flame
flaym
Flame (noun) means the visible, glowing part of a fire. Example: “Turn the gas down until the flame is small and blue.”
noun
1
The visible, glowing part of a fire.
"Turn the gas down until the flame is small and blue."
"A single candle flame lit the room."
"The campfire flames crackled through the night."
2
A short-lived but intense romantic relationship, or the person in it.
"She still blushes whenever someone mentions her old flame from school."
"Their summer fling was a brief flame that burned out by autumn."
"He ran into an old flame from college at the reunion."
verb
1
To post an angry, insulting message online, or to burn with visible flames.
"Readers flamed the writer in the comments after the badly judged article went up."
"The forum thread got flamed within minutes of posting."
"The dry logs flamed up quickly."
How to use flame
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishThe burning, glowing part of fire — also used for an old romance, or for aggressively insulting someone online.
Common pairings
burst into flame
an old flame
flame war
Vocabulary Flow
Build your vocabulary from words like flame.
Vocabulary Flow serves the next word, and the next — meaning, pronunciation and an example each time. Practice at your level, or learn English in your own language.
Start vocabulary practice
Word forms
- Plural
- flames
- Third person singular
- flames
- Past tense
- flamed
Fill the gap
Can you complete this real example?
Turn the gas down until the _____ is small and blue.
Etymology
From Old French flame/flambe, both going back to Latin flamma, "flame," from a very old Indo-European root meaning "to shine or gleam."
Synonyms
View more →Related words
Rhymes for flame
See all rhymes for flame →Frequently asked questions
What does “flame” mean?
The word “flame” means the visible, glowing part of a fire. In plain terms, the burning, glowing part of fire — also used for an old romance, or for aggressively insulting someone online.
How do you pronounce “flame”?
“Flame” is pronounced flaym (/fleɪm/ in IPA).
How do you use “flame” in a sentence?
Here is “flame” used in a sentence: “A single candle flame lit the room.”
What part of speech is “flame”?
Depending on how it is used, “flame” can be a noun and a verb.
Where does the word “flame” come from?
The word “flame” comes from Latin. From Old French flame/flambe, both going back to Latin flamma, "flame," from a very old Indo-European root meaning "to shine or gleam.".
Is “flame” a common word?
“Flame” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the B2 level.
How many meanings does “flame” have?
“Flame” has 3 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: the visible, glowing part of a fire.
What is the difference between a flame and a fire?
A fire is the whole event of combustion — burning material, heat, light, and smoke — while a flame is specifically the visible, glowing part of a fire. One fire can produce many flames, and some burning, such as glowing embers, produces no visible flame at all.
What is a twin flame?
Twin flame is an informal, spiritual term for a person with whom someone feels an unusually intense, mirror-like romantic or personal bond, often described as deeper than a soulmate. The idea is popular in relationship writing but has no scientific basis; linguistically it builds on flame's sense of an intense romance.
Featured in
Vocabulary lists that include flame:
