flashbulb

American  

[flash-buhlb] / ˈflæʃˌbʌlb /

Or flash bulb

noun

Photography.

1. a glass bulb, filled with oxygen and aluminum or zirconium wire or foil, which, when ignited electrically, burns with a brilliant flash to provide momentary illumination of a subject.

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flashbulb British  

/ ˈflæʃˌbʌlb /

noun

1. Also called: photoflash.  photog a small expendable glass light bulb formerly used to produce a bright flash of light Compare electronic flash

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Etymology

Origin of flashbulb

First recorded in 1930–35; flash + bulb

Example Sentences

What’s left is a spectral scene, ghosted by the limitations of old black-and-white photographic technology and further heightened by the uneven glow generated by the camera’s flashbulb.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 22, 2025

Eventually, with all the nominees assembled, the producer and academy governor DeVon Franklin counted down to a flashbulb — pop! — then counted down again as the academy photographer took another picture.

From New York Times • Feb. 13, 2023

For me, it became a flashbulb memory, a reminder that art has the power to not only divert people from their dispirited ruminations but also help them reframe their despairing mind-sets.

From Washington Post • Jan. 21, 2022

Its mother, the single-use luminescent flashbulb, resembled a domestic light bulb and would project shattered glass as well as light.

From Slate • Dec. 21, 2021

The sergeant tossed the last flashbulb into a trash can and clamped his hand on Patrolman Mancuso’s vertical shoulder.

From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole