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

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

From Barron's • Feb. 18, 2026

Perhaps the series will eventually return to 'normal' Test cricket as the series develops, but the smart money is on the Ashes zipping by in a flash.

From BBC • Nov. 26, 2025

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

There was long-winded indulgence and lovely itty-bitty works, over in a flash but suggestive of a full and lovely life, like that of an insect.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 12, 2025

She was up on her knees in a flash.

From "The Marrow Thieves" by Cherie Dimaline