flashback

American  

[flash-bak] / ˈflæʃˌbæk /

noun

1. a device in the narrative of a motion picture, novel, etc., by which an event or scene taking place before the present time in the narrative is inserted into the chronological structure of the work.

2. an event or scene so inserted.

3. Also called flashback hallucinosis.  Psychiatry.

   1. the spontaneous recurrence of visual hallucinations or other effects of a drug, as LSD, long after the use of the drug has been discontinued.

   2. recurrent and abnormally vivid recollection of a traumatic experience, as a battle, sometimes accompanied by hallucinations.

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flashback British  

/ ˈflæʃˌbæk /

noun

1. a transition in a novel, film, etc, to an earlier scene or event

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verb

1. (intr, adverb) to return in a novel, film, etc, to a past event

Usage

What does flashback mean? A flashback is a technique in movies, novels, and other narratives in which the present story transitions into a scene from the past.When used as a verb, the term is usually spelled as two words, as in My favorite part of the book is when it flashes back to their childhood. The opposite of a flashback is a flash-forward—when the narrative transitions into a scene from the future.Flashback is also used in psychology to refer to recollections or hallucinations of past events.Example: The flashback scene showed how they got their superpowers.

Etymology

Origin of flashback

1910–15; 1965–70 flashback for def. 3; noun use of verb phrase flash back

Example Sentences

Or was it a flashback to his old self?

From BBC

"I feel bad seeing those images. It gives me flashbacks. That could have been me," she says.

From BBC

We learn all of this via flashbacks interspersed throughout the present-day trials of Dr. Grace after he wakes up, clueless, on a spaceship extremely far from home.

From The Wall Street Journal

The script’s two mysteries — why is Tau Ceti safe and why is Grace not — intertwine in flashbacks that are interesting enough for a while.

From Los Angeles Times

From what we see of Scotty in flashbacks, he was a buoyant blond goofball — exactly the kind of guy that the apparently friendless and family-less Kenna would have clung to like a life preserver.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• hallucination
• memory
• recollection