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.

---

Example Sentences

But that illusion is impossible if all of space-time occurs in a flash.

From Science Daily • Jun. 8, 2026

Last month — to their surprise and seemingly in a flash — Edwards and his wife’s net worth hit $1 million, with home equity accounting for just one-fourth of it.

From MarketWatch • May 15, 2026

Gross domestic product declined 0.5% in the three months through September, compared with 0.1% growth in the second quarter, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs said in a flash estimate Monday.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 17, 2025

It was all a very clear reminder that the best-laid plans and political strategies can be derailed in a flash.

From BBC • Nov. 12, 2025

Louisiana turned and left in a flash of orange and sequins and bunny barrettes.

From "Raymie Nightingale" by Kate DiCamillo