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 ]

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 ]

n. One who flourishes. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a flourishing manner; ostentatiously. [ 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 ]

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