Decay vs Flourish - What's the difference?

In intransitive terms the difference between decay and flourish

is that decay is to deteriorate, to get worse, to lose strength or health, to decline in quality while flourish is to execute an irregular or fanciful strain of music, by way of ornament or prelude.

In transitive terms the difference between decay and flourish

is that decay is to cause to rot or deteriorate while flourish is to adorn with beautiful figures or rhetoric; to ornament with anything showy; to embellish.

decay

English

(wikipedia decay)

Noun

The process or result of being gradually decomposed.

* 1895 , H. G. Wells, The Time Machine Chapter X

I fancied at first the stuff was paraffin wax, and smashed the jar accordingly. But the odor of camphor was unmistakable. It struck me as singularly odd, that among the universal decay , this volatile substance had chanced to survive, perhaps through many thousand years.

A deterioration of condition.

Derived terms

* bacterial decay * decayability * decayable * decayer * orbital decay * particle decay * radioactive decay

Verb

(en verb)

To deteriorate, to get worse, to lose strength or health, to decline in quality.

The pair loved to take pictures in the decaying hospital on forty-third street.

# (intransitive, electronics, of storage media or the data on them) To undergo , that is, gradual degradation.

# (intransitive, computing, of software) To undergo , that is, to fail to be updated in a changing environment,so as to eventually become legacy or obsolete.

# (intransitive, physics, of a satellite's orbit) To undergo prolonged reduction in altitude (above the orbited body).

2009 , Francis Lyall, Paul B. Larsen, Space Law: A Treatise , page 120:

Damaged on lift-off, Skylab was left in orbit until its orbit decayed .

(of organic material) To rot, to go bad.

The cat's body decayed rapidly.

(intransitive, transitive, physics, chemistry, of an unstable atom) To change by undergoing fission, by emitting radiation, or by capturing or losing one or more electrons.

* 2005 , Encyclopedia of Earth Science (edited by Timothy M. Kusky; ISBN 0-8160-4973-4), page 349:

Uranium decays to radium through a long series of steps with a cumulative half-life of 4.4 billion years.

(intransitive, transitive, physics, of a quantum system) To undergo , that is, to relax to a less excited state, usually by emitting a photon or phonon.

(aviation)

To cause to rot or deteriorate.

The extreme humidity decayed the wooden sculptures in the museum's collection in a matter of years.

* Shakespeare

Infirmity, that decays the wise.

External links

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flourish

English

Verb

(es)

To thrive or grow well.

, title= Mr. Pratt's Patients, chapter=1 , passage='Twas early June, the new grass was flourishing everywheres, the posies in the yard—peonies and such—in full bloom, the sun was shining, and the water of the bay was blue, with light green streaks where the shoal showed.}}

To prosper or fare well.

* Nelson

Bad men as frequently prosper and flourish , and that by the means of their wickedness.

* '>citation

To be in a period of greatest influence.

To develop; to make thrive; to expand.

* Francis Bacon

Bottoms of thread which with a good needle, perhaps may be flourished into large works.

To make bold, sweeping movements with.

To make bold and sweeping, fanciful, or wanton movements, by way of ornament, parade, bravado, etc.; to play with fantastic and irregular motion.

* Alexander Pope

Impetuous spread the stream, and smoking flourished o'er his head.

To use florid language; to indulge in rhetorical figures and lofty expressions.

* J. Watts

They dilate and flourish long on little incidents.

To make ornamental strokes with the pen; to write graceful, decorative figures.

To adorn with beautiful figures or rhetoric; to ornament with anything showy; to embellish.

(Fenton)

(Shakespeare)

To execute an irregular or fanciful strain of music, by way of ornament or prelude.

* Shakespeare

Why do the emperor's trumpets flourish thus?

(obsolete) To boast; to vaunt; to brag.

(Alexander Pope)

Synonyms

* See also

Noun

(es)

A dramatic gesture such as the waving of a flag.

With many flourishes of the captured banner, they marched down the avenue.

An ornamentation.

His signature ended with a flourish .

(music) A ceremonious passage such as a fanfare.

The trumpets blew a flourish as they entered the church.

(architecture) A decorative embellishment on a building.

References

* English intransitive verbs English transitive verbs