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Synonyms

flashing

American  
[flash-ing] / ˈflæʃ ɪŋ /

noun

  1. Building Trades. pieces of sheet metal or the like used to cover and protect certain joints and angles, as where a roof comes in contact with a wall or chimney, especially against leakage.

  2. the act of creating an artificial flood in a conduit or stream, as in a sewer for cleansing it.

  3. Photography, Movies. the process of increasing film speed by exposing undeveloped film briefly to a weak light source before using it or of exposing photographic printing paper to reduce contrast.

flashing British  
/ ˈflæʃɪŋ /

noun

  1. a weatherproof material, esp thin sheet metal, used to cover the valleys between the slopes of a roof, the junction between a chimney and a roof, etc

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of flashing

First recorded in 1775–85; flash + -ing 1

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.

Flashing ahead several centuries, Scarlet pictures a carefree version of herself dancing with Hijiri at an open-air urban party and asks, “Could I have been a different person?”

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 11, 2025

Flashing lights were put in trees, bushes and on roof tops, while car tyres were repurposed as flower pots and painted bright colours.

From BBC • Oct. 23, 2024

Flashing his club as a sword, he targeted the hole as the bull and completed the routine by wiping the imagined blood off the blade and returning it to an invisible scabbard with a flourish.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 9, 2024

From an alternate dimension he comes to be instructed in the ins and outs of Flashing from his later self.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 12, 2023

“O Great Illapa, Flashing One, hear us!” the Villac Uma boomed suddenly.

From "The Ugly One" by Leanne Statland Ellis

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.