flash¹ /flash/

1. A momentary gleam of light
2. A sudden, short-lived flare or flame
3. (the momentary illumination from) a flashbulb or flashgun (photography)
4. A sudden burst, eg of merriment
5. A moment or instant
6. A fleeting glimpse or exposure
7. A sudden rush of water
8. A board for directing or modifying a stream of water
9. A bright garter or ribbon worn on the hose with knickerbockers or kilt, a small portion showing below the part folded over
10. A distinctive mark on a uniform
11. A sticker or overprinted label on a piece of merchandise advertising a reduction in price, etc
12. A brief news announcement
13. In a film, a scene inserted by way of explanation or comment, esp a scene of the past, a flashback
14. Vulgar ostentation (informal)
15. A thin surplus piece of metal at the sides of a forging or casting, or a similar extrusion in other materials
16. Excess material forced out of a mould
17. (Flash®) a computer program for viewing animated images on the Internet

1. Sudden, quick
2. Showy
3. Vulgar
4. Of, like, or relating to criminals (slang)
5. Fashionable (archaic)

1. To burst out, as a sudden light (lit and figurative)
2. To emit flashes of light
3. To sparkle brilliantly
4. To blaze out
5. To break out into intellectual brilliance
6. To burst out into violence
7. To move like a flash
8. To expose oneself indecently in public (slang)

1. To cause to flash
2. To expand (eg blown glass) into a disc
3. To send by some startling or sudden means
4. To show briefly
5. To display ostentatiously (often with about or around)

flashˈer noun

1. A person or thing that flashes
2. A device for turning off and on lights eg in advertising, warning, etc signs
3. The signs themselves
4. (on a vehicle) a direction-indicator
5. A person in the habit of indecently exposing himself or herself in public (slang)

flashˈily adverb

flashˈiness noun

flashˈing noun

1. The act of blazing
2. A sudden burst, eg of water
3. (a method of producing) irregular colouring of bricks (by periodically stopping air supply in burning them, or other means)
4. A thin metal strip put over a junction between roof tiles, slates, etc to make it watertight
5. The practice of indecently exposing oneself in public (slang)

1. Emitting flashes
2. Sparkling

flashˈy adjective

1. Dazzling for a moment
2. Showy but empty
3. Vapid (Milton)
4. Gaudy
5. Tawdry

flashˈback noun

1. (in a film, novel, etc) a scene of the past, inserted as comment or explanation
2. An echo of the past
3. 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

1. A card on which a picture or word is printed or written, to be shown briefly to a child as an aid to learning
2. 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

1. (in a film, novel, etc) a scene of the future, inserted as comment or explanation
2. 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

1. A light that flashes periodically
2. Light produced by flashbulbs, used to take photographs
3. 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

1. An electric discharge over the surface of an insulator (elec eng)
2. 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

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