flash

verb

briefly shine a bright light
complete a climbing route on the first attempt, with prior beta
move quickly
shine, show quickly, shine or show quickly

L13513 on Wikidata ↗

noun

device used in photography to produce a flash of artificial light
excess material attached to a molded, forged, or cast product
short burst of light
the temporary equalization of charged regions in the atmosphere through a lightning discharge
shine, show quickly, shine or show quickly

L13514 on Wikidata ↗

adjective

No English definition recorded for this entry.

L336815 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /flæʃ/

adj

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. Compare also Icelandic flasa (“to rush, go hastily”).

Expensive-looking and demanding attention; stylish; showy.
“The barber man was small and flash, as barbers mostly are, He wore a strike-your-fancy sash, he smoked a huge cigar;”
Having plenty of ready money.
Liable to show off expensive possessions or money.
“Bit of a flash git, don't you think?”
Occurring very rapidly, almost instantaneously.
Relating to thieves and vagabonds.
“the flash language: thieves' cant or slang”
“flash notes: counterfeit banknotes”

name

Etymology: From flash.

Any of various DC Comics superheroes who have the power of superspeed, derived from an energy called the Speed Force.

noun

Etymology: From Middle English flashe, flaske, also found as flosche and flushe (whence modern English flosh and flush), used in Middle and modern English for bodies of water with varying emphasis on them being "pools" or "marshes". It is not entirely clear whether these constitute a single term with varied spellings, or have distinct etymologies. The form flash, flashe is often suggested to be from Old French flache, French flaque, which is of Germanic origin, akin to Middle Dutch vlacke (“an estuary, flats with stagnant pools”). See flush for more on that form.

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”).)
“their hearts lie lumpish as a Log that lies in a flash of water seven years together”
“The […] woods, commons, ponds, 'flashes,' bogs, 'damp spots,' and ditches are, when the number and rarity of some of the species are taken into account, the richest botanical ground in Lincolnshire;”
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

To cause to shine briefly or intermittently.
“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.”
“Eugenie's quick apprehensions seized the foul thought. Her eyes flashed—her cheek crimsoned.”
To be visible briefly.
“The scenery flashed by quickly.”
“Here, in the transept and choir, where the service was being held, one was conscious every moment of an increasing brightness; colours glowing vividly beneath the circular chandeliers, and the rows of small lights on the choristers' desks flashed and sparkled in front of the boys' faces, deep linen collars, and red neckbands.”
To make visible briefly.
“A number will be flashed on the screen.”
“The special agents flashed their badges as they entered the building.”
To expose one's intimate body part or undergarment, often momentarily and unintentionally. (Contrast streak.)
“She flashed a vocalist at a rock concert.”
“Her skirt was so short that she flashed her underpants as she was getting out of her car.”
To break forth like a sudden flood of light; to show a momentary brilliance.
“For although party's worn-out moulds have been shivered, and names which have flashed and thundered as the watchwords of unnumbered struggles for power are now fast waning into history, it is too much to hope, perhaps to desire, until the education of mankind shall more nearly approach its completion, that strong differences of opinion and feeling should cease to agitate the scenes on which freemen are called to discharge political duties.”
“But while he jested thus, / A thought flashed through me, which I clothed in act. / Remembering how we three presented Maid, / Or Nymph, or Goddess, at high tide of feast, / In masque or pageant at my father's court.”
To flaunt; to display in a showy manner.
“He flashed a wad of hundred-dollar bills.”
To communicate quickly.
“The news services flashed the news about the end of the war to all corners of the globe.”
“to flash a message along the telephone wires; to flash conviction on the mind”
To move, or cause to move, suddenly.
“Flash forward to the present day.”
“⁠Deep folly! yet that this could be— ⁠That I could wing my will with might ⁠To leap the grades of life and light, And flash at once, my friend, to thee: […]”
To telephone a person, only allowing the phone to ring once, in order to request a call back.
“Susan flashed Jessica, and then Jessica called her back, because Susan didn't have enough credit on her phone to make the call.”
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).
“In order to flash a custom ROM to a phone, the boot loader must be unlocked first.”
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.
“Oft have I ſeaſoned ſavory periods / With ſugar'd words, to delude Guſtus' taſte, / And oft embelliſh'd my entreative phraſe, / Limning and flaſhing it with various dyes, / To draw proud Viſus to me by the eyes: […]”
To strike and throw up large bodies of water from the surface; to splash.
“The varlet ſaw, when to the flood he came, / How without ſtop or ſtay he fiercely lept, / And deep himſelfe beducked in the ſame, / That in the lake his loftie creſt was ſteept, / Ne of his ſafetie ſeemed care he kept, / But with his raging armes he rudely flaſhd / The waves about, and all his armour ſwept, / That all the bloud and filth away was waſht, / Yet ſtill he bet the water, and the billows daſht.”
To flash back.
“Kevin, one of the first buddies in Boston lies calmly, very thin in the casket. I think of his face angrily making a point at a meeting or happily hosting his Christmas party. I flash to my father's wake and the "well-meaning" people who whispered about how awful he looked as I stood by watching, wanting to scream "What did you expect?"”