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flash
1[ flash ]
noun
- a brief, sudden burst of bright light:
The sky lit up with a flash of lightning.
- a sudden, brief outburst or display of joy, wit, etc.:
Her brilliant eye for detail and quiet flashes of humor make the book a joy to read.
- a very brief moment; instant:
I'll be back in a flash.
- Informal. flashlight ( def 1 ).
- Journalism. news flash ( def ).
- Photography.
- bright artificial light thrown briefly upon a subject during an exposure.
- the sudden flame or intense heat produced by a bomb or other explosive device.
- a sudden thought, insight, inspiration, or vision:
I smelled the sea breeze and had a flash of my childhood summers at the beach.
- a showy or ostentatious display.
- Slang. rush 1( def 24 ).
- Metallurgy.
- a ridge of metal left on a casting by a seam between parts of the mold.
- a ridge formed at the edge of a forging or weld where excess metal has been squeezed out.
- Poker. a hand containing all five suits in a game played with a five-suit pack.
- a device, such as a lock or sluice, for confining and releasing water to send a boat down a shallow stream.
- the rush of water thus produced.
- Obsolete. the cant or jargon of thieves, vagabonds, etc.
verb (used without object)
- to break forth into sudden flame or light, especially transiently or intermittently:
We saw a buoy flashing in the distance.
- to gleam:
The car's chrome bumpers flashed in the sun.
Synonyms: scintillate
- to burst suddenly into view or perception:
The answer flashed into his mind.
- to move very suddenly and quickly.
- to speak or behave with sudden anger, outrage, or the like (often followed by out ):
to flash out at a stupid remark.
- to break into sudden action.
- Slang. to open one's clothes and expose the genitals suddenly, and usually briefly, in public.
- Slang. to experience the intense effects of a narcotic or stimulant drug.
- to dash or splash, as the sea or waves.
- Archaic. to make a flash or sudden display.
verb (used with object)
- to emit or send forth (fire or light) in sudden bursts.
- to cause to emit or reflect light:
There was a driver tailgating them who kept flashing his high beams and honking his horn.
A beekeeper I knew used to flash a mirror at his hive to help settle them.
- to communicate instantly:
The airline flashed the updated flight time on the overhead display.
- to make an ostentatious display of:
He's forever flashing a large roll of bills.
- to display suddenly and briefly:
She flashed her ID card at the guard.
- to change (water) instantly into steam by pouring or directing onto a hot surface.
- to increase the flow of water in (a river, channel, etc.).
- Glassmaking and Ceramics.
- to coat (plain glass or a glass or ceramic object) with a layer of colored, opalescent, or white glass.
- to apply (such a layer).
- to color or make (glass) opaque by reheating.
- Building Trades. to protect from leakage with flashing.
- Computers.
- to write a program, file, etc. to the part of (a device's) memory that is reprogrammable and retains information even with the power turned off:
If you're still having problems, you can flash the router.
- to write (a program, file, etc.) to the part of a device's memory that is reprogrammable and retains information even with the power turned off:
I flashed the device's firmware using the latest version available.
- Cards. to expose (a card) in the process of dealing.
- Archaic. to dash or splash (water).
adjective
- happening suddenly and usually lasting a short time:
a flash storm.
- very brief, fast, or short: flash poetry and fiction.
flash freezing of vegetables;
flash poetry and fiction.
- Computers. relating to or using a type of reprogrammable memory that retains information even with the power turned off:
a flash drive.
- showy or ostentatious.
Synonyms: ostentatious, pretentious, tawdry, gaudy, flashy
- caused by or used as protection against flash from an explosive device:
flash injuries; flash clothing.
- counterfeit or sham.
- Obsolete. belonging to or connected with thieves, vagabonds, etc., or their cant or jargon.
FLASH
2[ flash ]
noun
- a precedence code for handling messages about initial enemy contact or operational combat messages of extreme urgency within the U.S. military.
flash
/ flæʃ /
noun
- a sudden short blaze of intense light or flame
a flash of sunlight
- a sudden occurrence or display, esp one suggestive of brilliance
a flash of understanding
- a very brief space of time
over in a flash
- an ostentatious display
a flash of her diamonds
- Also callednewsflash a short news announcement concerning a new event
- Also calledpatch an insignia or emblem worn on a uniform, vehicle, etc, to identify its military formation
- a patch of bright colour on a dark background, such as light marking on an animal
- a volatile mixture of inorganic salts used to produce a glaze on bricks or tiles
- a sudden rush of water down a river or watercourse
- a device, such as a sluice, for producing such a rush
- informal.photog short for flashlight flash photography
- a ridge of thin metal or plastic formed on a moulded object by the extrusion of excess material between dies
- dialect.a pond, esp one produced as a consequence of subsidence
- modifier involving, using, or produced by a flash of heat, light, etc
flash blindness
flash distillation
- flash in the pana project, person, etc, that enjoys only short-lived success, notoriety, etc
adjective
- informal.ostentatious or vulgar
- informal.of or relating to gamblers and followers of boxing and racing
- sham or counterfeit
- informal.relating to or characteristic of the criminal underworld
- brief and rapid
flash freezing
verb
- to burst or cause to burst suddenly or intermittently into flame
- to emit or reflect or cause to emit or reflect light suddenly or intermittently
- intr to move very fast
he flashed by on his bicycle
- intr to come rapidly (into the mind or vision)
- intr; foll by out or up to appear like a sudden light
his anger really flashes out at times
- to signal or communicate very fast
to flash a message
- to signal by use of a light, such as car headlights
- informal.tr to display ostentatiously
to flash money around
- informal.tr to show suddenly and briefly
- slang.intr to expose oneself indecently
- tr to cover (a roof) with flashing
- to send a sudden rush of water down (a river, etc), or to carry (a vessel) down by this method
- (in the making of glass) to coat (glass) with a thin layer of glass of a different colour
- tr to subject to a brief pulse of heat or radiation
- tr to change (a liquid) to a gas by causing it to hit a hot surface
- obsolete.to splash or dash (water)
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Other Words From
- flash·ing·ly adverb
- out·flash verb (used with object)
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Word History and Origins
Origin of flash1
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Word History and Origins
Origin of flash1
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Idioms and Phrases
- flash in the pan,
- a brief, intense effort that produces no significant result.
- a person or thing that enjoys short-lived success.
- flash on, Slang.
- to have a sudden thought, insight, or inspiration about.
- to have a sudden, vivid memory or mental picture of:
I just flashed on that day we spent at the lake.
- to feel an instantaneous understanding and appreciation of.
More idioms and phrases containing flash
In addition to the idiom beginning with flash , also see in a flash ; quick as a wink (flash) .Discover More
Synonym Study
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Related Words
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.
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