'RARE' definitions:

Definition of 'rare'

From: WordNet
adjective
Not widely known; especially valued for its uncommonness; "a rare word"; "rare books"
adjective
Recurring only at long intervals; "a rare appearance"; "total eclipses are rare events"
adjective
Not widely distributed; "rare herbs"; "rare patches of green in the desert"
adjective
Having low density; "rare gasses"; "lightheaded from the rarefied mountain air" [syn: rare, rarefied, rarified]
adjective
Marked by an uncommon quality; especially superlative or extreme of its kind; "what is so rare as a day in June"-J.R.Lowell; "a rare skill"; "an uncommon sense of humor"; "she was kind to an uncommon degree" [syn: rare, uncommon]
adjective
(of meat) cooked a short time; still red inside; "rare roast beef"

Definition of 'Rare'

From: GCIDE
  • Rare \Rare\ (r[^a]r), a. [Cf. Rather, Rath.] Early. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
  • Rude mechanicals that rare and late Work in the market place. --Chapman. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Rare'

From: GCIDE
  • Rare \Rare\, a. [Compar. Rarer (r[^a]r"[~e]r); superl. Rarest.] [Cf. AS. hr[=e]r, or E. rare early. [root]18.] Nearly raw; partially cooked; not thoroughly cooked; underdone; as, rare beef or mutton. [1913 Webster]
  • New-laid eggs, which Baucis' busy care Turned by a gentle fire, and roasted rare. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
  • Note: This word is in common use in the United States, but in England its synonym underdone is preferred. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Rare'

From: GCIDE
  • Rare \Rare\, a. [Compar. Rarer (r[^a]r"[~e]r); superl. Rarest.] [F., fr. L. rarus thin, rare.]
  • 1. Not frequent; seldom met with or occurring; unusual; as, a rare event. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. Of an uncommon nature; unusually excellent; valuable to a degree seldom found. [1913 Webster]
  • Rare work, all filled with terror and delight. --Cowley. [1913 Webster]
  • Above the rest I judge one beauty rare. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. Thinly scattered; dispersed. [1913 Webster]
  • Those rare and solitary, these in flocks. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. Characterized by wide separation of parts; of loose texture; not thick or dense; thin; as, a rare atmosphere at high elevations. [1913 Webster]
  • Water is nineteen times lighter, and by consequence nineteen times rarer, than gold. --Sir I. Newton. [1913 Webster]
  • Syn: Scarce; infrequent; unusual; uncommon; singular; extraordinary; incomparable.
  • Usage: Rare, Scarce. We call a thing rare when but few examples, specimens, or instances of it are ever to be met with; as, a rare plant. We speak of a thing as scarce, which, though usually abundant, is for the time being to be had only in diminished quantities; as, a bad harvest makes corn scarce. [1913 Webster]
  • A perfect union of wit and judgment is one of the rarest things in the world. --Burke. [1913 Webster]
  • When any particular piece of money grew very scarce, it was often recoined by a succeeding emperor. --Addison. [1913 Webster]

Acronyms for 'RARE'

From: V.E.R.A.
  • Reseaux Associes pour la Recherche Europeenne (org.)

Words containing 'RARE'