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View synonyms for flash

flash

1

[ flash ]

noun

  1. a brief, sudden burst of bright light:

    The sky lit up with a flash of lightning.

    Synonyms: glare, gleam, flare

  2. a sudden, brief outburst or display of joy, wit, etc.:

    Her brilliant eye for detail and quiet flashes of humor make the book a joy to read.

  3. a very brief moment; instant:

    I'll be back in a flash.

    Synonyms: wink, twinkling

  4. Journalism. news flash ( def ).
  5. Photography.
    1. bright artificial light thrown briefly upon a subject during an exposure.
  6. the sudden flame or intense heat produced by a bomb or other explosive device.
  7. a sudden thought, insight, inspiration, or vision:

    I smelled the sea breeze and had a flash of my childhood summers at the beach.

  8. a showy or ostentatious display.
  9. Metallurgy.
    1. a ridge of metal left on a casting by a seam between parts of the mold.
    2. a ridge formed at the edge of a forging or weld where excess metal has been squeezed out.
  10. Poker. a hand containing all five suits in a game played with a five-suit pack.
    1. a device, such as a lock or sluice, for confining and releasing water to send a boat down a shallow stream.
    2. the rush of water thus produced.
  11. Obsolete. the cant or jargon of thieves, vagabonds, etc.


verb (used without object)

  1. to break forth into sudden flame or light, especially transiently or intermittently:

    We saw a buoy flashing in the distance.

  2. to gleam:

    The car's chrome bumpers flashed in the sun.

    Synonyms: scintillate

  3. to burst suddenly into view or perception:

    The answer flashed into his mind.

  4. to move very suddenly and quickly.
  5. to speak or behave with sudden anger, outrage, or the like (often followed by out ):

    to flash out at a stupid remark.

  6. to break into sudden action.
  7. Slang. to open one's clothes and expose the genitals suddenly, and usually briefly, in public.
  8. Slang. to experience the intense effects of a narcotic or stimulant drug.
  9. to dash or splash, as the sea or waves.
  10. Archaic. to make a flash or sudden display.

verb (used with object)

  1. to emit or send forth (fire or light) in sudden bursts.
  2. to cause to emit or reflect light:

    There was a driver tailgating them who kept flashing his high beams and honking his horn.

    A beekeeper I knew used to flash a mirror at his hive to help settle them.

  3. to communicate instantly:

    The airline flashed the updated flight time on the overhead display.

  4. to make an ostentatious display of:

    He's forever flashing a large roll of bills.

  5. to display suddenly and briefly:

    She flashed her ID card at the guard.

  6. to change (water) instantly into steam by pouring or directing onto a hot surface.
  7. to increase the flow of water in (a river, channel, etc.).
  8. Glassmaking and Ceramics.
    1. to coat (plain glass or a glass or ceramic object) with a layer of colored, opalescent, or white glass.
    2. to apply (such a layer).
    3. to color or make (glass) opaque by reheating.
  9. Building Trades. to protect from leakage with flashing.
  10. Computers.
    1. to write a program, file, etc. to the part of (a device's) memory that is reprogrammable and retains information even with the power turned off:

      If you're still having problems, you can flash the router.

    2. to write (a program, file, etc.) to the part of a device's memory that is reprogrammable and retains information even with the power turned off:

      I flashed the device's firmware using the latest version available.

  11. Cards. to expose (a card) in the process of dealing.
  12. Archaic. to dash or splash (water).

adjective

  1. happening suddenly and usually lasting a short time:

    a flash storm.

  2. very brief, fast, or short: flash poetry and fiction.

    flash freezing of vegetables;

    flash poetry and fiction.

  3. Computers. relating to or using a type of reprogrammable memory that retains information even with the power turned off:

    a flash drive.

  4. showy or ostentatious.

    Synonyms: ostentatious, pretentious, tawdry, gaudy, flashy

  5. caused by or used as protection against flash from an explosive device:

    flash injuries; flash clothing.

  6. counterfeit or sham.

    Synonyms: fake, false

  7. Obsolete. belonging to or connected with thieves, vagabonds, etc., or their cant or jargon.

FLASH

2

[ flash ]

noun

  1. a precedence code for handling messages about initial enemy contact or operational combat messages of extreme urgency within the U.S. military.

flash

/ flæʃ /

noun

  1. a sudden short blaze of intense light or flame

    a flash of sunlight

  2. a sudden occurrence or display, esp one suggestive of brilliance

    a flash of understanding

  3. a very brief space of time

    over in a flash

  4. an ostentatious display

    a flash of her diamonds

  5. Also callednewsflash a short news announcement concerning a new event
  6. Also calledpatch an insignia or emblem worn on a uniform, vehicle, etc, to identify its military formation
  7. a patch of bright colour on a dark background, such as light marking on an animal
  8. a volatile mixture of inorganic salts used to produce a glaze on bricks or tiles
    1. a sudden rush of water down a river or watercourse
    2. a device, such as a sluice, for producing such a rush
  9. informal.
    photog short for flashlight flash photography
  10. a ridge of thin metal or plastic formed on a moulded object by the extrusion of excess material between dies
  11. dialect.
    a pond, esp one produced as a consequence of subsidence
  12. modifier involving, using, or produced by a flash of heat, light, etc

    flash blindness

    flash distillation

  13. flash in the pan
    a project, person, etc, that enjoys only short-lived success, notoriety, 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

adjective

  1. informal.
    ostentatious or vulgar
  2. informal.
    of or relating to gamblers and followers of boxing and racing
  3. sham or counterfeit
  4. informal.
    relating to or characteristic of the criminal underworld
  5. brief and rapid

    flash freezing

“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

verb

  1. to burst or cause to burst suddenly or intermittently into flame
  2. to emit or reflect or cause to emit or reflect light suddenly or intermittently
  3. intr to move very fast

    he flashed by on his bicycle

  4. intr to come rapidly (into the mind or vision)
  5. intr; foll by out or up to appear like a sudden light

    his anger really flashes out at times

    1. to signal or communicate very fast

      to flash a message

    2. to signal by use of a light, such as car headlights
  6. informal.
    tr to display ostentatiously

    to flash money around

  7. informal.
    tr to show suddenly and briefly
  8. slang.
    intr to expose oneself indecently
  9. tr to cover (a roof) with flashing
  10. to send a sudden rush of water down (a river, etc), or to carry (a vessel) down by this method
  11. (in the making of glass) to coat (glass) with a thin layer of glass of a different colour
  12. tr to subject to a brief pulse of heat or radiation
  13. tr to change (a liquid) to a gas by causing it to hit a hot surface
  14. obsolete.
    to splash or dash (water)
“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
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Other Words From

  • flash·ing·ly adverb
  • out·flash verb (used with object)
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Word History and Origins

Origin of flash1

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English flasshen “to sprinkle, splash,” earlier flask(i)en; probably phonesthemic in origin; compare similar expressive words with fl- and -sh
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Word History and Origins

Origin of flash1

C14 (in the sense: to rush, as of water): of unknown origin
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Idioms and Phrases

Idioms
  1. flash in the pan,
    1. a brief, intense effort that produces no significant result.
    2. a person or thing that enjoys short-lived success.
  2. flash on, Slang.
    1. to have a sudden thought, insight, or inspiration about.
    2. to have a sudden, vivid memory or mental picture of:

      I just flashed on that day we spent at the lake.

    3. to feel an instantaneous understanding and appreciation of.

More idioms and phrases containing flash

In addition to the idiom beginning with flash , also see in a flash ; quick as a wink (flash) .
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Synonym Study

Flash, glance, glint, glitter mean to send forth a sudden gleam (or gleams) of bright light. To flash is to send forth light with a sudden, transient brilliancy: A shooting star flashed briefly. To glance is to emit a brilliant flash of light as a reflection from a smooth surface: Sunlight glanced from the glass windshield. Glint suggests a hard bright gleam of reflected light, as from something polished or burnished: Light glints from silver or from burnished copper. To glitter is to reflect intermittent flashes of light from a hard surface: Ice glitters in the moonlight.
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Example Sentences

While he has signed dozens of bills firming up abortion access in recent years, some of his plans have proved to be more flash than substance.

An audience clapping in rhythm, fireflies flashing in unison, or flocks of starlings moving as one -- synchronisation is a natural phenomenon observed across diverse systems and scales.

Some are just young boys who flash cheeky grins.

From BBC

After the clinching interception, James made sure no one could forget the performance as he unbuckled his helmet, leaned in close to the cameras in the end zone and flashed a bedazzled smile.

He said one of the moments that really caught the audience's attention was when cameras panned to each band member, flashing their names on the screen.

From BBC

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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.

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