2 definitions found
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Rare \Rare\, a. [Compar. {Rarer}; superl. {Rarest}.] [Cf. AS
hr[=e]r, or E. rare early.]
Nearly raw; partially cooked; not thoroughly cooked;
underdone; as rare beef or mutton.
New-laid eggs, which Baucis' busy care Turned by a
gentle fire, and roasted rare --Dryden.
Note: This word is in common use in the United States, but in
England its synonym underdone is preferred.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Rare \Rare\, a. [Compar. {Rarer}; superl. {Rarest}.] [F., fr L.
rarus thin, rare.]
1. Not frequent; seldom met with or occurring; unusual; as a
rare event.
2. Of an uncommon nature; unusually excellent; valuable to a
degree seldom found
Rare work all filled with terror and delight.
--Cowley.
Above the rest I judge one beauty rare --Dryden.
3. Thinly scattered; dispersed.
Those rare and solitary, three in flocks. --Milton.
4. Characterized by wide separation of parts of loose
texture; not thick or dense; thin; as a rare atmosphere
at high elevations.
Water is nineteen times lighter, and by consequence
nineteen times rarer, than gold. --Sir I.
Newton.
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.
A perfect union of wit and judgment is one of
the rarest things in the world. --Burke.
When any particular piece of money grew very
scarce, it was often recoined by a succeeding
emperor. --Addison.
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