"old flame" meaning in English

See old flame in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Audio: En-au-old flame.ogg Forms: old flames [plural]
Head templates: {{en-noun}} old flame (plural old flames)
  1. (idiomatic) A previous boyfriend or girlfriend; a former romantic partner, especially one for whom one still has romantic feelings. Tags: idiomatic Categories (topical): Love, People Related terms: carry a torch for
    Sense id: en-old_flame-en-noun-LAycwIIA Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries

Inflected forms

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      "tags": [
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  "head_templates": [
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          "langcode": "en",
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          "orig": "en:Love",
          "parents": [
            "Emotions",
            "Virtue",
            "Mind",
            "Ethics",
            "Human",
            "Philosophy",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
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          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "People",
          "orig": "en:People",
          "parents": [
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            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
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      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1838 March – 1839 October, Charles Dickens, chapter 1, in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1839, →OCLC:",
          "text": "There once lived, in a sequestered part of the county of Devonshire, one Mr Godfrey Nickleby: a worthy gentleman, who, taking it into his head rather late in life that he must get married, and not being young enough or rich enough to aspire to the hand of a lady of fortune, had wedded an old flame out of mere attachment.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1922, F[rancis] Scott Fitzgerald, “(please specify the page)”, in Tales of the Jazz Age, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC:",
          "text": "\"Edith Bradin's coming,\" said some one to Gordon. \"Didn't she used to be an old flame of yours? Aren't you both from Harrisburg?\"",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2008 September 25, Lev Grossman, “Text and the City”, in Time:",
          "text": "But Philip still yearns for an old flame: Schiffer, an Oscar-winning actress.",
          "type": "quote"
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      ],
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        "A previous boyfriend or girlfriend; a former romantic partner, especially one for whom one still has romantic feelings."
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      "id": "en-old_flame-en-noun-LAycwIIA",
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        [
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        ],
        [
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        ],
        [
          "romantic",
          "romantic"
        ],
        [
          "partner",
          "partner"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) A previous boyfriend or girlfriend; a former romantic partner, especially one for whom one still has romantic feelings."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "carry a torch for"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
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          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1922, F[rancis] Scott Fitzgerald, “(please specify the page)”, in Tales of the Jazz Age, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC:",
          "text": "\"Edith Bradin's coming,\" said some one to Gordon. \"Didn't she used to be an old flame of yours? Aren't you both from Harrisburg?\"",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2008 September 25, Lev Grossman, “Text and the City”, in Time:",
          "text": "But Philip still yearns for an old flame: Schiffer, an Oscar-winning actress.",
          "type": "quote"
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      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A previous boyfriend or girlfriend; a former romantic partner, especially one for whom one still has romantic feelings."
      ],
      "links": [
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        [
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          "romantic"
        ],
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        "(idiomatic) A previous boyfriend or girlfriend; a former romantic partner, especially one for whom one still has romantic feelings."
      ],
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        "idiomatic"
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  "word": "old flame"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-15 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (8a39820 and 4401a4c). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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