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.
- 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.
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.
adjective
- photog optics (of a lens) coated with a thin film of magnesium fluoride or some other substance to reduce the amount of light lost by reflectionAlso called: coated
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
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
“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).
“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.