flourish
flourish
/ˈflʌrɪʃ/
1 intransitive to develop quickly and become successful or common Few businesses are flourishing in the present economic climate.
The arts began to flourish at that time.
There was a flourishing black market.
The company has continued to flourish over the years.
His international career has flourished under the current captain.
Olten is a lively and flourishing town.
The town still flourishes as a fishing port.
Their relationship flourished for forty years.
This tradition of singing is flourishing.
These plants flourish in a damp climate.
(especially British English) I'm glad to hear you're all flourishing.
I hope the grandchildren are flourishing.
3 transitive flourish something to wave something around in a way that makes people look at it He rushed into the room flourishing the newspaper.
flourish
/ˈflʌrɪʃ/
1 usually singular an exaggerated movement that you make when you want somebody to notice you He opened the door for her with a flourish.
With a final flourish she laid down her pen.
Collocations
adjective
verb + flourish
end in
end with
preposition
with a flourish
The season ended with a flourish for Kane, when he scored in the final minute of the match.
3 a detail or decoration that is used in speech or writing
a speech full of rhetorical flourishes
His writing is plain and direct, with no stylistic flourishes.
4 a curved line that is used as decoration, especially in writing
Her signature was a complicated affair of practised flourishes.
5 usually singular a loud short piece of music that is usually played to announce an important person or event a flourish of trumpets
Word Origin
Middle English: from Old French floriss-, lengthened stem of florir, based on Latin florere, from flos, flor- ‘a flower’. The noun senses ‘ornamental curve’ and ‘florid expression’ come from an obsolete sense of the verb, ‘adorn’ (originally with flowers).