1859 T. J. Gullick & J. Timbs Painting 204 The vehicles of the oil painter subject him to innumerable perplexities by their bad drying, change of colour, cracking, and blooming.

1879 Cassell's Techn. Educator (new ed.) IV. 222/2 Spotting, blooming, pinholing.

1940 D. G. Fink Princ. Television Engin. iii. 72 The brightness contrast is limited by halation and saturation of the luminescent screen and by the defocusing effect (‘blooming’) associated with the electron gun when large signals are impressed upon it.

1945 N. M. Cooke Electronics Dict. 37/2 Blooming, a fuzzy effect in a reproduced television picture.

1943 A. Cox Optics 267 In the cases of some older lenses which had acquired a bloom on their surfaces with the passing of time the amount of reflection was cut down at each of these surfaces. But the blooming could not be produced regularly as a practical proposition.

1944 Photogr. Jrnl. 83 225/2 It is on account of this colour that the process is often called ‘blooming’.

1957 T. L. J. Bentley Man. Miniature Camera (ed. 5) v. 59 The ‘blooming’ treatment gives to the surface of new lenses an even purple coating by deposition of magnesium fluoride, to a minute and finely adjusted thickness.

1812 H. Davy Elements Chem. Philos. 392 In the process for reducing cast iron into malleable iron called blooming.

1869 Spons' Dict. Engin. I. 367 The blooming machine, invented by Jeremiah Brown..consists of three large eccentric rolls..placed horizontally in the strong holsters.., the centres of the rolls being arranged in a triangular position, and the bottom roll..being nearly central between the two top rolls.

1873 Trans. Amer. Inst. Mining Engineers 1871–3 1 203 This first reduction or blooming is usually done in this country in a 30-inch 3-high rolling mill.

1884 Imp. & Mach. Rev. 1 Dec. 6719/2 Adjacent to this..the roughing mill, together with a..blooming mill.

1888 Lockwood's Dict. Mech. Engin. Blooming Rolls, see Puddling Rolls... Puddling Rolls, or Forge Train, the first set of rolls through which a shingled bloom is passed.

1664 J. Evelyn Kalendarium Hortense 76 in Sylva Old unthriving, or over hasty blooming trees.

1728 J. Thomson Spring 2 When Nature all Is blooming, and benevolent.

1866 ‘G. Eliot’ Felix Holt I. Introd. 6 Pots full of blooming balsams or geraniums.

1587 G. Turberville Tragicall Tales f. 142^v By meanes of heate mixt with the blomúng raine.

1882 Macmillan's Mag. 46 441 Oh, you blooming idiot!

1885 Scotsman 20 Aug. 5/4 You asks me no bloomin' imper'int questions, an' I tells yer no bloomin' lies.

1713 J. Watson in tr. J. de La Caille Hist. Art of Printing Pref. 9 Curiously cut Head-Pieces, Finis's, Blooming-Letters [etc.].

1785 W. Herbert Typogr. Antiq. 527 The chronicle of each reign begins with a blooming letter.

1902 Sayle Init. Lett. Early Eng. Printed Bks. in Trans. Bibliogr. Soc. 7 18 The bloomers or blooming initials as Herbert calls them.

1831 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 29 809 As bloomingly beautiful as at the time of her marriage.

1859 G. Meredith Song of Courtesy in Once a Wk. 9 July I. 30 ‘Shall I live bloomingly?’ Said she.

1847 J. Craig New Universal Dict. Bloomingness.