What does "bloom" mean?

Bloom: The opening of flowers in general; the state of blossoming or of having the flowers open; as, the cherry trees are in bloom. "Sight of vernal bloom." Milton.

Additional senses

  1. 2.A state or time of beauty, freshness, and vigor; an opening to higher perfection, analogous to that of buds into blossoms; as, the bloom of youth. Every successive mother has transmitted a fainter bloom, a more delicate and briefer beauty. Hawthorne.
  2. 3.The delicate, powdery coating upon certain growing or newly- gathered fruits or leaves, as on grapes, plums, etc. Hence: Anything giving an appearance of attractive freshness; a flush; a glow. A new, fresh, brilliant world, with all the bloom upon it. Thackeray.
  3. 4.The clouded appearance which varnish sometimes takes upon the surface of a picture.
  4. 5.A yellowish deposit or powdery coating which appears on well- tanned leather. Knight.
  5. 6.(Min.) A popular term for a bright-hued variety of some minerals; as, the rose-red cobalt bloom.
  6. 7.To produce or yield blossoms; to blossom; to flower or be in flower. A flower which once In Paradise, fast by the tree of life, Began to bloom. Milton.
  7. 8.To be in a state of healthful, growing youth and vigor; to show beauty and freshness, as of flowers; to give promise, as by or with flowers. A better country blooms to view, Beneath a brighter sky. Logan.
  8. 9.To cause to blossom; to make flourish. [R.] Charitable affection bloomed them. Hooker.
  9. 10.To bestow a bloom upon; to make blooming or radiant. [R.] Milton. While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day. Keats.
  10. 11.(a) A mass of wrought iron from the Catalan forge or from the puddling furnace, deprived of its dross, and shaped usually in the form of an oblong block by shingling. (b) A large bar of steel formed directly from an ingot by hammering or rolling, being a preliminary shape for further working.

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