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flash Definition

flash (flas̸h)

intransitive verb

  1. to send out or reflect a sudden, brief blaze or light, esp. at intervals
  2. to sparkle or gleam eyes flashing with anger
  3. to speak abruptly, esp. in anger: usually with out
  4. to come, move, or pass swiftly and suddenly; be seen or realized for an instant like a flash of light an idea flashed through his mind
  5. Informal to expose one's genitals, breasts, etc. briefly and deliberately in public
  6. Informal to have a sudden idea, thought, insight, or recollection: usually with on

Etymology: ME flashen, to splash, sprinkle; of echoic orig.

transitive verb

  1. to send out (light, etc.) in sudden, brief spurts
  2. to cause to flash
  3. to signal with light or reflected light
  4. to send (news, messages, etc.) swiftly or suddenly, as by radio
  5. to put flashing on so as to make weatherproof
  6. Informal to show briefly or ostentatiously to flash a roll of money
  7. Informal to expose (one's genitals, breasts, etc.) briefly and deliberately to (someone)
  8. Archaic to splash or dash (water)
  9. Glassmaking
    1. to put (a colored film of glass) on other glass
    2. to coat with a colored film of glass

noun

    1. a sudden, brief light
    2. a sudden burst of flame or heat
  2. a brief time; moment
  3. a sudden, brief display of thought, understanding, feeling, etc. a flash of wit
  4. ☆ a brief news report of something that has just happened
  5. a gaudy display; showiness
  6. a preparation containing burnt sugar, used for coloring liquors
  7. anything that flashes; specif., an electric light source that gives a brief dazzling light for taking photographs
  8. Informal
    1. a flashlight
    2. a person very quick or adept at something

adjective

  1. Chiefly Brit., Informal
    1. flashy; showy; sporty
    2. of thieves or other social outcasts
  2. that flashes; happening swiftly or suddenly a flash warning
  3. working with a coordinated flash of light a flash camera
  4. Comput. designating or of an erasable memory device that retains stored data when power is turned off

flash Idioms

flash in the pan

Etymology: orig. of ineffectual flash of powder in a pan of a flintlock

a person, effort, etc. that is successful or famous for only a short time

flash Synonyms

flash

n.

  1. Sudden, brief light

    glimmer, sparkle, glitter, glisten, scintillation, gleam, glance, beam, coruscation, blaze, flicker, flare, flame, glare, burst, impulse, vision, imprint, display, dazzle, shimmer, shine, glow, twinkle, twinkling, phosphorescence, reflection, bedazzlement, radiation, ray, luster, spark, streak, pencil, stream, illumination, incandescence.

  2. Brief, important news

    bulletin, dispatch, report; see news 1, 2.

flash implies a sudden, brief, brilliant light; glance refers to a darting light, esp. one that is reflected from a surface at an angle; gleam suggests a steady, narrow ray of light shining through a background of relative darkness; sparkle implies a number of brief, bright, intermittent flashes; glitter implies the reflection of such bright, intermittent flashes; glisten suggests the reflection of a lustrous light, as from a wet surface; shimmer refers to a soft, tremulous reflection, as from a slightly disturbed body of water

flash Synonyms

flash

v.

  1. To give forth a light by flashing

    glimmer, sparkle, glitter, glisten, scintillate, gleam, beam, coruscate, blaze, flame, flare, glare, dazzle, shimmer, shine, glow, twinkle, blink, phosphoresce, reflect, bedazzle, radiate, shoot out beams, shed luster, flicker, glance; see also shine 1, 2.

  2. To move with the speed of a flash

    speed, flit, shoot, fly; see run 2, speed.

flash Usage Examples

Object

  • beacon: This warning device is a flashing beacon placed at the beginning and half-way points of each mile of the protected roadway.
  • led: It warns by simply beeping and flashing colored LED 's.
  • leds: These have to be continuous lights; flashing LEDs are not technically enough.
  • light: We do not use flashing lights - we do not play chart music.

Adjective modifier

  • built-in: With a built-in flash on the body, you'll now only need your camcorder for shooting still or moving pictures under and conditions.
  • pop-up: This, combined with a new automatic pop-up flash, means that youâll never miss out on the action.

Modifies a noun

  • flood: They had flash floods in Spain in high summer which is unheard of.
  • animation: I didn't even mind the flash animation at the start - in fact, I was just blown away by the pictures.
  • flooding: Flash flooding can occur, with a dry river bed becoming a raging torrent in a few minutes.
  • memory: The latest flash memory drives allow for more than you can possibly imagine.
  • intro: Most ppl go for a flash intro for initial impact, using html for main ( static ) content.
  • photolysis: At the time of this paper I was studying the spectroscopy of photofragments generated by broad band flash photolysis.

Noun used with modifier

  • blinding: In a blinding flash, one idea comes into both our heads: is it part of Jacqui's Iron Age hillfort?
  • lightning: A " Skylark " badge was carried on the tail; a green ' lightning flash ' was added to the fuselage sides.
  • fill-in: Daylight fill-in flash Avoid losing your subject in a shadow when there is a strong light in the background.

Preposition: in

  • pan: Well, the snow was a bit of a flash in the pan, wasn't it?

Preposition: of

  • lightning: An innocent and good man stands under a tree and is killed by a flash of lightning.
  • brilliance: A flash of brilliance won the game for the Reds.
  • inspiration: We also weren't going to create a divine flash of TV inspiration that would change society.
  • incandescence: Suddenly it was tipped with a blue flash of incandescence.
flash Quotes

It came by a lightning flash like knowledge from the gods.

—Wilson, Edward O(sborne)

We will watch the sun set againömany times, and perhaps we'll see the Emerald Drop, the green flash that brings good fortune.

—Rhys,Jean pseudonym of  Ellen Gwendolen Rees Williams

A little while and I will be gone from among you, whither I cannot tell. From nowhere we came, into nowhere we go.What is Life? It is a flash of a firefly in the night. It is a breath of a buffalo in the winter time. It is as the little shadow that runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset.

—Haggard, Sir (Henry) Rider

Mirth is short and transient, cheerfulness fixed and permanent† Mirth is like a flash of lightning that breaks through a gloom of clouds, and glitters for a moment: cheerfulness keeps up a kind of day-light in the mind, and fills it with a steady and perpetual serenity.

—Addison,Joseph

Roughly speaking it was the sensation of being at the centre of an explosion† I fancy you would feel much the same if you were struck by lightning. I knew immediately that I was hit, but because of that seeming bang and flash, I thought it was a rifle nearby that had gone off accidentallyand shot me.

—Orwell, George pseudonym of  Eric Arthur Blair