flash

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English[edit]

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Etymology[edit]

From the Middle English word flashen (“to splash”), a variant of flasken, which was likely of imitative origin.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • Audio (US)
    		(file)
  • Rhymes: -æʃ
  • Hyphenation: flash

Verb[edit]

flash (third-person singular simple present flashes, present participle flashing, simple past and past participle flashed)

  1. To briefly illuminate a scene.
    He flashed the light at the water, trying to see what made the noise.
  2. To blink; to shine or illuminate intermittently.
    • 1907, Robert W. Chambers, chapter 5, The Younger Set[1]:
      Breezes blowing from beds of iris quickened her breath with their perfume ; […] ; she saw a crimson cardinal winging through the foliage, and amorous tanagers flashing like scarlet flames athwart the pines.
    The light flashed on and off.
  3. To be visible briefly.
    • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 5, The Mirror and the Lamp:
      Here, in the transept and choir, where the service was being held, one was conscious every moment of an increasing brightness; colours glowing vividly beneath the circular chandeliers, and the rows of small lights on the choristers' desks flashed and sparkled in front of the boys' faces, deep linen collars, and red neckbands.
    The scenery flashed by quickly.
  4. To make visible briefly.
    A number will be flashed on the screen.
  5. To flaunt; to display in a showy manner.
    He flashed a wad of hundred-dollar bills.
  6. To communicate quickly.
    The news services flashed the news about the end of the war to all corners of the globe.
  7. (computing) To write to the memory of an updatable component such as a BIOS chip or games cartridge.
  8. (transitive, intransitive, informal) To expose one's naked body or underwear, or part of it, in public briefly.
  9. (metallurgy) To release the pressure from a pressurized vessel.
  10. (juggling) To perform a flash.
  11. To move, or cause to move, suddenly
    • 2011 January 11, Jonathan Stevenson, “West Ham 2 - 1 Birmingham”, BBC:
      But they survived some real pressure as David Murphy flashed a header inches wide of Rob Green's right-hand post […].

Synonyms[edit]

  • (to briefly illuminate): glint

Derived terms[edit]

Related terms[edit]

See also[edit]

Translations[edit]

to briefly illuminate a scene
to blink
to be visible briefly
to make visible briefly
to display showily
to expose one's naked body briefly in public

Noun[edit]

flash (plural flashes)

  1. A sudden, short, temporary burst of light.
  2. (linguistics) A language, created by a minority to maintain cultural identity, that cannot be understood by the ruling class; for example, Ebonics.
  3. A very short amount of time.
    • 1876, Mark Twain, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,
      Quick—something must be done! done in a flash, too! But the very imminence of the emergency paralyzed his invention.
    • 2011, Phil McNulty, Euro 2012: Montenegro 2-2 England [2]
      Fabio Capello insisted Rooney was in the right frame of mind to play in stormy Podgorica despite his father's arrest on Thursday in a probe into alleged betting irregularities, but his flash of temper - when he kicked out at Miodrag Dzudovic - suggested otherwise.
  4. Material left around the edge of a moulded part at the parting line of the mould.
  5. (Cockney) The strips of bright cloth or buttons worn around the collars of market traders.
  6. (US, colloquial) A flashlight or electric torch.
    • 1939, Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep, Penguin 2011, p. 34:
      I reached a flash out of my car pocket and went down-grade and looked at the car.
  7. (juggling) A pattern where each prop is thrown and caught only once.
  8. (Can we verify(+) this sense?) (sciences) The sum total of all the complex processes of a single lightning event, including both what is invisible and what is visible or discernible to the human eye.
    Lightning is often used synonymously, both separately or in conjunction making it redundant or confusing.
    Saying "A lightning flash..." translates two ways;
    "A lightning [lightning]..." or
    "A lightning [observational property meaning bright and momentary]..."

Synonyms[edit]

  • (sudden, short, temporary burst of light): gleam, glint
  • (material left around the egde of a mould): moulding flash, molding flash

Antonyms[edit]

  • (very short amount of time): aeon

Hypernyms[edit]

  • (sudden, short, temporary burst of light): light

Derived terms[edit]

See also[edit]

Translations[edit]

burst of light
linguistics: language created by a repressed minority
very short amount of time
material left around the edge of a moulded part
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

Adjective[edit]

flash (comparative more flash, superlative most flash)

  1. (UK and New Zealand, slang) Expensive-looking and demanding attention; stylish; showy.
  2. (UK, of a person) Having plenty of ready money.
  3. (UK, of a person) Liable to show off expensive possessions or money.
  4. (US, slang) Occurring very rapidly, almost instantaneously.

Translations[edit]

expensive looking and attention worthy

References[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From English

Noun[edit]

flash m (plural flashs)

  1. flash (burst of light)
  2. (photography) flash
  3. newsflash
  4. (juggling) flash

Derived terms[edit]

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