flare

1a : a fire or blaze of light used especially to signal, illuminate, or attract attention also : a device or composition used to produce such a flare The airport set flares to guide the landing plane at night.

2 : an unsteady glaring light

b : solar flare also : a sudden increase and decrease in the brightness of a star often amounting to a difference of several magnitudes (see magnitude sense 3)

3a : a sudden outburst (as of excitement or anger) a flare of tempers in the courtroom

b : flare-up sense 3 a flare of disease

4a : a spreading outward also : a place or part that spreads

b : an area of skin flush a flare of reddened skin

5 : light resulting from reflection (as between lens surfaces) or an effect of this light (such as a fogged or dense area in a photographic negative)

6a : a short pass in football thrown to a back who is running toward the sideline

b : a weakly hit fly ball in baseball a flare into short right field

7 flares plural : pants that flare toward the bottom

Definition of flare

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