▪ I. flame, n.
(fleɪm)
Forms: 4 flaume, 4–5 flamme, (5 flome), 4–6 flawme, flaumbe, 5–7 flambe, (7 flam), 4– flame.
[a. OF. flambe, flamme:—L. flamma, of disputed etymology; according to some scholars for *flāgma, f. root *flā̆g- in flagrāre to blaze; according to others for *flāma, f. flā-re to blow.]
1. Vapour heated to the point of combustion; ignited gas. Also, † flame of fire. a. without plural.
| c 1384 Chaucer H. Fame ii. 261 Flaumbe ys but lyghted smoke. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. x. iv. (1495) 376 Flamme is fyre in ayry matere. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) viii. 29 Oute of þe whilk commes flawme of fire. 1563 Fulke Meteors (1640) 23 Where earthquakes have beene, great abundance of smoke, flame, and ashes, is cast out. 1678 Hobbes Decam. vi. 60 Flame is nothing but a multitude of Sparks. 1704 Newton Opticks iii. xi. 134 Is not flame a vapour, fume, or exhalation heated red hot, that is, so hot as to shine? 1831 Brewster Newton (1855) II. xxv. 368 Flame consists of particles of carbon brought to a white heat,—an opinion of Sir Humphry Davy's. |
b. with plural: A portion of ignited vapour, often spire-like or tongue-like.
† to put to flames: to set on fire.
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter xxviii. [xxix.] 7 Þe voice of lord sherand þe flaume of fire. 1377 Langl P. Pl. B. xvii. 239 Þe weyke and fyre wil make a warme flaumbe. c 1400 Destr. Troy 12009 Flammes of fyre fuerse to behold. c 1450 Lonelich Grail xlviii. 174 Fir and flambes they casten echedel vppon Moys there that he sat. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon lxiv. 221 His vysage became lyke a flame of fyer. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 554 Thrice to the vaulted Roof the Flames aspire. 1722 Sewel Hist. Quakers (1795) I. iv. 272 The flames ascended above my head. 1800 tr. Lagrange's Chem. II. 245 The acid burns with a blue flame. 1874 Morley Compromise (1886) 17 The sky of Paris was red with the incendiary flames of the Commune. |
c. fig. (see also 6.)
| 1548 Hall Chron. Hen. VI, 154 The inhabitauntes..perceyuing, that the great flamme of the Englishe force was extinct and consumid. 1601 Shakes. All's Well i. ii. 59 Let me not liue..After my flame lackes oyle. 1623 Favine Theat. Hon. ii. i. 61 Saint Hierome, the..cleare flame of the Church. 1887 Bowen Virg. æneid i. 263 War's great flame he shall kindle in Italy. |
d. pl. (with
the)
= fire. Chiefly with reference to death or destruction by burning. Phrase,
to commit to the flames.
| 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 249/2 The blessid chyldren wente thorugh the flambes. 1656 Cowley Poems, Misc. 10 Pity him Jove, and his bold Theft allow, The flames he once stole from thee grant him now. 1713 Steele Englishman No. 55. 354 He was put into the flames with the General Acclamation of the Multitude. 1782 Priestley Corrupt. Chr. II. ix. 191 Ziska..condemned the rest to the flames. 1817 Shelley Revolt of Islam xii. xxv. 1 When the consuming flames had wrapt ye round. |
e. with reference to hell or purgatory.
| 1382 Wyclif Luke xvi. 24 Send Lazarus that he..kele my tunge; for I am turmentid in this flawme. c 1575 W. Fulke Confut. Doctr. Purgatory (1577) 182 To quench the flambes of purgatory. 1637–50 Row Hist. Kirk (1842) 304 By hellish flams thy soule..devoured bee. 1832 Tennyson Sisters 7 She died: she went to burning flame. |
† f. vital flame (see
quot.).
Obs. in scientific use.
| 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Vital Flame, a kind of subtil gentle kindled Heat which some suppose to be in the Heart of Living-Creatures. |
2. The condition of visible combustion. In phrases,
on flame,
† on or of a flame,
in a flame,
in flames: blazing, on fire;
transf. of a wound, etc., inflamed;
fig. inflamed with anger, passion, or zeal. Also
to put or set on or in († a) flame,
to burst into flame(s, etc. See also
aflame.
| 1490 Caxton Eneydos ii. 14 The cyte was cruelly sette a fyre, and on a flamm. 1638 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (ed. 2) 297 Redolent gums..incendiated or put to flames, wherein the dead body is laid. 1652 J. Wadsworth tr. Sandoval's Civ. Wars Spain 351 The timber of the Church taking fire therewith, all was immediately of a flame. 1658 A. Fox Wurtz' Surg. iii. i. 220 If a wound be in a flame when drest. 1656 Cowley Poems, Mistress 15 [My heart] 'tis all on flame. 1676 Hobbes Iliad (1677) 182 Set the Argives hollow ships on flame. 1685 Crowne Sir C. Nice v. 49 What a flame had your negligence put me into. 1697 W. Dampier Voy. I. 116 They found their Boat all in flames. 1721 De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 47 The town..was all on a flame. 1764 Goldsm. Trav. 219 Unknown those powers that raise the soul to flame. 1790 Beatson Nav. & Mil. Mem. I. 74 Setting the nation in a flame against the Minister. 1790 Willocks Voy. 11 Immediately his face was all over in a flame. 1818 Shelley Rev. Islam iii. xvi. 8 Below the smoke of roofs involved in flame. 1847 Tennyson Princ. vi. 348 The day..Now set a wrathful Dian's moon on flame. 1879 M. Pattison Milton 53 Once, at twenty, he [Milton] was all on flame by the casual meeting..with a damsel. |
3. transf. a. A bright beam or ray of light (
esp. from a heavenly body).
| c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. ii. Metr. iii. 39 Þe flamus of þe sonne þat ouer comeþ þe sterre lyȝt. 1572 J. Bossewell Armorie ii. 132 These starres..cast from them flambes in maner of heares. 1611 Bible Wisd. xvii. 5 Neither could the bright flames of the starres endure to lighten that horrible night. 1710 Pope Windsor For. 390 Where clearer flames glow round the frozen Pole. 1842 Longfellow Sp. Stud. iii. v, When the moon began to show her silver flame. 1877 Bryant Poems, Little People of Snow 184 The northern lights, such as thou seest In the midwinter nights, cold, wandering flames. |
b. Applied humorously to ‘red’ hair. Also to one who has such hair.
Cf. carrot n. 3.
| 1823 ‘J. Bee’ Slang, Flames, red haired people receive this appellation..‘vho should I fling my precious ogles upon but Flames—she as lived at the Blue Posts?’ 1959 I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolch. ix. 170 Red heads attract a barrage of nicknames:..fire head, flame, flarey, [etc.]. |
4. fig. Bright or glowing light; brilliance, brilliant colouring.
| 1781 Cowper Friendship ii, That jewel of the purest flame. 1873 Ouida Pascarel II. 162 The flame of roses burns on every handsbreadth of untilled ground. |
5. Something resembling a flame of fire:
† a. A flame-shaped ornament.
b. A streak or patch of colour or the like.
| 1602 Segar Hon. Mil. & Civ. ii. xvii. 88 Mantelets of greene cloth of siluer..bordered about with flambes of golde. 1680 Lond. Gaz. No. 1562/4 A Bright Bay Gelding..a white Flame from the Forehead almost to the Nostrils. 1820 Shelley Witch vi. 3 The sly serpent, in the golden flame Of his own volumes intervolved. 1888 M. E. Braddon Fatal Three i. vi, The yellow stonecrop made a flame of colour on the top. |
c. The colour of flame, flame-red.
| 1711 tr. H. van Oosten's Dutch Gardener (ed. 2) iii. xiv. 151 The Fire..in this Plant [sc. tulip], leaves only its own Colour, which is Flame or Gold. 1921 Queen 13 Aug. 198 The buds are of extraordinarily deep colour with a suggestion of flame. 1923 Daily Mail 16 July 16 In Peach, Brown, Mastic, Royal, Flame, Gold. 1971 Rose Ann. 192 Mojave. 1954. Deep orange and reddish flame. Ibid. 197 Shepherd's Delight. 1958. Flame, orange and yellow. |
6. In certain figurative applications of sense 1.
a. A burning feeling or passion,
esp. of love:
to fan the flame: to heighten its intensity by artificial or artful means.
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter cxxxvii. 1 Alle kyndul þou in þe flawme of þi luf. c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. ¶279 Thanne feeleth he anoon a flambe of delit. a 1450–1530 Myrr. our Ladye 212 Thre flaumbes of charyte. 1601 Shakes. All's Well i. iii. 217 So true a flame of liking. 1667 Milton P.L. v. 807 Abdiel..Stood up, and in a flame of zeale severe The current of his fury thus oppos'd. 1702 Pope Sapho 20 Ah youth ungrateful to a flame like mine! 1708 Rowe Royal Convert Prol., The same Flame, by different Ways express'd, Glows in the Heroe's and the Poet's Breast. 1783 J. O'Keeffe Birth-day 17 The lovely town-bred dame, Dear cause of many a flame. 1800 E. Hervey Mourtray Fam. IV. 212, I..neglected no opportunity of fanning the flame. 1814 Cary Dante, Paradise iii. 69 She seemed With love's first flame to glow. 1885 Mabel Collins Prettiest Woman ix, This flame of ardent ambition kept her alive. |
b. quasi-
concr. The object of one's love. Formerly
poet.; now only
jocular.
| 1647 Cowley Mistress, Eccho ii, Thy flame, whilst living,..Was of less beauty. 1709 Prior Ode, Euphelia serves to grace my Measure; But Cloe is my real Flame. a 1760 J. Browne Poems, Let. to Corinna (1768) 109 My earliest flame, to whom I owe All that a Captain needs to know. 1807 W. Irving Salmag. (1824) 263 This little damsel..was my uncle John's third flame. 1840 Thackeray Paris Sk.-bk. (1872) 237 Her heart remains faithful to her old flame, the doctor. |
† c. Brightness of fancy, power of genius, vigour of thought.
Obs.| 1642 Denham Cooper's H. 88 As thine his fate, if mine had beene his [Homer's] Flame. 1672 Villiers (Dk. Buckhm.) Rehearsal 1, Persons of Quality..that understand what Flame and Power in writing is. 1702 Rowe Tamerl. Prol., Like him (tho' much unequal to his Flame) Our Author makes a pious Prince his Theme. |
† 7. A name of a variety of carnation. (See
quot.)
| 1727 Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Carnation, The Flames have a red Ground always strip'd with Black or very dark Colours. |
8. A name given to certain British moths.
| 1819 G. Samouelle Entomol. Compend. 399 Noctua putris, the Flame. Ibid. 422 Geometra rubiadata, the Flame. 1862 Morris Brit. Moths II. 15 Anticlea rubidaria, the Flame. |
9. attrib. and
Comb. a. simple
attrib., as
flame-banner,
flame-heat,
flame-lamp,
flame-light,
flame-signal,
flame-tongue.
| 1880 Tennyson Columbus, The great *flame-banner borne by Teneriffe. |
| 1812–6 J. Smith Panorama Sc. & Art I. 11 In changing the form of iron, the white *flame heat is used. |
| 1888 Daily News 10 May 3/1 Miners' electric lamps..so convenient..that it would really seem to be nothing short of criminal folly to run the slightest risk with *flame lamps. |
| 1611 Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. vi. ix. 75 The search of Tyrants by the *flame-light of Persecutions. 1921 W. de la Mare Crossings 47 A fire-place, its brass and steel merrily twinkling in the flame-light. 1923 D. H. Lawrence Birds, Beasts & Flowers 170 Three great elephants..in the torch-light, Slowly sailing in gorgeous apparel through the flame-light. |
| a 1835 Mrs. Hemans League of Alps xxvi. Poems (1875) 237 *Flame-signals through the midnight sprung. |
| 1876 Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. viii. lxiv, Where the flowers are no better than a crop of *flame-tongues burning the soles of our feet. |
b. objective, as
flame-breathing,
flame-darting,
flame-snorting,
flame-throwing, also
flame-devoted.
| 1621 G. Sandys Ovid's Met. vii. (1626) 235 *Flame-breathing buls you tam'd. |
| 1611 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iv. iii. Schisme 403 The Welkin's studded with new Blazing-Stars, *Flame-darting Lances. |
| 1767 W. L. Lewis Statius' Thebaid vi. 76 They crown with Cypress..the *Flame-devoted Bier. |
| 1614 Sylvester Du Bartas, Bethulia's Rescue iii. 1 *Flame-snorting Phlegon's ruddy breath began Reducing Day. |
| 1952 C. Day Lewis tr. Virgil's Aeneid vi. 125 The *flame-throwing Chimaera. |
c. instrumental and originative, as
flame-bred,
flame-burnt,
flame-feathered,
flame-flushed,
flame-irradiated,
flame-robed,
flame-sparkling,
flame-tipped,
flame-uplifted,
flame-winged.
| 1606 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iv. ii. Magnificence 361 If I live, I live her *Flame-bred-Flie. |
| 1841 Civil Engin. & Arch. Jrnl. IV. 340/2 When the bricks were intended to be..*flame-burnt,..no addition was made to the clay. 1917 D. H. Lawrence Look! 101 We near the flame-burnt porches. |
| 1591 Sylvester Du Bartas i. iv. 272 With his *flame feath'red arrow. |
| 1923 D. H. Lawrence Birds, Beasts & Flowers 66 *Flame-flushed, enraged, splendid salvia. 1937 W. de la Mare This Year, Next Year, Its drowsy eye Fixed on the flame-flushed company. |
| 1649 G Daniel Trinarch., Hen. V, xciii, High-wrought drosse Shines from his [the Sun's] *flame-irradiated Earth. |
| 1752 H. M[oore] To Memory of Dr. Doddridge vii, [He] midst the *flame-rob'd Bands a Seraph glows. |
| 1625 K. Long tr. Barclay's Argenis v. xx. 402 Thy chaste *flame-sparkling eyes. |
| 1836 Keble in Lyra Apost. (1849) 215 Some *flame-tipt arrow of the Almighty falls. |
| 1842 Sir A. De Vere Song of Faith 52 The legion hands Of *flame-uplifted Demons. |
| 1621 G. Sandys Ovid's Met. xiv. (1626) 890 Ioue..with *flame-winged thunder earth affrights. a 1881 Rossetti House of Life ix, One flame-winged brought a white-winged harp-player. |
d. parasynthetic and similative, as
flame-eyed,
flame-faced,
flame-haired,
flame-like,
flame-shaped adjs.;
flame-like,
flame-wise advs.; limitative, as
flame-proof.
| 1609 B. Jonson Masque of Queens Wks. (Rtldg.) 568/2 *Flame-ey'd Rage. |
| 1871 Palgrave Lyr. Poems 50 That *flame-faced patriot band. |
| c 1605 Rowley Birth Merl. iv. v. 343 Above yon *flame-haired beam that upwards shoots, Appears a dragon's head. |
| 1567 J. Maplet Gr. Forest 5 b, The Chrusoprase is..in the night time..*flamelike, in the day time yelow. 1621 G. Sandys Ovid's Met. xv. (1626) 718 Rouling about his eyes that flame-like blaz'd. |
| 1886 Illustr. Lond. News 2 Jan., The materials had been made *flame-proof. |
| 1876 D. Wilson Preh. Man vii. (ed. 3) 193 One *flame-shaped arrow-head. |
| 1865 Swinburne Atalanta 37 My heart Takes fire and trembles *flame⁓wise. |
10. a. Special comb.:
flame-bearer, a book-name for the genus
Selasphorus of humming-birds, characterized by the great brilliancy of the gorgets of the males;
flame-bed (
Steam-engine) (see
quot.);
flame-box, ‘sometimes applied to that portion of the shell of a steam boiler which contains the smoke or flame tubes’ (Lockwood 1892);
flame-bridge, ‘a wall rising from the floor of a furnace to cause the flame to impinge upon the bottom of the boiler’ (Knight 1874);
flame-cap, a pale cap-like appearance which the upper part of the flame of a safety-lamp or fire-damp indicator assumes, and which indicates the presence of gas;
flame carpet, the moth
Coremia propugnaria;
flame-cell, a small cavity in the excretory canal of a flat-worm (see
quot.);
flame-chamber (see
quot.);
flame-engine, ‘an early name for the gas-engine, in which the piston is moved by the expansion due to the sudden combustion of a body of gas in the cylinder’ (Knight 1874);
flame float, a buoyant pyrotechnic device used for illumination or as a signal, etc.;
flame-flue, ‘the combustion flue of a horizontal boiler, so named to distinguish it from the smoke or return flues which are built in brick-work’ (Lockwood 1892);
flame-furnace, a furnace in which the ore or metal is exposed to the action of flame, but is not in contact with the fuel;
† flame-god, ? the sun;
flame gun, a flame-throwing gun, used to destroy weeds, etc.;
flame-kiln (
cf. flame-furnace);
flame machine = flame-thrower (a);
flame manometer (see
manometer);
flame-plates, the top or crown plates of a boiler flue or fire-box (Lockwood 1888);
flame-plating Engineering (see
quots.); so (as a back-formation)
flame-plate v.;
flame projector = flame-thrower (a);
flame-proof v. trans., to render flame-proof (Webster 1934); so
flame-proofing vbl. n. and ppl. a.;
flame-proofed ppl. adj.;
flame-red a. and n., (of) a vivid orange-red shade;
flame-resistant,
-retardant adjs., not readily inflammable; so
flame-resistance;
flame-shoulder, the moth
Noctua plecta;
flame spectrum, a spectrum of the light produced when a substance is vaporized in an otherwise non-luminous flame;
flame-thrower [
cf. G.
flammenwerfer], (
a) a weapon consisting essentially of a reservoir from which a long spray of flame can be ejected against the enemy; (
b)
= flame gun;
flame-trap (see
quot. 1949
1);
flame-ware, a type of cooking equipment, often of glass, that can withstand the heat of an open flame.
| 1882 Ogilvie s.v., The little *flame-bearer (Selasphorus scintilla) inhabits the inner side of the extinct volcano Chiriqui, in Veragua. |
| 1859 Rankine Steam Engine §304 The flame chamber..has often a floor of fire-brick, called the *flame bed. |
| 1893 Dublin Rev. July 653 The wick of the lamp has to be pulled down until the flame becomes pale and non-luminous. In this condition it is small and of low temperature, and therefore ill-suited to produce *flame caps. |
| 1862 Morris Brit. Moths II. 18 Coremia propugnaria, *Flame Carpet. |
| 1888 Encycl. Brit. XXIII. 537/1 The spaces between the round connective-tissue cells of the body are star-shaped in form, and into these the finest excretory tubules..open by funnels, into each of which projects a vibratile cilium, thus constituting the so-called ‘*flame-cells’. |
| 1859 Rankine Steam Engine §304 The *flame-chamber, being the space immediately behind the bridge in which the combustion of the inflammable gases that pass over the bridge is or ought to be completed. |
| 1862 Atlantic Monthly July 70/2 Ericsson..soon discovered that his *flame-engine, when worked by the combustion of mineral coals, was [etc.] |
| 1942 T. Rattigan Flare Path ii. ii. 135 It got in the way of a *flame float I was throwing out. 1943 ‘T. Dudley-Gordon’ Coastal Command xvii. 167 They hurriedly signalled her [sc. the ship] to the spot, dropping flame floats all round the U-boat. 1946 Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. L. 49/2 At night, flame floats were dropped to observe wind. |
| 1888 Lockwood's Dict. Mech. Engin., *Flame-furnace, a reverberatory furnace. |
| 1599 Marston Sco. Villanie i. ii. 175, I thinke the blind doth see, the *flame God rise From Sisters couch, each morning to the skies. |
| 1931 Times Lit. Suppl. 1 Oct. 743/3 *Flame guns which had at first been..used against them [sc. locusts]. 1948 Times 20 Mar. 6/7 Even a flame-gun has been devised for their [weeds'] destruction. 1952 E. R. Janes Flower Garden 51 Seedlings..looking as if they had been scorched by a flame gun. |
| 1807 Vancouver Agric. Devon (1813) 28 This limestone..is burnt in what are called *flame-kilns. |
| 1917 Times 19 Feb. 7/2 The Germans have used *flame machines for the first time in the Balkans. |
| 1954 Steel 5 Apr. 130/3 Productive life of steel core rods has been increased..by having them *flame-plated. 1959 Engineering 9 Jan. 59/1 A leading American cable company has saved over $1,500 per year..by having its aluminium alloy pulleys flame-plated to increase their wear resistance. |
| 1954 Steel 5 Apr. 130/3 *Flame-plating is a method of applying tungsten carbide to metal parts... Low temperature deposition is a major advantage of this new process. 1956 Jrnl. Iron & Steel Inst. CLXXXIV. 100/1 Flame-plating is a process whereby layers of tungsten carbide/cobalt..may be applied, by powder deposition, to a wide variety of base metals. 1959 Engineering 9 Jan. 59/1 The flame-plating process is a surfacing operation in which particles of tungsten carbide are blasted on to the surface of the workpiece. |
| 1915 War Illustr. 4 Sept. 70 German ‘Flammenwerfer’ (*flame-projector) in action. |
| 1955 Sci. News Let. 27 Aug. 143/3 Chemicals..used..for *flame-proofing cotton. |
| 1962 Listener 25 Jan. 198/2 Most electric blankets are now made of *flame-proofed fabric. |
| 1929 Chem. Abstr. 4353 (heading) Waterproofing and *flameproofing composition for use on textile fabrics. 1938 Encycl. Brit. Bk. of Yr. 332/1 A new flame-proofing material for textile fabrics and paper was announced. 1963 A. J. Hall Textile Sci. V. 257 The flameproofing of textile materials has in recent years aroused considerable attention. |
| 1382 Wyclif Lev. xiv. 4 *Flawm reed silk. 1906 L. Claremont Gem-Cutter's Craft 77 The beautiful ‘flame red’ variety which displays the extraordinary effect of a burning coal. 1956 G. Durrell My Family ii. 28 Roses dropped petals that seemed as big and smooth as saucers, flame-red.., glossy and unwrinkled. |
| 1959 B.S.I. News May 6/1 The durability of *flame-resistance of such treated fabrics can be seriously affected by washing. |
| 1947 Amer. Dyestuff Reporter XXXVI. 135/2 A *flame-resistant or flame-retardant fabric is one which ‘exhibits appreciable resistance to afterflaming’. 1959 Listener 16 Apr. 695/2 A textile that is claimed to be flame resistant. 1961 B.S.I. News Nov. 9/2 The law makes it an offence to sell fabrics and garments as flame-proof or flame-resistant unless they comply with these standards. |
| 1947 *Flame-retardant [see flame-resistant]. 1966 Listener 15 Dec. 893/2 Thanks to the flame-retardant finish, which public health authorities insist on, the paper dress will char but not flare up when a lighted match is held to it. |
| 1862 Morris Brit. Moths II. 141 Noctua plecta, *Flame-shoulder. |
| 1862 Chem. News 26 Apr. 234/1 The broad band in the *flame-spectrum of calcium named Ca β, is replaced in the spectrum of the intense calcium-spark by five green lines. 1907 Proc. R. Soc. A. LXXIX. 243 The spectra of the glow from metallic vapours have been photographed repeatedly in the oxy⁓hydrogen flame spectra of all the alkali metal salts. 1962 R. E. Dodd Chem. Spectroscopy i. 12 Flame spectra are..either line spectra of neutral atoms or bands of very closely spaced lines arising from molecules. |
| 1917 P. Gibbs Battles of Somme 178 There were eight of these *flame-throwers brought against the Sussex lads. 1944 Living off Land vii. 154 To start a backfire rapidly under difficult conditions, flame-throwers are used. 1945 Reader's Digest Oct. 84/1 Flame throwers kill the weeds. 1956 A. H. Compton Atomic Quest 303 Those burned by flame throwers. |
| 1932 Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. XXXVI. 854 It seemed..that *flame traps were one of the things they could leave off for the moment in their struggle against the weight of engines. 1949 Gloss. Aeronaut. Terms (B.S.I.) ii. 11 Flame trap [Induction flame damper], a device fitted in the induction system to prevent the passage of flame in the event of a ‘backfire’ or ‘blow⁓back’. 1949 Hansard Commons 15 Mar. 1932 Can he tell the House whether the problem of flame traps for jet aircraft at night has been overcome? |
| 1938 Trade Marks Jrnl. 23 Nov. 1420 *Flameware. Made in JP Pyrex Brand JP England. Registration of this Trade Mark shall give no right to the exclusive use, either separately or in combination, of the letters ‘J.P.’ and the word ‘Flame⁓ware’. 1941 C. J. Phillips Glass xii. 281 Pyrex-brand Flameware is made from a special glass of relatively low expansion which has been treated to give it added mechanical strength and resistance to thermal shock. 1967 House & Garden Jan. 8/3 A complete range of oven- and flameware in multicolour..design. Ibid. Mar. 79/1 There is a steady demand for good oven-ware and flameware. |
b. in some names of plants with vivid scarlet or crimson flowers:
flame-flower, a species of
Kniphofia (
Tritoma);
flame lily (see
quot.);
flame-tree, (
a) the
Sterculia acerifolia of New South Wales; (
b) the
Nuytsia floribunda of Western Australia, also called
fire-tree; (
c) the
Butea frondosa or palash tree.
| 1882 Garden 14 Jan. 19/2 We came across several colonies of Pampas Grass..associated with *Flame flowers (Tritoma). |
| 1841 J. W. Loudon Ladies' Flower-Gard. 129 Pyrolirion, the *Flame Lily. |
| 1866 Treas. Bot., *Flame tree, Brachychiton acerifolium. 1883 Cassell's Fam. Mag. Oct. 685/1 The palash is a fair-sized tree, and its flowers are very bright scarlet, from which it is frequently spoken of as the ‘flame-tree’. 1885 Mrs. C. Praed Australian Life 96 There are flame-trees, showing in spring vivid patches of crimson. |
Add:
[5.] [c.] Also
attrib. or as
adj. (see also
flame red, sense 10 below).
| 1970 Kay & Co. (Worcester) Catal. 1970–71 Autumn/Winter 61/2 Flame pull-over top and matching slim-line skirt team up..to make a knock-out ensemble. 1985 Vogue July 96 (caption) Oscar de la Renta's..back-baring flame dress. |
▸
slang (
orig. and chiefly
Computing). An instance of flaming; a vitriolic or abusive message,
esp. posted to a newsgroup or sent as e-mail,
freq. in impulsively angry response to a previous message or a perceived breach of Internet etiquette.
Cf. flame mail n. at Additions.
| 1983 G. L. Steele et al. Hacker's Dict. 65 Flame, a speech or dialogue in which the speakers are flaming. 1989 C. Stoll Cuckoo's Egg xxxv. 173 My boss's flames didn't promote harmony, so how could they promote international cooperation? 1991 Profession 91 45/2 Eventually you will become..inured to ‘flames’ (violent replies by readers opposed to the content, or dismayed at..previous messages). 1995 Computer May 87/1 The article claimed that anonymous mail servers, flame wars, encryption, and cancelbots turn the Net into a generally nasty area. 2001 Herald (Glasgow) (Electronic ed.) 18 Apr. Flames can most easily be identified by the use of all capital letters, the equivalent of shouting on the internet. |
▸
flame mail n. Computing slang (as a mass noun) vitriolic or abusive messages sent electronically (
esp. by e-mail or as postings to a newsgroup); (as a count noun) such a message,
freq. an impulsively angry response to a previous message or a perceived breach of Internet etiquette.
| 1992 USA Today (Nexis) 31 Mar. 1 b, As CEO, he [sc. Bill Gates] frequently sends blistering computer messages known as ‘*flame mail’ to even his most junior employees. 1994 Guardian 16 June (Online Suppl.) 4/4 Nobody wants to receive flame-mail from 300 or so angry librarians, camel fanciers or even blue grass enthusiasts. 1997 Computer Weekly 5 June 22/4 Flame mails come in all shapes and sizes: from the extreme cases of sexual harassment, or sex-flames as they are known, to shame-flames, a deliberate flame that has been copied to other colleagues, typically superiors, to belittle the victim in front of others. 2000 C. Locke & D. Weinberger in R. Levine et al. Cluetrain Manifesto vi. 163 The two-hundred-year-long industrial interruption of the human conversation is finally coming to an end... That's what www.cluetrain.com basically had to say..and you should see the flame-mail we got! |
▪ II. flame, v. (
fleɪm)
Forms: 4–5
flambe,
flaumbe,
flaume,
flawme,
flamme, 4–
flame. See also
flamb.
[ME. flambe, flamme, a. OF. flambe-r, flam(m)er, f. flambe, flamme flame n.] 1. a. intr. To burn with a flame or with flames; to emit flames; to blaze. Also with
away,
forth,
out,
up.
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xvii. 205 A fyre flaumende forth oute of boþe. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 1975 Owre kyng gerte felschene his fyrez, flawmande fulle heghe. 1481 Caxton Myrr. ii. iii. 67 Fyre brennyng..goth flammyng vnto the clowdes. 1548 Hall Chron. 195 b, Other causes..made y⊇ fyre to flame. 1601 Shakes. Jul. C. i. iii. 16 His left Hand which did flame..Like twentie Torches. 1632 Lithgow Trav. x. 479 Fire lying hid under ashes, and touch'd will flame. 1654 H. L'Estrange Chas. I (1655) 165 The Admiral of Portugal began to flame being fired with two Holland fire ships. 1667 Milton P.L. i. 62 A Dungeon horrible, on all sides round As one great Furnace flam'd. 1725 De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 242 A volcano..flamed out that night. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1862) I. viii. 39 Spirits of wine will flame with a candle, but not with a spark. c 1839 Landor Imag. Conv., Southey & Porson ii, There is a paleness in intense fires; they do not flame out or sparkle. 1853 Kane Grinnell Exp. xxxix. 356 Lard lamps flaming away vigorously. |
b. fig.| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xvii. 225 Þanne flaumbeth he [þe holygoste] as fyre on fader & on filius. 1614 Bp. Hall Recoll. Treat. 976 Cruelty hath but smoaked before, now it flames up. 1752 Young Brothers i. i, Sparks of war, Which might one day flame up to strong revenge. 1770 Langhorne Plutarch (1879) II. 591/1 The Servile war..wanted but little fuel to make it flame out again. 1793 Object. to War Examined & Refuted 27 The Republic..flames out in many parts with Civil War. 1890 Century Mag. Jan. 362/1 Alien blood flamed in her veins. |
† c. transf. To emit a smell (also, of a smell, to issue) with violence like that of flame.
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xii. 255 Whan his caroigne shal come in caue to be buryed, I leue it flaumbe ful foule þe folde al aboute. 14.. MS. Laud 656 fol. 4 b, A flauour flambeþ þerfro, þey felleden hit alle. |
d. to flame out:
spec. of a jet engine, to cease operation through extinction of the flame in the combustion chamber. So
flame-out n.| 1950 Nat. Geogr. Mag. Sept. 307/2 If that boy..had blasted his throttle forward fast, he would have got what we call a ‘flameout’. 1951 Britannica Bk. of Yr. 686/1 Flame-out, of a jet plane, to exhaust its supply of fuel. 1957 Wall St. Jrnl. 15 July 7/4 Curtiss-Wright Corp. announced it has successfully conducted tests with fuels which ignite on contact with air and which can re-light jet engines which have ‘flamed-out’ at high altitude. 1957 Aeroplane 1 Feb. 149/1 When the aircraft was about 90 minutes out of Salisbury, all four engines began ‘bumping’ and four flame-outs occurred in the space of five minutes. 1960 Guardian 30 June 10/4 The nature of the fuel gave the engine a strong tendency to ‘flame out’. 1965 New Scientist 27 May 577/2 Some of the combustion troubles associated with flame velocities which cause flame-outs in jet engines, especially at great heights. |
2. fig. a. Of the passions, etc.: To burn like flames.
to flame out: to burst out violently.
| a 1591 R. Greenham Wks. (1599) 22 Though he keep thy sinne from flaming out. a 1625 Beaum. & Fl. Lover's Progress i. i. (Rtldg.) 637/2 Lascivious fires, should such flame in you. 1707 Norris Treat. Humility vi. 240 Here and there where their malice flames out. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. 244 The rage of James flamed high. |
b. Of persons: To burn (with envy, fury, indignation, etc.); to look angrily or passionately
upon.
to flame out, up: to break out into open anger or indignation; to ‘fire up’.
| 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Matt. xxii. 106 Whiche wholy flame with enuy and hatred. 1681 Crowne Hen. VI, iv. 49, I flame with fury to be at it. a 1701 Sedley Happy Pair (1766) 16 With heat of loue he flam'd upon his mate. 1754 Richardson Grandison V. xiv. 112 If the alliance..take effect..how will she flame out! 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 195 He flamed with indignation. 1858 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. (1865) I. iii. vi. 180 An Osianderism..much flamed-upon by the more orthodox ism. 1858 Ibid. (1865) II. v. viii. 132 Queen Sophie..did once..lose her royal patience and flame out. |
3. transf. To glow like flame or as with flames; to shine brightly, gleam ruddily. Also with
away,
forth,
up, etc.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 768 Maskellez bryd þat bryȝt con flambe. 1530 Palsgr. 551/1, I have sene the yerthe flame a nyght season lyke any fyre. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 320 The face of Phebus flamand fair. 1621 Beaum. & Fl. Thierry & Theodoret iii. ii. (Rtldg.) 417/2 There's anger yet Flames in your eyes. 1698 Crowne Caligula i. Dram. Wks. 1874 IV. 360 Cæsar [led] A flying camp of ranting concubines, Who flam'd, and gave a lustre to the day. c 1710 C. Fiennes Diary (1888) 257 Diamonds w{supc}{suph} flamed at y⊇ Least motion. 1740 Dyer Ruins Rome 21 The rising sun Flames on the ruins. 1777 F. Burney Diary Oct., This..room was..flaming with velvet. 1807 W. Irving Salmag. (1824) 133 Fling..a red shawl over the figure of a fashionable belle, and let her flame away with it in Broadway. 1826 Syd. Smith Wks. (1859) II. 74 The mud is flaming with the scarlet curlew. 1882 Edna Lyall Donovan xv, She felt the colour flame up in her cheeks. 1883 Stevenson Silverado Sq. 15 The dentist..flamed forth in his second dress as a captain of banditti. |
4. a. intr. To move as or like flame.
| 1633 P. Fletcher Purple Isl. xi. iv, Those holy Fishers once amongs Thou flamedst bright with sparkling parted tongues. 1732 Pope Ess. Man ii. 65 Meteor-like, flame lawless thro' the void. 1892 Tennyson Death Œnone 38 (Akbar's Dream) Once again thou flamest heavenward. |
b. trans. To send forth or convey by flaming.
| 14.. Lydg. Balade of our Ladie ix, Flambe down þe doleful light of thyn influence. 1610 Shakes. Temp. i. ii. 200 In euery Cabyn, I flam'd amazement: sometime I'ld diuide, And burne in many places. 1892 T. A. Cook Old Touraine I. 91 An old system of signalling by beacon fires..which flamed messages along the valley. |
5. To burn, set on fire, consume with flames. Also
fig.| 1583 Stanyhurst æneis iii. (Arb.) 79 Sundry hostes are flamed on altars. 1590 Spenser F.Q. iii. ix. 18 Malbecco seeing them resolvd..To flame the gates. 1612 N. Field Woman's a Weather-cock i. i, The Masculine Element of Fire Shall flame his Pyramids downe to the Earth. 1737 Whiston Josephus' Antiq. Diss. iii. xiii, Some were nailed to crosses, and others flamed to death. 1942 T. S. Eliot Little Gidding i. 7 The brief sun flames the ice, on pond and ditches. |
† 6. To cause to glow with enthusiasm. zeal, etc.; to kindle, inflame, excite, animate.
Obs.| c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 36 Þe swete odour þerof schulde flawme mennys hertis. 1596 Spenser F.Q. v. i. 14 Flam'd with zeal of vengeance inwardly, He ask'd [etc.]. 1627–77 Feltham Resolves i. xiv. 22 That sacred vigour which had wont..To flame the Poets noble brest. 1640 Shirley Coronation ii. D j b, Their courage is so nobly flamed. |
7. To subject to the action of flame.
Cf. Sc. flamb.
| 1875 Ure's Dict. Arts III. 88 After flaming, the pieces are successively laid on an inclined table exposed to the fire. 1885 Dolley Bacteria Investigation i. 69 The pipette is first thoroughly sterilized by flaming every portion of it. |
▸
intr. slang (
orig. and chiefly
Computing). To rant, argue, or harangue,
esp. via an electronic medium (such as e-mail or postings to a newsgroup); to send an inflammatory, abusive, or (
esp. in early use) inconsequential e-mail or posting, usually as a hasty response or in a rapid, angry exchange. Also
trans.: to send (a person) such a message.
Cf. flame n. and
adj.| 1981 CoEvolution Q. Spring 31/1 Flame, to speak incessantly and/or rabidly on some relatively uninteresting subject or with a patently ridiculous attitude. 1989 PC Mar. 181/1 You shoulda been there. People were really flaming. 1989 PC Mar. 181/3 Flame (verb) has two meanings that refer to a loss of control at the keyboard. The first definition is ‘to argue or complain vigorously with another by using a computer’... The second definition is ‘to communicate via computer rapidly and obsessively on subjects both significant and trivial’. 1994 Internet World July–Aug. 31/1 He's been flamed publicly..and the other New York providers raise an eyebrow when asked about the system. 2000 Out Nov. 26/3 Not to flame, but the female model you had in your ‘The Great Escape’ layout is one of the harshest, most ill-proportioned women I have ever seen. |
▪ III. flame obs. form of
fleam.