Rare
[reə] or [rɛr]
Definition
(adj.) not widely distributed; 'rare herbs'; 'rare patches of green in the desert' .
(adj.) not widely known; especially valued for its uncommonness; 'a rare word'; 'rare books' .
(adj.) (of meat) cooked a short time; still red inside; 'rare roast beef' .
(adj.) recurring only at long intervals; 'a rare appearance'; 'total eclipses are rare events' .
(adj.) 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' .
(adj.) having low density; 'rare gasses'; 'lightheaded from the rarefied mountain air' .
Checked by Debs--From WordNet
Definition
(a.) Early.
(superl.) Nearly raw; partially cooked; not thoroughly cooked; underdone; as, rare beef or mutton.
(superl.) Not frequent; seldom met with or occurring; unusual; as, a rare event.
(superl.) Of an uncommon nature; unusually excellent; valuable to a degree seldom found.
(superl.) Thinly scattered; dispersed.
(superl.) Characterized by wide separation of parts; of loose texture; not thick or dense; thin; as, a rare atmosphere at high elevations.
Typist: Sophie
Synonyms and Synonymous
a. [1]. Thin, subtile, not dense.[2]. Scarce, uncommon, infrequent, unfrequent, singular, extraordinary, strange, out of the way, not common.[3]. Choice, fine, excellent, exquisite, incomparable, inimitable.[4]. Underdone, nearly raw, not well done or well cooked.
Typist: Nadine
Definition
adj. underdone—of meat.
adj. (comp. Rā′rer; superl. Rā′rest) thin: not dense as rarefied atmosphere: sparse: seldom met with: uncommon: excellent: especially good: extraordinary.—ns. Rāre′bit an erroneous form of Welsh-rabbit; Rarefac′tion act of rarefying: expansion of aé››iform bodies.—adj. Rar′efiable capable of being rarefied.—v.t. Rarefy (rar′e-fī or rā′re-fī) to make rare thin or less dense: to expand a body.—v.i. to become less dense:—pa.t. and pa.p. rar′efied.—adv. Rāre′ly seldom: remarkably well.—ns. Rāre′ness tenuity: scarcity; Rarity (rar′i-ti) state of being rare: thinness: subtilty: something valued for its scarcity: uncommonness.
Inputed by Josiah
Examples
- Or I could turn you a rare handle for that crutch-stick, if it belongs to him you call your father. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- He was one of those rare men who are rigid to themselves and indulgent to others. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- His services, with rare exceptions, grow less valuable as he advances in age and nervous strain breaks him down. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- Very rare, yes, Pablo said. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- It was in those days rather a rare accomplishment, and led to her engagement with the orthodox Miss Pinkerton. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- That is something truly rare, the gypsy said. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- These revolutions require a rare combination of personal audacity and social patience. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- Perhaps these are rarer personages than some of us think for. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- It is something much more impersonal and harder--and rarer. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- Of course there is always a great deal of poor work: the rarer things want that soil to grow in. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- But the other drunkard was something rarer still. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- And that, let me tell you, was becoming a treat of the rarest kind in our household. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- My precious thorn roots, the rarest of all firing, that I laid by on purpose for Christmas--you have burnt 'em nearly all! Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- That's the rarest thing that can happen in Spain. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- Everywhere were these noiseless ruddy creatures of fire drifting near the surface of the water, caught at by the rarest, scarce visible reflections. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- It was the rarest spectacle that ever astounded mortal eyes, perhaps. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- One of the rarest of all the intellectual accomplishments that a man can possess is the grand faculty of arranging his ideas. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
Typist: Wanda