Flash
WordNet
adjective
(1) Tastelessly showy
"A flash car"
"A flashy ring"
"Garish colors"
"A gaudy costume"
"Loud sport shirts"
"A meretricious yet stylish book"
"Tawdry ornaments"
noun
(2) A lamp for providing momentary light to take a photograph
(3) 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"
(4) A momentary brightness
(5) A sudden brilliant understanding
"He had a flash of intuition"
(6) A short news announcement concerning some on-going news story
(7) A burst of light used to communicate or illuminate
(8) A gaudy outward display
(9) A short vivid experience
"A flash of emotion swept over him"
"The flashings of pain were a warning"
(10) A sudden intense burst of radiant energy
(11) A very short time (as the time it takes the eye blink or the heart to beat)
"If I had the chance I'd do it in a flash"
verb
(12) Appear briefly
"The headlines flashed on the screen"
(13) Emit a brief burst of light
"A shooting star flashed and was gone"
(14) Make known or cause to appear with great speed
"The latest intelligence is flashed to all command posts"
(15) Protect by covering with a thin sheet of metal
"Flash the roof"
(16) Run or move very quickly or hastily
"She dashed into the yard"
(17) Expose or show briefly
"He flashed a $100 bill"
(18) Display proudly; act ostentatiously or pretentiously
"He showed off his new sports car"
(19) Gleam or glow intermittently
"The lights were flashing"
WiktionaryText
Etymology
From the word flashen (to splash), a variant of flasken, which was likely of imitative origin.
Verb
- To briefly illuminate a scene.
- He flashed the light at the water, trying to see what made the noise.
- To blink; to shine or illuminate intermittently.
- The light flashed on and off.
- To be visible briefly.
- The scenery flashed by quickly.
- To make visible briefly.
- A number will be flashed on the screen.
- To write to the memory of an updatable component such as a BIOS chip or games cartridge.
- To expose one's naked body in public briefly.
- To release the pressure from a pressurized vessel.
- to perform a flash.
Noun
- A sudden, short, temporary burst of light.
- A language, created by a repressed minority to maintain cultural identity, that cannot be understood by the ruling class; for example, ebonics.
- A very short amount of time.
- 1876, Mark Twain, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,
- Quick—something must be done! done in a flash, too! But the very imminence of the emergency paralyzed his invention.
- 1876, Mark Twain, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,
- 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.
Synonyms
- (sudden, short, temporary burst of light): gleam, glint
- (material left around the egde of a mould): moulding flash, molding flash
Adjective
- Expensive looking and attention worthy.
- Having plenty of ready money