Library / English Dictionary

FLAME

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The process of combustion of inflammable materials producing heat and light and (often) smoke

Example:

fire was one of our ancestors' first discoveries

Synonyms:

fire; flame; flaming

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural processes

Hypernyms ("flame" is a kind of...):

burning; combustion (a process in which a substance reacts with oxygen to give heat and light)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "flame"):

blaze; blazing (a strong flame that burns brightly)

flare (a sudden burst of flame)

ignition (the process of initiating combustion or catching fire)

Derivation:

flame (be in flames or aflame)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Criticize harshly, usually via an electronic medium

Example:

the person who posted an inflammatory message got flamed

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "flame" is one way to...):

castigate; chasten; chastise; correct; objurgate (censure severely)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 2

Meaning:

Be in flames or aflame

Example:

The sky seemed to flame in the Hawaiian sunset

Classified under:

Verbs of raining, snowing, thawing, thundering

Hypernyms (to "flame" is one way to...):

burn; combust (undergo combustion)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

flame; flaming (the process of combustion of inflammable materials producing heat and light and (often) smoke)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Shine with a sudden light

Example:

The night sky flared with the massive bombardment

Synonyms:

flame; flare

Classified under:

Verbs of raining, snowing, thawing, thundering

Hypernyms (to "flame" is one way to...):

beam; shine (emit light; be bright, as of the sun or a light)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sentence examples:

Lights flame on the horizon

The horizon is flameing with lights

Also:

flame up (burn brightly)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Cooking of meats over an open flame.

(Flame-Broiling, NCI Thesaurus)

Many of the company had crowded round the flames, for the weather was bitterly cold; but the two knights seated themselves upon a bancal, with their squires standing behind them.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

When the flame burned up, we saw an arched stone roof above our heads, and broad deal shelves all round us covered with dusty dishes.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Heat and smoke from fire can be more dangerous than the flames.

(Fires, Federal Emergency Management Agency)

BBMP is used in industry as a flame retardant in unsaturated polyester resins, in molded products and in rigid polyurethane foam.

(BBMP, NCI Thesaurus)

So he kept a good distance away from the flames, and only came near to cover Dorothy with dry leaves when she lay down to sleep.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

People are attracted to the warmth and glow of the fire (you), and they are magnetized to it like moths to a flame.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

She pushed poor Gretel out to the oven, from which flames of fire were already darting.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

Other widely used and endocrine-disrupting chemicals, including parabens, phthalates, and flame retardants, may be having similarly adverse affects on fertility that warrant much more study.

(Reproductive Problems Reported In Lab Mice after BPA Replacements in Plastics, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The clouds of dust, which resemble flames in the VISIR image, are formed when the star sheds its material back into space.

(ESO Telescope Sees Surface of Dim Betelgeuse, ESO)