different between flurry vs plethora

English

Etymology

Perhaps an American English blend of flutter and hurry. Alternatively, perhaps from an obsolete term flurr (“scatter”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?fl??i/ (accents with the "Foot-strut" split)
• (UK) IPA^(key): /?fl??i/ (accents without the "Foot-strut" split)
• Rhymes: -?ri
• (US) IPA^(key): /?fl??i/ (accents without the "Hurry-furry" merger)
  • Rhymes: -?ri
• (US) IPA^(key): /?fl?.?i/ (accents with the "Hurry-furry" merger)

Noun

flurry (plural flurries)

1. A light, brief snowfall.
2. A sudden and brief blast or gust; a light, temporary breeze.

   a flurry of wind

3. A shower of dust, leaves etc. brought on by a sudden gust of wind.
4. (figuratively) Any sudden activity; a stir.
   • 1998, Gillian Catriona Ramchand, Deconstructing the Lexicon, in Miriam Butt and Wilhelm Geuder, eds. “The Projection of Arguments”

     These [argument structure] modifications are important because they have provoked a flurry of investigation into argument structure operations of merger, demotion etc.

5. A snack consisting of soft ice cream mixed with small pieces of fruit, cookie crumbs, etc.
   • 1988, K. Wayne Wride, Fruit Treats (in Vegetarian Times number 134, October 1988, page 27)

     Does your "Forbidden Foods" list include banana splits, ice cream sundaes, slurpies, popsicles, frozen yogurts, milk shakes, and ice cream flurries? These foods taste great but have a reputation for being bad for your health.

   • 2002, Tampa Bay Magazine (volume 17, number 3, May-June 2002, page 235)

     They will make your tongue smile with their homemade ice cream, which was voted "Best Taste in the USA Today." Enjoy exciting toppings to personalize your treat or a yummy sundae, flurry, smoothie, banana split or shake...

6. The violent spasms of a dying whale.
7. An occurrence of something (countable instances) in large numbers, happening suddenly or in a short period of time.

   Synonyms: volley, barrage

Translations

Verb

flurry (third-person singular simple present flurries, present participle flurrying, simple past and past participle flurried)

1. (transitive) To agitate, bewilder, fluster.
   • 1848, William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair, Chapter 1:

     And so venturing not to say another word, poor Jemima trotted off, exceedingly flurried and nervous.
2. (intransitive) To move or fall in a flurry.

Translations

English

Etymology

From Late Latin pl?th?ra, from Ancient Greek ??????? (pl?th?r?, “fullness, satiety”), from ????? (pl?th?, “to be full”) +? -? (-?, nominal suffix).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: pl??th?r?, pl??dh?r?, pl?thô?r?, IPA^(key): /?pl?????/, /?pl?ð???/, /pl???????/
• (General American) enPR: pl??th?r?, IPA^(key): /?pl?????/
• Rhymes: -????

Noun

plethora (plural plethorae or plethoras)

1. (usually followed by of) An excessive amount or number; an abundance.
   • 1817, Francis Jeffrey, review of Lalla Rookh, in the Edinburgh Review

     He labours under a plethora of wit and imagination.

   • 1849, Herman Melville, Redburn. His First Voyage

     I pushed my seat right up before the most insolent gazer, a short fat man, with a plethora of cravat round his neck, and fixing my gaze on his, gave him more gazes than he sent.

   • 1927, H.P. Lovecraft, Supernatural Horror in Literature (The Aftermath of Gothic Fiction)

     Meanwhile other hands had not been idle, so that above the dreary plethora of trash like Marquis von Grosse's Horrid Mysteries..., there arose many memorable weird works both in English and German.

   • 1986, Lorne Michaels, Steve Martin, Randy Newman, ¡Three Amigos! (film)

     Jefe: We have many beautiful piñatas for your birthday celebration, each one filled with little surprises!

     El Guapo: How many piñatas?

     Jefe: Many piñatas, many!

     El Guapo: Jefe, would you say I have a plethora of piñatas?

     Jefe: A what?

     El Guapo: A plethora.

     Jefe: Oh yes, El Guapo. You have a plethora.

     El Guapo: Jefe, what is a plethora?

     Jefe: Why, El Guapo?

     El Guapo: Well, you just told me that I had a plethora, and I would just like to know if you know what it means to have a plethora. I would not like to think that someone would tell someone else he has a plethora, and then find out that that person has no idea what it means to have a plethora.

     Jefe: El Guapo, I know that I, Jefe, do not have your superior intellect and education, but could it be that once again, you are angry at something else, and are looking to take it out on me?
2. (medicine) Chronic excess of blood in the skin, usually in the face.

Synonyms

• (excess, abundance): glut, myriad, surfeit, superfluity, slew

Related terms

• plethoric

Translations

See also

• myriad

References

• “plethora” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [2^nd Ed.; 1989]
  Pronounced: /?pl???r?/, /pl?????r?/.

Anagrams

• Althorpe, traphole, tropheal

Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ??????? (pl?th?r?, “fullness, satiety”), from ????? (pl?th?, “to be full”) +? -? (-?, nominal suffix).

Pronunciation

(Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ple?to.ra/, [pl??t?????]

Noun

pl?th?ra f (genitive pl?th?rae); first declension

1. (Late Latin) plethora

Inflection

First-declension noun.

Descendants

• ? English: plethora