ; hence, to display ostentatiously ; 
flaunt: as, to flourish a sword or a whip; to 
flourish one's wealth or finery; to flourish one's 
authority. 
A horseman apeeride, . . . florishynge a shaft. 
Wyclif, 2 Mac. xi. 8 (Oxf. and Purv.). 
He casteth fill harde, 
And fluricheth his falsnes opou fele wise, 
And fer he casteth to-forn the folke to destroye. 
Piers Plomnan's Crede (E. E. T. S.), 1. 484. 
My sword, I say ! Old Montague is come, 
And flourishes his blade in spite of me. 
Shak., R. and J., i. 1. 
6f. To gloss over; give a fair appearance to. 
To bring you thus together, 'tis no sin ; 
Sith that the justice of your title to him 
Doth flourish the deceit. Shak., M. for M., iv. 1. 
flourish (flur'ish), n. [< flourish, v.~] If. A flour- 
ishing condition. 
Present Rome may be said to be but the Monument of 
Rome past, when she was ill that Flourish that St. Aus- 
tin desired to see her in. llomell, Letters, I. i. 38. 
2. Showy adornment; decoration; ornament. 
My beauty, though but mean, 
Needs not the painted flourish of your praise. 
Shak., L. L. L, ii. 1. 
3. Ostentatious embellishment ; ambitious co- 
piousness or amplification ; especially, parade 
of words and figures ; rhetorical display. 
//am. Let the foils be brought, the gentleman willing, 
and the king hold his purpose, I will win for him, if I 
can. . . . 
Oir. Shall I re-deliver you e'en so? 
7/am. To this effect, sir ; after what flourish your na- 
ture will. Shak., Hamlet, v. 2. 
He lards w ith flourishes his long harangue. Dryden. 
" In my prison of England " [said Charles], " for the wea- 
riness, danger, and displeasure in which I then lay, I 
have many a time wished I had been slain at the battle 
where they took me." This is a flourish, if you will, but 
it is something more. /J. L. Stevenson, Charles of Orleans. 
4. A figure formed by bold or fanciful lines or 
strokes of the pen or graver : as, the flourishes 
about an initial letter. 5. A brandishing ; the 
waving of something held in the hand: as, the 
flourish of a sword, a cane, or a whip. 
The next day Miss Ritter saw the deacon drive past with 
a wagon-load of children ; he nodded hi head at her as 
he passed, and whipped up the old horse with ^flourish. 
Harper's Mag. 
6. In music: (a) An elaborate but unmeaning 
passage for display, or as a preparation for real 
performance. 
I was startled with a flourish of many musical instru- 
ments that I never heard before. 
Addison, Religions in Waxwork. 
He preluded his address by a sonorous blast of the nose, 
a preliminary flourish much in vogue among public ora- 
tors. Irviny, Knickerbocker, p. 213. 
(ft) A trumpet-call; a fanfare. Flourish of trum- 
pets, a trumpet-call, fanfare, or prelude for one or more 
trumpets, performed on the approach of any person of dis- 
flout 
tinction; hi me, ;uij r ostentatious preliminary sayings or 
doings : as, his advertisement is accompanied witii ;i ilnitr- 
;.</, ::l lru,,l,,etS. 
\ flouftxh. iriniip'is : strike alarum, drums : 
Shak., Rich. III., iv. 4. 
flourishablet (flur'ish-a-bl), a. [< floiir'mh + 
-able.'] Flaunting. Davies. 
He [the devil] sets the countenance of continuance on 
them [the wicked I, which indeed are more fallible in their 
certainty than flutn'ixli<il>/,' in their bravery. 
Ren. T. Adams, Works, I. 217. 
flourished (flur'isht), p. a. In lit i-., same as 
fleury. 
flourisher (flur'ish-er), n. One who flourishes. 
flourishing (flur'ish -ing), p. a. Vigorous; 
prosperous; thriving. 
The Gardyn is alweys grene and flori*xltitiff. alle the 
cesouns of the Zeer, als wel in Wyntre es in Somer. 
Mrt,hJ> r'il** . Tnivels, p. f>4. 
Wealth anil plenty in a land where Justice raignes not 
is no argument of a flourishing StAte, but of a neerness 
rather to ruin or commotion. Muton, Eikonoklastes, ix. 
The old city [Alexandria] was, without doubt, in a ittmr- 
ishing condition, when the trade of the East Indies was 
carried on that way by the Venetians. 
Pococke, Description of the East, I. 7. 
flourishingly (ftur'ish-ing-li), adv. In a flour- 
ishing manner ; with adornment ; thrivingly. 
She is in lyke case flourishinglye decked wyth golde, 
preciouse stone, and pearles. 
Bp. Bale, Image of the Two Churches, ii. 
flourishing-thread (flur'ish-ing-thred), n. A 
variety of linen thread used for darning and 
otherwise repairing 
linen fabric, and also 
in netting and similar 
fancy work. 
flour-mill (flour'mil), 
n. A mill for grind- 
ing grain into flour; 
a flouring-mill. 
flour-mite (flour'mit), 
n. One of several 
mites or acarids which 
are found in flour, as 
Tyroali/phus siro (fa- 
rina;) or T. longior. 
See Cheese-mite. " Flour-mite ( Tyroflyfkxt ural, 
flOUrOUnt, n. [ME., < (Highly'iSgnSed.) 
OF.floron, <flor, flow- 
er: see flower.'] Flower-work; an ornamental 
flower. 
A fret of golde she hadde next her heer, 
And upon that a white corowne she beer, 
With flourouns smale. 
Chaucer, Good Women, 1. 217. 
flour-packer (flour'pak'er), . A machine for 
packing bags or barrels with flour. 
floury (flour'i), a. [< flour + -i/ 1 .] If. An ob- 
solete spelling of flowery. 2. Consisting of or 
resembling flour; 
coat is floury. 
. 
covered with flour : as, your 
She shook her own floury hands vigorously, and offered 
one at last, muffled in her apron. 
S. 0. Jewett, Country Doctor, p. 193. 
floush (floush), v. t. Same as flash 1 . 
flout 1 (flout), n. [< TXE.flowte (also floyte : see 
floift), a flute, < OF. flaiite, flalnite, alsofleiite, 
and (with false silent s) flauste, fluhuste, fleiiste, 
later flute (> mod. E. flute, which has displaced 
the ME. form), mod. F. flute: see further under 
flute 1 .'] If. A flute. 2. A boys' whistle. Hal- 
liwell. [Prov. Eng.] 3. [Cf. It. fagotto, a bun- 
dle, fagot, also a wind-instrument.] A truss or 
bundle. HalliwelL [Prov. Eng.] 
flout 1 ! (flout), v. i. [< ME. flowten \&lso floy- 
ten : see floift), play on a flute, < OF. flaiiter, 
also fleiiter, and (with false silent x) fleilster, 
play on the flute : see flout 1 , n., and further un- 
der flute 1 . Cf. flout 1 *.] To play on the flute. 
Syngynge he was, or flowtynye [var. flofttynge] al the day. 
Chaucer, Gen. Prol. to C. T., 1. 91. 
They flout ed and they taberd, they yellyd and they cryed, 
loyinge in theyr manner as semyd by theyr semblaunt. 
Lydgate, Pylgremage of the Sowle (ed. 1859), ii. 50. 
flout 2 (flout), r. [Prob. a particular use of flout 1 , 
play the flute ; cf. MD. fluyten, talk smoothly 
or flatteringly, tr. soothe, as a horse, by blan- 
dishments, impose upon, jeer, a particular use 
of fluyten, mod. D. fluiten E. flout 1 , play the 
flute: seefloifi. A similar turn of thought ap- 
pears in F. piper, decoy, catch with a bird-call, 
take in, cheat, deceive, < pipe, pipe : see pipe 
tmd peepS.] I. intrans. To mock; jeer; scoff; 
behave with disdain or contumely : with at be- 
fore an object. 
Fleer and gibe, and laugh and flout. Swift. 
The Imagination is a faculty that flouts at foreordiua- 
tion. Loicell, Among my Books, *2d ser., p. 237. 
