helium flash

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noun

astronomy the explosive burning of helium in the case of a star of low mass that occurs when the core is so dense that the matter has become degenerate. The burning causes a rapid rise in temperature until it is so high that the gas ceases to be degenerate, after which there is a rapid expansion

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QUIZ YOURSELF ON PARENTHESES AND BRACKETS APLENTY!

Set some time apart to test your bracket symbol knowledge, and see if you can keep your parentheses, squares, curlies, and angles all straight!

Question 1 of 7

Let’s start with some etymology: What are the origins of the typographical word “bracket”?

First appeared around 1750, and is related to the French word “braguette” for the name of codpiece armor.

First appeared in 1610, based on the French word “baguette” for the long loaf of bread.

First appeared in 1555, and is related to the French word “raquette” for a netted bat.

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Words nearby helium flash

helipad, heliport, heliskiing, helistop, helium, helium flash, helium I, helium II, helix, hell, hella

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

Example sentences from the Web for helium flash

The idea that January 1st initiates a period of new beginning is not a flash of Hallmark brilliance.
New Year’s Eve, Babylon Style|Candida Moss|December 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Afterward, you can actually see her young career flash before her eyes as she makes a kind of puffed up blowfish face.
The Curious Little Shell That Restarted Jenny Slate’s Career|Luke Hopping|December 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In a flash he deflects the shot, with the speed of instinct, right past the goalkeeper.
Is Soccer Great Lionel Messi Corrupt?|Jack Holmes|December 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Cops launched a flash grenade through the window and officer Joseph Weekley fired, fatally striking Stanley-Jones.
Worse Than Eric Garner: Cops Who Got Away With Killing Autistic Men and Little Girls|Emily Shire|December 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST

The grasp on the sabre would tighten; the quiet eyes would flash.
Stonewall Jackson, VMI’s Most Embattled Professor|S. C. Gwynne|November 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The vision—it had been an instantaneous flash after all and nothing more—had left his mind completely for the time.
The Wave|Algernon Blackwood
A flash of surprise and pleasure lit the fine eyes of the haughty beauty perched up there on the palace wall.
The Red Year|Louis Tracy
"A camp-fire would hardly flash and die out like that, Sarge," he answered thoughtfully.
Raw Gold|Bertrand W. Sinclair
If those jaspers flash any part of the roll in the Territory before snowfall, I'll get them.
Raw Gold|Bertrand W. Sinclair
He devoured it whole with a kind of visual gulp—a flash; the entire meaning first, then lines, then separate words.
The Wave|Algernon Blackwood

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