superficial, meretricious, or vulgar showiness; ostentatious display.
6.
Also called news flash.Journalism. a brief dispatch sent by a wire service, usually transmitting preliminary news of an important story or development. Compare bulletin(def. 2).
7.
Photography.
a.
bright artificial light thrown briefly upon a subject during an exposure.
Obsolete. the cant or jargon of thieves, vagabonds, etc.
–verb (used without object)
17.
to break forth into sudden flame or light, esp. transiently or intermittently: a buoy flashing in the distance.
18.
to gleam.
19.
to burst suddenly into view or perception: The answer flashed into his mind.
20.
to move like a flash.
21.
to speak or behave with sudden anger, outrage, or the like (often fol. by out): to flash out at a stupid remark.
22.
to break into sudden action.
23.
Slang. to open one's clothes and expose the genitals suddenly, and usually briefly, in public.
24.
Slang. to experience the intense effects of a narcotic or stimulant drug.
25.
to dash or splash, as the sea or waves.
26.
Archaic. to make a flash or sudden display.
–verb (used with object)
27.
to emit or send forth (fire or light) in sudden flashes.
28.
to cause to flash, as powder by ignition or a sword by waving.
29.
to send forth like a flash.
30.
to communicate instantaneously, as by radio or telegraph.
31.
to make an ostentatious display of: He's forever flashing a large roll of bills.
32.
to display suddenly and briefly: She flashed her ID card at the guard.
33.
to change (water) instantly into steam by pouring or directing onto a hot surface.
34.
to increase the flow of water in (a river, channel, etc.).
35.
Glassmakingand Ceramics.
a.
to coat (plain glass or a glass or ceramic object) with a layer of colored, opalescent, or white glass.
b.
to apply (such a layer).
c.
to color or make (glass) opaque by reheating.
36.
Building Trades. to protect from leakage with flashing.
37.
Cards. to expose (a card) in the process of dealing.
38.
Archaic. to dash or splash (water).
–adjective
39.
sudden and brief: a flash storm.
40.
showy or ostentatious.
41.
caused by or used as protection against flash: flash injuries; flash clothing.
42.
counterfeit or sham.
43.
belonging to or connected with thieves, vagabonds, etc., or their cant or jargon.
44.
of or pertaining to followers of boxing, racing, etc.
—Idioms
45.
flash in the pan,
a.
a brief, intense effort that produces no really significant result.
b.
a person who makes such an effort; one who enjoys short-lived success.
46.
flash on, Slang.
a.
to have a sudden thought, insight, or inspiration about.
b.
to have a sudden, vivid memory or mental picture of: I just flashed on that day we spent at the lake.
c.
to feel an instantaneous understanding and appreciation of.
[Origin: 1350–1400; ME flasshen to sprinkle, splash, earlier flask(i)en; prob. phonesthemic in orig.; cf. similar expressive words with fl- and -sh]
—Related forms
flash·ing·ly, adverb
—Synonyms 1. flare, gleam, glare. 3. twinkling, wink. 18. scintillate. Flash,glance,glint,glitter mean to send forth a sudden gleam (or gleams) of bright light. To flash is to send forth light with a sudden, transient brilliancy: A shooting star flashed briefly. To glance is to emit a brilliant flash of light as a reflection from a smooth surface: Sunlight glanced from the glass windshield. Glint suggests a hard bright gleam of reflected light, as from something polished or burnished: Light glints from silver or from burnished copper. To glitter is to reflect intermittent flashes of light from a hard surface: Ice glitters in the moonlight. 40. flashy, gaudy, tawdry; pretentious, superficial. 42. false, fake.
To give off light or be lighted in sudden or intermittent bursts.
To appear or occur suddenly: The image flashed onto the screen.
To move or proceed rapidly: The cars flashed by.
To hang up a phone line momentarily, as when using call waiting.
Slang To think of or remember something suddenly: flashed on that time we got caught in the storm.
Slang To expose oneself in an indecent manner.
v.
tr.
To cause (light) to appear suddenly or in intermittent bursts.
To cause to burst into flame.
To reflect (light).
To cause to reflect light from (a surface).
To make known or signal by flashing lights.
To communicate or display at great speed: flashed the news to the world capitals.
To exhibit briefly.
To hang up (a phone line) momentarily, as when using call waiting.
To display ostentatiously; flaunt.
To fill suddenly with water.
To cover with a thin protective layer.
n.
A sudden, brief, intense display of light.
A sudden perception: a flash of insight.
A split second; an instant: I'll be on my way in a flash.
A brief news dispatch or transmission.
Slang Gaudy or ostentatious display: "The antique flash and trash of an older southern California have given way to a sleeker age of cultural hip"(Newsweek).
A flashlight.
Instantaneous illumination for photography: photograph by flash.
A device, such as a flashbulb, flashgun, or flash lamp, used to produce such illumination.
Slang The pleasurable sensation that accompanies the use of a drug; a rush.
Obsolete The language or cant of thieves, tramps, or underworld figures.
adj.
Happening suddenly or very quickly: flash freezing.
Slang Ostentatious; showy: a flash car.
Of or relating to figures of quarterly economic growth released by the government and subject to later revision.
Of or relating to photography using instantaneous illumination.
Of or relating to thieves, swindlers, and underworld figures.
[Middle English flashen, to splash, variant of flasken, of imitative origin.]
Synonyms: These verbs mean to send forth light. Flash refers to a sudden and brilliant but short-lived outburst of light: A bolt of lightning flashed across the horizon. Gleam implies transient or constant light that often appears against a dark background: "The light gleams an instant, then it's night once more" (Samuel Beckett).
Glance refers most often to light reflected obliquely: Moonlight glanced off the windows of the darkened building. Glint applies to briefly gleaming or flashing light: Rays of sun glinted among the autumn leaves. Sparkle suggests a rapid succession of little flashes of high brilliance (crystal glasses sparkling in the candlelight), and glitter, a similar succession of even greater intensity (jewels glittering in the display case). To glisten is to shine with a sparkling luster: The snow glistened in the dawn light. Shimmer means to shine with a soft, tremulous light: "Everything about her shimmered and glimmered softly, as if her dress had been woven out of candle-beams" (Edith Wharton).
Glimmer refers to faint, fleeting light: "On the French coast, the light/Gleams, and is gone; the cliffs of England stand,/Glimmering and vast, out in the tranquil bay" (Matthew Arnold).
To twinkle is to shine with quick, intermittent flashes or gleams: "a few stars, twinkling faintly in the deep blue of the night sky" (Hugh Walpole).
Scintillate is applied to what flashes as if emitting sparks in a continuous stream: "ammonium chloride . . . depositing minute scintillating crystals on the windowpanes" (Primo Levi). See Also Synonyms at moment.
1387, from flasken (c.1300) "to dash or splash" (as water), probably imitative. Sense of "sudden burst of light or flame" is 1548, as is the noun. Meaning "photographic lamp" is from 1913. Flashy "showy, cheaply attractive" is first recorded 1690. Flashlight, Amer.Eng. for "electric torch," is from 1919. Flashback is 1916 as a plot device in novels or movies; 1960s as a type of hallucination. Flasher "male genital exhibitionist" is 1960s, though meat-flasher in this sense was attested in 1890s. Flash in the pan (1809) is from old-style guns, where the powder might ignite in the pan but fail to spark the main charge.
tastelessly showy; "a flash car"; "a flashy ring"; "garish colors"; "a gaudy costume"; "loud sport shirts"; "a meretricious yet stylish book"; "tawdry ornaments"
noun
1.
a sudden intense burst of radiant energy
2.
a momentary brightness
3.
a short vivid experience; "a flash of emotion swept over him"; "the flashings of pain were a warning"
4.
a sudden brilliant understanding; "he had a flash of intuition"
5.
a very short time (as the time it takes the eye to blink or the heart to beat); "if I had the chance I'd do it in a flash"
a burst of light used to communicate or illuminate [syn: flare]
8.
a short news announcement concerning some on-going news story [syn: news bulletin]
9.
a bright patch of color used for decoration or identification; "red flashes adorned the airplane"; "a flash sewn on his sleeve indicated the unit he belonged to"
10.
a lamp for providing momentary light to take a photograph
verb
1.
gleam or glow intermittently; "The lights were flashing"
2.
appear briefly; "The headlines flashed on the screen"
3.
display proudly; act ostentatiously or pretentiously; "he showed off his new sports car" [syn: flaunt]
4.
make known or cause to appear with great speed; "The latest intelligence is flashed to all command posts"
5.
run or move very quickly or hastily; "She dashed into the yard" [syn: dart]
6.
expose or show briefly; "he flashed a $100 bill"
7.
protect by covering with a thin sheet of metal; "flash the roof"
8.
emit a brief burst of light; "A shooting star flashed and was gone"
flash 1. A program which allows one to flood another Unix user's terminal with garbage, through exploiting a common security hole in the victim's host's talkdaemon. Users with "messages off" (mesg n) and users on systems running fixed talk daemons, or not running talk daemons at all, are immune. (1996-09-08) 2. See Flash Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory. (1997-02-02)
Flash\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Flashed; p. pr. & vb. n. Flashing.] [Cf. OE. flaskien, vlaskien to pour, sprinkle, dial. Sw. flasa to blaze, E. flush, flare.]1. To burst or break forth with a sudden and transient flood of flame and light; as, the lighting flashes vividly; the powder flashed. 2. To break forth, as a sudden flood of light; to burst instantly and brightly on the sight; to show a momentary brilliancy; to come or pass like a flash. Names which have flashed and thundered as the watch words of unnumbered struggles. --Talfourd. The object is made to flash upon the eye of the mind. --M. Arnold. A thought flashed through me, which I clothed in act. --Tennyson. 3. To burst forth like a sudden flame; to break out violently; to rush hastily. Every hour He flashes into one gross crime or other. --Shak. To flash in the pan, to fail of success. [Colloq.] See under Flash, a burst of light. --Bartlett. Syn: Flash, Glitter, Gleam, Glisten, Glister. Usage: Flash differs from glitter and gleam, denoting a flood or wide extent of light. The latter words may express the issuing of light from a small object, or from a pencil of rays. Flash differs from other words, also, in denoting suddenness of appearance and disappearance. Flashing differs from exploding or disploding in not being accompanied with a loud report. To glisten, or glister, is to shine with a soft and fitful luster, as eyes suffused with tears, or flowers wet with dew.
Flash\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Flashed; p. pr. & vb. n. Flashing.] [Cf. OE. flaskien, vlaskien to pour, sprinkle, dial. Sw. flasa to blaze, E. flush, flare.]1. To burst or break forth with a sudden and transient flood of flame and light; as, the lighting flashes vividly; the powder flashed. 2. To break forth, as a sudden flood of light; to burst instantly and brightly on the sight; to show a momentary brilliancy; to come or pass like a flash. Names which have flashed and thundered as the watch words of unnumbered struggles. --Talfourd. The object is made to flash upon the eye of the mind. --M. Arnold. A thought flashed through me, which I clothed in act. --Tennyson. 3. To burst forth like a sudden flame; to break out violently; to rush hastily. Every hour He flashes into one gross crime or other. --Shak. To flash in the pan, to fail of success. [Colloq.] See under Flash, a burst of light. --Bartlett. Syn: Flash, Glitter, Gleam, Glisten, Glister. Usage: Flash differs from glitter and gleam, denoting a flood or wide extent of light. The latter words may express the issuing of light from a small object, or from a pencil of rays. Flash differs from other words, also, in denoting suddenness of appearance and disappearance. Flashing differs from exploding or disploding in not being accompanied with a loud report. To glisten, or glister, is to shine with a soft and fitful luster, as eyes suffused with tears, or flowers wet with dew.
Flash\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Flashed; p. pr. & vb. n. Flashing.] [Cf. OE. flaskien, vlaskien to pour, sprinkle, dial. Sw. flasa to blaze, E. flush, flare.]1. To burst or break forth with a sudden and transient flood of flame and light; as, the lighting flashes vividly; the powder flashed. 2. To break forth, as a sudden flood of light; to burst instantly and brightly on the sight; to show a momentary brilliancy; to come or pass like a flash. Names which have flashed and thundered as the watch words of unnumbered struggles. --Talfourd. The object is made to flash upon the eye of the mind. --M. Arnold. A thought flashed through me, which I clothed in act. --Tennyson. 3. To burst forth like a sudden flame; to break out violently; to rush hastily. Every hour He flashes into one gross crime or other. --Shak. To flash in the pan, to fail of success. [Colloq.] See under Flash, a burst of light. --Bartlett. Syn: Flash, Glitter, Gleam, Glisten, Glister. Usage: Flash differs from glitter and gleam, denoting a flood or wide extent of light. The latter words may express the issuing of light from a small object, or from a pencil of rays. Flash differs from other words, also, in denoting suddenness of appearance and disappearance. Flashing differs from exploding or disploding in not being accompanied with a loud report. To glisten, or glister, is to shine with a soft and fitful luster, as eyes suffused with tears, or flowers wet with dew.
Flash\, v. t. 1. To send out in flashes; to cause to burst forth with sudden flame or light. The chariot of paternal Deity, Flashing thick flames. --Milton. 2. To convey as by a flash; to light up, as by a sudden flame or light; as, to flash a message along the wires; to flash conviction on the mind. 3. (Glass Making) To cover with a thin layer, as objects of glass with glass of a different color. See Flashing, n., 3 (b) . 4. To trick up in a showy manner. Limning and flashing it with various dyes. --A. Brewer. 5. [Perh. due to confusion between flash of light and plash, splash.] To strike and throw up large bodies of water from the surface; to splash. [Obs.] He rudely flashed the waves about. --Spenser. Flashed glass. See Flashing, n., 3.
Flash\, n.; pl. Flashes. 1. A sudden burst of light; a flood of light instantaneously appearing and disappearing; a momentary blaze; as, a flash of lightning. 2. A sudden and brilliant burst, as of wit or genius; a momentary brightness or show. The flash and outbreak of a fiery mind. --Shak. No striking sentiment, no flash of fancy. --Wirt. 3. The time during which a flash is visible; an instant; a very brief period. The Persians and Macedonians had it for a flash. --Bacon. 4. A preparation of capsicum, burnt sugar, etc., for coloring and giving a fictious strength to liquors. Flash light, or Flashing light, a kind of light shown by lighthouses, produced by the revolution of reflectors, so as to show a flash of light every few seconds, alternating with periods of dimness. --Knight. Flash in the pan, the flashing of the priming in the pan of a flintlock musket without discharging the piece; hence, sudden, spasmodic effort that accomplishes nothing.
Flash\, a. 1. Showy, but counterfeit; cheap, pretentious, and vulgar; as, flash jewelry; flash finery. 2. Wearing showy, counterfeit ornaments; vulgarly pretentious; as, flash people; flash men or women; -- applied especially to thieves, gamblers, and prostitutes that dress in a showy way and wear much cheap jewelry. Flash house, a house frequented by flash people, as thieves and whores; hence, a brothel. "A gang of footpads, reveling with their favorite beauties at a flash house." --Macaulay.
Flash\, n. [OE. flasche, flaske; cf. OF. flache, F. flaque.]1. A pool. [Prov. Eng.] --Haliwell. 2. (Engineering) A reservoir and sluiceway beside a navigable stream, just above a shoal, so that the stream may pour in water as boats pass, and thus bear them over the shoal. Flash wheel (Mech.), a paddle wheel made to revolve in a breast or curved water way, by which water is lifted from the lower to the higher level.
Gleam\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Gleamed; p. pr. & vb. n. Gleaming.]1. To shoot, or dart, as rays of light; as, at the dawn, light gleams in the east. 2. To shine; to cast light; to glitter. Syn: To Gleam, Glimmer, Glitter. Usage: To gleam denotes a faint but distinct emission of light. To glimmer describes an indistinct and unsteady giving of light. To glitter imports a brightness that is intense, but varying. The morning light gleams upon the earth; a distant taper glimmers through the mist; a dewdrop glitters in the sun. See Flash.
Glim"mer\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Glimmered; p. pr. & vb. n. Glimmering.] [Akin to G. glimmer a faint, trembling light, mica, glimmern to glimmer, glimmen to shine faintly, glow, Sw. glimma, Dan. glimre, D. glimmen, glimpen. See Gleam a ray, and cf. Glimpse.] To give feeble or scattered rays of light; to shine faintly; to show a faint, unsteady light; as, the glimmering dawn; a glimmering lamp. The west yet glimmers with some streaks of day. --Shak. Syn: To gleam; to glitter. See Gleam, Flash.
Glis"ten\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Glistened; p. pr. & vb. n. Glistening.] [OE. glistnian, akin to glisnen, glisien, AS. glisian, glisnian, akin to E. glitter. See Glitter, v. i., and cf. Glister, v. i.] To sparkle or shine; especially, to shine with a mild, subdued, and fitful luster; to emit a soft, scintillating light; to gleam; as, the glistening stars. Syn: See Flash.
Glit"ter\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Glittered; p. pr. & vb. n. Glittering.] [OE. gliteren; akin to Sw. glittra, Icel. glitra, glita, AS. glitenian, OS. gl[=i]tan, OHG. gl[=i]zzan, G. gleissen, Goth. glitmunjan, and also to E. glint, glisten, and prob. glance, gleam.]1. To sparkle with light; to shine with a brilliant and broken light or showy luster; to gleam; as, a glittering sword. The field yet glitters with the pomp of war. --Dryden. 2. To be showy, specious, or striking, and hence attractive; as, the glittering scenes of a court. Syn: To gleam; to glisten; to shine; to sparkle; to glare. See Gleam, Flash.
Pan\, n. [OE. panne, AS. panne; cf. D. pan, G. pfanne, OHG. pfanna, Icel., Sw., LL., & Ir. panna, of uncertain origin; cf. L. patina, E. paten.]1. A shallow, open dish or vessel, usually of metal, employed for many domestic uses, as for setting milk for cream, for frying or baking food, etc.; also employed for various uses in manufacturing. "A bowl or a pan." --Chaucer. 2. (Manuf.) A closed vessel for boiling or evaporating. See Vacuum pan, under Vacuum. 3. The part of a flintlock which holds the priming. 4. The skull, considered as a vessel containing the brain; the upper part of the head; the brainpan; the cranium. --Chaucer. 5. (C?rp.) A recess, or bed, for the leaf of a hinge. 6. The hard stratum of earth that lies below the soil. See Hard pan, under Hard. 7. A natural basin, containing salt or fresh water, or mud. Flash in the pan. See under Flash. To savor of the pan, to suggest the process of cooking or burning; in a theological sense, to be heretical. --Ridley. Southey.
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