n. a flour or starch prepared from the grains of corn; it is used in cooking as a thickener.
Syn. -- cornstarch. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

[ Scot. craig a rock. See 1st Crag. ] (Zool.) The pole flounder. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ Pref. de- + flower. ] Same as Deflower. [ archaic ] [ 1913 Webster ]

He died innocent and before the sweetness of his soul was defloured and ravished from him. Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Deflowerer. [ archaic ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of floucing; a sudden, jerking motion of the body. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Flounced p. pr. & vb. n. Flouncing ] [ Cf. OSw. flunsa to immerge. ] To throw the limbs and body one way and the other; to spring, turn, or twist with sudden effort or violence; to struggle, as a horse in mire; to flounder; to throw one's self with a jerk or spasm, often as in displeasure. [ 1913 Webster ]

To flutter and flounce will do nothing but batter and bruise us. Barrow. [ 1913 Webster ]

With his broad fins and forky tail he laves
The rising sirge, and flounces in the waves. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. G. flaus, flausch, a tuft of wool or hair; akin to vliess, E. fleece; or perh. corrupted fr. rounce. ] An ornamental appendage to the skirt of a woman's dress, consisting of a strip gathered and sewed on by its upper edge around the skirt, and left hanging. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To deck with a flounce or flounces; as, to flounce a petticoat or a frock. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. Sw. flundra; akin to Dan. flynder, Icel. fly&unr_;ra, G. flunder, and perh. to E. flounder, v.i. ] 1. (Zool.) A flatfish of the family Pleuronectidæ, of many species. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The common English flounder is Pleuronectes flesus. There are several common American species used as food; as the smooth flounder (P. glabra); the rough or winter flounder (P. Americanus); the summer flounder, or plaice (Paralichthys dentatus), Atlantic coast; and the starry flounder (Pleuronectes stellatus). [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bootmaking) A tool used in crimping boot fronts. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Floundered p. pr. & vb. n. Floundering. ] [ Cf. D. flodderen to flap, splash through mire, E. flounce, v.i., and flounder the fish. ] To fling the limbs and body, as in making efforts to move; to struggle, as a horse in the mire, or as a fish on land; to roll, toss, and tumble; to flounce. [ 1913 Webster ]

They have floundered on from blunder to blunder. Sir W. Hamilton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of floundering. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. fleur de farine the flower (i.e., the best) of meal, cf. Sp. flor de la harina superfine flour, Icel. flür flower, flour. See Flower. ] The finely ground meal of wheat, or of any other grain; especially, the finer part of meal separated by bolting; hence, the fine and soft powder of any substance; as, flour of emery; flour of mustard. [ 1913 Webster ]

Flour bolt, in milling, a gauze-covered, revolving, cylindrical frame or reel, for sifting the flour from the refuse contained in the meal yielded by the stones. --
Flour box a tin box for scattering flour; a dredging box. --
Flour dredge or
Flour dredger, a flour box. --
Flour dresser, a mashine for sorting and distributing flour according to grades of fineness. --
Flour mill, a mill for grinding and sifting flour. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Floured p. pr. & vb. n. Flouring. ] 1. To grind and bolt; to convert into flour; as, to flour wheat. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To sprinkle with flour. [ 1913 Webster ]

p. a. Finely granulated; -- said of quicksilver which has been granulated by agitation during the amalgamation process. Raymond. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. To adorn with flowers orbeautiful figures, either natural or artificial; to ornament with anything showy; to embellish. [ Obs. ] Fenton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To embellish with the flowers of diction; to adorn with rhetorical figures; to grace with ostentatious eloquence; to set off with a parade of words. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Sith that the justice of your title to him
Doth flourish the deceit. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To move in bold or irregular figures; to swing about in circles or vibrations by way of show or triumph; to brandish. [ 1913 Webster ]

And flourishes his blade in spite of me. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To develop; to make thrive; to expand. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Bottoms of thread . . . which with a good needle, perhaps may be flourished into large works. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Flourished p. pr. & vb. n. Flourishing. ] [ OE. florisshen, flurisshen, OF. flurir, F. fleurir, fr. L. florere to bloom, fr. flos, floris, flower. See Flower, and -ish. ] 1. To grow luxuriantly; to increase and enlarge, as a healthy growing plant; a thrive. [ 1913 Webster ]

A tree thrives and flourishes in a kindly . . . soil. Bp. Horne. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To be prosperous; to increase in wealth, honor, comfort, happiness, or whatever is desirable; to thrive; to be prominent and influental; specifically, of authors, painters, etc., to be in a state of activity or production. [ 1913 Webster ]

When all the workers of iniquity do flourish. Ps. xcii 7 [ 1913 Webster ]

Bad men as frequently prosper and flourish, and that by the means of their wickedness. Nelson. [ 1913 Webster ]

We say
Of those that held their heads above the crowd,
They flourished then or then. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To use florid language; to indulge in rhetorical figures and lofty expressions; to be flowery. [ 1913 Webster ]

They dilate . . . and flourish long on little incidents. J. Watts. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To make bold and sweeping, fanciful, or wanton movements, by way of ornament, parade, bravado, etc.; to play with fantastic and irregular motion. [ 1913 Webster ]

Impetuous spread
The stream, and smoking flourished o'er his head. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To make ornamental strokes with the pen; to write graceful, decorative figures. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. To execute an irregular or fanciful strain of music, by way of ornament or prelude. [ 1913 Webster ]

Why do the emperor's trumpets flourish thus? Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. To boast; to vaunt; to brag. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Flourishes 1. A flourishing condition; prosperity; vigor. [ Archaic ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The Roman monarchy, in her highest flourish, never had the like. Howell. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Decoration; ornament; beauty. [ 1913 Webster ]

The flourish of his sober youth
Was the pride of naked truth. Crashaw. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Something made or performed in a fanciful, wanton, or vaunting manner, by way of ostentation, to excite admiration, etc.; ostentatious embellishment; ambitious copiousness or amplification; parade of words and figures; show; as, a flourish of rhetoric or of wit. [ 1913 Webster ]

He lards with flourishes his long harangue. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A fanciful stroke of the pen or graver; a merely decorative figure. [ 1913 Webster ]

The neat characters and flourishes of a Bible curiously printed. Boyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. A fantastic or decorative musical passage; a strain of triumph or bravado, not forming part of a regular musical composition; a cal; a fanfare. [ 1913 Webster ]

A flourish, trumpets! strike alarum, drums! Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. The waving of a weapon or other thing; a brandishing; as, the flourish of a sword. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who flourishes. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a flourishing manner; ostentatiously. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or resembling flour; mealy; covered with flour. Dickens. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Flouted; p. pr. & vb. n. Flouting. ] [ OD. fluyten to play the flute, to jeer, D. fluiten, fr. fluit, fr. French. See Flute. ] To mock or insult; to treat with contempt. [ 1913 Webster ]

Phillida flouts me. Walton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Three gaudy standards flout the pale blue sky. Byron. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To practice mocking; to behave with contempt; to sneer; to fleer; -- often with at. [ 1913 Webster ]

Fleer and gibe, and laugh and flout. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A mock; an insult. [ 1913 Webster ]

Who put your beauty to this flout and scorn. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who flouts; a mocker. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. With flouting; insultingly; as, to treat a lover floutingly. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. To make excessive display or flourish of. Collier. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To embellish with outward ornaments or flourishes; to varnish over. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ or }. The lowest grade of flour in milling. It is dark and of little expansive power, is secured largely from the germ or embryo and adjacent parts, and contains a relatively high percentage of protein. It is chiefly useful as feed for farm animals. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

v. t. & i. To flourish again. [ 1913 Webster ]

(Zool.) The windowpane (Pleuronectes maculatus). [ Local, U. S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]