flame

American  

[fleym] / fleɪm /

noun

flames plural

1. burning gas or vapor, as from wood or coal, that is undergoing combustion; a portion of ignited gas or vapor.

   Synonyms:

   fire

2. Often flames the state or condition of blazing combustion.

   to burst into flames.

3. any flamelike condition; glow; inflamed condition.

4. brilliant light; scintillating luster.

5. bright coloring; a streak or patch of color.

6. flame color.

7. intense ardor, zeal, or passion.

8. Informal. an object of one's passionate love; sweetheart.

   He's taking out his new flame tonight.

9. Computer Slang. an angry, critical, or disparaging electronic message, as an online comment.

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verb (used without object)

flames, present (3rd person singular) flamed, past participle, past flaming present participle

1. to burn with a flame or flames; burst into flames; blaze.

2. to glow like flame; shine brilliantly; flash.

3. to burn or burst forth with strong emotion; break into open anger, indignation, etc.

4. Computer Slang. to post an angry, critical, or disparaging electronic message, as an online comment.

verb (used with object)

flames, present (3rd person singular) flamed, past participle, past flaming present participle

1. to subject to the action of flame or fire.

2. to flambé.

3. Computer Slang. to insult or criticize angrily in an online post or comment.

verb phrase

1. flame out

   1. (of a jet engine) to cease to function due to an interruption of the fuel supply or to faulty combustion.

   2. to burst out in or as if in flames.

flame British  

/ fleɪm /

noun

1. a hot usually luminous body of burning gas often containing small incandescent particles, typically emanating in flickering streams from burning material or produced by a jet of ignited gas

2. (often plural) the state or condition of burning with flames

   to burst into flames

3. a brilliant light; fiery glow

4. 1. a strong reddish-orange colour

   2. ( as adjective )

      a flame carpet

5. intense passion or ardour; burning emotion

6. informal a lover or sweetheart (esp in the phrase an old flame )

7. informal an abusive message sent by electronic mail, esp to express anger or criticism of an internet user

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verb

1. to burn or cause to burn brightly; give off or cause to give off flame

2. (intr) to burn or glow as if with fire; become red or fiery

   his face flamed with anger

3. (intr) to show great emotion; become angry or excited

4. (tr) to apply a flame to (something)

5. archaic (tr) to set on fire, either physically or with emotion

6. informal to send an abusive message by electronic mail

flame Scientific  

/ flām /

1. The hot, glowing mixture of burning gases and tiny particles that arises from combustion. Flames get their light either from the fluorescence of molecules or ions that have become excited, or from the incandescence of solid particles involved in the combustion process, such as the carbon particles from a candle.

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flame Idioms  

1. see add fuel to the fire (flames); burst into (flames); fan the flames; go up in flames; shoot down (in flames).

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Synonym Usage

Flame, blaze, conflagration refer to the light and heat given off by combustion. Flame is the common word, referring to a combustion of any size: the light of a match flame. Blaze usually denotes a quick, hot, bright, and comparatively large flame: The fire burst into a blaze. Conflagration refers to destructive flames which spread over a considerable area: A conflagration destroyed Chicago.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• flamelet
  noun
• flamer
  noun
• underflame
  noun
• outflame
  verb (used with object)
• flameless
  adjective
• flamelike
  adjective
• flamy
  adjective
• preflame
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• flames
  plural

Participles

• flaming
  present
• flamed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• flame
  simple
• flames
  simple
• have flamed
  perfect
• has flamed
  perfect
• am flaming
  progressive
• are flaming
  progressive
• is flaming
  progressive
• have been flaming
  perfect progressive
• has been flaming
  perfect progressive

Past

• flamed
  simple
• had flamed
  perfect
• was flaming
  progressive
• were flaming
  progressive
• had been flaming
  perfect progressive

Future

• will flame
  simple
• will have flamed
  perfect
• will be flaming
  progressive
• will have been flaming
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of flame

First recorded in 1300–50; (noun) Middle English flaume, from Anglo-French, variant of flaumbe; Old French flambe, earlier flamble, from Latin flammula, diminutive of flamma “flame” ( see -ule); (verb) Middle English flaumen, from Anglo-French flaum(b)er; Old French flamber, from Latin flammāre, derivative of flamma

Explanation

The flame of a fire produces light and heat and often flickers or dances. As a verb, to flame is to be on fire or to flare up. On the Internet, flame has a different meaning: to post or send aggressive, negative, or insulting messages in a public electronic forum. "Flame wars" are exchanges of such messages between individuals or parties and often occur behind a veil of anonymity. It's an appropriate term, given that inflammatory, which takes flame as its root, describes speech or action that tends to incite a heightened and negative response.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

flame flames flamed flaming

Decathlete Rafer Johnson lit the Olympic flame in 1984 at the Los Angeles Coliseum.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 11, 2026

New lightweight materials must pass flame tests to make sure they won’t ignite and spread fire throughout a cabin.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 28, 2026

Occasionally, its operators revved its engine until the tires burned out, which sent gouts of flame and plumes of foul white smoke into the scorching air to block our view of the Washington Monument.

From Slate ● Jun. 16, 2026

Sunshine Silver Mining & Refining, which also mines copper and antimony, a flame retardant mineral, could be a backdoor AI play given the demand for wiring in data centers.

From Barron's ● Jun. 2, 2026

He knotted it loosely and struck flame from the tinderbox.

From "Rowan of Rin" by Emily Rodda

Those and other personal devices have lithium-ion batteries, which are prone to bursting into flames when they malfunction or overheat.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026

Community leaders criticised the Scottish government for describing the incident as "contained", despite flames spreading further through the national park.

From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026

Los Angeles Fire Department officials alerted that the forward progress on the fire had been stopped, but crews were still working to knock down the flames.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2026

With some 850 firefighters battling the flames with the help of specialised Canadair aircraft, authorities are hoping to control the flames during the day, said Paul-Edouard Laurain, spokesman for the regional firefighters.

From Barron's ● Jul. 14, 2026

They were stacked right up against the fireplace, where flames snapped precariously.

From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff

The 1988 presidential campaign of Alexander Haig, a former four-star general who served as Ronald Reagan’s first secretary of state, flamed out amid GOP infighting over the Iran–Contra affair.

From Slate ● Apr. 6, 2026

His teams were good enough to earn No. 1 or No. 2 seeds, but flamed out before the Elite Eight.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 27, 2026

Doubts about a Fed rate cut next month were also flamed by the release of much-delayed September jobs data.

From Barron's ● Nov. 21, 2025

But once the flamboyant Tesla chief executive flamed out, the OMB director got to work to make DOGE’s work the foundation for lasting changes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 10, 2025

Its foremost symptom was a sensation of heat that on occasion flamed in the nerve endings of his forehead until the arteries in his temples pulsed visibly.

From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson

International fans who have lived with this flaming dumpster of technology have to chuckle at a Jason-come-lately discovering the bane of their existence.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026

A flaming ear of corn transforms into a crankshaft.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2026

Some of her favourite moments include Beaker losing his eyeballs in a science experiment and Gonzo wearing flaming roller skates - to give a flavour of the chaos.

From BBC ● Feb. 4, 2026

Last year, three of Starship’s five launches exploded at unexpected points on their flight paths, twice raining flaming debris over congested commercial airways and disrupting flights.

From Salon ● Jan. 12, 2026

Mami calls, “Un segundito,” from the kitchen, and in a moment, she comes back in, carrying a birthday cake in the shape of the island, with thirteen candles flaming away on top.

From "Before We Were Free" by Julia Alvarez

Related Words

• blaze
• conflagration
• flare
• flash
• light
• spark
• wildfire