flourishing
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
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
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
89 Moby Thesaurus words for "flourishing":
abundant, balmy, blooming, blossoming, booming, bountiful,
brandish, brandishing, budding, burgeoning, bursting, bursting out,
clear, copious, creative, crescent, dense, developed, exuberant,
fair, fat, fecund, fertile, flaunt, flaunting, florescent,
flourish, flowering, fructiferous, fruitful, fruiting,
full-fledged, full-grown, fully developed, generous, going strong,
gross, growing, grown, grown-up, halcyon, heavy, hypertrophied,
impenetrable, in full swing, in good case, increasing, jungled,
jungly, lush, luxuriant, mature, overdeveloped, overgrown, overrun,
palmy, piping, plenteous, plentiful, pregnant, productive,
proliferous, prolific, prospering, prosperous, rank, rich, riotous,
rosy, seminal, shaking, sleek, sprouting, successful,
superabundant, swarming, teeming, thick, thriving, uberous,
undulation, unweeded, vigorous, wave, wave motion, waving,
weed-choked, weed-ridden, weedy
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