in a flash

Idioms

Also,. Quickly, immediately. For example, I'll be with you in a flash, or He said he'd be done in a jiffy, or I'll be off the phone in a second, or I felt a drop or two, and in a trice there was a downpour. The first idiom alludes to a flash of lightning and dates from about 1800. The word jiffy, meaning “a short time,” is of uncertain origin and dates from the late 1700s (as does the idiom using it); a second, literally one-sixtieth of a minute, has been used vaguely to mean “a very short time” since the early 1800s; and trice originally meant “a single pull at something” and has been used figuratively since the 1500s.

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.

Last month — to their surprise and seemingly in a flash — Edwards and his wife’s net worth hit $1 million, with home equity accounting for just one-fourth of it.

From MarketWatch • May 15, 2026

Around 25 outfits will strut the catwalk on Sunday, a moment that "goes by in a flash".

From Barron's • Feb. 18, 2026

Then, in a flash, Spencer's career came to a halt.

From BBC • Dec. 1, 2025

Gross domestic product declined 0.5% in the three months through September, compared with 0.1% growth in the second quarter, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs said in a flash estimate Monday.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 17, 2025

I saw in a flash of lightning the end of the island.

From "The Honest Truth" by Dan Gemeinhart

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023