flare up

flare up (third-person singular simple present flares up, present participle flaring up, simple past and past participle flared up)

1. (intransitive) To burn brightly again.

   The fire flared up after we added more wood to it.

2. (intransitive) To become more intense suddenly.

   Reports indicate that tensions have flared up in the Middle East again.

   The pain in my shoulder flares up when I turn my head.

3. (intransitive, sometimes with “out” instead of “up”) To burst out suddenly, as in anger.
   • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 5, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:

     “Well,” I says, “I cal'late a body could get used to Tophet if he stayed there long enough.” ¶ She flared up; the least mite of a slam at Doctor Wool was enough to set her going.

   The insult made him flare up.

• rapeful