2 meanings
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1 —as in:
the business is flourishing
Definition
to thrive (grow or develop well)- The business flourished from day one.
flourished = grew or developed well
Other Uses (with this meaning)
- The children are flourishing.
- The garden flourishes in the spring.
- The vampire live on, and cannot die by mere passing of the time, he can flourish when that he can fatten on the blood of the living.Bram Stoker -- Dracula
- My art career is going to flourish in Phoenix.Jeannette Walls -- The Glass Castle
- He lived and flourished in such moments.John Knowles -- A Separate Peace
- I asked how my father's mood waxed, and what the names of my nieces and nephews were, and what empires flourished new in the world.Madeline Miller -- Circe
- It was the type that seemed to flourish best under the dominion of the Party.George Orwell -- 1984
- When time passed and the animals had evidently not starved to death, Frederick and Pilkington changed their tune and began to talk of the terrible wickedness that now flourished on Animal Farm.George Orwell -- Animal Farm
- A century after Franklin's death, the eminent explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson pointed out that the English explorer had never taken the trouble to learn the survival skills practiced by the Indians and the Eskimos, peoples who had managed to flourish "for generations, bringing up their children and taking care of their aged" in the same harsh country that killed Franklin.Jon Krakauer -- Into the Wild
flourishing = growing or developing well
flourish = thrive (grow or develop well)
flourish = thrive (grow or develop well)
flourished = thrived
flourished = thrived (grew or developed well)
flourish = thrive (grow or develop well)
flourished = thrived
flourish = thrive (grow or develop well)
2 —as in:
dismissed them with a flourish
Definition
a showy gestureor:
the act of waving — a hand or an item
- She entered with a great flourish.
flourish = showy gesture
Other Uses (with this meaning)
- He bowed to her with a flourish.
- Seized with an immediate desire to reveal himself, Harry pulled off the cloak with a flourish.J.K. Rowling -- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
- Flourish of cornets.William Shakespeare -- The Merchant of Venice
- He unpacks the embroidered handbag, and some good sausages come to light; Lewandowski takes up the knife with a flourish and saws the meat into slices.Erich Maria Remarque -- All Quiet on the Western Front
- I thought it must be some kind of culminating prank, the senior class leaving Devon with a flourish.John Knowles -- A Separate Peace
- Now, it plunged the book back under his arm, pressed it tight to sweating armpit, rushed out empty, with a magician's flourish!Ray Bradbury -- Fahrenheit 451
- Its voice was thin, needle-sharp and insistent; The three boys rushed forward and Jack drew his knife again with a flourish.William Golding -- Lord of the Flies
- He swung his arm out with a flourish.David Almond -- Kit's Wilderness
- [A crowd of people in the street leading to the Capitol, among them Artemidorus and the Soothsayer. Flourish. Enter Caesar, Brutus, ..., and others.]William Shakespeare -- Julius Caesar
flourish = showy gesture
flourish = a showy gesture
flourish = a showy gesture
flourish = showy gesture
flourish = showy gesture
flourish = showy gesture
flourish = showy gesture
flourish = a showy gesture
flourish = fanfare played by trumpets to announce the entry or exit of royalty
Less commonly:
In Shakespeare's plays, flourish is often used as a stage direction indicating a specific type of showy gesture: fanfare played by trumpets or other horns to announce the entry or exit of royalty.