flares

Roadside emergency beacons

Flares are devices that produce a bright light or flame, used for signaling, illumination, or as a distress signal: The stranded hikers set off flares to alert rescuers.

In fashion, flares are pants that widen below the knee, popular in the 1970s and periodically revived.

Solar flares are sudden eruptions of radiation from the sun's surface.

As a verb form, flares describes something bursting into light or spreading outward: Her temper flares when she's tired.

A medical condition may flare or flare up when symptoms suddenly worsen.

trousers

bell-bottoms

Flared-leg trousers

gauchos · hip-huggers · high-waisted · seventies · vintage · corduroy · polyester · hemline · retro · hippie

signal

distress

Severe anxiety or suffering

rescue · flaregun · pyrotechnics · maritime · aviation · coastguard · warning · alert · visibility · nighttime

light

glow

Steady, soft light

burst · blaze · flash · luminescence · glare · brilliance · dazzle · incandescence · illuminate · torchlight

medical

inflammation

Protective tissue response

  • arthritisInflamed joint disease
  • goutCrystal-induced joint inflammation
  • psoriasisImmune system attacks skin cells

eczema · asthma · colitis · lupus · autoimmune · exacerbation · symptoms · swelling · redness · pain

solar

sun

Earth's primary star

magnetic · sunspot · geomagnetic · aurora · prominence · ejection · ionosphere · X-ray · ultraviolet · chromosphere

nostril

nasal

Of the nose

breathing · snort · equine · horse · exertion · emotion · temper

Categories
Opposites
intensity/brightness

flaresdims

Lessens in brightness

fades · dies down · subsides · darkens · diminishes

trajectory/pattern

flaresnarrows

Constricted water passage

tapers · constricts · contracts · pinches · converges

signal/communication type

flaressilent alarms

Noiseless emergency notifications

coded messages · encrypted messages

Phrases
Family

flare, flared, flaring, flare-up, solar flare, flare up, signal flare, flare gun

Familiarity
Top 20,000
Profile
Known to kids · Used worldwide · Timeless · Concrete · Everyday, not technical · Rated G