FLO 
To FLOU'RISH, v. a. To adorn with vegetable beauty: 
With fhadowy verdure Jlourijh'd high, 
A fudden youth the groves enjoy. Fenton. 
To adorn with figures of needle-work. To work with 
a needle into figures.—All that I fiiall fay will be but 
like bottoms of thread elofe wound up, which, with a 
good needle, may be flourifhed into large works. Bacon. — 
To move any thing in quick, circles or vibrations by way 
of (how or triumph : 
Againft: the poft their wicker (Fields they crufh, 
Flourijli the fvvord, and at the plaftton pufh. Dry den. 
To adorn with embellifhrnents of language ; to grace with 
eloquence oftentatioufiy diffufive.—As they are likely to 
over -flouri/k their own cafe, lo their flattery is hardeft to 
be difcovered. Collier. —To adorn; to embellifh ; to grace: 
To bring you thus together, ’tis no fin, 
Sith the juftice of your title to him 
Doth jlourijh the deceit. Shakefpeare. 
FLOU'RISH, f. Bravery; beauty; ambitious fplen- 
dour : 
The jlourijh of his fober youth, 
Was the pride of naked truth. ' Crajkaw. 
An oftentatious embellifitment; ambitious copioufnefs; 
far-fetched elegance.—This is a jlourijh: there follow ex¬ 
cellent parables. Bacon. —Villainies have not the fame 
countenance, when there are great interefis, plaufible co¬ 
lours,and jlourijhes of wit and rhetoric, interpofed between 
the fight and the objeef. VEJlrange. 
Studious to pleafe the genius of the times. 
With periods, points, and tropes, he fiurs his crimes; 
He lards with jlourijhes his long harangue; 
3 Tis fine, fay’ft thou; what, to be prais’d and hang ? Dryden. 
Figures formed by lines curioufly or wantonly drawn.— 
They were intended only for ludicrous ornaments of na¬ 
ture, like the jlourijhes about a great letter that fignify 
nothing, but are made only to delight the eye. Moreagainfl 
Atlieifm. 
FLOU'RISjHER, /. One that is in prime or in prof- 
perity : 
They count him of the green-liair’d eld, they may, or in 
his flow’r; 
For not our greateft jlourijher can equal him in pow’r. 
Chapman. 
To FLOUT, v.a. [ jluyten, Dutch ; flowe, Frific. ] To 
mock ; to infult; to treat with mockery and contempt.— 
Phillida Jlouts me. Walton. 
To FLOUT, v.n. To praftife mockery; to behave 
with contempt-; to fneer.—Though nature hath given us 
wit to jlout at fortune, hath not fortune lent in this fool 
to cut off this argument ? Shakejpeare. 
With talents well endu’d 
To be fcurrilous and rude ; 
When you pertly raife your fnout. 
Fleer and gibe, and laugh and jlout. Swift. 
FLOUT, f. A mock ; an infult; a word or a£f of con¬ 
tempt.—How many Jlouts and jeers mult I ex pole myfelf 
to by this repentance? How (hall I anfwer Inch an old 
acquaintance when he invites me to an intemperate cup ? 
Calaniy. 
Their doors are barr’d againft a bitter Jlout ; 
Snarl, if you pleafe ; but you (hall (narl without. Dryden. 
FLOUT'ER, J'. One who jeers. 
To FLOW, v. n. [plopan, Sax.] To run or fpreud as 
water.—Endlefs tears Jloio down in dreams. Swjt. 
The god am 1 vvhofe yellow water flows 
Around thefe fields, and fattens as it goes. Dryden. 
To run: oppofed to (landing, waters. To rife; not to 
ebb.—This river hath thrice jlow'd , no ebb between. 
Shakejpeare. ~~To melt.—-Oh that thou wouldeft rend the 
FLO 
heavens, that the mountains might jloio down at thy pre¬ 
fence. If. lxiv. i.—To’, proceed ; to ifiue.—The know¬ 
ledge drawn from experience is quite of another kind 
from that which floras from ('peculation or difeourfe. 
South. —To glide fmoothly without afperity ; as, a flowing 
period.—This difeourfe of Gyprian, and the flowers of 
rhetoric in it, (hew him to have been of a great wit and 
jlowing eloquence, liakewell. —To write fmoothly ; to fpeak 
volubly.—Virgil is lvveet and flowing in his hexameters. 
Dryden. 
Did fweeter. founds adorn thy jlowing tongue 
Than ever man pronounc’d, or angels lung. Prior. 
To abound ; to be crowded.—The dry ftreets flow'd with 
men. Chapman. —To be copious; to be full: 
There every eye with fiumb’rous chains fhe bound. 
And dafii’d the flowing goblet to the ground. Pope. 
To hang- loofe and waving.—He was clothed in a flowing 
mantle of green filk, interw oven with flowers. Spectator. 
To FLOW, v. a. To overflow ; to deluge.—Watering 
hops is fcarce practicable, unlcfs you have a ftream at 
hand to flow the ground. Mortimer. 
FLOW, fl. The rife of water ; not the ebb : 
The ebb of tides, and their myfterious flow. 
We as arts,elements fiiall underftand. Dryden. 
A fudden plenty or abundance.—The noble power of fuf- 
fering bravely is as far above that of enterprifing greatly, 
as an unblemifiied confcience and inflexible vefoiution are 
above an accidental flow of fpirits, or a fudden tide of 
blood. Pope. —A dream of didtion; volubility of tongue. 
—Teaching is not a flow of words, nor the draining of an 
hour-glafs; but an effectual procuring that a man know 
fomething which he knew not before, or to know it bet¬ 
ter. South. 
FLOW'ER,yi \_fleur, Fr. flos, /lores, Lat. ] The part 
of a plant which contains the frudtification.—See the ar¬ 
ticle Botany, vol.iii. p. 246-253,800 the correfponding 
engravings; and for the natural hiftory and cultivation of 
every kind of flower, fee under their refpedtive generic 
titles in this work. See alfo the article Horticulture. 
— If the bloflom of thd plant be of moft importance, we 
call it a flower ; fuch are daifies, tulips, and carnations. 
Watts. 
Beauteous flow'rs why do we fpread, 
Upon the monuments of the dead ? Cowley. 
Though the fame fun with all diff ufive rays 
Blufli in the rofe, and in the diamond blaze. 
We praife the ftronger effort of his power. 
And always let the gem above the flower. Pope. 
An ornament; an embelliflirnent.—This difeourfe of Cy¬ 
prian, and the excellentjfoow of rhetoric in it, fhew him 
to have been a fweet and powerful orator. Hakewell. — 
Truth needs no jlowers of fpeech. Pope. —The prime ; tlve 
flourifiling part : 
Alas! young man, your days can ne’er be long : 
In flow'r of age you perifti for a long. Pope. 
The edible part of cprn ; the meal.—The bread I would 
have in flower, fo as it might be baked (till to ferve their 
neceffary want. Spenjlr. 
I can make my audit up, that all 
From me back receive the flow'r of all, 
And leave me but the bran. Shakejpeare. 
The moft excellent or valuable part of any tiling ; quint- 
eftence.—The French monarchy is exhaufted of its braved 
fubjefts: the jlowtr of the nation is confumed in its. wars. 
Addijon. 
Thou haft (lain 
The flower of Europe for his chivalry. Shakejpeare. 
That which is moft diftinguiflied for any tiling valuable. 
He is not the flower of courtefy, but, I warrant him, as 
gentle as a lamb. Shakejpeare. [I11 chemiftry.] The fine 
lublimated 
