flashover
Americannoun
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Electricity. a disruptive discharge around or over the surface of a solid or liquid insulator.
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the moment of conflagration or complete incineration caused by superheated air or combustibles.
verb (used without object)
noun
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an electric discharge over or around the surface of an insulator
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the sudden and rapid spread of fire through the air, caused by the ignition of smoke or fumes from surrounding objects
Etymology
Origin of flashover
First recorded in 1890–95; originally noun use of verb phrase flash over
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
If investigators confirm the early reports of an apparent flashover, a lack of sprinklers and a difficult, single point of egress, Crans-Montana will join a grim list of fires that were foreseeable.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 4, 2026
According to Michael Klippel, a fire safety expert at ETH Zurich University, "survival after flashover is very unlikely".
From BBC • Jan. 2, 2026
Getting hotter, it soon reaches 1,128 degrees, and carbon monoxide in the smoke combusts — a flashover — propelling flames further.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 5, 2023
And the video footage appeared to show "flashover," when every combustible thing in an area is burning, he said.
From Fox News • Feb. 16, 2019
His research, looking at the impact of electrical current on sheep, is frequently credited with demonstrating how lightning’s flashover current can still inflict damage within the body.
From The Guardian • Jul. 13, 2017
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
