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:
Armed with a helmet and a flashlight, Hernan Giraldo had no intention of giving up on his son.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
They have complicated relationships, but there’s nothing better for ironing things out than creeping together through dark tunnels by flashlight, hoping that nothing jumps out at you, engaging in weightless banter as you go.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 21, 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
I’ve tried blinking my flashlight at Owen at our old meet-up time a few nights.
From "Wayward Creatures" by Dayna Lorentz
Ultraviolet flashlights attracted only a small number of isopods and never triggered the swirling formations.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 6, 2026
By Thursday morning, residents were lining up to buy first-aid kits, flashlights, solar chargers, duct tape and tents to drop off at donation sites that sprang up across a community known as “Doralzuela.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 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
A stray orange cat; a séance in a hostel; a “nearsighted galoot” who decodes cryptic messages from Radio Pyongyang; flashlights that aren’t just flashlights — these bread crumbs guide us to the novel’s denouement.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2025
It was so dark I couldn’t see two feet in front of us, but Annabeth and I had restocked on flashlights.
From "The Battle of the Labyrinth" by Rick Riordan
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.
