Flame \Flame\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Flamed; p. pr. & vb. n.
   Flaming.] [OE. flamen, flaumben, F. flamber, OF. also,
   flamer. See Flame, n.]
   1. To burn with a flame or blaze; to burn as gas emitted from
      bodies in combustion; to blaze.
      [1913 Webster]

            The main blaze of it is past, but a small thing
            would make it flame again.            --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To burst forth like flame; to break out in violence of
      passion; to be kindled with zeal or ardor.
      [1913 Webster]

            He flamed with indignation.           --Macaulay.
      [1913 Webster]

	

	Flame \Flame\ (fl[=a]m), n. [OE. flame, flaume, flaumbe, OF.
   flame, flambe, F. flamme, fr. L. flamma, fr. flamma, fr.
   flagrare to burn. See Flagrant, and cf. Flamneau,
   Flamingo.]
   1. A stream of burning vapor or gas, emitting light and heat;
      darting or streaming fire; a blaze; a fire.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Burning zeal or passion; elevated and noble enthusiasm;
      glowing imagination; passionate excitement or anger. "In a
      flame of zeal severe." --Milton.
      [1913 Webster]

            Where flames refin'd in breasts seraphic glow.
                                                  --Pope.
      [1913 Webster]

            Smit with the love of sister arts we came,
            And met congenial, mingling flame with flame.
                                                  --Pope.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. Ardor of affection; the passion of love. --Coleridge.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. A person beloved; a sweetheart. --Thackeray.

   Syn: Blaze; brightness; ardor. See Blaze.
        [1913 Webster]

   Flame bridge, a bridge wall. See Bridge, n., 5.

   Flame color, brilliant orange or yellow. --B. Jonson.

   Flame engine, an early name for the gas engine.

   Flame manometer, an instrument, invented by Koenig, to
      obtain graphic representation of the action of the human
      vocal organs. See Manometer.

   Flame reaction (Chem.), a method of testing for the
      presence of certain elements by the characteristic color
      imparted to a flame; as, sodium colors a flame yellow,
      potassium violet, lithium crimson, boracic acid green,
      etc. Cf. Spectrum analysis, under Spectrum.

   Flame tree (Bot.), a tree with showy scarlet flowers, as
      the Rhododendron arboreum in India, and the
      Brachychiton acerifolium of Australia.
      [1913 Webster]

	

	Flame \Flame\, v. t.
   To kindle; to inflame; to excite.
   [1913 Webster]

         And flamed with zeal of vengeance inwardly. --Spenser.
   [1913 Webster]

	

	flame
    n 1: the process of combustion of inflammable materials
         producing heat and light and (often) smoke; "fire was one
         of our ancestors' first discoveries" [syn: fire, flame,
         flaming]
    v 1: shine with a sudden light; "The night sky flared with the
         massive bombardment" [syn: flare, flame]
    2: be in flames or aflame; "The sky seemed to flame in the
       Hawaiian sunset"
    3: criticize harshly, usually via an electronic medium; "the
       person who posted an inflammatory message got flamed"

	

	261 Moby Thesaurus words for "flame":
   Amor, Casanova, Christian love, Don Juan, Eros, Lothario,
   Platonic love, Romeo, admiration, adoration, affection, agape,
   amoroso, ardency, ardor, attachment, baby, backfire, bake,
   balefire, be bright, be in heat, beacon, beacon fire, beam, beau,
   bedazzle, beloved, blare, blaze, blaze of light, blaze up, blind,
   blister, bloom, blush, bodily love, boil, bonfire, boyfriend,
   brand, broil, brotherly love, burn, burn in, burn off,
   burning ghat, burst into flame, caballero, campfire, candle,
   caritas, cast, catch, catch fire, catch on fire, cauterize,
   cavalier, cavaliere servente, char, charity, cheerful fire, choke,
   coal, color, color up, combust, combustion, conflagration,
   conjugal love, cook, corposant, coruscate, cozy fire, crack,
   crackling fire, crematory, crimson, cupel, darling, daze, dazzle,
   dear, death fire, desire, devotion, diffuse light, eagerness,
   electric light bulb, enthusiasm, esquire, facula, faithful love,
   fancy, fellow, fen fire, fervor, feverishness, fire, flame up,
   flare, flare up, flash, flashing point, flicker, flickering flame,
   flush, fondness, forest fire, found, fox fire, free love,
   free-lovism, fry, fulgurate, funeral pyre, gallant, gasp, gigolo,
   give light, glance, glare, gleam, gleam of light, glim, glint,
   glow, grow red, heart, heartthrob, hero worship, honey, idolatry,
   idolism, idolization, ignis fatuus, ignite, ignition, illuminant,
   illuminator, inamorata, inamorato, incandesce, incandescent body,
   ingle, intensity, kindle, lady-killer, ladylove, lambent flame,
   lamp, lantern, lasciviousness, libido, light, light bulb,
   light source, like, liking, love, love-maker, lovemaking, lover,
   luminant, luminary, luster, man, mantle, married love, marshfire,
   match, moon, necker, old man, open fire, oxidate, oxidize, pant,
   parch, passion, petter, philanderer, physical love, popular regard,
   popularity, prairie fire, pyre, pyrolyze, radiate, radiate heat,
   raging fire, redden, regard, roast, scald, scorch, sea of flames,
   sear, seducer, seethe, send out rays, sentiment, sex, sexual love,
   sheet of fire, sheik, shimmer with heat, shine, shine brightly,
   shoot, shoot out rays, signal beacon, simmer, singe, smolder,
   smother, smudge fire, solar flare, solar prominence, solder,
   source of light, spark, spiritual love, squire, stars, steady,
   steam, stew, stifle, suffocate, sugar daddy, sun, swain, sweat,
   sweetheart, sweetie, swelter, swinge, take, taper, tender feeling,
   tender passion, three-alarm fire, toast, torch, torrefy, truelove,
   turn red, turtledove, two-alarm fire, uxoriousness, vesicate,
   vulcanize, warmth, watch fire, wildfire, witch fire, worship,
   yearning, young man, zeal

	

	FLAME
       FLexible API for Module-based Environments (RL, API)

	

	flame


    [at MIT, orig. from the phrase flaming asshole]

    1. vi. To post an email message intended to insult and provoke.

    2. vi. To speak incessantly and/or rabidly on some relatively uninteresting
    subject or with a patently ridiculous attitude.

    3. vt. Either of senses 1 or 2, directed with hostility at a particular
    person or people.

    4. n. An instance of flaming. When a discussion degenerates into useless
    controversy, one might tell the participants ?Now you're just flaming? or
    ?Stop all that flamage!? to try to get them to cool down (so to speak).

    The term may have been independently invented at several different places.
    It has been reported from MIT, Carleton College and RPI (among many other
    places) from as far back as 1969, and from the University of Virginia in
    the early 1960s.

    It is possible that the hackish sense of ?flame? is much older than that.
    The poet Chaucer was also what passed for a wizard hacker in his time; he
    wrote a treatise on the astrolabe, the most advanced computing device of
    the day. In Chaucer's Troilus and Cressida, Cressida laments her inability
    to grasp the proof of a particular mathematical theorem; her uncle Pandarus
    then observes that it's called ?the fleminge of wrecches.? This phrase
    seems to have been intended in context as ?that which puts the wretches to
    flight? but was probably just as ambiguous in Middle English as ?the
    flaming of wretches? would be today. One suspects that Chaucer would feel
    right at home on Usenet.

	

	flame
flamage
flaming

    To rant, to speak or write incessantly and/or
   rabidly on some relatively uninteresting subject or with a
   patently ridiculous attitude or with hostility toward a
   particular person or group of people.  "Flame" is used as a
   verb ("Don't flame me for this, but..."), a flame is a single
   flaming message, and "flamage" /flay'm*j/ the content.

   Flamage may occur in any medium (e.g. spoken, electronic
   mail, Usenet news, World-Wide Web).  Sometimes a flame
   will be delimited in text by marks such as "...".

   The term was probably independently invented at several
   different places.

   Mark L. Levinson says, "When I joined the Harvard student
   radio station (WHRB) in 1966, the terms flame and flamer were
   already well established there to refer to impolite ranting
   and to those who performed it.  Communication among the
   students who worked at the station was by means of what today
   you might call a paper-based Usenet group.  Everyone wrote
   comments to one another in a large ledger.  Documentary
   evidence for the early use of flame/flamer is probably still
   there for anyone fanatical enough to research it."

   It is reported that "flaming" was in use to mean something
   like "interminably drawn-out semi-serious discussions"
   (late-night bull sessions) at Carleton College during
   1968-1971.

   Usenetter Marc Ramsey, who was at WPI from 1972 to 1976,
   says: "I am 99% certain that the use of "flame" originated at
   WPI.  Those who made a nuisance of themselves insisting that
   they needed to use a TTY for "real work" came to be known as
   "flaming asshole lusers".  Other particularly annoying people
   became "flaming asshole ravers", which shortened to "flaming
   ravers", and ultimately "flamers".  I remember someone picking
   up on the Human Torch pun, but I don't think "flame on/off"
   was ever much used at WPI."  See also asbestos.

   It is possible that the hackish sense of "flame" is much older
   than that.  The poet Chaucer was also what passed for a wizard
   hacker in his time; he wrote a treatise on the astrolabe, the
   most advanced computing device of the day.  In Chaucer's
   "Troilus and Cressida", Cressida laments her inability to
   grasp the proof of a particular mathematical theorem; her
   uncle Pandarus then observes that it's called "the fleminge of
   wrecches."  This phrase seems to have been intended in context
   as "that which puts the wretches to flight" but was probably
   just as ambiguous in Middle English as "the flaming of
   wretches" would be today.  One suspects that Chaucer would
   feel right at home on Usenet.

   [Jargon File]

   (2001-03-11)