flash

[flash] /flæʃ/
noun
1.
a brief, sudden burst of bright light:
a flash of lightning.
2.
a sudden, brief outburst or display of joy, wit, etc.
3.
a very brief moment; instant:
I'll be back in a flash.
4.
Informal. flashlight (def 1).
5.
superficial, meretricious, or vulgar showiness; ostentatious display.
6.
Also called news flash. Journalism. a brief dispatch sent by a wire service, usually transmitting preliminary news of an important story or development.
Compare bulletin (def 2).
7.
Photography.
  1. bright artificial light thrown briefly upon a subject during an exposure.
  2. flash lamp.
  3. flashbulb.
  4. flashtube.
8.
the sudden flame or intense heat produced by a bomb or other explosive device.
9.
a sudden thought, insight, inspiration, or vision.
10.
Slang. rush (def 25).
11.
Metallurgy.
  1. a ridge of metal left on a casting by a seam between parts of the mold.
  2. a ridge formed at the edge of a forging or weld where excess metal has been squeezed out.
12.
Poker. a hand containing all five suits in a game played with a five-suit pack.
13.
a device, as a lock or sluice, for confining and releasing water to send a boat down a shallow stream.
14.
the rush of water thus produced.
15.
hot flash.
16.
Obsolete. the cant or jargon of thieves, vagabonds, etc.
verb (used without object)
17.
to break forth into sudden flame or light, especially transiently or intermittently:
a buoy flashing in the distance.
18.
to gleam.
19.
to burst suddenly into view or perception:
The answer flashed into his mind.
20.
to move like a flash.
21.
to speak or behave with sudden anger, outrage, or the like (often followed by out):
to flash out at a stupid remark.
22.
to break into sudden action.
23.
Slang. to open one's clothes and expose the genitals suddenly, and usually briefly, in public.
24.
Slang. to experience the intense effects of a narcotic or stimulant drug.
25.
to dash or splash, as the sea or waves.
26.
Archaic. to make a flash or sudden display.
verb (used with object)
27.
to emit or send forth (fire or light) in sudden flashes.
28.
to cause to flash, as powder by ignition or a sword by waving.
29.
to send forth like a flash.
30.
to communicate instantaneously, as by radio or telegraph.
31.
to make an ostentatious display of:
He's forever flashing a large roll of bills.
32.
to display suddenly and briefly:
She flashed her ID card at the guard.
33.
to change (water) instantly into steam by pouring or directing onto a hot surface.
34.
to increase the flow of water in (a river, channel, etc.).
35.
Glassmaking and Ceramics.
  1. to coat (plain glass or a glass or ceramic object) with a layer of colored, opalescent, or white glass.
  2. to apply (such a layer).
  3. to color or make (glass) opaque by reheating.
36.
Building Trades. to protect from leakage with flashing.
37.
Cards. to expose (a card) in the process of dealing.
38.
Archaic. to dash or splash (water).
adjective
39.
sudden and brief:
a flash storm.
40.
showy or ostentatious.
41.
caused by or used as protection against flash:
flash injuries; flash clothing.
42.
counterfeit or sham.
43.
belonging to or connected with thieves, vagabonds, etc., or their cant or jargon.
44.
of or pertaining to followers of boxing, racing, etc.
Idioms
45.
flash in the pan,
  1. a brief, intense effort that produces no really significant result.
  2. a person who makes such an effort; one who enjoys short-lived success.
46.
flash on, Slang.
  1. to have a sudden thought, insight, or inspiration about.
  2. to have a sudden, vivid memory or mental picture of:
    I just flashed on that day we spent at the lake.
  3. to feel an instantaneous understanding and appreciation of.
Origin
1350-1400; Middle English flasshen to sprinkle, splash, earlier flask(i)en; probably phonesthemic in orig.; compare similar expressive words with fl- and -sh
Related forms
flashingly, adverb
outflash, verb (used with object)
Synonyms
1. flare, gleam, glare. 3. twinkling, wink. 18. scintillate. Flash, glance, glint, glitter mean to send forth a sudden gleam (or gleams) of bright light. To flash is to send forth light with a sudden, transient brilliancy: A shooting star flashed briefly. To glance is to emit a brilliant flash of light as a reflection from a smooth surface: Sunlight glanced from the glass windshield. Glint suggests a hard bright gleam of reflected light, as from something polished or burnished: Light glints from silver or from burnished copper. To glitter is to reflect intermittent flashes of light from a hard surface: Ice glitters in the moonlight. 40. flashy, gaudy, tawdry; pretentious, superficial. 42. false, fake.
British Dictionary definitions for flash in the pan

flash

/flæʃ/
noun
1.
a sudden short blaze of intense light or flame: a flash of sunlight
2.
a sudden occurrence or display, esp one suggestive of brilliance: a flash of understanding
3.
a very brief space of time: over in a flash
4.
an ostentatious display: a flash of her diamonds
5.
Also called newsflash. a short news announcement concerning a new event
6.
(mainly Brit) Also called patch. an insignia or emblem worn on a uniform, vehicle, etc, to identify its military formation
7.
a patch of bright colour on a dark background, such as light marking on an animal
8.
a volatile mixture of inorganic salts used to produce a glaze on bricks or tiles
9.
  1. a sudden rush of water down a river or watercourse
  2. a device, such as a sluice, for producing such a rush
10.
(photog, informal) short for flashlight (sense 2), flash photography
11.
a ridge of thin metal or plastic formed on a moulded object by the extrusion of excess material between dies
12.
(Yorkshire & Lancashire, dialect) a pond, esp one produced as a consequence of subsidence
13.
(modifier) involving, using, or produced by a flash of heat, light, etc: flash blindness, flash distillation
14.
flash in the pan, a project, person, etc, that enjoys only short-lived success, notoriety, etc
adjective
15.
(informal) ostentatious or vulgar
16.
(informal) of or relating to gamblers and followers of boxing and racing
17.
sham or counterfeit
18.
(informal) relating to or characteristic of the criminal underworld
19.
brief and rapid: flash freezing
verb
20.
to burst or cause to burst suddenly or intermittently into flame
21.
to emit or reflect or cause to emit or reflect light suddenly or intermittently
22.
(intransitive) to move very fast: he flashed by on his bicycle
23.
(intransitive) to come rapidly (into the mind or vision)
24.
(intransitive; foll by out or up) to appear like a sudden light: his anger really flashes out at times
25.
  1. to signal or communicate very fast: to flash a message
  2. to signal by use of a light, such as car headlights
26.
(transitive) (informal) to display ostentatiously: to flash money around
27.
(transitive) (informal) to show suddenly and briefly
28.
(intransitive) (Brit, slang) to expose oneself indecently
29.
(transitive) to cover (a roof) with flashing
30.
to send a sudden rush of water down (a river, etc), or to carry (a vessel) down by this method
31.
(in the making of glass) to coat (glass) with a thin layer of glass of a different colour
32.
(transitive) to subject to a brief pulse of heat or radiation
33.
(transitive) to change (a liquid) to a gas by causing it to hit a hot surface
34.
(obsolete) to splash or dash (water)
Word Origin
C14 (in the sense: to rush, as of water): of unknown origin
Word Origin and History for flash in the pan

flash

v.

late 14c., from flasken (c.1300) "to dash or splash" (as water), probably imitative. Related: Flashed; flashing. Sense of "give off a sudden burst of light or flame" is 1540s. Flash flood is from 1940. Flash card is from 1923. Flash cube (remember those?) is from 1965.

n.

1560s, from flash (v.); originally of lightning. Meaning "first news report" is from 1857. Meaning "photographic lamp" is from 1913. The comic book character dates to 1940. Flash in the pan (1809) is from old-style guns, where the powder might ignite in the pan but fail to spark the main charge.

flash in the pan in Culture

flash in the pan definition


Someone or something that promises great success but soon fails: “The rock group that was all the rage last year turned out to be just another flash in the pan.”

Slang definitions & phrases for flash in the pan

flash in the pan

noun phrase

A person or thing that does not fulfill an apparent potential: If he's not a flash in the pan he'll be the best poet we ever had

[1809+; fr the igniting charge in an old gun that goes off in the pan or holder without igniting the main charge]


flash

adjective
  1. Excellent; wonderful; dynamite (1970s+ Teenagers)
  2. flashy (1600s+)
noun
  1. Thieves' argot (1718+)
  2. A look; quick glance: We slid into the cross street to take a flash at the alley (1900+)
  3. A person who excels at something, esp in a showy and perhaps superficial way; whiz: He's a flash at math (1603+)
  4. A display of gaudy merchandise or prizes: expensive flash that the mark couldn't win (1920s+ Circus)
  5. rush: Harry shot up a couple of the goof balls and tried to think a bigger and better flash than he got (1960s+ Narcotics)
  6. Distinctive personal style and charm; charisma: Flash is in the clothes, the cars, the walk, the talk (1970s+)
  7. A sudden idea, impulse, or insight: the joy when I get the flash, figure out who did it
  8. Something one is currently doing; bag, thing: His current ''flash,'' as he calls it, tends toward gaucho suits (1970s+)
  9. In decent exposure: He gave her a flash and she squawked
  10. Urination; piss: and said he'd pay double in case of a ''flash,'' which is a delicate way of describing one of nature's indelicate imperatives (1970s+)
  11. Showiness; superficiality; glitter, glitz: For all the flash Carlito's Way is pretty tame (1990s+)
verb
  1. To set up a display of presumed prizes •Flash it, ''to show the bargains offered,'' is found by 1849: Flash the joint (1920s+ Circus)
  2. To vomit •The dated example is flash the hash (1811+)
  3. To have a hallucinatory experience from a narcotic: He flashed he was as big as a mountain (1960s+ Narcotics)
  4. To feel the sudden pleasurable effect of a narcotics injection: As soon as the needle went in, she flashed (1960s+ Narcotics)
  5. To have a sudden idea, insight, or impulse (1920s+)
  6. To expose one's genitals, breasts, etc •The earlier British forms were flash it and flash one's meat: Judy thought she was gonna flash me. She started unbuttoning her blouse (1846+)
  7. To display suddenly and briefly: We flash our tin and ask him if he's lost a ball-peen hammer
  8. To climb a route on the first try (1990s+ Rock climbing)

Idioms and Phrases with flash in the pan

flash in the pan

An effort or person that promises great success but fails. For example, His second novel proved to be a flash in the pan, or We had high hopes for the new director, but she was a flash in the pan. This metaphoric term alludes to the 17th-century flintlock musket, which could be fired only when the flash of the priming powder in the lockpan ignited the charge in the bore. When it failed to ignite, there was only a flash in the pan and the gun did not shoot.

flash

In addition to the idiom beginning with
flash
also see: