1
: a fire or blaze of light used especially to signal, illuminate, or attract attention
also
: a device or composition used to produce such a flare
The airport set flares to guide the landing plane at night.
2
a
: an unsteady glaring light
b
: solar flare
also
: a sudden increase and decrease in the brightness of a star often amounting to a difference of several magnitudes (see magnitude sense 3)
3
a
: a sudden outburst (as of excitement or anger)
a flare of tempers in the courtroom
b
: flare-up sense 3
a flare of disease
4
a
: a spreading outward
also
: a place or part that spreads
b
: an area of skin flush
a flare of reddened skin
5
: light resulting from reflection (as between lens surfaces) or an effect of this light (such as a fogged or dense area in a photographic negative)
6
a
: a short pass in football thrown to a back who is running toward the sideline
b
: a weakly hit fly ball in baseball
a flare into short right field
7
flares plural
: pants that flare toward the bottom
flared; flaring
1
a
: to burn with an unsteady flame
b
: to stream in the wind
2
a
: to shine with a sudden light
a match flares in the darkness
b(1)
: to become suddenly excited or angry
—usually used with up
(2)
: to break out or intensify usually suddenly or violently
—often used with up
c
: to express strong emotion (such as anger)
3
: to open or spread outward
the pants flare at the bottom
1
: to display conspicuously
flaring her scarf to attract attention
2
: to cause to flare
the breeze flares the candle
3
: to signal with a flare or by flaring
4
: to burn (a jet of waste gas) in the open air
Synonyms
Examples of flare in a Sentence
Noun
the sudden flare of the match
When the crew saw flares, they knew the other ship was in trouble.
Verb
pants that flare at the bottom
The bull flared its nostrils.
Recent Examples on the Web
Ana Gutierrez, Austin American-Statesman, 19 Nov. 2024
Wearing a gray and black bomber jacket, blue flare jeans and white sneakers, Dream walked and posed while her mom sat front row, cheering her on.
—Emma Aerin Becker, People.com, 31 Oct. 2024
Ronald J. Hansen, The Arizona Republic, 6 Nov. 2024
Read more Space Weather Radio Blackouts Anticipated As Sunspot Turns Towards Earth
How and When To See the Northern Lights: The Best Way To Find Auroras
Solar flares cause radio blackouts at frequencies below 30 MHz due to them ionizing the Earth's ionosphere.
—Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 6 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for flare 
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Noun
Those with a flare for rock en español will be happy to hear classic bands like Hombres G, Camila, and Enanitos Verdes.
—Ana Gutierrez, Austin American-Statesman, 19 Nov. 2024
Wearing a gray and black bomber jacket, blue flare jeans and white sneakers, Dream walked and posed while her mom sat front row, cheering her on.
—Emma Aerin Becker, People.com, 31 Oct. 2024
Verb
These were the kind of hiccups that flared up, but none of it suggests a process marred with major computer problems or paper shortages or disruptive behavior, such as the bomb threats that temporarily shut down voting in a few spots in Georgia.
—Ronald J. Hansen, The Arizona Republic, 6 Nov. 2024
Read more Space Weather Radio Blackouts Anticipated As Sunspot Turns Towards Earth
How and When To See the Northern Lights: The Best Way To Find Auroras
Solar flares cause radio blackouts at frequencies below 30 MHz due to them ionizing the Earth's ionosphere.
—Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 6 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for flare
Dictionary Entries Near flare
Cite this Entry
“Flare.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flare. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
flare
1 of 2 noun
ˈfla(ə)r 
ˈfle(ə)r
1
: a fire or blaze of light used to signal, light up something, or attract attention
also
: a device or material that produces such a flare
2
: an unsteady glaring light
3
: flare-up
4
: a spreading outward
also
: a place or part that spreads
5
plural
: bell-bottom trousers
flare
2 of 2 verb
flared; flaring
1
: to burn with an unsteady flame
2
a
: to shine or blaze suddenly
b
: to become suddenly excited or angry
flare up
3
: to open or spread outward
pants that flare at the bottom
Medical Definition
flare
1 of 2 intransitive verb
flared; flaring
: to break out or intensify rapidly : become suddenly worse or more painful
—often used with up
your gallstones flare up—W. A. Nolen
W. A. Nolenflare
2 of 2 noun1
: flare-up
Without effective urate lowering, many such patients progress to severe chronic gout characterized by frequent arthritic flares …—John S. Sundy et al., The Journal of the American Medical Association
John S. Sundy et al., The Journal of the American Medical Association2
: an area of skin flush resulting from and spreading out from a local center of vascular dilation and hyperemia
urticarial flare
3
: a cloudy or smoky appearance of the fluid of the anterior chamber of the eye that is seen when a beam of light (as from a slit lamp) is passed through it and that is caused by the presence of floating protein material in the fluid which is a symptom of inflammation
Flare means that we can actually see the beam of light from the slit lamp traveling through the aqueous humor. This is similar to being able to see the beam of light coming from a movie projector in a dusty room.—Jay B. Lavine, The Eye Care Sourcebook
Jay B. Lavine, The Eye Care Sourcebookcalled also aqueous flare
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