blooming

[ bloo-ming ]

/ ˈblu mɪŋ /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR blooming ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

in bloom; flowering; blossoming.

glowing, as with youthful vigor and freshness: blooming cheeks.

flourishing; prospering: a blooming business.

Chiefly British Slang. (used as an intensifier): He's got his blooming nerve.

adverb

Chiefly British Slang. (used as an intensifier): not blooming likely.

Origin of blooming

1350–1400; Middle English; see bloom¹, -ing²; as intensifier, a euphemism for bloody, by phonetic similarity

OTHER WORDS FROM blooming

bloom·ing·ly, adverb bloom·ing·ness, noun non·bloom·ing, adjective, noun pre·bloom·ing, adjective

Words nearby blooming

bloomer, bloomers, bloomery, bloomfield, bloomfieldian, blooming, blooming mill, blooming oil, bloomingdale, bloomington, bloomsburg

Definition for blooming (2 of 3)

bloom ¹

[ bloom ]

/ blum /

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.

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

SYNONYMS FOR bloom

1 blossom.

3 efflorescence.

4 freshness, glow, flush; vigor, prime.

15, 16 effloresce.

SEE SYNONYMS FOR bloom ON THESAURUS.COM

historical usage of bloom

Bloom “flower” comes from the Proto-Indo-European root bhel-, bhol-, bhlē-, bhlō- (with still other variants) “to bloom, thrive.” Initial Proto-Indo-European bh- usually becomes b- in the Germanic languages, f- in the ancient Italic languages (Latin, Oscan, Umbrian), and ph- in Greek. Therefore the root variant bhlō- yields Latin flōs (inflectional stem flōr- ) “flower” and its derivatives flōrēre “to blossom, bloom” and flōrescere “to come into bloom,” from which English derives florescence and florescent. Flower and flour, which English borrowed from Old French, were originally only spelling variants. The root variant bhol- yields folium in Latin and phúllon in Greek, both meaning “leaf.”

OTHER WORDS FROM bloom

bloom·less, adjective

Definition for blooming (3 of 3)

bloom ²

[ bloom ]

/ blum /

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

Example sentences from the Web for blooming

With lights flashing, the cruiser arrived at the Blooming Grove State Police barracks in Pike County.

Killer Eric Frein Held in Murdered Cop’s Cuffs |Michael Daly |October 31, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Frein was lodged in a holding cell at Blooming Grove barracks.

Killer Eric Frein Held in Murdered Cop’s Cuffs |Michael Daly |October 31, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Flowers are blooming, love is in the air, and hopefulness abounds for one and all.

Thank Anti-Vaxxers for Lyme Disease |Kent Sepkowitz |April 13, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Except will it lead to the blooming a few years hence of a new marital theory of Sex and Substance Overload?

Tina Brown on Sex, Decorating, and Divorce for Billionaires |Tina Brown |July 8, 2013 |DAILY BEAST

I pictured this vibrant arts community in this democratic, blooming Middle East.

How I Write: Nathan Englander |Noah Charney |March 27, 2013 |DAILY BEAST
This dainty little work of art is only one of the thousands that everywhere are building in the blooming trees and thickets.

Pastoral Days |William Hamilton Gibson
Some were blooming, others had only begun to form fruit-buds, while some were loaded with ripe clusters ready for the wine-press.

Odysseus, the Hero of Ithaca |Homer
Each school showed its best pupils, and the parents looked on at the blooming flower show.

Jack and Jill |Louisa May Alcott
A huge agave, or century plant, is now blooming at Auburn, N.Y.

Scientific American Supplement, No. 561, October 2, 1886 |Various
Arriving at the snow line, we found grass and even flowers growing and blooming in soil moistened by the melting snow.

In the Early Days along the Overland Trail in Nebraska Territory, in 1852 |Gilbert L. Cole

British Dictionary definitions for blooming (1 of 3)

blooming

/ (ˈbluːmɪŋ) /

adverb, adjective

British informal (intensifier) a blooming genius; blooming painful

Word Origin for blooming

C19: euphemistic for bloody

British Dictionary definitions for blooming (2 of 3)

bloom ¹

/ (bluːm) /

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 collectively a 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

British Dictionary definitions for blooming (3 of 3)

bloom ²

/ (bluːm) /

noun

a rectangular mass of metal obtained by rolling or forging a cast ingot See 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

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

blooming

adjective

adverb

Origin of blooming

OTHER WORDS FROM blooming

Words nearby blooming

Definition for blooming (2 of 3)

noun

verb (used without object)

verb (used with object)

Origin of bloom

SYNONYMS FOR bloom

historical usage of bloom

OTHER WORDS FROM bloom

Definition for blooming (3 of 3)

noun

verb (used with object)

Origin of bloom

Example sentences from the Web for blooming

British Dictionary definitions for blooming (1 of 3)

adverb, adjective

Word Origin for blooming

British Dictionary definitions for blooming (2 of 3)

noun

verb (mainly intr)

Word Origin for bloom

British Dictionary definitions for blooming (3 of 3)

noun

verb

Word Origin for bloom

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

blooming

adjective

adverb

Origin of blooming

OTHER WORDS FROM blooming

Words nearby blooming

Definition for blooming (2 of 3)

noun

verb (used without object)

verb (used with object)

Origin of bloom

SYNONYMS FOR bloom

historical usage of bloom

OTHER WORDS FROM bloom

Definition for blooming (3 of 3)

noun

verb (used with object)

Origin of bloom

Words related to blooming

Example sentences from the Web for blooming

British Dictionary definitions for blooming (1 of 3)

adverb, adjective

Word Origin for blooming

British Dictionary definitions for blooming (2 of 3)

noun

verb (mainly intr)

Word Origin for bloom

British Dictionary definitions for blooming (3 of 3)

noun

verb

Word Origin for bloom