flash1 /flash/ noun- A momentary gleam of light
- A sudden, short-lived flare or flame
- (the momentary illumination from) a flashbulb or flashgun (photography)
- A sudden burst, eg of merriment
- A moment or instant
- A fleeting glimpse or exposure
- A sudden rush of water
- A board for directing or modifying a stream of water
- A bright garter or ribbon worn on the hose with knickerbockers or kilt, a small portion showing below the part folded over
- A distinctive mark on a uniform
- A sticker or overprinted label on a piece of merchandise advertising a reduction in price, etc
- A brief news announcement
- In a film, a scene inserted by way of explanation or comment, esp a scene of the past, a flashback
- Vulgar ostentation (informal)
- A thin surplus piece of metal at the sides of a forging or casting, or a similar extrusion in other materials
- Excess material forced out of a mould
- (Flash®) a computer program for viewing animated images on the Internet
adjective- Sudden, quick
- Showy
- Vulgar
- Of, like, or relating to criminals (slang)
- Fashionable (archaic)
intransitive verb- To burst out, as a sudden light (lit and figurative)
- To emit flashes of light
- To sparkle brilliantly
- To blaze out
- To break out into intellectual brilliance
- To burst out into violence
- To move like a flash
- To expose oneself indecently in public (slang)
transitive verb- To cause to flash
- To expand (eg blown glass) into a disc
- To send by some startling or sudden means
- To show briefly
- To display ostentatiously (often with about or around)
ORIGIN: Prob imit; cf Swed dialect flasa to blaze flashˈer noun - A person or thing that flashes
- A device for turning off and on lights eg in advertising, warning, etc signs
- The signs themselves
- (on a vehicle) a direction-indicator
- A person in the habit of indecently exposing himself or herself in public (slang)
flashˈily adverb flashˈiness noun flashˈing noun - The act of blazing
- A sudden burst, eg of water
- (a method of producing) irregular colouring of bricks (by periodically stopping air supply in burning them, or other means)
- A thin metal strip put over a junction between roof tiles, slates, etc to make it watertight
- The practice of indecently exposing oneself in public (slang)
adjective- Emitting flashes
- Sparkling
flashˈy adjective - Dazzling for a moment
- Showy but empty
- Vapid (Milton)
- Gaudy
- Tawdry
flashˈback noun - (in a film, novel, etc) a scene of the past, inserted as comment or explanation
- An echo of the past
- A recurrence of the effect of a hallucinogenic drug, esp LSD
intransitive verb To experience a flashback flash blindness noun Blindness caused by the flash of the explosion of a powerful bomb, etc flashˈboard noun One of a set of boards set up at the sides of a water channel to deepen it flashˈbulb noun An oxygen-filled electric bulb in which aluminium or other foil or filament may be fired to provide a brilliant flash, esp for illuminating a photographic subject flash burn noun One sustained as the result of exposure to a flash of intense heat, eg from a nuclear explosion flash card noun - A card on which a picture or word is printed or written, to be shown briefly to a child as an aid to learning
- One of a set of large brightly-coloured cards each held up by an individual eg in a sports stadium and together forming a picture or message
flash chip see flash memory below. flashˈcube noun (photography) A plastic cube containing four flashbulbs, rotated as the film is wound on flash drive noun (computing) A portable storage device that can be connected to a computer through a serial port flash fiction noun Fiction in the form of very short stories flash fire noun A sudden extensive (increase in) fire caused eg by flash-over flash flood noun A sudden, severe, brief flood caused by a heavy rainstorm flash flooding noun flash forward noun - (in a film, novel, etc) a scene of the future, inserted as comment or explanation
- A vision of the future
flashˈ-forward intransitive verb To shift one's train of thought to a later time flashˈ-freeze transitive verb To freeze very quickly flashˈ-frozen adjective flashˈgun noun A device holding and firing a flashbulb flash Harry noun (informal) An ostentatiously flashy or showy person flashˈ-house noun (obsolete) A brothel flashˈlight noun - A light that flashes periodically
- Light produced by flashbulbs, used to take photographs
- An electric torch (esp N American)
flash memory or flash chip noun A form of non-volatile computer memory which can be erased and rewritten electrically flash mob noun A group of people who arrange to assemble briefly in a public place to perform some activity, often of a humorous or surreal nature flashˈ-over noun - An electric discharge over the surface of an insulator (elec eng)
- Instant combustion of material that has reached a high temperature (in a burning building, etc) as soon as oxygen reaches it
flash paper noun A form of nitrocellulose popular in magic tricks and theatrical effects for its properties of burning very quickly and brightly and leaving no ash flash photolysis noun The brief exposure of a gas to intense light in order to study the photochemical reactions of its constituents flashˈpoint noun - The temperature at which a liquid gives off enough flammable vapour to ignite when a light is applied to it
- A point in the development of a tense situation when violent action takes place
- A place in the world where an outbreak of hostilities may occur at any time as a result of tension
flash ROM noun (computing) ROM that can be updated flash tube noun A gas-filled tube that produces a brilliant flash when current is passed through it, used for photographic illumination flash in the pan see under pan1 |