Flourish (?), 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]

Flourish (?), n.; pl. Flourishes (&unr_;). 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]