Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The zone of burning gases and fine suspended matter associated with rapid combustion; a hot, glowing mass of burning gas or vapor.
  • noun The condition of active, blazing combustion.
  • noun Something resembling a flame in motion, brilliance, intensity, or shape.
  • noun A violent or intense passion.
  • noun Informal A person that one has an intense passion for.
  • noun Informal An insulting criticism or remark meant to incite anger, as on a computer network.
  • intransitive verb To burn brightly; blaze.
  • intransitive verb To color or flash suddenly.
  • intransitive verb Informal To make insulting criticisms or remarks, as on a computer network, to incite anger.
  • intransitive verb To burn, ignite, or scorch (something) with a flame.
  • intransitive verb Informal To insult or criticize provokingly, as on a computer network.
  • intransitive verb Obsolete To excite; inflame.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To hold in or pass through a flame, as an instrument, in order to sterilize it.
  • To emit a flame; burst into flame; blaze.
  • To shine like flame; glow with the brilliancy of flame; flash.
  • To break out in violence of passion.
  • To burn, as with a flame; singe; baste. See flamb, v.
  • To inflame; hence, to excite.
  • To cause to shine.
  • In technical use, to subject to the action of fire or flame: scorch; singe.
  • noun A blaze; vapor in combustion; hydrogen or any inflammable gas in a state of visible combustion.
  • noun plural In heraldry, a conventional representation of fire, seldom borne as an independent bearing, but accompanying the phenix, the salamander, the fire-ball, and the like. When of any other tincture than gules, this must be mentioned in the blazon. Figuratively
  • noun Brilliant light; scintillating luster; flame-like color or appearance.
  • noun Heat or ardor of emotion or passion; warmth of feeling; specifically, the passion of love; ardent love.
  • noun Angry or hostile excitement; burning animosity; contentious rage or strife.
  • noun An object of the passion of love: as, she was my first flame.
  • noun The gleam appearing at night from a school of herrings.
  • noun The geometrid moth, Anticlea rubidata: a collectors' name.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A stream of burning vapor or gas, emitting light and heat; darting or streaming fire; a blaze; a fire.
  • noun Burning zeal or passion; elevated and noble enthusiasm; glowing imagination; passionate excitement or anger.
  • noun Ardor of affection; the passion of love.
  • noun A person beloved; a sweetheart.
  • noun a bridge wall. See Bridge, n., 5.
  • noun brilliant orange or yellow.
  • noun an early name for the gas engine.
  • noun an instrument, invented by Koenig, to obtain graphic representation of the action of the human vocal organs. See Manometer.
  • noun (Chem.) a method of testing for the presence of certain elements by the characteristic color imparted to a flame; as, sodium colors a flame yellow, potassium violet, lithium crimson, boracic acid green, etc. Cf. Spectrum analysis, under Spectrum.
  • noun (Bot.) a tree with showy scarlet flowers, as the Rhododendron arboreum in India, and the Brachychiton acerifolium of Australia.
  • transitive verb To kindle; to inflame; to excite.
  • intransitive verb To burn with a flame or blaze; to burn as gas emitted from bodies in combustion; to blaze.
  • intransitive verb To burst forth like flame; to break out in violence of passion; to be kindled with zeal or ardor.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The visible part of fire.
  • noun A romantic partner or lover in usually short-lived but passionate affair.
  • noun Internet Intentionally insulting criticism or remark meant to incite anger.
  • noun A brilliant reddish orange-gold fiery colour. flame colour:    
  • noun music The contrasting light and dark figure seen in wood used for stringed instrument making; the curl.
  • verb To produce flames.
  • verb Internet To post a destructively critical or abusive message, especially to provoke dissent or controversy
  • adjective Of a brilliant reddish orange-gold colour, like that of a flame.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Anglo-Norman flaumbe, variant of Old French flambe, from flamble, from Latin flammula, diminutive of flamma; see bhel- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Middle English flaume, flaumbe, blend of Anglo-Norman flame and flambe, flamble, the first from Latin flamma, the second from Latin flammula, diminutive of flamma, both from pre-Latin *fladma; akin to Old English glēd ("ember").

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Examples

Comments

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  • In Netspeak: An insulting, emotional, caustic email message or newsgroup posting.

    September 9, 2007

  • In non-Netspeak: fire. ;-)

    September 18, 2007

  • Listed as in: "Kate Hudson is apartment- shopping in New York with an eye to living here part-time with her rekindled flame Owen Wilson, according to a pal." (NY Daily News, 04/01/2008)

    April 2, 2008

  • I find this disturbing.

    January 31, 2009

  • It's kind of an annoying campaign, rt, but BK have got to try everything in their fight against McDonalds, and since having a superior product didn't seem to work I understand why they're going guerilla. I liked the comment on that piece by "My Name Here":

    "This should only be used as mace against Greenpeace protesters."

    January 31, 2009

  • As we knew, the fast food game is not about food at all, it's about marketing.

    January 31, 2009

  • I think it's about food and marketing, isn't it? Like any other product. Without the food there's nothing to market.

    January 31, 2009

  • I mean in the sense that the marketing leads and the food follows. If you look at say an Italian restaurant, the menu will be based on what's traditional, what's in season, the chef's regional knowledge and so on. The restaurant then has to find a way to sell what they come up with. With fast food, there's a cynical search for the lowest common denominator, all the time with an eye on the marketing campaign. Of course there's something to eat, but it's a tagline wrapped in a bun.

    January 31, 2009

  • I think it's you who's being cynical. The burger chains - especially BK with its long-time #2 position - are always innovating, trying to make their product more appealing in itself. The marketing budgets are enormous, as they are in similarly competitive consumer sectors - but they can't neglect their product for a second. Just because it's low-quality food, qua food, that doesn't mean it's not a refined, highly thought-out product. Far from appealing to the lowest common denominator (as, e.g. own-brand vodka does) they're trying to appeal to the discrimination (between fast foods) of their customers.

    As for the Italian restaurateur, he uses those high-quality, seasonal ingredients because that's what his customers want to spend money on. If they didn't want to pay the (high) price for them, he wouldn't use them, no matter how noble his principles, because he'd be out of business.

    January 31, 2009

  • So, the theory behind this fragrance is that females are attracted to males who smell like burgers? I think someone at Burger King got the genders reversed.

    January 31, 2009

  • Oh, I'm 24-karat cynical. But fast food, in my opinion, is selling convenience, a perception of low-cost and notions of family fun more than they sell food. Of course these chains are in the business of selling food, I'm just looking behind it in my way. I think the Italian restaurant proprietor can justly say, 'Well, I'm selling the experience of our cuisine, I'm selling the essence of our culture as expressed through food and I'm proud to do so'. I'm not sure a 16-year-old burger flipper can say the same thing. (Edited, as I tried to work out what the heck I meant to say.)

    January 31, 2009

  • I'm following this conversation with silent interest. (Not silent anymore)

    January 31, 2009

  • I suspect that I walk the fine line between bilby's and yarb's opinions. But then I'm not even sure of that. I eat at such places once in a blue moon, and I'm notorious for avoiding ads, so I suppose it's not a very well-informed opinion anyway.

    That said...skipvia, I think you're on the right track. You'd better call the marketers.

    February 1, 2009

  • The plural of which the Cardinals will go down in.

    Go Steelers.

    February 1, 2009