From WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003) [wn]:
flourish
n 1: a showy gesture; "she entered with a great flourish"
2: an ornamental embellishment in writing
3: a display of ornamental speech or language
4: the act of waving [syn: brandish]
5: (music) a short lively tune played on brass instruments; "he
entered to a flourish of trumpets"; "her arrival was
greeted with a rousing fanfare" [syn: fanfare, tucket]
v 1: grow stronger; "The economy was booming" [syn: boom,
prosper, thrive, get ahead, expand]
2: gain in wealth [syn: thrive, prosper, fly high]
3: move or swing back and forth; "She waved her gun" [syn:
brandish, wave]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Flourish \Flour"ish\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Flourished; p. pr. &
vb. n. Flourishing.] [OE. florisshen, flurisshen, OF.
flurir, F. fleurir, fr. L. florere to bloom, fr. flos,
floris, flower. See Flower, and -ish.]
1. To grow luxuriantly; to increase and enlarge, as a healthy
growing plant; a thrive.
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A tree thrives and flourishes in a kindly . . .
soil. --Bp. Horne.
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2. To be prosperous; to increase in wealth, honor, comfort,
happiness, or whatever is desirable; to thrive; to be
prominent and influental; specifically, of authors,
painters, etc., to be in a state of activity or
production.
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When all the workers of iniquity do flourish. --Ps.
xcii 7
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Bad men as frequently prosper and flourish, and that
by the means of their wickedness. --Nelson.
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We say
Of those that held their heads above the crowd,
They flourished then or then. --Tennyson.
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3. To use florid language; to indulge in rhetorical figures
and lofty expressions; to be flowery.
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They dilate . . . and flourish long on little
incidents. --J. Watts.
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4. To make bold and sweeping, fanciful, or wanton movements,
by way of ornament, parade, bravado, etc.; to play with
fantastic and irregular motion.
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Impetuous spread
The stream, and smoking flourished o'er his head.
--Pope.
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5. To make ornamental strokes with the pen; to write
graceful, decorative figures.
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6. To execute an irregular or fanciful strain of music, by
way of ornament or prelude.
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Why do the emperor's trumpets flourish thus? --Shak.
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7. To boast; to vaunt; to brag. --Pope.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Flourish \Flour"ish\, n.; pl. Flourishes.
1. A flourishing condition; prosperity; vigor. [Archaic]
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The Roman monarchy, in her highest flourish, never
had the like. --Howell.
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2. Decoration; ornament; beauty.
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The flourish of his sober youth
Was the pride of naked truth. --Crashaw.
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3. Something made or performed in a fanciful, wanton, or
vaunting manner, by way of ostentation, to excite
admiration, etc.; ostentatious embellishment; ambitious
copiousness or amplification; parade of words and figures;
show; as, a flourish of rhetoric or of wit.
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He lards with flourishes his long harangue.
--Dryden.
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4. A fanciful stroke of the pen or graver; a merely
decorative figure.
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The neat characters and flourishes of a Bible
curiously printed. --Boyle.
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5. A fantastic or decorative musical passage; a strain of
triumph or bravado, not forming part of a regular musical
composition; a cal; a fanfare.
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A flourish, trumpets! strike alarum, drums! --Shak.
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6. The waving of a weapon or other thing; a brandishing; as,
the flourish of a sword.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Flourish \Flour"ish\, v. t.
1. To adorn with flowers orbeautiful figures, either natural
or artificial; to ornament with anything showy; to
embellish. [Obs.] --Fenton.
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2. To embellish with the flowers of diction; to adorn with
rhetorical figures; to grace with ostentatious eloquence;
to set off with a parade of words. [Obs.]
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Sith that the justice of your title to him
Doth flourish the deceit. --Shak.
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3. To move in bold or irregular figures; to swing about in
circles or vibrations by way of show or triumph; to
brandish.
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And flourishes his blade in spite of me. --Shak.
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4. To develop; to make thrive; to expand. [Obs.]
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Bottoms of thread . . . which with a good needle,
perhaps may be flourished into large works. --Bacon.
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