1883 W. C. Russell Sailors' Lang. 52 Flare, a light made by firing a tar-barrel, etc.

1883 Great Internat. Fisheries Exhib. Catal. 41 Boat Launching Flare.

1885 Law Times Rep. 53 60/1 The I.C.U...burnt flares over her quarter.

1887 Pall Mall Gaz. 10 Jan. ‘Flares’ were burned for the purpose of warning the drivers of trains.

1889 W. Rye Cromer 10 ‘Flares’ are burned sometimes to warn mariners on bad nights.

1912 Aeroplane 5 Dec. 565/1 Were the flares lighted in order that our own airship should know where to alight?

1915 Times 14 Apr. 7/6 The enemy fires some flares across to us, and this is a good sign, for it shows they are afraid of an attack from us.

1916 ‘B. Cable’ Action Front 48 Magnesium flares.

1918 E. S. Farrow Dict. Mil. Terms 235 Flare, an unsteady, dazzling light used as an illumination and in signaling: in aëronautics, a guide for landing. Flare lights, lights used in combination with obstacles, either protected or screened, to prevent the enemy removing them. They are screened in rear so that the defenders may remain in shadow. Flare pistol, a large pistol, which looks like a sawed-off shot~gun, from which flares are fired.

1925 N. E. Odell in E. F. Norton et al. Fight for Everest: 1924 134 We watched till late that night for some signs of Mallory and Irvine's return, or even an indication by flare of distress.

1941 Times (Weekly ed.) 15 Oct. 6 Flares dropped by British air~craft hung almost stationary in the air, causing a bright glow over the French coast.

1942 Aeroplane Spotter 23 Apr. 101 Flare chutes.

1943 T. Horsley Find, Fix & Strike 81 In conjunction with dive bombing, and collateral with it, their [Albacores'] suitability as flare droppers was equally well marked.

1944 Conc. Oxf. Dict. Add. Flare,..container of combustible material, dropped from aircraft to illuminate target area etc.

1956 W. A. Heflin U.S. Air Force Dict. 208/1 Flare chute, a parachute attached to a flare for letting the flare down slowly.

1965 Observer 11 July 1/1 American ‘flare-ship’ aircraft..continually illuminated our positions at night.

1867 T. Sutton & G. Dawson Dict. Photogr. (ed. 2) 119 Flare, stray light falling upon the sensitive plate during its exposure in the camera. When certain forms of double or triple compound lenses are used, and the camera is turned towards a strong light,..a circular spot of flare is sometimes seen in the centre of the ground glass.

1868 M. C. Lea Man. Photogr. 88 Flare or ghost in the camera is an indistinct image of the diaphragm.

1878 J. N. Lockyer Stargazing ii. xi. 140 A ‘flare’ appearing, shows a want of a slight alteration of the setting screw, on the same side of the object-glass as the ‘flare’ or elongation appears.

1968 Gloss. Terms Offset Lithogr. Printing (B.S.I.) 14 Flare, non-image light that reaches the light-sensitive material in the camera, usually caused by surface reflections in the optical system, extraneous light and/or reflection from sources other than the original.

1971 Amateur Photographer 13 Jan. 54/1 Of his dozen or so entries about 10 were ruined because of considerable flare—caused by internal lens reflections.

1894 Westm. Gaz. 1 Dec. 6/3 A flare light was observed from the barque.

1891 R. Kipling City Dreadful Night 83 We don't know what fire-damp is here. We can use the flare-lamps.

1893 Abney Photogr. (ed. 8) xxxi. 219 ‘Flare spot.’

1884 W. C. Russell Jack's Courtship III. xiii There was a flare-tin aboard, and from time to time we burnt this over the rail.

1847 J. O. Halliwell Dict. Archaic & Provinc. Words I Flare, fat round a pig's kidney.

1851 H. Mayhew London Labour I. 199/2 Flare-cakes,..are round cakes, made of flour and ‘unrendered’ (unmelted) lard, and stuck over freely with currants.

1881 Oxfordsh. Gloss. Suppl. Fleeurn, the leaf of a pig (Holton), fleeur (Yarnton.)

1888 London Tradesm. Advt. This Lard..is made from the best Pork Flare only.

1579 T. North tr. Plutarch Liues 855 This Lady..shewing her mourning apparell, & heare of her head flaring about her eyes.

1602 J. Marston Antonios Reuenge iii. ii. sig. E4^v Let flare my loosed hair.

1602 W. Shakespeare Merry Wives of Windsor iv. vi. 41 Ribones pendant flaring bout her head.

1676 T. Hobbes tr. Homer Iliads (1677) 336 His plume by Vulcan made of golden hair..ore his shoulders terribly did flare.

1837 J. F. Cooper Recoll. Europe II. 131 Her cap flared in the wind.

1633 T. Adams Comm. 2 Peter (i. 6) 145 The daughters of Moab and Midian..; light houswives, dancing, frisking, and flaring.

1709 M. Prior Hans Carvel 90 The Truth is this I cannot stay Flaring in Sun-shine all the Day.

1928 Daily Mail 31 July 1/2 Delightful Lace Tunic with the new Flared Skirt.

1935 Jrnl. Royal Aeronaut. Soc. 39 863 Unexpectedly high lift and drag force coefficients were developed in the latter stages of the flared landings.