flash
//flæʃ//
Forms
- present (v1)
- flash
- past (v2)
- flashed
- past participle (v3)
- flashed
- present participle
- flashing
- 3rd person singular
- flashes
- Plural
- flashes
Definitions
1.To cause to shine briefly or intermittently.
- He flashed the light at the water, trying to see what made the noise.
2.To blink; to shine or illuminate intermittently.
- Eugenie's quick apprehensions seized the foul thought. Her eyes flashed, her cheek crimsoned.
- The light flashed on and off.
3.To be visible briefly.
- The scenery flashed by quickly.
4.To make visible briefly.
- A number will be flashed on the screen.
- She flashed me a smile from the car window.
- The special agents flashed their badges as they entered the building.
1.A sudden, short, temporary burst of light.
2.A very short amount of time.
- Quick, something must be done! done in a flash, too! But the very imminence of the emergency paralyzed his invention.
3.A flashlight; an electric torch.(colloquial)
- I reached a flash out of my car pocket and went down-grade and looked at the car.
4.A sudden and brilliant burst, as of genius or wit.
Frequency
Overall
Rare· #4059
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Rare
- General reading & writing
- Rare
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Rare
Etymology
In some senses, from Middle English flasshen, a variant of flasken, flaskien (“to sprinkle, splash”), which was likely of imitative origin; in other senses probably of North Germanic origin akin to Swedish dialectal flasa (“to burn brightly, blaze”), related to flare.