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]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
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]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
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.
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Above the rest I judge one beauty rare. --Dryden.
[1913 Webster]
3. Thinly scattered; dispersed.
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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]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
rare
adj 1: not widely known; especially valued for its uncommonness; "a
rare word"; "rare books"
2: recurring only at long intervals; "a rare appearance";
"total eclipses are rare events"
3: not widely distributed; "rare herbs"; "rare patches of gree
in the desert"
4: 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: uncommon]
5: having low density; "rare gasses"; "lightheaded from the
rarefied mountain air" [syn: rarefied, rarified]
6: (of meat) cooked a short time; still red inside; "rare roast
beef"
WordNet (r) 2.0
235 Moby Thesaurus words for "rare":
a cut above, above, admirable, adulterated, ahead, airy,
almost unheard-of, another, ascendant, at a premium, attenuate,
attenuated, atypical, beguiling, better, bewildering, boyish,
breakaway, capping, celebrated, cheeseparing, chinchy, chintzy,
choice, chosen, collectable, conspicuous, crude, cut, dainty,
delicate, diaphanous, dilute, diluted, distinguished, eclipsing,
elegant, else, eminent, enigmatic, esteemed, estimable, ethereal,
exceeding, excellent, excelling, exceptional, exiguous, exquisite,
extraordinary, fabulous, fallen, fantastic, fascinating, few, fine,
fine-drawn, finer, finespun, first-class, first-rate, flimsy,
frail, gaseous, gauzy, girlish, good, gossamer, gracile, greater,
higher, in ascendancy, in short supply, in the ascendant,
incomparable, incomprehensible, inconceivable, incredible,
infrequent, insubstantial, lacy, light, limited, major, marked,
marvelous, matchless, meager, memorable, miraculous, miserly,
misty, niggardly, noble, not done, not that sort, not the same,
not the type, notable, noteworthy, occasional, of a sort,
of another sort, of choice, of mark, of sorts, offbeat, one up on,
other, other than, otherwise, out of print, out of season,
out of stock, outlandish, outstanding, over, papery,
passing strange, peculiar, peerless, phenomenal, piddling, poor,
prestigious, prodigious, prominent, puzzling, rarefied, raw,
recherche, red, remarkable, rememberable, reputable, rivaling,
saignant, salient, scant, scanty, scarce, scattered, scrimping,
scrimpy, seldom, seldom met with, seldom seen, select, sensational,
signal, singular, skimping, skimpy, slender, slenderish, slight,
slight-made, slim, slimmish, slinky, slow, small, sodden, sparse,
special, sporadic, spotty, sprinkled, stingy, strange, striking,
stupendous, subtile, subtle, sui generis, super, superior,
superlative, surpassing, svelte, sylphlike, telling, tenuous, thin,
thin-bodied, thin-set, thin-spun, thinned, thinned-out, thinnish,
threadlike, tight, topping, transcendent, transcendental,
transcending, unbaked, unboiled, uncommon, uncompact, uncompressed,
uncooked, uncustomary, undercooked, underdone, undreamed-of,
unexpected, unfamiliar, unforgettable, unfrequent, unheard-of,
unimaginable, unique, unordinary, unparalleled, unprecedented,
unsubstantial, unthinkable, unthought-of, unusual, unwonted, upper,
vague, vaporous, wasp-waisted, watered, watered-down, watery, weak,
willowy, windy, wiredrawn, wispy, wonderful, wondrous
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
RARE
Reseaux Associes pour la Recherche Europeenne (org.)
Virtual Entity of Relevant Acronyms (Version 1.9, June 2002)
RARE
Reseaux Associes pour la Recherche Europeenne
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03)
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