/bluːm/
OriginFrom Middle English blome, from Old Norse blóm, from Proto-Germanic *blōmô (“flower”). Doublet of bloom (“spongy mass of metal”); see there for more.
- countable, uncountableA blossom; the flower of a plant; an expanded bud.
“the rich blooms and enamelled vegetation of the tropics”
- collective, countable, uncountableFlowers.
- uncountableThe opening of flowers in general; the state of blossoming or of having the flowers open.
“The cherry trees are in bloom.”
“sight of vernal bloom”
“O, not for thee the glow, the bloom,
Who changest not in any gale,
Nor branding summer suns avail
To touch thy thousand years of gloom: […]”
- countable, figuratively, uncountableA state or time of beauty, freshness, and vigor; an opening to higher perfection, analogous to that of buds into blossoms.
“the bloom of youth”
“every successive mother had transmitted to her child a fainter bloom, a more delicate and briefer beauty.”
“We can have some more / Nature is a whore / Bruises on the fruit / Tender age in bloom”
- countable, uncountableRosy colour; the flush or glow on a person's cheek.
- countable, uncountableThe delicate, powdery coating upon certain growing or newly-gathered fruits or leaves, as on grapes, plums, etc.
“The bloom on blueberries is the dusty powder that protects them from the Sun; it does not rinse off.”
- countable, uncountableAnything giving an appearance of attractive freshness.
“a new, fresh, brilliant world, with all the bloom upon it”
- countable, uncountableAn algal bloom.
“Where upwellings or other sources of nutrients allow Ehux to abound, it can proliferate, as blooms, to the point that the ocean turns milky.”
- countable, uncountableThe clouded appearance which varnish sometimes takes upon the surface of a picture.
- countable, uncountableA yellowish deposit or powdery coating which appears on well-tanned leather.
- countable, uncountableA bright-hued variety of some minerals.
“the rose-red cobalt bloom”
- countable, uncountableA white area of cocoa butter that forms on the surface of chocolate when warmed and cooled.
- countable, uncountableA natural protective coating on an eggshell.
- countable, uncountableAn undesirable halo effect that may occur when a very bright region is displayed next to a very dark region of the screen.
- countable, uncountableThe increase in bullet spread over time as a gun's trigger is kept held.
“Bloom does add a skill element, burst firing the weapon instead of holding the trigger down, but it's questionable if adding a skill element like that is the actual intent of bloom, because that’s a p”
- Philippines, countable, plural-normally, slang, uncountableA fan of Filipino girl group BINI.
- collective, countable, uncountableA group of ladybugs.
“Thousands of the little red and black insects took flight at the same time, and the bloom stretched for 10 miles before they landed.”
- The spongy mass of metal formed in a furnace by the smelting process.
“These metallic bodies gradually increasing in volume finally conglomerate into a larger mass, the bloom, which is extracted from the furnace with tongs.”
- transitiveTo cause to blossom; to make flourish.
“Charitable affection bloomed them.”
- transitiveTo bestow a bloom upon; to make blooming or radiant.
“The Tree of Life[…]blooming Ambrosial Fruit Of vegetable Gold.”
“Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they? / Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,— / While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day, / And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue; [...]”
- intransitiveOf a plant, to produce blooms; to open its blooms.
“A flower which once / In Paradise, fast by the tree of life, / Began to bloom.”
- figuratively, intransitiveTo spread; to slowly expand like a field of flowers that blossom in fits and spurts.
“Shadows bloomed over the yard.”
“Anger bloomed up from his throat.”
- figuratively, intransitiveOf a person, business, etc, to flourish; to be in a state of healthful, growing youth and vigour; to show beauty and freshness.
“Nurse Cramer had a cute nose and a radiant, blooming complexion dotted with fetching sprays of adorable freckles that Yossarian detested.”
“The attacking three have also been allowed to bloom. Liberated from deep defensive duties Eden Hazard has become more expressive, more obviously, flashily complete.”
“A better country blooms to view, / Beneath a brighter sky.”
- To bring out the flavor of a spice by cooking it in oil.
- intransitiveTo develop a layer of bloom (white, spotty areas of cocoa butter) due to repeated warming and cooling.
- To let carbon dioxide to escape from coffee in order to improve the taste.
- To hydrate ingredients (such as gelatin or yeast) before using them.
- A surname.
“Jay Bloom described the experience of learning what happened to the Titan as “very surreal”.”
- A ghost town in Otero County, Colorado.
- An unincorporated community and township in Ford County, Kansas.
- A town in Richland County, Wisconsin.
- A number of other townships, including in Illinois, Kansas (2 or 3), Minnesota, Ohio (5), and Pennsylvania, listed under Bloom Township.
Formsblooms(plural) · blooms(present, singular, third-person) · blooming(participle, present) · bloomed(participle, past) · bloomed(past)