in a flash

Idioms  

1. Also,. Quickly, immediately. For example, I'll be with you in a flash, or He said he'd be done in a jiffy, or I'll be off the phone in a second, or I felt a drop or two, and in a trice there was a downpour. The first idiom alludes to a flash of lightning and dates from about 1800. The word jiffy, meaning “a short time,” is of uncertain origin and dates from the late 1700s (as does the idiom using it); a second, literally one-sixtieth of a minute, has been used vaguely to mean “a very short time” since the early 1800s; and trice originally meant “a single pull at something” and has been used figuratively since the 1500s.

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Example Sentences

The U.S. women’s hockey team was almost caught in a flash storm of its own last Thursday, as it sat just two minutes from being on the wrong side of a massive upset against Canada.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 23, 2026

Around 25 outfits will strut the catwalk on Sunday, a moment that "goes by in a flash".

From Barron's • Feb. 18, 2026

On stage, they could jump between being affectionate and combative in a flash, finding the humor in hyper-specific yet universal situations.

From Salon • Oct. 18, 2025

Castellanos said Quintana’s account would post Instagram stories with “symbols or abbreviations which coincided with intersections allowing for all to respond in a flash mob fashion and overwhelm the location.”

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 5, 2025

When the coach blew the whistle, Patina broke out in a flash, zooming down the track definitely faster than Sunny, but not quite as fast as Lu.

From "Ghost" by Jason Reynolds