ˈfire-flaught Orig. Sc.
[f. fire n. + flaught. Cf. fireslaught.]
1. Lightning; a flash of lightning; a storm of thunder and lightning.
| c 1375 ? Barbour Troy-bk. i. 468 Ande fyre-flauthtis our þe feldes flee Ine syk fladdanis & flambys briht. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. vi. v. 33 A gret fyre flawcht..Ðan hapnyd in Rome. 1552 Lyndesay Monarche 5556 Than sall ye sone of god discend: As fyreflaucht haistely glansyng. 1645 Rutherford Tryal & Tri. Faith (1845) 149 Reasons work not in a moment, as fire flaughts in the air. 1816 Scott Old Mort. xxxviii, He passed by me like a fire-flaught. 1876 C. M. Yonge Three Brides (ed. 3) I. xi. 167 She passes like—like a fire-flaught, whatever that is—just bows. |
b. The northern lights; aurora borealis.
| 1787 Grose Prov. Gloss., Fire-flaught..the northern lights. |
2. transf. a. A sudden burst or rush.
| 1637 Rutherford Lett. (1862) I. civ. 265 A fire-flaught of challenges will come in at mid-summer and question me. 1880 Swinburne. Study Shaks. 173 Even Goneril has her one splendid hour, her fireflaught of hellish glory. |
b. A fiery glance.
| 1802 Jamieson Water Kelpie viii. in Scott Minstr. Scott. Bord. (1869) 538 From ilka ee the fire-flauchts flee And flash alangis the flude. 1826 J. Wilson Noct. Ambr. Wks. 1855 I. 136 Every coorser flingin' fire-flaughts frae his een. |