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• flare-up
  flare-up

  noun

  a sudden burst of fire or light
• flare up
  flare up

  Suddenly become angry, as in She flared up at the slightest provocation. This metaphoric expression, dating from the mid-1800s, transfers a sudden burst of flame to sudden rage.

flare-up

British  

noun

1. a sudden burst of fire or light

2. informal a sudden burst of emotion or violence

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verb

1. to burst suddenly into fire or light

2. informal to burst into anger

flare up Idioms  

1. Suddenly become angry, as in She flared up at the slightest provocation. This metaphoric expression, dating from the mid-1800s, transfers a sudden burst of flame to sudden rage.

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Example Sentences

The flare-up comes a day after Iran's foreign ministry had said it was considering a US proposal to end the war.

From BBC • May 7, 2026

Then came the war with Iran and bond-market worries about soaring oil prices and an inflation flare-up.

From MarketWatch • May 7, 2026

After a flare-up in tensions around the American effort to unblock shipping traffic, markets appeared to welcome apparent de-escalation External link between Washington and Tehran.

From Barron's • May 6, 2026

The recent flare-up in hostilities threatens to unravel the cease-fire, keeping risk premium in place, Nikos Tzabouras of Tradu says in a note.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 6, 2026

Ernest’s colitis recurred in 1956, a flare-up he attributed largely to stress over the unresolved fate of Chromatic.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

Related Words

• blowup
• epidemic
• eruption
• explosion
• outburst