blare

English

Etymology

From Middle English bleren, from Middle Dutch bleren (“to bleat, cry, bawl, shout”) (Dutch blèren). Possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₁- (“to bleat, cry”). Compare Dutch blaren.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /blɛə(ɹ)/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛə(ɹ)
• Homophones: blair, Blair

Noun

blare (countable and uncountable, plural blares)

1. A loud sound.

   I can hardly hear you over the blare of the radio.

   • 1922, Michael Arlen, “2/2/2”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days‎^[1]:

     They danced on silently, softly. Their feet played tricks to the beat of the tireless measure, that exquisitely asinine blare which is England's punishment for having lost America.

   • 1936, F.J. Thwaites, chapter XXII, in The Redemption, Sydney: H. John Edwards, published 1940, page 214:

     The screeching of brakes, the monotonous blare of motor horns, the clip-clip of shoes on slippery pavements, the rustling of wet mackintoshes were all part of the great metropolis.

2. Dazzling, often garish, brilliance.

Translations

a loud sound

• Bulgarian: тръбене (bg) (trǎbene), шумно свирене (šumno svirene), трясък (bg) (trjasǎk)
• Czech: řev (cs) m, rámus (cs) m
• Norwegian: brøl n, skrall n
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Romanian: zgomot (ro) n
• Russian: рёв (ru) m (rjov), гро́мкий (ru) (grómkij) звук (ru) m (zvuk)
• Swedish: bröl

dazzling often garish brilliance

• French: éclat (fr) m, brillance (fr) f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Romanian: strălucire (ro) f
• Russian: ослепительная (ru) (oslepitelʹnaja) вспы́шка (ru) f (vspýška), цветистость (ru) f (cvetistostʹ)

Verb

blare (third-person singular simple present blares, present participle blaring, simple past and past participle blared)

1. (intransitive) To make a loud sound.

   The trumpet blaring in my ears gave me a headache.

   • 2011 December 14, Andrew Khan, “How isolationist is British pop?”, in the Guardian‎^[2]:

     France, even after 30 years of extraordinary synth, electro and urban pop, is still beaten with a stick marked "Johnny Hallyday" by otherwise sensible journalists. Songs that have taken Europe by storm, from the gloriously bleak Belgian disco of Stromae's Alors on Danse to Sexion d'Assaut's soulful Desole blare from cars everywhere between Lisbon and Lublin but run aground as soon as they hit Dover.

2. (transitive) To cause to sound like the blare of a trumpet; to proclaim loudly.
   • 1859, Alfred Tennyson, “Elaine”, in Idylls of the King, London: Edward Moxon & Co., […], →OCLC, page 196:

     [T]he world, the world, / All ear and eye, with such a stupid heart / To interpret ear and eye, and such a tongue / To blare its own interpretation— […]

   • 2014, Nick Arnold, Horrible Science: Body Owner's Handbook (page 159)

     Police helicopters blared loudspeaker warnings about the smelly man.

Derived terms

• blare out

Translations

to make a loud sound

• Bulgarian: тръбя (bg) (trǎbja)
• Czech: řvát (cs) impf
• French: brailler (fr), hurler (fr)
• German: plärren (de)
• Norwegian: brøle, skralle
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Romanian: face zgomot, zdrăngăni (ro)
• Russian: гро́мко (ru) (grómko) труби́ть (ru) (trubítʹ)
• Swedish: bröla (sv)

Anagrams

• Alber, Baler, Laber, Rabel, abler, baler, belar, blear

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Afrikaans

Noun

blare

1. plural of blaar

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Dalmatian

Verb

blare

1. Alternative form of vular

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Dutch

Verb

blare

1. (deprecated template usage) (archaic) singular present subjunctive of blaren