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 ]

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

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 ]

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