flashlight
Americannoun
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flashlights
plural
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especially British, torch. a small, portable electric lamp powered by dry batteries, LEDs, or a tiny generator.
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a light that flashes, such as a lighthouse beacon.
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any source of artificial light as used in flash photography.
noun
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Also called (in Britain and certain other countries): torch. a small portable electric lamp powered by one or more dry batteries
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Sometimes shortened to: flash. photog the brief bright light emitted by an electronic flash unit
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a light that flashes, used for signalling, in a lighthouse, etc
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of flashlight
Explanation
A flashlight is a light that's small enough to hold in your hand and carry around. When you're camping, it's useful to bring a flashlight so you can find your sleeping bag in the dark tent. Most flashlights are powered with batteries, although some of them can be charged in the sun and use the stored solar energy for power. All flashlights are portable, basically small lamps that fit easily in your hand, your pocket, or your backpack. In Britain, a flashlight is often called a torch. The earliest versions of flashlights were invented around 1899.
Vocabulary lists containing flashlight
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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.
See Examples For:
The rescuers formed a human chain in the pitch black, using only a small flashlight.
From Barron's ● Jul. 4, 2026
It was infested with so many scorpions that anyone entering the bathroom at night carried a flashlight.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026
But the case was a small flashlight that cast a wide beam, revealing how the insurance industry views its own business and you, the customer.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 20, 2026
In experiments using mice, Edwards showed that this cancer detecting "flashlight" clearly illuminated tumors that produced EphA2.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 16, 2026
A flashlight clicked, and a yellow circle with the shadow of my body inside it appeared on the other side of the fence.
From "The Light in Hidden Places" by Sharon Cameron
County schools had to be issued flashlights to help children on their way to school.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
Ultraviolet flashlights attracted only a small number of isopods and never triggered the swirling formations.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 6, 2026
Visibility became limited to the area illuminated by their flashlights.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
Pensioner Neonila said Ukrainians had "adapted" to the power outages, living by candlelight and with flashlights on their phones.
From Barron's ● Dec. 31, 2025
All night long, armorers loaded bombs by the faint beams of flashlights.
From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein
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.
