Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Infrequently occurring; uncommon.
- adjective Excellent; extraordinary.
- adjective Thin in density; rarefied.
- adjective Cooked just a short time so as to retain juice and redness.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Early.
- Not thoroughly cooked; partly cooked; underdone: applied to meat: as, rare beef; a rare chop.
- A dialectal form of
rear . - An obsolete form of
roar . - Thin; porous; not dense; of slight consistence; rarefied; having relatively little matter in a given volume: as, a rare substance; the rare atmosphere of high mountains.
- Thinly scattered; coming or occurring at wide intervals; sparse; dispersed.
- Very uncommon or infrequent; seldom occurring or to be found; hardly ever met with.
- Hence Remarkable from uncommonness; especially, uncommonly good, excellent, valuable, fine, or the like; of an excellence seldom met with.
- Synonyms Rare, Scarce, infrequent, unusual. Rare implies that only few of the kind exist: as, perfect diamonds are rare. Scarce properly implies a previous or usual condition of greater abundance. Rare, means that there are much fewer of a kind to be found than may be found where scarce would apply.
- Singular, extraordinary, incomparable, choice.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective obsolete Early.
- adjective Nearly raw; partially cooked; not thoroughly cooked; underdone.
- adjective Not frequent; seldom met with or occurring; unusual.
- adjective Of an uncommon nature; unusually excellent; valuable to a degree seldom found.
- adjective Thinly scattered; dispersed.
- adjective Characterized by wide separation of parts; of loose texture; not thick or dense; thin.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective cooking Cooked very lightly, so the meat is still red (in the case of
steak or beef in the general sense). - adjective Very
uncommon ;scarce . - adjective of a gas
thin ; of lowdensity - verb US, intransitive To
rear , rise up, start backwards. - verb US, transitive To
rear , bring up,raise .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective (of meat) cooked a short time; still red inside
- adjective not widely distributed
- adjective not widely known; especially valued for its uncommonness
- adjective having low density
- adjective recurring only at long intervals
- adjective marked by an uncommon quality; especially superlative or extreme of its kind
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
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Examples
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It's not that those rare new classics or rare new breakthrough works can't happen, it's that they are _rare_.
Downhill Fast Steven Barnes 2008
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"Well," announced he, as he put down the box and pulled his adikey over his head, "I were seein 'Santa Claus th' day an 'givin' he a rare scoldin 'for passin' my maid by these two year -- a _rare_ scoldin '-- an'
Ungava Bob A Winter's Tale Dillon Wallace 1901
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But many people are puzzled by the term "rare earth."
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In his own thoroughly strange 1946 novel Life Comes to Seathorpe, Neil Bell appropriates the term "rare books" to designate members of a new, dissident literary canon.
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If you think about it, even the term rare coins connotes scarcity, which is an important attribute of all successful products, whether they be collectibles or everyday consumer items.
Creating Wealth Robert G. Allen 2006
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If you think about it, even the term rare coins connotes scarcity, which is an important attribute of all successful products, whether they be collectibles or everyday consumer items.
Creating Wealth Robert G. Allen 2006
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NOTE TO EDITORS: Scientists use the term rare-earth elements to describe 17 elements, including: scandium and yttrium, plus the 15 so-called lanthanides.
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Today, rare earths are a global story-and a global investment opportunity-even if the term rare earth is somewhat misleading.
Company Poised to Cash In on Global Demand for Metals - CNBC 2010
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NOTE TO EDITORS: Scientists use the term rare-earth elements to describe 17 elements, including: scandium and yttrium, plus the 15 so-called lanthanides.
Science Blog BJS 2010
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Mexico's government says the program was aimed at raising public awareness of what it calls a rare success in Mexico, creating an honest police force.
Mexican Ministry Paid for Cop Show David Luhnow 2011
bilby commented on the word rare
"But here, in Dreamland's centre,
No spoiler's hand may enter,
These visions fair, this radiance rare,
Shall never pass away.
I see the shadows falling,
The forms of old recalling;
Around me tread the mighty dead,
And slowly pass away."
- Lewis Carroll, 'Dreamland'.
August 9, 2008
frogapplause commented on the word rare
I'd like to see this rare Chinese character: link.
September 2, 2010