flash

Plural: flashes

Noun

• a sudden intense burst of radiant energy
• a momentary brightness
• a short vivid experience
  • "a flash of emotion swept over him"
  • "the flashings of pain were a warning"
• a sudden brilliant understanding
  • "he had a flash of intuition"
• 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 gaudy outward display
• a burst of light used to communicate or illuminate
• a short news announcement concerning some on-going news story
• 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"
• a lamp for providing momentary light to take a photograph
• A sudden, short, temporary burst of light.
• A very short amount of time.
• A flashlight; an electric torch.
• A sudden and brilliant burst, as of genius or wit.
• Pizzazz, razzle-dazzle.
• Material left around the edge of a moulded part at the parting line of the mould.
• The strips of bright cloth or buttons worn around the collars of market traders.
• A pattern where each prop is thrown and caught only once.
• A language, created by a minority to maintain cultural identity, that cannot be understood by the ruling class.
• Clipping of camera flash (“a device used to produce a flash of artificial light to help illuminate a scene”).
• A preparation of capsicum, burnt sugar, etc., for colouring liquor to make it look stronger.
• A form of military insignia.
• Clipping of flash memory.
• Any of various lycaenid butterflies of the genera Artipe, Deudorix and Rapala.
• A tattoo flash (example design on paper to give an idea of a possible tattoo).
• The sudden sensation of being "high" after taking a recreational drug.
• Synonym of flashback (“recurrence of the effects of a hallucinogenic drug”).
• A newsflash.
• A brief exposure or making visible (of a smile, badge, etc).
• The (intentional or unintentional) exposure of an intimate body part or undergarment in public.
• Ellipsis of hook flash.
• A pool of water, in some areas especially one that is marshy, and/or one formed by subsidence of the ground due to mining. (Compare flush (“marsh; pool”).)
• 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.

Verb

Verb Forms: flashed, flashing, flashes

• To emit or reflect a sudden, brief burst of light.
• gleam or glow intermittently
  • "The lights were flashing"
• appear briefly
  • "The headlines flashed on the screen"
• display proudly; act ostentatiously or pretentiously
• make known or cause to appear with great speed
  • "The latest intelligence is flashed to all command posts"
• run or move very quickly or hastily
• expose or show briefly
  • "he flashed a $100 bill"
• protect by covering with a thin sheet of metal
  • "flash the roof"
• emit a brief burst of light
  • "A shooting star flashed and was gone"
• To cause to shine briefly or intermittently.
• To blink; to shine or illuminate intermittently.
• To be visible briefly.
• To make visible briefly.
• To expose one's intimate body part or undergarment, often momentarily and unintentionally. (Contrast streak.)
• To break forth like a sudden flood of light; to show a momentary brilliance.
• To flaunt; to display in a showy manner.
• To communicate quickly.
• To move, or cause to move, suddenly.
• To telephone a person, only allowing the phone to ring once, in order to request a call back.
• To evaporate suddenly. (See flash evaporation.)
• To climb (a route) successfully on the first attempt.
• To write to the memory of (an updatable component such as a BIOS chip or games cartridge).
• To cover with a thin layer, as objects of glass with glass of a different colour.
• To expand (blown glass) into a disc.
• To send by some startling or sudden means.
• To burst out into violence.
• To perform a flash.
• To release the pressure from a pressurized vessel.
• To trick up in a showy manner.
• To strike and throw up large bodies of water from the surface; to splash.
• To flash back.

Adjective Satellite

• tastelessly showy
  • "a flash car"
  • "a flashy ring"

Adj

• Expensive-looking and demanding attention; stylish; showy.
• Having plenty of ready money.
• Liable to show off expensive possessions or money.
• Occurring very rapidly, almost instantaneously.
• Relating to thieves and vagabonds.

Examples

• A brilliant strategy would FLASH into his mind just before his turn ended.
• A number will be flashed on the screen.
• Flash forward to the present day.
• flash notes: counterfeit banknotes
• He flashed a wad of hundred-dollar bills.
• He flashed the light at the water, trying to see what made the noise.
• Her skirt was so short that she flashed her underpants as she was getting out of her car.
• I just got my first commando flash.
• In order to flash a custom ROM to a phone, the boot loader must be unlocked first.
• She flashed a vocalist at a rock concert.
• She flashed me a smile from the car window.
• Susan flashed Jessica, and then Jessica called her back, because Susan didn't have enough credit on her phone to make the call.
• the flash language: thieves' cant or slang
• The hybrid drive has 500 gigabytes of hard disk space for bulk storage and 2 gigabytes of high-speed flash for caching frequently-accessed files.
• The light flashed on and off.
• The news services flashed the news about the end of the war to all corners of the globe.
• The scenery flashed by quickly.
• The special agents flashed their badges as they entered the building.
• to flash a message along the telephone wires;  to flash conviction on the mind

Synonyms

blink, blink of an eye, brassy, cheap, dart, dash, fanfare, flare, flash bulb, flash lamp, flashbulb, flashgun, flashing, flashy, flaunt, garish, gaudy, gimcrack, heartbeat, instant, jiffy, loud, meretricious, New York minute, news bulletin, newsbreak, newsflash, ostentate, ostentation, photoflash, scoot, scud, shoot, show off, split second, swank, tacky, tatty, tawdry, trashy, trice, twinkle, twinkling, wink, winkle, New York second, bat of an eye, beep, bit, crack, elan, eyeblink, flair, flash, flashback, gleam, glimpse, glint, half a mo, jiff, jot, minute, mo, molding flash, moment, moulding flash, no time, sec, second, span, split-second, spurt, stound, tick, twink, while

Antonyms

aeon, jiffy, moment, never in a month of Sundays, spell

Related Words

flush, gleam, glimmer, shimmer, sparkle, twinkle, wardrobe malfunction

Anagrams of flash