flame out

See also: flameout and flame-out

English

Etymology

flame + out

Verb

flame out (third-person singular simple present flames out, present participle flaming out, simple past and past participle flamed out)

1. (now rare) To become suddenly angry; to break out into indignation or similar emotion; to flare up. [from 16th c.]
   • 1748, [Samuel Richardson], chapter 4, in Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], volume I, London: […] S[amuel] Richardson;  […], →OCLC:

     [O]n being brought home, and giving us ground to suppose he was much worse hurt than he really was, and a fever ensuing, every one flamed out; and all was laid at my door.

2. (of processes and equipment involving combustion) To fail due to extinction of flame. [from 20th c.]

   Coordinate term: burn out

   • 1967, American Labor Arbitration Awards, volume 11, Prentice-Hall:

     If on flame out, steam pressure goes below 75# you must go back on gas to return [....] The grievant replied that If he did so, the boiler would flame out.

   • 2000, “Hot mix asphalt plants technical systems audit of testing at plant "C"”, in U.S, Environmental Protection Agency, EPA-454R-00-026:

     On 24 July 1998, the silo THC analyzer's FID flamed out and could not be relighted.

   • 2004, Philip P. Walsh, Paul Fletcher, Gas Turbine Performance, page 487:

     Restarting in flight is a very important engine capability for all aircraft, as occasionally engines do flame out.

   • 2007 January 9, National Transportation Safety Board, “2.2.2 Aerodynamic Stall and Upset Event”, in Aircraft Accident Report: Crash of Pinnacle Airlines Flight 3701, Bombardier CL-600-2B19, N8396A, Jefferson City, Missouri, October 14, 2004‎^[1], archived from the original on 15 March 2022, page 46:

     While the pitch angle was decreasing, a left rolling motion began, which eventually reached 82º left wing down, and the N₁ and fuel flow indications for both engines declined steadily to zero, indicating that both engines had flamed out. The Safety Board concludes that the upset event exposed both engines to inlet airflow disruption conditions that led to engine stalls and a complete loss of engine power.

3. (figuratively) To fail, usually spectacularly.

Derived terms

• flame-out (noun)
• flameout (noun)

 

Translations

flare up — see flare up

to fail due to extinction of flame

• Finnish: sammua (fi)
• Russian: гло́хнуть (ru) impf (glóxnutʹ), загло́хнуть (ru) pf (zaglóxnutʹ)

to fail spectacularly

• Finnish: romuttua