bloom

[bloom]

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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR bloom ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

the flower of a plant.

flowers collectively: the bloom of the cherry tree.

state of having the buds opened: The gardens are all in bloom.

a flourishing, healthy condition; the time or period of greatest beauty, artistry, etc.: the bloom of youth; the bloom of Romanticism.

a glow or flush on the cheek indicative of youth and health: a serious illness that destroyed her bloom.

the glossy, healthy appearance of the coat of an animal.

a moist, lustrous appearance indicating freshness in fish.

redness or a fresh appearance on the surface of meat.

Botany. a whitish powdery deposit or coating, as on the surface of certain fruits and leaves: the bloom of the grape.

any similar surface coating or appearance: the bloom of newly minted coins.

any of certain minerals occurring as powdery coatings on rocks or other minerals.

Also called chill. a clouded or dull area on a varnished or lacquered surface.

Also called algal bloom, water bloom. the sudden development of conspicuous masses of organisms, as algae, on the surface of a body of water.

Television. image spread produced by excessive exposure of highlights in a television image.

verb (used without object)

to produce or yield blossoms.

to flourish or thrive: a recurrent fad that blooms from time to time.

to be in or achieve a state of healthful beauty and vigor: a sickly child who suddenly bloomed; a small talent that somehow bloomed into major artistry.

to glow with warmth or with a warm color.

verb (used with object)

to cause to yield blossoms.

to make bloom or cause to flourish: a happiness that blooms the cheek.

to invest with luster or beauty: an industry that blooms one's talents.

to cause a cloudy area on (something shiny); dampen; chill: Their breath bloomed the frosty pane.

Optics. to coat (a lens) with an antireflection material.

Idioms

take the bloom off, to remove the enjoyment or ultimate satisfaction from; dampen the enthusiasm over: The coach's illness took the bloom off the team's victory.

the bloom is off (the rose), the excitement, enjoyment, interest, etc., has ended or been dampened.

Origin of bloom

1150–1200; (noun) Middle English blom, blome < Old Norse blōm, blōmi; cognate with Gothic blōma lily, German Blume flower; akin to blow³; (v.) Middle English blomen, derivative of the noun

Related formsbloom·less, adjective

Synonyms for bloom

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR bloom ON THESAURUS.COM

1. blossom. 3. efflorescence. 4. freshness, glow, flush; vigor, prime. 15, 16. effloresce.

bloom

[bloom]Metalworking.

noun

a piece of steel, square or slightly oblong in section, reduced from an ingot to dimensions suitable for further rolling.

a large lump of iron and slag, of pasty consistency when hot, produced in a puddling furnace or bloomery and hammered into wrought iron.

verb (used with object)

to make (an ingot) into a bloom.

Origin of bloom

before 1000; representing Anglo-Latin, Anglo-French blomes (plural), Old English blōma mass of iron; perhaps akin to bloom¹

Bloom

[bloom]

noun

Harold,born 1930, U.S. literary critic and teacher.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for bloom

blossom, flower, prosper, sprout, germinate, grow, thrive, opening, efflorescence, floret, bud, flourishing, floweret, blow, effloresce, develop, fructify, burst, wax, succeed

Examples from the Web for bloom

Contemporary Examples of bloom

About Blood Meridian, Bloom has said, “The violence is the book.”
Compliments Are Nice, but Enough With the Cormac McCarthy Comparisons
William Giraldi
October 21, 2014
If you've ever questioned Justin Bieber's masculinity, he was almost knocked out by ORLANDO BLOOM.
13 Celebrities Who Dissed Justin Bieber
Kevin Fallon
August 7, 2014
Bloom says we ought to think of truth as resembling a scientific hypothesis that helps us hold together our bits of knowledge.
Frank Schaeffer, the Atheist Who Believes in God
Nick Tabor
August 3, 2014
No one knows if Kerr actually succumbed to Bieber's "boyish" "charms," but she and Bloom did end up separating in 2013.
An Unlikely Hero Blooms in Ibiza: Orlando Bloom Sort of Punches Justin Bieber
Amy Zimmerman
July 30, 2014
At the end of the day, Bloom emerges as an unlikely hero: former sexy elf turned Justin Bieber-punching everyman.
An Unlikely Hero Blooms in Ibiza: Orlando Bloom Sort of Punches Justin Bieber
Amy Zimmerman
July 30, 2014

Historical Examples of bloom

There the flush and bloom of newness were oppressive to the right-minded.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson
"No, it's bloom," hastened Cornelia, covertly wiping it off.
Quaint Courtships
Various
There, all the bloom and freshness natural to youth seemed blasted!
Night and Morning, Complete
Edward Bulwer-Lytton
Explications with Betty would brush the bloom off everything.
The Incomplete Amorist
E. Nesbit
It is the only ground in the world where Ideas can germinate and bloom.
The Three Cities Trilogy, Complete
Emile Zola

British Dictionary definitions for bloom

bloom

noun

a blossom on a flowering plant; a flower

the state, time, or period when flowers open (esp in the phrases in bloom, in full bloom)

open flowers collectivelya tree covered with bloom

a healthy, vigorous, or flourishing condition; prime (esp in the phrase the bloom of youth)

youthful or healthy rosiness in the cheeks or face; glow

a fine whitish coating on the surface of fruits, leaves, etc, consisting of minute grains of a waxy substance

any coating similar in appearance, such as that on new coins

ecology a visible increase in the algal constituent of plankton, which may be seasonal or due to excessive organic pollution

Also called: chill a dull area formed on the surface of gloss paint, lacquer, or varnish

verb (mainly intr)

(of flowers) to open; come into flower

to bear flowers; blossom

to flourish or grow

to be in a healthy, glowing, or flourishing condition

(tr) physics to coat (a lens) with a thin layer of a substance, often magnesium fluoride, to eliminate surface reflection

Word Origin for bloom

C13: of Germanic origin; compare Old Norse blōm flower, Old High German bluomo, Middle Dutch bloeme; see blow ³

bloom

noun

a rectangular mass of metal obtained by rolling or forging a cast ingotSee also billet 1 (def. 2)

verb

(tr) to convert (an ingot) into a bloom by rolling or forging

Word Origin for bloom

Old English blōma lump of metal

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for bloom

n.1

"blossom of a plant," c.1200, a northern word, from a Scandinavian source akin to Old Norse blomi "flower, blossom," also collectively "flowers and foliage on trees;" from Proto-Germanic *blomon (cf. Old Saxon blomo, Middle Dutch bloeme, Dutch bloem, Old High German bluomo, German Blume, Gothic bloma), from PIE *bhle- (cf. Old Irish blath "blossom, flower," Latin flos "flower," florere "to blossom, flourish"), extended form of *bhel- (2) "to blow, inflate, swell" (see bole). Related to Old English blowan "to flower" (see blow (v.2)).

Transferred sense, of persons, is from c.1300; meaning "state of greatest loveliness" is from early 14c.; that of "blush on the cheeks" is from 1752. Old English had cognate bloma, but only in the figurative sense of "state of greatest beauty;" the main word in Old English for "flower" was blostm (see blossom).

n.2

"rough mass of wrought iron," from Old English bloma "lump of metal; mass," of unknown origin. Identical in form to bloom (n.1), and sometimes regarded as a secondary sense of it, but evidence of a connection is wanting.

mid-13c., blomen, from the noun (see bloom (n.1)). Related: Bloomed; blooming.