[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

flourish \flour"ish\, 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
see also:
flourished flourishing flower -ish 

[2] : WordNet (r) 2.0

flourishing
     adj 1: having or showing vigorous vegetal or animal life;
            "flourishing crops"; "flourishing chicks"; "a growing
            boy"; "fast-growing weeds"; "a thriving deer
            population" syn: growing, thriving
     2: very lively and profitable; "flourishing businesses"; "a
        palmy time for stockbrokers"; "a prosperous new business";
        "doing a roaring trade"; "a thriving tourist center"; "did
        a thriving business in orchids" syn: booming, palmy,
        prospering, prosperous, roaring, thriving
see also:
growing thriving booming palmy prospering prosperous 
roaring 

[3] : Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

89 moby thesaurus words for "flourishing":
   abundant, balmy, blooming, blossoming, booming, bountiful,
   brandish, brandishing, budding, burgeoning, bursting, bursting out,
   clear, copious, creative, crescent, dense, developed, exuberant,
   fair, fat, fecund, fertile, flaunt, flaunting, florescent,
   flourish, flowering, fructiferous, fruitful, fruiting,
   full-fledged, full-grown, fully developed, generous, going strong,
   gross, growing, grown, grown-up, halcyon, heavy, hypertrophied,
   impenetrable, in full swing, in good case, increasing, jungled,
   jungly, lush, luxuriant, mature, overdeveloped, overgrown, overrun,
   palmy, piping, plenteous, plentiful, pregnant, productive,
   proliferous, prolific, prospering, prosperous, rank, rich, riotous,
   rosy, seminal, shaking, sleek, sprouting, successful,
   superabundant, swarming, teeming, thick, thriving, uberous,
   undulation, unweeded, vigorous, wave, wave motion, waving,
   weed-choked, weed-ridden, weedy

Flourishing >> F Words
Flourishing, definition of term: Flourishing
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