Definition of "flourish" in Anglais

verb

1. (intransitive) To thrive or grow well.

   • The barley flourished in the warm weather.

2. (intransitive) To prosper or fare well.

   • The town flourished with the coming of the railway.
   • The cooperation flourished as the customers rushed in the business.

3. (intransitive) To be in a period of greatest influence.

   • His writing flourished before the war.

4. (transitive) To develop; to make thrive; to expand.

5. (transitive) To make bold, sweeping movements with.

   • They flourished the banner as they stormed the palace.
   • The squirrel flourished its fluffy tail about as an alarm signal after its narrow escape from the cat.

6. (intransitive) To make bold and sweeping, fanciful, or wanton movements, by way of ornament, parade, bravado, etc.; to play with fantastic and irregular motion.

7. (intransitive) To use florid language; to indulge in rhetorical figures and lofty expressions.

8. (intransitive) To make ornamental strokes with the pen; to write graceful, decorative figures.

9. (transitive) To adorn with beautiful figures or rhetoric; to ornament with anything showy; to embellish.

10. (intransitive) To execute an irregular or fanciful strain of music, by way of ornament or prelude.

11. (intransitive, obsolete) To boast; to vaunt; to brag.

12. (transitive, archaic) To brandish (a weapon).

noun

1. A dramatic gesture such as the waving of a flag.

   • With many flourishes of the captured banner, they marched down the avenue.

2. An ornamentation.

   • His signature ended with a flourish.

3. (music) A ceremonious passage such as a fanfare.

   • The trumpets blew a flourish as they entered the church.

4. (architecture) A decorative embellishment on a building.