Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. to spend extravagantly.

1784

J. O’Keeffe Fontainebleau in Dramatic Works (1798) II 248: I can’t fee any disgrace in [...] spunging upon my customers, and flaming it away in their old cloaths.

2. (US) to shoot a weapon.

1847

Somerset Herald 13 July 1/1: I cocks the old musket [...] I lays my finger on the trigger [...] I flames away.

3. to rant in an unacceptable manner, esp. to insult a specific individual, via a communications network, e.g. the Internet.

1949		R. Park Poor Man’s Orange 6: Mumma’s love retreated like a turtle into its shell. She flamed, ‘That’s right! Spend the night boozing instead of letting people know I’ve got a husband.’.
1991		(ref. to 1970s) E. Raymond New Hacker’s Dict. 158: Marc Ramsey, who was at WPI from 1972 to 1976, adds: ‘I am 99% certain that the use of flame originated at WPI. Those who made a nuisance of themselves insisting that they needed to use a TTY for “real work” came to be known as flaming asshole lusers. Other particularly annoying people became flaming asshole ravers, which shortened to flaming ravers, and ultimately flamers.’.
1997–2000		Da Bomb 🌐 11: Flamed: Yelled at; criticized (taken from computer lingo).
2001		Observer (London) 20 May 5/6: Many women in the mid-Nineties were put off the Internet [...] they would also go into chat rooms and get insulted — or flamed.

4. to talk nonsense about an otherwise interesting subject.

1967–8

Baker et al. CUSS 118: Flame To be obnoxiously loud esp. while under the influence of alcohol.

5. (US campus) to be sexually aroused, to flirt, esp. when drunk.

1967–8		Baker et al. CUSS.
1969		Current Sl. III:4 5: Flame, v. To become extremely affectionate, especially under the influence of alcohol (usually applied to women).

6. to exaggerate, to bore.

1967–8

Baker et al. CUSS 117: Flame Go wild.