adv. & a. [ Pref. a- + flow. ] Flowing. [ 1913 Webster ]

Their founts aflow with tears. R. Browning. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. the flow of air. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. (Arch.) An ornament resembling a ball placed in a circular flower, the petals of which form a cup round it, -- usually inserted in a hollow molding. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To besprinkle or scatter over with, or as with, flowers. Hobbes. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) A plant of the genus Campanula; -- so named from its bell-shaped flowers. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. bellefleur, lit., beautiful flower. ] A kind of apple. The yellow bellflower is a large, yellow winter apple. [ Written also bellefleur. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From the color of the flower. ] (Bot.) A genus of bulbous plants, natives of Southern Africa, named Hæmanthus, of the Amaryllis family. The juice of Hæmanthus toxicarius is used by the Hottentots to poison their arrows. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. any of various plants of the genus Ranunculus.
Syn. -- buttercup, crowfoot, goldcup, kingcup. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ F. choufleur, modified by E. Cole. L. caulis, and by E. flower; F. chou cabbage is fr. L. caulis stalk, cabbage, and fleur flower is fr. L. flos flower. See Cole, and Flower. ] 1. (Bot.) An annual variety of Brassica oleracea, or cabbage, of which the cluster of young flower stalks and buds is eaten as a vegetable. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The edible head or “curd” of a cauliflower plant. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. an erect or decumbent Old World perennial (Malva sylvestris) with axillary clusters of rosy-purple flowers; introduced into the U. S.
Syn. -- tall mallow, high mallow, cheese, Malva sylvestris. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. an erect perennial of eastern and southern U. S. (Asclepias tuberosa) having showy orange flowers.
Syn. -- butterfly weed, orange milkweed, pleurisy root, tuber root, Indian paintbrush, Asclepias tuberosa. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. See Cauliflower. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Any plant of the genus Rudbeckia; -- so called from the cone-shaped disk of the flower head. They are cultivated for their large usually yellow daisies with prominent central cones. Also, any plant of the related genera Ratibida and Brauneria, the latter usually known as purple coneflower. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

2. any of various perennials of eastern US having thick rough leaves and long-stalked showy flowers with drooping rays and a conelike center. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. (Bot.) A conspicuous wild flower (Centaurea Cyanus), growing in grainfields. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To flow across, or in a contrary direction. “His crossflowing course.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) A kind of campion; according to Gerarde, the Lychnis Flos-cuculi. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) A species of Cardamine (Cardamine pratensis), or lady's smock. Its leaves are used in salads. Also, the ragged robin (Lychnis Flos-cuculi). [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) A genus consisting mostly of tropical perennial herbs (Commelina), having ephemeral flowers. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ Pref. de- + flow: cf. L. defluere. ] To flow down. [ Obs. ] Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ Previously also spelled deflour. ] [ imp. & p. p. Deflowered p. pr. & vb. n. Deflowering. ] [ F. déflorer, LL. deflorare; L. de- + flos, floris, flower. See Flower, and cf. Deflorate. ] 1. To deprive of flowers. [ 1913 Webster ]

An earthquake . . . deflowering the gardens. W. Montagu. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To take away the prime beauty and grace of; to rob of the choicest ornament. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To deprive of virginity, as a woman; to violate; to ravish; also, to seduce. [ 1913 Webster ]

If a man had deflowered a virgin. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who deflowers; a ravisher. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ Cf. F. effleurer. ] (Leather Making) To remove the epidermis of (a skin) with a concave knife, blunt in its middle part, -- as in making chamois leather. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Enflowered p. pr. & vb. n. Enflowering. ] To cover or deck with flowers. [ Poetic ] [ 1913 Webster ]

These odorous and enflowered fields. B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. a plant of the genus Kniphofia having long grasslike leaves and tall scapes of red or yellow drooping flowers.
Syn. -- kniphofia, tritoma. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. plant of the Southwestern U. S. with fleshy roots and erect stems with narrow succulent leaves and one reddish-orange flower in each upper leaf axil. Its fleshy roots were once cooked by Indians. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

. (Bot.) (a) The common mullein. (b) A Brazilian apocynaceous vine (Macrosiphonia longiflora) having woolly leaves. (c) An umbelliferous Australian flower (Actinotus helianthi), often erroneously thought to be composite. The involucre looks as if cut out of white flannel. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

obs. imp. sing. of Fly, v. i. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Flowed p. pr. & vb. n. Flowing. ] [ AS. flōwan; akin to D. vloeijen, OHG. flawen to wash, Icel. flōa to deluge, Gr. plw`ein to float, sail, and prob. ultimately to E. float, fleet. √80. Cf. Flood. ] 1. To move with a continual change of place among the particles or parts, as a fluid; to change place or circulate, as a liquid; as, rivers flow from springs and lakes; tears flow from the eyes. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To become liquid; to melt. [ 1913 Webster ]

The mountains flowed down at thy presence. Is. lxiv. 3. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To proceed; to issue forth; as, wealth flows from industry and economy. [ 1913 Webster ]

Those thousand decencies that daily flow
From all her words and actions. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To glide along smoothly, without harshness or asperties; as, a flowing period; flowing numbers; to sound smoothly to the ear; to be uttered easily. [ 1913 Webster ]

Virgil is sweet and flowingin his hexameters. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To have or be in abundance; to abound; to full, so as to run or flow over; to be copious. [ 1913 Webster ]

In that day . . . the hills shall flow with milk. Joel iii. 18. [ 1913 Webster ]

The exhilaration of a night that needed not the influence of the flowing bowl. Prof. Wilson. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. To hang loose and waving; as, a flowing mantle; flowing locks. [ 1913 Webster ]

The imperial purple flowing in his train. A. Hamilton. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. To rise, as the tide; -- opposed to ebb; as, the tide flows twice in twenty-four hours. [ 1913 Webster ]

The river hath thrice flowed, no ebb between. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. To discharge blood in excess from the uterus. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. To cover with water or other liquid; to overflow; to inundate; to flood. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To cover with varnish. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A stream of water or other fluid; a current; as, a flow of water; a flow of blood. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A continuous movement of something abundant; as, a flow of words. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Any gentle, gradual movement or procedure of thought, diction, music, or the like, resembling the quiet, steady movement of a river; a stream. [ 1913 Webster ]

The feast of reason and the flow of soul. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. The tidal setting in of the water from the ocean to the shore. See Ebb and flow, under Ebb. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. A low-lying piece of watery land; -- called also flow moss and flow bog. [ Scot. ] Jamieson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An overflowing with water; also, the water which thus overflows. [ 1913 Webster ]

obs. imp. pl. of Fly, v. i. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To embellish with flowers; to adorn with imitated flowers; as, flowered silk. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. flour, OF. flour, flur, flor, F. fleur, fr. L. flos, floris. Cf. Blossom, Effloresce, Floret, Florid, Florin, Flour, Flourish. ] 1. In the popular sense, the bloom or blossom of a plant; the showy portion, usually of a different color, shape, and texture from the foliage. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) That part of a plant destined to produce seed, and hence including one or both of the sexual organs; an organ or combination of the organs of reproduction, whether inclosed by a circle of foliar parts or not. A complete flower consists of two essential parts, the stamens and the pistil, and two floral envelopes, the corolla and callyx. In mosses the flowers consist of a few special leaves surrounding or subtending organs called archegonia. See Blossom, and Corolla. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ If we examine a common flower, such for instance as a geranium, we shall find that it consists of: First, an outer envelope or calyx, sometimes tubular, sometimes consisting of separate leaves called sepals; secondly, an inner envelope or corolla, which is generally more or less colored, and which, like the calyx, is sometimes tubular, sometimes composed of separate leaves called petals; thirdly, one or more stamens, consisting of a stalk or filament and a head or anther, in which the pollen is produced; and fourthly, a pistil, which is situated in the center of the flower, and consists generally of three principal parts; one or more compartments at the base, each containing one or more seeds; the stalk or style; and the stigma, which in many familiar instances forms a small head, at the top of the style or ovary, and to which the pollen must find its way in order to fertilize the flower. Sir J. Lubbock. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The fairest, freshest, and choicest part of anything; as, the flower of an army, or of a family; the state or time of freshness and bloom; as, the flower of life, that is, youth. [ 1913 Webster ]

The choice and flower of all things profitable the Psalms do more briefly contain. Hooker. [ 1913 Webster ]

The flower of the chivalry of all Spain. Southey. [ 1913 Webster ]

A simple maiden in her flower
Is worth a hundred coats of arms. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Grain pulverized; meal; flour. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The flowers of grains, mixed with water, will make a sort of glue. Arbuthnot. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. pl. (Old Chem.) A substance in the form of a powder, especially when condensed from sublimation; as, the flowers of sulphur. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. A figure of speech; an ornament of style. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. pl. (Print.) Ornamental type used chiefly for borders around pages, cards, etc. W. Savage. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. pl. Menstrual discharges. Lev. xv. 24. [ 1913 Webster ]

Animal flower (Zool.) See under Animal. --
Cut flowers, flowers cut from the stalk, as for making a bouquet. --
Flower bed, a plat in a garden for the cultivation of flowers. --
Flower beetle (Zool.), any beetle which feeds upon flowers, esp. any one of numerous small species of the genus Meligethes, family Nitidulidæ, some of which are injurious to crops. --
Flower bird (Zool.), an Australian bird of the genus Anthornis, allied to the honey eaters. --
Flower bud, an unopened flower. --
Flower clock, an assemblage of flowers which open and close at different hours of the day, thus indicating the time. --
Flower head (Bot.), a compound flower in which all the florets are sessile on their receptacle, as in the case of the daisy. --
Flower pecker (Zool.), one of a family (Dicæidæ) of small Indian and Australian birds. They resemble humming birds in habits. --
Flower piece. (a) A table ornament made of cut flowers. (b) (Fine Arts) A picture of flowers. --
Flower stalk (Bot.), the peduncle of a plant, or the stem that supports the flower or fructification. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Flowered p. pr. & vb. n. Flowering. ] [ From the noun. Cf. Flourish. ] 1. To blossom; to bloom; to expand the petals, as a plant; to produce flowers; as, this plant flowers in June. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To come into the finest or fairest condition. [ 1913 Webster ]

Their lusty and flowering age. Robynson (More's Utopia). [ 1913 Webster ]

When flowered my youthful spring. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To froth; to ferment gently, as new beer. [ 1913 Webster ]

That beer did flower a little. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To come off as flowers by sublimation. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Observations which have flowered off. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. State of flowers; flowers, collectively or in general. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. a bed in which flowers are growing.
Syn. -- bed of flowers. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ Corrupted fr. fleur-de-lis. ] (Bot.) A genus of perennial herbs (Iris) with swordlike leaves and large three-petaled flowers often of very gay colors, but probably white in the plant first chosen for the royal French emblem. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ There are nearly one hundred species, natives of the north temperate zone. Some of the best known are Iris Germanica, I. Florentina, I. Persica, I. sambucina, and the American I. versicolor, I. prismatica, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. resembling or made of or suggestive of flowers.
Syn. -- floral. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. A plant which flowers or blossoms. [ 1913 Webster ]

Many hybrids are profuse and persistent flowerers. Darwin. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A small flower; a floret. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) A tropical leguminous bush (Poinciana pulcherrima, or Cæsalpinia, pulcherrima) with prickly branches, and showy yellow or red flowers; -- so named from its having been sometimes used for hedges in the West Indies. Baird. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Abounding with flowers. Craig. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) A species of amaranth (Amarantus melancholicus). [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state of being flowery. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Bot.) Having conspicuous flowers; -- used as an epithet with many names of plants; as, flowering ash; flowering dogwood; flowering almond, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

Flowering fern, a genus of showy ferns (Osmunda), with conspicuous bivalvular sporangia. They usually grow in wet places. --
Flowering plants, plants which have stamens and pistils, and produce true seeds; phenogamous plants; -- distinguished from flowerless plants. --
Flowering rush, a European rushlike plant (Butomus umbellatus), with an umbel of rosy blossoms. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The act of blossoming, or the season when plants blossom; florification. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The act of adorning with flowers. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having no flowers. [ 1913 Webster ]

Flowerless plants, plants which have no true flowers, and produce no seeds; cryptogamous plants. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. State of being without flowers. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A vessel, commonly or earthenware, for earth in which plants are grown. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An annual weedy herb (Hibiscus trionum) with ephemeral yellow purple-eyed flowers, native to the Old World tropics and naturalized as a weed in North America.
Syn. -- flower-of-an-hour, bladder ketmia, black-eyed Susan, Hibiscus trionum. [ WordNet 1.5 ]