▪ I. flash, n.1
(flæʃ)
Forms: 5 flasche, 5–6 flassh(e, 9 dial. flass, 7– flash.
[Of onomatopœic origin; cf. the synonyms flosche (flosh), flask n.2 (which are earlier recorded), plash (= MDu. plasch), which seem to imitate the sound of ‘splashing’ in a puddle. The synonymous F. flache may have influenced the Eng. word; it is commonly regarded as a subst. use of flache, fem. of OF. flac adj. soft:—L. flaccus.]
1. A pool, a marshy place. Obs. exc. local.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 403 Plasche, or flasche, where reyne water stondythe..torrens, lacuna. 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §70 The..flasshes, and lowe places, and all the holowe bunnes and pypes that growe therin. 1622 Drayton Poly-olb. xxv. 60 They [birds] from flash to flash, like the full Epicure Waft, as they lou'd to change their Diet euery meale. c 1746 J. Collier (Tim Bobbin) Lanc. Dialect Gloss., Flash, a lake. 1826 H. N. Coleridge Six Months W.I. 280 A long flash, as they call it, or river with a large bay. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Flash..Also, a pool, Also, in the west, a river with a large bay, which is again separated from the outer sea by a reef of rocks. 1870 E. Peacock Ralf Skirl II. 111 ‘Hev' ye forgotten..when we was a duckin' on Ferry Flash?’ |
| attrib. 1882 Lanc. Gloss., Flash-pit, a pit nearly grown up with reeds and grass. |
2. [
Cf. F.
flache place where a paving-stone has sunk.] (See
quot.)
| 1888 Gresley Gloss. Coal Mining, Flash (Cheshire), a subsidence of the surface due to the working of rock salt and pumping of brine. |
▪ II. flash, n.2 (
flæʃ)
[f. flash v.1] I. Burst of light or flame (and senses thence derived);
cf. flash v.
1 III.
1. a. A sudden outburst or issuing forth of flame or light; a sudden, quick, transitory blaze.
flash in the pan (see
quot. 1810);
fig. an abortive effort or outburst;
cf. flash v.
1 5 c.
| 1566 Painter Pal. Pleas. I. 108 Astouned like one that had been stroken with a flashe of lightening. 1635 Swan Spec. M. vi. (1643) 300 It fired with a sudden flash. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 712 Three flashes of blue Light'ning. 1705 W. Bosman Guinea 318 Missing his shot by a flash in the Pan. 1725 De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 309 Our men saw plainly the three flashes of the guns. 1810 James Milit. Dict. (ed. 3), Flash in the pan, an explosion of gunpowder without any communication beyond the touch-hole. 1833 Marryat P. Simple lviii, I now discharged grape alone, waiting for the flash of the fire to ascertain their direction. 1858 Merc. Marine Mag. V. 60 It is a Fixed White Light, varied by a Red Flash every half minute. |
b. slang. flash of lightning: a glass of gin.
| 1789 Geo. Parker Life's Painter 149. 1801 Sporting Mag. XVII. 34 That fashionable liquor called flashes of lightning. 1830 Lytton P. Clifford II. iv. 112 The thunders of eloquence being hushed, flashes of lightning, or, as the vulgar say ‘glasses of gin’ gleamed about. |
c. transf. The quick movement of a flag in signalling.
| 1870 Colomb & Bolton Flashing Signals 30 To make a short flash, the flag is moved from a to b..To make a long flash, the flag is waved from a to c. |
d. A brief telegraphic news dispatch, usually as a preliminary to a fuller report; a brief item of broadcast news. So
news flash,
orig. U.S. (in telegraphic sense).
| 1857 Richmond (Va.) D. Whig 31 Aug. 3/1 The first flash came across the ocean by the Submarine Telegraph at noon to-day. 1904 Post Express (Rochester, N.Y.) 12 Sept. 3 News Flashes from All Over. 1933 Evening Standard 19 Apr. 6/2 The ‘C[entral] N[ewsagency]’ had the news..from the tape machines..in this form. Flash 11.28 p.m. Moscow Trial. 1934 H. N. Rose Thesaurus of Slang vii. 48/2 Brief News Bulletin..a flash. 1938 Manch. Guardian Weekly 21 Oct. Suppl. i/3 There was little hope that..a..news flash would break in..but her voice all at once receded. ‘Flash!’ a masculine announcer put in. 1940 P. Fleming Flying Visit 118 The Censorship, after passing a news agency ‘flash’ stating that the New York Morning Post had published an amazing dispatch in which its London correspondent alleged [etc.]. 1965 New Statesman 5 Nov. 694/1 It often got out ‘flashes’ quicker which enabled us to..save valuable time on big stories. |
e. Cinematography. Exposure of a scene; a scene momentarily shown on the screen.
| 1913 E. W. Sargent Technique of Photoplay (ed. 2) ii. 14 We know what is in the letter, so just a flash about three feet long is used. 1922 A. C. Lescarboura Cinema Handbk. i. 23 Flash, a short scene, usually not more than three to five feet of film. 1944 Ann. Reg. 1943 344 Propaganda shorts..came in a steady flow,..their length varying from a flash to five minutes. |
f. = flash-lamp (b).
| 1913 D. E. Adams in F. H. Harris Dartmouth out o' Doors 40 A pocket flash was the only light on hand. 1943 R. Chandler Lady in Lake (1944) xxxiv. 178 ‘Got a flash?’ ‘No.’ I said: ‘There's one in the car pocket on the left side.’ Shorty fumbled around and metal clicked and the white beam of a flashlight came on. |
g. A flash-light photograph; also,
= flash-gun,
flash-lamp (a).
| 1945 Wakefield & Smith Synchronized Flashlight Photogr. v. 72 The flash is fixed to the camera. 1959 J. Cary Captive & Free lxiii. 287 A camera man held up his reflector and took a flash. 1963 L. Deighton Horse under Water xvi. 66 He brought it [sc. a camera] complete with flash and a green filter. 1971 Amateur Photographer 13 Jan. 42 A man came into the shop and said he would like to buy a small electronic flash he had seen in the window. |
h. The brief pleasurable sensation received immediately after an injection of certain narcotic drugs.
slang.| 1967 M. M. Glatt et al. Drug Scene iii. 39 He no longer got a ‘kick’ or ‘flash’ from taking drugs. 1970 Observer 3 May 3/3 The pleasure comes apparently from the half⁓dreamlike state between consciousness and sleep which the addict calls his ‘flash’ or ‘buzz’. 1971 Oz xxxvi. 40/1 More & more people started shooting it to get the flash all the real hip suckers were talking about. |
2. transf. The brief period during which a flash is visible:
† a. for a flash: for a brief moment; while the fit lasts (
obs.).
b. in a flash: immediately, instantaneously.
| 1625 Bacon Ess. Greatness Kingd. (Arb.) 485 The Persians, and Macedonians, had it for a flash. 1648 Milton Tenure Kings (1650) 3 Most men are apt enough to civill wars and commotions as a noveltie, and for a flash hot and active. 1801 Spirit Pub. Jrnls. (1806) IX. 372 To the helm, my boy, in a flash. 1858 O. W. Holmes Aut. Breakf.-t. vi. 160 A thoroughly popular lecture ought to have nothing in it which five hundred people cannot all take in a flash. |
3. A brief outburst or transient display of something regarded as resembling a flash of light.
| 1602 Shakes. Ham. v. i. 210 Your flashes of Merriment that were wont to set the Table on a Rore. 1652–62 Heylin Cosmogr. iii. (1673) 8/2 A brave flash of vain⁓glorious hospitality. 1665 Boyle Occas. Refl. v. iv. (1845) 309 An unseasonable disclosure of flashes of Wit. 1819 Byron Juan ii. xxxviii, But now there came a flash of hope once more. 1873 Black Pr. Thule ii. 27 A sort of flash of expectation passed over Lavender's face. |
4. a. Superficial brilliancy; ostentation, display; also
† brilliant distinction, ‘éclat’ (
obs.).
† Phr.
to cut a flash (
cf. dash n. 10).
| 1674 S. Vincent Yng. Gallant's Acad. 97 Whose Entertainments to those of a higher rank are..not only flash and meer Complement. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 59. ¶1 Pedants..are apt to decry the Writings of a polite Author, as Flash and Froth. 1755 Gentl. Mag. XXV. 118 Berry gave him a crown..to make a flash with to the boys. 1780 F. Burney Diary June (1891) I. 271 Miss Weston, whose delicacy gave way to gaiety and flash, whether she would or not. 1782 C. A. Burney Jrnl. 15 Jan. in Mad. D'Arblay Early Diary II. 306, I had not a very entertaining evening, but I would not but have been there, for the flash of the thing. 1795 Fate of Sedley I. 50 Some men..cut a flash without any fortune. 1827 R. H. Froude Rem. (1838) I. 445, I..shall be drawn..into foolishness and flash, and everything that is disgusting. 1880 Webb Goethe's Faust Prel. Theat. 8 Mere flash a moment's interest engages. |
† b. A piece of showy talk; a vain, empty phrase or vulgarism.
Obs.| 1605 B. Jonson, etc. Eastward Hoe iv. i, Sir Petronell Flash, I am sory to see such flashes as these proceede from a Gentleman of your Quality. 1649 Milton Eikon. xii. (1851) 433 Hee next falls to flashes, and a multitude of words. 1735 Dyche & Pardon Dict., Flash..a Boast, Brag, or great Pretence made by a Spend-thrift, Quack, or Pretender to more Art or Knowledge than a Person has. |
† 5. A brilliant or ‘showy’ person; usually in contemptuous sense, one vain of his accomplishments or appearance, a coxcomb, fop.
Obs.| 1603 B. Jonson Sejanus ii. i, Such a spirit as yours, Was not created for the idle second To a poor flash, as Drusus. 1652 Benlowes Theoph. xi. lix. 200 Thou, inconsid'rate Flash, spend'st pretious Dayes In Dances, Banquets, Courtisms, Playes. 1677 Miege Eng.-Fr. Dict., A Flash, an empty shallow-brained fellow. 1764 Low Life 65 The Jemmies,Brights, Flashes..and Smarts of the Town. 1807–8 W. Irving Salmag. (1824) 78 She is the highest flash of the ton—has much whim and more eccentricity. |
† 6. slang. A wig.
Obs.| a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Flash, a Periwig. 1760 Bailey vol. II. (ed. 5) Canting Words, Flash, a Peruke, Rum Flash, a long, full, high-priz'd Wig. Queer Flash, a sorry, weather-beaten Wig. |
7. a. An ornament consisting of three short pieces of black velvet ribbon sewn to the collar of a full-dress tunic, and hanging down the back; supposed to be the remains of the bow which fastened the ‘queue’. Now worn only by the officers of the 23rd Royal Welsh Fusiliers. (
N. & Q. 8th
Ser. VII. 20 Apr. 1895).
| 1837 T. Hook Jack Brag III. 115 A..young man, dressed in the uniform of some volunteer corps of cavalry, wearing flashes. |
b. A patch of cloth sewn on a military uniform,
usu. on the upper arm or shoulder, with a device to indicate the unit or country, etc., to which the wearer belongs.
| 1918 (title) Flashes of 53rd Division Prior to Aug. 18 (chart in Imperial War Museum Libr.). 1927 W. Deeping Kitty xi. 142 A captain wearing the ribbon of the Military Cross, and black and white chess-board flashes. 1943 Stars & Stripes 15 June 2/5 Here's how the British and American armies describe different items: American. Insignia, shoulder, sleeve. British. Divisional sign or flash. 1944 Times 6 July 5/7 One cannot fail to notice the interest the Germans display in shoulder-flashes bearing the name Australia worn by the few A.I.F. officers who are here. Ibid., They nearly all ask where the rest of the Australians are when they see my flashes. 1952 C. Day Lewis tr. Virgil's Aeneid ii. 42 Change shields with these dead Greeks, put on their badges and flashes! |
8. A preparation of cayenne pepper or capsicum with burnt sugar, used for colouring spirits.
| 1820 Accum Adult. Food 10 The substance which they [brandy merchants]..purchase under the delusive name of flash, for strengthening and clarifying spirituous liquors..is in reality a compound of sugar with extract of capsicum. |
† 9. A small piece; ? a dash or sprinkling.
| 1615 Latham Falconry ii. viii. 95 Put into it..one flash or two of Saffron. |
10. pl. The new shoots of a tea-plant.
| 1880 Eliot James Indian Industries xxviii. 344 The new shoots..or ‘flashes’, as they are called, come on four, sometimes five, times between April and October. |
II. Sudden movement of liquids, etc. (
cf. flash v. I).
† 11. a. A sudden movement of a body of water, a splash; a breaker.
Obs.| 1627 Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. x. 47 Which make the Sea..rebound in flashes exceeding high. 1632 Sherwood, A flash of water, gaschis d'eau. 1713 Derham Phys. Theol. iv. xv. 245 The Miller..with his Man..were so washed with Flashes of Sea water, that they were almost strangled therewith. |
b. A sudden rush of water, let down from a weir, to take a boat over the shallows of a river.
| 1677 Plot Oxfordsh. ix. §46. 234 Were there a convenient number of Locks, or Holds for water..to let down flashes as occasion should serve. 1689 S. Sewall Diary 29 Mar. (1882) I. 302 Flashes to help them over the Shallow places. 1758 Descr. Thames 162 But this is a Charge only in Summer, and paid for Flashes when the Water is low. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. s.v., To make a flash, is to let boats down through a lock. 1884 Knight Dict. Mech. IV. 76/1 The substitution of a continuous navigation upon the upper Seine..by the aid of movable dams, for the intermittent navigation by flashes. |
† 12. transf. A sudden burst of rain, wind, steam, etc.; a fit of activity, a spurt.
Obs.| 1653–4 Whitelocke Jrnl. Swed. Emb. (1772) II. 362 Yett the wind being by flashes large, they went..twenty leagues up and downe. 1685 Wood Life (Oxf. Hist. Soc.) III. 156 Waters extreame low, tho' many flashes of raine. Rivers almost dried up. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Flash, a sudden Spurt. 1808 J. B. Dabney in Naval Chron. XXI. 107 Some few..were scalded by flashes of steam. |
13. A contrivance for producing a ‘flash’ (senses 11, 11 b). (See
quots. and
flash-board.)
| 1768–74 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1852) I. 32 The miller, when he takes up his flashes, lays them it may be on the bank. 1841 S. C. Brees Gloss. Civ. Engin., Flashes, a description of sluice, erected for the purpose of raising the water over any shoals while craft are passing. 1861 Smiles Engineers I. ii. iv. 122 In some cases these drainage waters were conveyed..over it [the New River] by what were termed flashes. Note. The flash..consisted of a wooden trough about twelve feet wide..extending across the river. |
III. attrib. and
Comb. 14. a. simple attributive, as
flash-lock,
flash-mark,
flash-water,
flash-weir (senses 11, 11 b).
| 1788 Act 28 Geo. III c. 51 §14 All the old Flash Locks or Weirs thereon. 1791 W. Jessop Rep. Navig. Thames & Isis 9 Water at the flash mark 4ft. 6 on the Sill. 1793 R. Mylne Rep. Thames 29 The Time of Flash-waters coming down. |
b. Special comb., as
flash boiler = flasher 6;
flash bomb (see
quot.);
flash-bulb Photogr., a glass bulb producing the light used for taking flash-light photographs;
flash burn, a burn caused by sudden intense heat,
esp. that generated by a nuclear explosion;
flash-butt welding Metallurgy (see
quot. 1958); also
flash weld(ing) (
cf. butt-weld(
ed));
flash card (see
quot. 1945);
flash colour, a patch of bright colour on an animal's body which is visible only when the animal is in motion; so
flash-colouring vbl. n.;
flash cube Photogr., a small cube with a bulb and reflector in each of four faces, for attaching to a camera to provide up to four flashes in rapid succession;
flash-dry v. trans., to dry in a very short time; so
flash-drying vbl. n.;
flash-flood [
cf. sense 11 a, b]
Phys. Geogr., a sudden, destructive flood; so
flash flooding vbl. n.;
† flash-flown a., ? uttered in idle talk;
flash-flue (see
quot.);
flash freezer, a machine for performing flash freezing;
flash freezing, the very rapid freezing of food in order to preserve its flavour and texture by avoiding the formation of ice crystals; so
flash-freeze v. trans., to subject to this process; also
transf.;
flash-frozen ppl. a.;
flash generator = flasher 6;
flash-gun Photogr., a device that can be attached to a camera to hold and operate a flash-bulb;
flash-lamp, (
a) (
Photogr.), a lamp used to give a flash-light; (
b) a portable electric lamp which produces a light by the pressure of a button, etc.;
flash-light, (
a) a light so arranged as to give forth sudden flashes, used for signals and in lighthouses; (
b)
Photogr. (see
quot. 1890); (
c) chiefly
U.S. = flash-lamp (b); also as
v. trans., to photograph by flash-light (also
fig.); hence
flash-lighting vbl. n.;
flash-meter, a device similar to the shutter of a camera which permits momentary exposure of slides for teaching purposes;
flash-pan, (
a) the pan in an old flint-lock for holding the priming by which the charge is exploded; (
b) a small copper pan with a handle, in which powder is flashed as a signal (
Cent. Dict.);
flash pasteurization, a method of pasteurization in which the substance is suddenly raised to a higher temperature than in normal pasteurization but for a shorter period;
flash photolysis Chem., the use of a very short, intense flash of light to bring about chemical decomposition or dissociation; so
flash-photolyse v., to decompose by this means;
flash-photolysed ppl. adj.;
flash-pipe (see
quot. 1874);
flash-point, (
a)
= flashing-point; (
b)
fig., a point of climax, indignation, etc. (
cf. boiling-point);
flash powder, powder used in flash-light photography; also extended uses;
flash process = flash pasteurization;
flash-rim (see
quot. 1867);
flash roasting Metallurgy (see
quot. 1958); so
flash-roast v.
trans.;
flash spectroscopy Chem., spectroscopic examination of rapid chemical reactions initiated by a very short, intense flash of light;
flash spectrum, (
a) a spectrum of the chromosphere which appears at the beginning and end of totality of a solar eclipse; (
b) a spectrum of the reactants and reaction products obtained in flash spectroscopy;
flash-spotting Mil., the locating and reporting of hostile battery positions by observation of their gun-flashes; hence
flash-spotter;
flash steam generator = flash generator;
flash-test, a test to determine the flashing-point of kerosene, etc.;
flash tube Photogr., a tube, filled usually with xenon under reduced pressure, by means of which a flash is produced when an electrical current is suddenly passed through the gas;
flash-wheel (see
quot.). Also
flash-board.
| 1902 Lockwood's Dict. Mech. Engin. (ed. 3), *Flash Boiler, a rapidly steaming boiler in which the steam is generated in coils of small tubes. 1906 Daily Chron. 3 Mar. 3/6 Water is converted into steam in a tubular boiler, called a flash boiler. |
| 1940 Flight 26 Dec. b/2 *Flash bombs are dropped to illumine the target. |
| 1935 News Chron. Amateur Photogr. ii. iii. 200 The flashlight need not be situated directly behind the camera..particularly if a *flash-bulb is available. 1937 Pop. Sci. Aug. 86/1 (heading) Using two flash bulbs for portrait photos. Ibid., Any flash-bulb holder, operated by batteries, may be easily adapted. 1939 Henney & Dudley Handbk. Photogr. iv. 93 Synchronized flash guns are devices which enable the photographer to fire off a flash bulb at the same instant the shutter of his camera is opened. 1954 X. Fielding Hide & Seek ix. 113 Half a dozen sheep stood there motionless for a second, as though posing for a flash-bulb photograph. |
| 1946 Nature 3 Aug. 152/1 An attack by atomic bombs would, no doubt, cause some casualties by ‘*flashburn’, although even ordinary clothing appears to offer substantial protection against it. 1951 Ann. Reg. 1950 420 The three major effects [of atomic warfare] were blast, flash-burn, and radiological. |
| 1933 Welding Ind. Aug. 224/2 On *flash butt welding machines, the transformer if inside the housing is exposed to the damage which may be caused by the unavoidable considerable sparking. 1958 A. D. Merriman Dict. Metallurgy 95/1 Flash-butt welding, a resistance welding process in which an arc is struck and maintained between the joint members until welding heat is attained. The current is then shut off and the weld made by forcing the parts together. |
| 1923 Cumulative Book Index Apr. 18 *Flash cards for rapid word drills. 1945 C. V. Good Dict. Educ. 173/2 Flash card, a small card of heavy cardboard having on it written or printed letters, words, phrases, numerals, or combinations of numerals for computation; used as an aid to learning, the teacher holding each card up for the class to see for a brief interval. 1953 Wittich & Schuller Audio-Visual Materials iii. 53 Flash cards..ultimately create relationships and understandings of the symbols and the objects for which these symbols stand. 1964 Listener 12 Nov. 775/2 The raising of children's ‘flash-cards’: what do you think of this?—two seconds to answer. |
| 1928 T. H. Savory Biol. Spiders viii. 160 Coloration may assist concealment..by the exhibition of the so called *flash-colours. |
| 1935 ― Spiders 28 When the spider has been disturbed and is running away, these quickly moving bright joints are conspicuous. But suddenly it stops and draws in its legs: the bright colours are hidden, and the spider becomes almost invisible—a method of protection known as ‘*flash-colouring’. |
| 1965 Perspective VII. 244/2 Multiple flash bulb, a so-called *flash cube introduced for a low-priced amateur still camera consists of four tiny blue flash bulbs set in their own reflectors in four faces of a cube. 1967 Boston Sunday Herald 30 Apr. vi. 8/5 The Retina S-1 camera, designed to use flashcubes. 1977 J. Hedgecoe Photographer's Handbk. 24 The most basic peel-apart film cameras..offer scale focusing, a flash cube mounting, and usually have automatic exposure control. 1985 N.Y. Times 12 May i. 59/1 The Minox LX..has a built-in exposure meter and a flashcube attachment. |
| 1946 Nature 10 Aug. 194/1 Considerable progress had been made in drying; and spray-drying, *flash-drying and drum⁓drying have been developed with considerable success. |
| 1950 Time 26 June 10 Big heating ovens..flash-dry the ink almost instantly. 1960 Times 20 Sept. (Pure Food Suppl.) p. xx, Because the food is flash-dried in a high vacuum the moisture takes nothing away with it. |
| 1940 Words Apr. 55/1 Harry Burns..died in a ‘*flash’ flood which raced down Wheeling creek. 1963 N. Freeling Gun before Butter ii. 79 Flash floods of eleven centimetres of rain in an hour and a half. |
| 1939 Nature 17 June 1028/1 A two feet deep band of boulders and sand, deposited in a period of *flash flooding. |
| 1632 Lithgow Trav. viii. 339 Let not surmisers thinke, ambition led My second toyles, more *flash-flowne praise to wed. |
| 1888 Lockwood's Dict. Mech. Engin., *Flash Flue, the flue underneath an egg-end or similar externally fired boiler. |
| 1984 Tampa (Florida) Tribune 28 Mar. 17c/10 (Advt.), Restaurant equip. for sale;..dbl refrig., *flash freezer, ice cream machine [etc.]. |
| 1942 Woolrich & Bartlett Quick & Flash Freezing of Foods 13 This led to the discovery of ‘polyphase freezing’ or what some prefer to call ‘*flash freezing’. 1968 New Scientist 29 Aug. 436/2 Any temperature between -120°C and -196°C can be produced in the flash-freezing section. The flash-freezing process can be fully controlled within that temperature range. 1984 N.Y. Times 9 Apr. c11/2 Flash freezing of fish at temperatures approaching 40 below zero lengthens their shelf life appreciably. |
| 1973 Publishers Weekly 26 Feb. 122/3 Kiley is shot during a student riot, but since he happens to be close to a friend's cryogenic lab, he is immediately *flash-frozen. 1976 National Observer (U.S.) 12 June 1/1 Their clothes..look flash-frozen out of the '50s. 1977 Time 23 May 54/1 Passengers doze over their drinks, eat flash-frozen steaks. |
| 1903 Work 28 Feb. 58/3 The cylinder constituting alternately a gas-engine and a *flash generator. 1913 W. E. Dommett Motor Car Mech. 141 Flash generators are really a particular case of water-tube boilers, in which the tubes serve not only for the production of steam but simultaneously act as super⁓heaters. |
| 1930 Pop. Sci. July 46/3 (caption) New *flash gun and camera which it clicks, at the instant trigger fires flashlight cartridge. 1939 Flash gun [see flash-bulb]. 1959 Which? May 25/2 The cameras tested could be used with flashguns—an advantage for anyone wanting to take indoor pictures. |
| 1890 Woodbury Encycl. Photogr. 373 The electric lamp, magnesium lamp, and *flash lamp. 1891 H. L. Webb in Electr. in Daily Life, Making a Cable 188 Flag-signalling had to be exchanged for flash-lamps. 1908 Model Engin. & Electrician 11 June 570/2 Flashlamp batteries. 1914 G. W. Young From Trenches xi. 234 Electric flash-lamps. 1928 Daily Express 11 Oct. 8 Tom shone his flashlamp on the knife. |
| 1886 Sci. Amer. N.S. LIV. 16/2 A *flash-light, that is to say, one which can be made to glow or disappear at pleasure. 1890 Woodbury Encycl. Photogr. 289 Flashlight, usually made by blowing magnesium powder through a small flame. 1892 M. Stokes Six Months in Apennines 163, I was compelled to photograph these most interesting bas-reliefs by the flash⁓light. 1901 Field & Stream Jan. 774/2 The Comet Baby Flash Light. 1902 A. Bennett Grand Babylon Hotel xiii. 144 Rocco had photographed the corpse by flashlight. 1906 Westm. Gaz. 19 Mar. 3/1 To attempt to flashlight him at night is an invitation..to trample the photographer and his camera into a jumble of mutilated fragments. 1913 Kipling Diversity of Creatures (1917) 205 We were studying the interior of a soul, flash-lighted by the dread of ‘losing its position’. 1919 F. Hurst Humoresque 233 A gold-handled umbrella with a bachelor-girl flash-light attachment. 1940 E. Caldwell Trouble in July xii. 179 Several men rushed inside, flashlighting the room. 1958 ‘A. Gilbert’ Death against Clock 65 Carry a flash⁓light by any chance? |
| 1959 H. Barnes Oceanogr. & Marine Biol. 183 Electronic *flash-lighting with a G.E.C. flash-tube is again employed, the camera mechanism being synchronized to the flash. |
| 1957 D. T. Herman et al. in Saporta & Bastian Psycholinguistics (1961) 538/2 A Keystone Model 1045 projector equipped with an Ilex *flashmeter was used. 1959 J. W. Brown et al. A-V Instructional Materials Man. iv. 157 Keystone overhead projector setup, with tachistoscope (flash meter) and mask in place, ready to project reading slides. |
| 1921 M. Mortenson Managem. Dairy Plants xi. 150 It requires approximately 17 per cent more heat for *flash pasteurization than for vat pasteurization. 1927 H. E. Ross Care & Handling of Milk viii. 101 Flash pasteurization is often used in pasteurizing milk and cream for manufacturing purposes where high temperatures may be used without injuring the product. 1940 Economist 28 Dec. 798/1 Ordinary pasteurisation imparts an objectionable cooked flavour... But there are certain methods such as flash pasteurisation, film evaporation and freezing which are not open to these objections. |
| 1971 G. Herzberg Spectra & Struct. Simple Free Radicals 13 Almost the first absorption spectrum of *flash-photolyzed diazomethane showed a new transient feature..which turned out to be the spectrum of CH2. |
| 1950 G. Porter in Proc. R. Soc. A. CC. 284 A new technique of *flash photolysis and spectroscopy has been developed. 1962 R. E. Dodd Chem. Spectroscopy v. 310 An important kinetic technique which relies upon spectrophotometry is flash photolysis. 1971 G. Herzberg Spectra & Struct. Simple Free Radicals 8 (caption) Apparatus for the study of absorption spectra of free radicals in the vacuum ultraviolet by flash photolysis. |
| 1971 Nature 1 Jan. 41/1 The technique was checked by flash photolysing a 3:1 mixture of hydrogen and nitrogen dioxide. |
| 1874 Knight Dict. Mech., *Flash-pipe, a mode of lighting gas by means of a supplementary pipe pierced with numerous small holes throughout its length. |
| 1878 Ure's Dict. Arts Suppl. IV. 570 The legal *flash-point of petroleum. 1955 Times 26 Aug. 3/3 What actually happens is that the idealist is horrified by what he learns of police methods, his social conscience is brought to the flash-point of concentration by a love affair. 1958 Economist 13 Sept. 817/1 China's tactics seemed to be to build up heat to near flash⁓point and then suddenly lower the temperature. 1963 Ann. Reg. 1962 132 The flashpoint of East-West relations in 1962 was reached on 22 October. |
| 1889 Brit. Jrnl. Photogr. 805 The characteristic of *flash powder is that it contains within itself the elements by which the flash is produced. 1952 Granville Dict. Theatr. Terms 77 Flash powder, a chemical substance through which is passed an electric current producing a flash and a cloud of smoke. Used for explosive effects in war plays. 1966 F. H. Brightman Oxf. Bk. Flowerless Plants 56/2 The spores form a very fine, bright-yellow powder called ‘lycopodium powder’, which was formerly used as a constituent of ‘flash powder’. |
| 1910 Ayers & Johnson in Bull. U.S. Dept. Agric. Bur. Animal Ind. cxxvi. 14 Experiments were made, using both the ‘*flash’ process, which consists of heating flowing milk for from thirty to forty seconds and then cooling, and the ‘holder’ process, where the milk is heated in a tank and held for thirty minutes before cooling. |
| 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., *Flash Rim, in carronades, a cup-shaped enlargement of the bore at the muzzle. |
| 1926 D. M. Liddell Handbk. Non-Ferrous Metallurgy II. 1428/2 (Index) *Flash roasting. 1951 Engineering 20 July 75/2 Hydrogen sulphide in town's gas can be obtained by flash-roasting iron pyrites. 1958 A. D. Merriman Dict. Metallurgy 95/1 Flash roasting, a process for removing sulphur from ores by blowing the pulverised concentrates through a combustion chamber. |
| 1952 Proc. R. Soc. A. CCX. 440 *Flash spectroscopy makes possible the recording of absorption spectra in a time less than 50 microseconds. 1953 Ibid. CCXVI. 165 The explosive oxidation of acetylene, initiated homogeneously by the flash photolysis of a small quantity of nitrogen dioxide, has been investigated by flash spectroscopy. |
| 1899 C. A. Young Gen. Astron. 267 The ‘*flash-spectrum’ was successfully photographed at a number of stations. 1900 Proc. R. Soc. LXVII. 373 The centre of the flash spectrum arcs was..midway between the edges of the spectrum in the photographs obtained at mid-eclipse. 1926 H. Macpherson Mod. Astron. 32 Confirmatory observations of this ‘flash spectrum’, as the phenomenon of reversal from dark to bright was called, were secured at subsequent eclipses. 1950 Proc. R. Soc. A. CC. 299 Effect of capacity on flash spectra of krypton and hydrogen. |
| 1930 Blunden De Bello Germanico 78, I believe our observers or *flash⁓spotters used it. |
| 1922 Encycl. Brit. XXX. 253/1 Any gun which fired at night within direct view of the enemy was liable to be marked down by the ‘*flash-spotting’ section... It was therefore necessary to introduce flashless powder. |
| 1907 Westm. Gaz. 19 Nov. 4/2 The *flash steam generator, which is of the Serpollet type. |
| 1945 Wakefield & Smith Synchronized Flashlight Photogr. ix. 109 The light-producing unit is a coiled glass tube filled with pure xenon... The *flash-tube. 1946 Electronic Engin. 113 (title) Electronic flash tubes in high-speed photography of explosions. 1957 T. L. J. Bentley Man. Miniat. Camera (ed. 5) v. 74 The practical uses of electronic flash sets are governed by the characteristics of the modern xenon-filled flash tube. 1959 Flash-tube [see flash-lighting]. |
| 1959 Jrnl. Iron & Steel Inst. CXCII. 401/2 *Flash welds gave the highest and most consistent results. |
| 1933 Welding Ind. Feb. 4/1 Butt welding may be divided into (a) direct or upset method... (b) *flash welding, in which the material is brought together and an arc is drawn between the parts to be welded. This arc plays along the material in a continuous flash and the pieces are moved together during this flashing period and when in the plastic state the current is interrupted and pressure applied. 1943 Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. XLVII. 289 Flash welding is a type of butt weld in which the two parts to be joined are connected to the secondary terminals of a low-voltage high-current transformer, are then brought into close proximity, and the voltage applied. |
| 1874 Knight Dict. Mech., *Flash-wheel, a water-raising wheel having arms radial or nearly so to its axle, and revolving in a chase or curved water-way by which the water passes from the lower to the higher level as the wheel rotates. |
15. Excess metal or plastic that is forced between facing surfaces as the two halves of a two-part die or mould close up, forming a thin projection on the resulting object.
| 1910 Encycl. Brit. X. 665/1 A large amount of metal is squeezed out beyond the concavity of the forging dies... There are two methods adopted for removing this ‘fin’, or ‘flash’ as it is termed. 1936 H. W. Rowell Technol. Plastics xxi. 158 If the width [of the land] is made greater to reduce pounds pressure per sq. in., the thickness of flash may exceed the desirable ·004 in. 1952 J. Wulff et al. Metall. for Engin. xxvii. 521 Excess metal, called flash, is squeezed from the die faces at the parting line and is subsequently trimmed or ground from the part. 1966 Walker & Martin Injection Moulding of Plastics iv. 132 Moulds for nylon usually have to be well bedded together to prevent flash. |
16. A thin layer (of glass, chromium, etc.). (
Cf. flash v.
1 14 a, c.)
| 1909 Webster, Flash.., a layer of glass flashed on. 1950 J. Osborne Dental Mech. (ed. 3) xxii. 369 One important modification must be made, however, to prevent any flash being present at the all-important fitting edge. 1959 Times 11 Nov. 6/3 What matters most with chromium plating is the layer of nickel under the top ‘flash’ of chromium. 1961 B.S.I. News Apr. 9/2 The durability of chromium-plating depends largely on the thickness and quality of the layer of nickel which is applied under the final ‘flash’ of chromium. |
Add:
[I.] [7.] c. Any bright patch or streak of colour applied for purposes of decoration, identification, etc.;
spec. in
Advertising, a coloured band or highlighting field used to catch the eye in packaging a product.
| 1972 Modelworld Oct. 62/3 The Kittyhawk sheet has only RAAF roundels and fin flash with no serials or other markings. 1976 Southern Even. Echo (Southampton) (Advt. Suppl.) 6 Nov. 3/8, 67 E Cortina Mk.II 1500. Attractive with colour flash. 1977 Gay News 24 Mar. 22/2 Despite the brave flash on the cover of Dialogues..there's precious little to be found inside. 1986 Marketing Week 29 Aug. 41/1 Continuing to support the brand's ‘Totally Tropical Taste’ theme, the on-pack flashes offer a free ‘Taste of the Caribbean’. 1990 Aircraft Illustr. Nov. 577/1 Prominent orange dayglo flashes adorn the noses, wings and fuselage band to brighten up otherwise plain silver-painted aircraft. |
▸ As a mass noun: pre-drawn tattoo designs used as templates for actual tattoos. Also (as a count noun): a tattoo drawn from such a design, often done in a single colour.
| 1977 Newsweek 7 Feb. 78/3 Leather-jacketed bikers and salty senior citizens crowded around the tattoo booths where artists such as San Francisco's Lyle Tuttle displayed their ‘flash’ and inscribed intricate serpents and flowers on arms, backs and even a tongue. 1994 Skin & Ink Aug. 65/2 They're all original tattoos in true colors, not flashes. 2000 S. Gilbert Tattoo Hist. xxi. 200 When I was tattooing in San Diego in the sixties, I had old Sailor Jerry flash on the wall. Sailors would come in and they'd laugh at the Betty Boop design, and then they'd get a Road Runner tattoo. |
▸
flash-fried adj. Cookery that has been flash-fried;
cf. flash-fry v. at Additions.
| 1967 Syracuse (N.Y.) Herald Amer. 19 Nov. (Empire Mag.) 28 (advt.) Discover new Chipos *Flash-Fried Potato Chips. Chipos are fried seven times faster than ordinary potato chips. So they taste crisper, lighter, less oily. 2004 Diva Mar. 58/1 Flash-fried fillet of mackerel with paprika, garlic and coriander. |
▸
flash-fry v.
Cookery trans. to fry (food,
esp. meat or fish) at a high temperature for a short time.
| 1966 Coshocton (Ohio) Tribune 9 Mar. 4 We *flash-fry this clam saute in a great cast-iron frying pan. 2003 N. Slater Toast 123 She flash-fried liver so it was rose pink in the middle. |
▸
flash-frying n. Cookery the action or process of flash-frying food.
| 1967 Syracuse (N.Y.) Herald Amer. 19 Nov. (Empire Mag. section) 28 (advt.) Another thing, *Flash-Frying seals in big potato chip flavor like you've never had it before. 2000 J. Cummings World Food: Thailand 11 Culinary techniques such as blanching, flash frying, parboiling and poaching. |
▪ III. † flash, n.3 Obs. [The examples of 16–17th c. prob. echo Henryson; possibly the copy in Chaucer's Wks. 1561 may be correct in reading fasshe, a. OF. fais or faisse bundle, sheaf.] A bundle or sheaf (of arrows).
| c 1450 Henryson Test. Cres. 167 in Poems & Fables (1865) 81 Undir his girdill ane flasche of felloun flanis. 1600 Fairfax Tasso xi. xxviii. 201 Her ratling quiuer at her shoulders hong, Therein a flash of arrowes feathered weele. 1671 Skinner Etym. Ling. Angl. iv., Flash of flames [read flaines], expl. a Sheaf of Arrowes. 1678–1706 Phillips, Flash of Flames (old word), a Sheaf of Arrows. |
▪ IV. flash, n.4 [Of doubtful origin; possibly an application of flash n.2 13.] = flashing vbl. n.2| 1574–5 Jesus Coll. Accts. in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) III. 611 Item to the Plummer..for settinge in lead over the chappell..where the flasshes were taken awaye. 1614–15 Trinity Coll. Accts. ibid. II. 488 Laying the leads after the masons, setting on flashes and sodering. |
▪ V. † flash, a.1 Obs. In 5
flasch,
flaisch. See also
flake a.
[The forms, compared with those given under flake a., suggest that the word may be a confusion of OF. flac, flache ‘feeble, insipid’ (see next) with the similar-sounding ME. wlake, wlache tepid.] Lukewarm, tepid. Also
flash-hot.
| c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 265 Boile hem in a double vessel & distille it in his eere flaisch. Ibid. 266 Loke þat alle þingis þat þou leist þerto be flasch hoot. |
▪ VI. † flash, a.2 Obs. Also 6
flashe.
[? ad. OF. flac, flache (mod.F. with unexplained alteration flasque) flabby, weak, insipid:—L. flaccus: see flaccid. Cf. flashy.] 1. Weak, wanting in tone.
| 1562 Turner Herbal ii. 30 a, If the stomack be so flashe and louse that it can hold no meat. Ibid. ii. 74 a, Oxys is geuen vnto a flashe, louse or weike stomacke. |
2. a. Of food: Insipid.
b. fig. Of speech, reasonings, etc.: Trashy, void of meaning.
| a. 1601 Bp. Barlow Defence 89 The white of an egge, without salt, is flash and unsavery. 1642 J. Eaton Honey-combe Free Justif. 84 The mingling and mixing together of wine and water..maketh flash matter of both. |
| b. 1612 Brinsley Lud. Lit. 166 Matters vnfit for an Epistle, flash and to little purpose; but very childish. 1622 S. Ward Life of Faith 101 Loath I am to mingle Philosophicall Cordialls with Diuine, as water with wine, least my Consolations should bee flash and dilute. 1640 Fuller Joseph's Coat viii. (1867) 189 Flash in his matter, confused in his method, dreaming in his utterance. |
▪ VII. flash, a.3 Chiefly
colloq. (
flæʃ)
[f. flash n.2] 1. Gaudy, showy, smart. Of persons: Dashing, ostentatious, swaggering, ‘swell’. Also
Flash Harry: see
Harry n.2 2 c.
| 1785 European Mag. VIII. 96 One of that numerous tribe of flash fellows, who live nobody knows where. 1836 J. H. Newman Lett. (1891) II. 200 If I could write a flash article on the subjunctive mood, I would, merely to show how clever I was. 1838 C. Sumner in Mem. & Lett. (1878) II. 23 Bulwer was here a few minutes ago in his flash falsetto dress. 1860 Trollope Framley P. ix, This flash Member of Parliament. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Flash Vessels, all paint outside and no order within. 1877 Black Green Past. xliii. (1878) 348 A bit of flash oratory on the part of a paid pleader. 1882 Illustr. Sporting News 4 Feb. 502/2 A flash young rider..frightens his horse out of his stride before they have well reached the distance. |
b. Of an hotel, etc.: First-class, fashionable, ‘crack,’ ‘swell’.
| 1840 Thackeray Paris Sk.-bk. (1872) 89 He..frequented all the flash restaurateurs and boarding-houses. 1841 in Col. Hawker Diary (1893) II. 210 We then got into Meurice's flash hotel. |
2. Counterfeit, not genuine, sham.
| 1812 Sporting Mag. XXXIX. 210 How could'st thou be so silly, Flash screens to ring for home-spun rope. 1821 Ann. Reg. 193 Passed for the purpose of suppressing the ‘Fleet’ or ‘flash-notes’. 1837 Hood Agric. Distress vii, ‘A note’, says he..‘thou'st took a flash 'un.’ 1863 R. B. Kimball Was he Successful? xii. 138 The difference between the real and the flash fashionable. |
3. slang. Knowing, wide-awake, ‘smart’, ‘fly’.
| 1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Dict., Half-flash and half-foolish..applied..to a person, who has a smattering of the cant language, and..pretends to a knowledge of life which he really does not possess. 1818 Sporting Mag. II. 217 Immense sums of money have been lost by the very flashest of the cognoscenti. 1839 H. Ainsworth J. Sheppard I. xii. 339 ‘Awake!—to be sure I am, my flash cove!’ replied Sheppard. |
4. Belonging to, connected with or resembling, the class of sporting men,
esp. the patrons of the ‘ring’.
| 1808 Sporting Mag. XXX. 126 A sort of flash man upon the town. 1809 Ibid. XXXIII. 228 Crib, who was backed by what is termed the flash side. 1823 Byron Juan xi. xvii, Poor Tom was..Full flash, all fancy. 1838 Dickens Nich. Nick. xix, A gentleman with a flushed face and a flash air. 1862 G. J. Whyte-Melville Inside Bar iv. (ed. 12) 267 After the departure of the flash butcher. 1880 G. R. Sims Three Brass Balls xi, One of the flash young gentlemen who haunt suburban billiard-rooms. |
5. Connected with or pertaining to the class of thieves, tramps, and prostitutes. Chiefly in
Comb., as
flash-case (
= flash-house),
flash-cove,
flash-crib,
flash-ken. Also
flash-house,
flash-man.
| a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Flash-ken, a House where Thieves use, and are connived at. 1718 C. Hitchin Receivers & Thief-Takers 8 A Ken or House frequented by the Thieves and Thief-Takers, or, in their own dialect, thoroughly Flash. 1800 Sporting Mag. XVI. 26 Mack and I called at a flash ken in St. Giles's. 1819 Ibid. V. 122 The flash part of the creation. 1823 Egan Grose's Dict. Vulg. Tong., Flash Cove or Covess, the master or mistress of the house. 1832 Examiner 684/1 She has been the associate of ‘flash thieves’. 1839 H. Ainsworth J. Sheppard I. xi. 322, I know the house..it's a flash crib. Ibid. III. xii. 28 I've been to all the flash cases in town. |
b. esp. of the language spoken by thieves: Cant, slang. Also
quasi-n. A statement made by Dr. Aikin,
Country round Manchester (1795) 437, that ‘flash’ language was so called because spoken by pedlars from a place called Flash near Macclesfield, is often repeated, but is of no authority.
| 1746 Narr. Exploits H. Simms in Borrow Zincali (1843) II. 129 They..began to talk their Flash Language, which I did not then understand. 1756 W. Toldervy Hist. Two Orph. II. 79 Copper learnt flash, and to blow the trumpet. 1782 G. Parker Hum. Sk. 34 No more like a Kiddy he'll roll the flash song. 1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Dict. (1819) 173 To speak good flash is to be well versed in cant terms. 1840 Hood Miss Kilmansegg, Her Misery xviii, His comrades explain'd in flash. 1847 Emerson Repr. Men, Montaigne Wks. (Bohn) I. 343 He will..use flash and street ballads. 1858 O. W. Holmes Aut. Breakf.-t. (1891) 257, I used all the flash words myself just when I pleased. |
Hence
ˈflashly adv. (
slang), in a flash manner; handsomely, elegantly. Also, in flash language.
| 1812 Sporting Mag. XXXIX. 19 A sort of despondency flashly termed fencing. 1857 Song in Ducange Anglicus Vulg. Tongue 42 Your fogle you must flashly tie. |
▪ VIII. flash, v.1 (
flæʃ)
Forms: 4–5
flas(s)(c)he, 6–
flash.
[app. of onomatopœic origin; with senses 1–2 cf. plash, dash, splash; the 13th c. variant flask has been referred to an alleged OF. *flasquer, a supposed older form of Fr. flaquer. With sense 4 cf. flap and slash. The use of the word to express movement of fire or light (branch III), which is now the most prominent application, has not been found (unless in one doubtful example) before the second half of the 16th c. It seems to have originated in a transferred or extended use of sense 1; the coincidence of the initial sounds with those of flame may have helped the development of sense; cf. Sw. dial. flasa, Eng. dial. flaze, to blaze.] I. Expressing movement of a liquid.
1. intr. Of the sea, waves, etc.: To rush along the surface; to rise and dash,
esp. with the tide. Also with
up. In later use with mixture of sense 9.
| 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) Ibid. II. 369 Þe wawes of þe see Siculus, þat flascheþ and wascheþ vppon a rokke þat hatte Scylla. 1577–87 Holinshed Chron. I. 181/2 The sea..also flashed vp vnto his legs and knees. 1613 W. Browne Brit. Past. ii. iii, Yet will a many little surges be Flashing upon the rocke full busily. 1634–5 Brereton Trav. (1844) I. 166 Sometimes the waves flashed into the ship at the loop-holes at stem. 1727–46 Thomson Summer 601 The tortured wave..Now flashes o'er the scattered fragments. 1833 M. Scott Tom Cringle (1859) xvii. 473 The roaring surf was flashing up over the clumps of green bushes. 1834 Medwin Angler in Wales II. 245 The Tivy..flashed in a sheet of foam through the chasm. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. lxx. 15 The cataract flashing from the bridge, The breaker breaking on the beach. |
† 2. trans. To dash or splash (water)
about,
abroad,
upon something.
Obs. exc. with mixture of sense 11.
| c 1460 J. Russell Bk. Nurture 985 Rynse hym with rose watur warme & feire vppon hym flasche. 1528 Paynel Salerne Regim. H b, The spume [froth of wine] to be thynne and soone flashed. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. vi. 42 With his raging armes he rudely flasht The waves about. 1602 Carew Cornwall 266 Somewhat before a tempest if the sea-water bee flashed with a Sticke or Oare the same casteth a bright shining Colour. 1611 Cotgr., Gascher, to dash, plash, flash (as water in rowing.) 1638 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (ed. 2) 20 The wave flashing upon our decks..much salt water. 1813 Scott Rokeby ii. vi. 11 Flashing her sparkling waves abroad. |
3. trans. To send a ‘flash’ or rush of water down (a river); also
absol. Also, to send (a boat) down by a flash.
| 1791 W. Jessop Rep. Thames & Isis 20 Every Inch that can be gained..will save much time and water in flashing from above. 1840 Mrs. Browning Drama of Exile Poems 1889 I. 69 We [earth spirits]..Flash the river, lift the palm-tree, The dilated ocean roll. 1874 Knight Dict. Mech., s.v. Flashing, The gunboats were flashed over the falls at Alexandria by means of a wing-dam. |
† II. 4. trans. To slash, strike swiftly; also, to dash, throw violently down.
Obs.| ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 4238 The ffelonne with the ffyne swerde freschely he strykes, The ffelettes of the fferrere syde he flassches in sondyre. 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Luke iv. 35 With much great roaryng flashyng hym on the grounde. |
III. With reference to fire or light.
5. a. intr. Of fire or light: To break forth suddenly. Of lightning: To break forth repeatedly, to play. Of a combustible, a gun, etc.: To give out flame, or sparks; to burst
into flame. Also with
about,
off,
out,
up, etc.
The first
quot. is difficult; possibly it gives a transferred use of sense 1. The passage is our only example of branch III before 16th c.
| c 1400 Destr. Troy 12498 A thoner and a thicke rayne þrublet in the skewes..All flasshet in a ffire the firmament ouer. 1548 [see flashing ppl. a. 1]. 1596 Spenser F.Q. v. v. 8 So did Sir Artegall upon her lay..That flakes of fire..Out of her steely armes were flashing seene. 1618 Elton Exp. Rom. vii (1622) 214 They shall feele the flames of Hell flashing vp in their owne soules. 1650 S. Clarke Eccl. Hist. (1654) I. 9 The flame vehemently flashed about; which was terrible to the beholders. 1661 Boyle Phys. Ess., Salt Petre §21. 121 The Nitre will immediately take fire, and flash out into blewish and halituous flames. 1791 Mrs. Radcliffe Rom. Forest viii, The lightning began to flash along the chamber. 1858 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. (1865) I. iii. xi. 206 The gun flashed off, with due outburst, and almost with due effect. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. ii. 12 Lightning flashed about the summits of the Jungfrau. 1887 Bowen Virg. æneid iii. 199 From the clouds fire flashes again and again. |
b. Of a hydro-carbon: To give forth vapour at a temperature at which it will ignite.
| 1890 Daily News 22 Oct. 5/5 The low temperature at which both flashed. |
c. to flash in the pan:
lit. said of a gun, when the priming powder is kindled without igniting the charge;
fig. to fail after a showy effort, to fail to ‘go off’.
| 1687 Settle Refl. Dryden 20 If Cannons were so well bred in his Metaphor as only to flash in the Pan, I dare lay an even wager that Mr. Dryden durst venture to Sea. 1741 Compl. Fam. Piece ii. i. 320 It will occasion it oft-times to flash in the Pan a great while before it goeth off. 1792 Gouv. Morris in Sparks Life & Writ. (1832) I. 377 Their majesties flashed in the pan yesterday. 1830 Galt Lawrie T. iii. ix. (1849) 114 Flashing in the pan scares ducks. 1852 W. Jerdan Autobiog. IV. xiii. 237 Cannon attempted a joke which flashed in the pan. |
† 6. trans. ? To scorch with a burst of hot vapour.
Obs. rare—1.
| 1600 Holland Livy xxviii. xxiii. 685 Others flashed and half senged with the hote steem of the vapour and breath issuing from the light fire. |
7. intr. To emit or reflect light with sudden or intermittent brilliance; to gleam. Said also of the eyes.
| 1791 Mrs. Radcliffe Rom. Forest ii, The almost expiring light flashed faintly upon the walls of the passage. 1820 Shelley Let. to M. Gisborne 281 Like wingèd stars the fire⁓flies flash and glance. 1834 Medwin Angler in Wales I. 268 Rapid zigzags, that flashed each like a plate of silver. 1854 Tennyson Charge Light Brigade iv, Flash'd all their sabres bare, Flash'd as they turn'd in air. 1857 Holland Bay Path xviii. 207 Her eyes flashed. 1868 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) II. vii. 26 The prince who had never seen steel flash in earnest. |
8. a. trans. To emit or convey (light, fire, etc.) in a sudden flash or flashes. Also with
forth,
out.
| 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. i. 274 They flashen fire from either hand. 1639 S. Du Verger tr. Camus' Admir. Events 100 Yet ere he thundred by deeds he flasht out lightning by threats. 1697 Dryden æneid viii. 39 The glitt'ring Species..on the Pavement play, And to the Cieling flash the glaring Day. 1744 Gray Let. Poems (1775) 176 If any spark of Wit's delusive ray Break out, and flash a momentary day. 1842 Tennyson Locksley Hall 186 Rift the hills, and roll the waters, flash the lightnings, weigh the Sun. |
| transf. and fig. 1592 Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 348 But now her cheeke was pale and by and by It flasht forth fire. 1665 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (1677) 179 Who flashes him this thundring retort, For thy ambition. 1854 J. S. C. Abbott Napoleon (1855) II. xxi. 397 His eyes flashed fire. |
b. To send back as a flash from a mirror; to reflect. More fully
to flash back.
| 1716 Pope Iliad viii. 54 Of heaven's undrossy gold the god's array, Refulgent, flash'd intolerable day. 1808 J. Barlow Columb. v. 201 Then waved his gleamy sword that flash'd the day. 1808 Scott Marm. i. i, Their armour..Flash'd back again the western blaze. |
c. transf. To cause to appear like a flash of lightning; to send forth swiftly and suddenly. Also with
out. Const.
in,
into,
on or
upon.
| 1589 Greene Menaphon (Arb.) 32 She..flashed out such a blush from her alabaster cheeks that they lookt like the ruddie gates of the morning. 1638 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (ed. 2) 105 His name would flash terrour into the hearts of his most potent adversaries. 1700 Farquhar Constant Couple v. iii, Methinks the motto of this sacred pledge should flash confusion in your guilty face. 1794 Coleridge Death Chatterton vi, Thy native cot she flash'd upon thy view. 1813 Shelley Q. Mab iii. 145 Red the gaze That flashes desolation, strong the arm That scatters multitudes. |
d. to flash dead: to strike dead with a flash.
| 1682 Dryden & Lee Duke of Guise iv. iii, This one departing glance shall flash thee dead. 1690 Dryden Don Seb. iii. i, Now flash him dead, now crumble him to ashes. |
e. to flash a glance,
flash a look,
flash one's eyes.
| 1886 ‘M. Gray’ Silence of Dean Maitland i. ix, Cyril flashed upon him one of his droll glances, and laughed. 1888 Mrs. H. Ward R. Elsmere xiii, She flashed a quick, defiant look at him. 1903 R. Langbridge Flame & Flood xvii, The young man..flashed his insolent eyes..at her. |
f. trans. and intr. To switch (lights on a motor vehicle) on and off in order to communicate a warning, a direction, etc.; to signal in this way (
trans. and intr.).
| 1957 J. Kerouac On Road (1958) iii. ix. 233 The guy shot by us..and tooted his horn and flashed the tail lights for challenge. 1962 L. Deighton Ipcress File xxviii. 180, I flashed the headlights and got an answering signal from the brake actuated red rear lights of a vehicle parked there. 1963 Guardian 23 Jan. 10/3 After having my head⁓lights adjusted, I started driving with them dipped. Having been ‘flashed’ by large numbers of drivers I can only assume that they are..annoyed. 1965 ‘W. Haggard’ Hard Sell ix. 100 The Merc suddenly flashed him and he drew in. 1971 Daily Tel. (Colour Suppl.) 22 Oct. 23/4 Hold straight until you are quite sure you are in charge, flashing your brake lights if necessary..so as to warn following traffic. Ibid. 26, I suspect he is the same man who flashes me frenziedly when I dare to use my head⁓lights before ten o'clock on a summer's night. |
9. a. intr. To come like a flash of light; to burst suddenly into view or perception. Also with
forth,
in,
out, etc.
| 1590 Spenser F.Q. iii. ii. 5 Ever and anone the rosy red Flasht through her face. 1683 Dryden Life Plutarch I. 118 The arguments..flash immediately on your imagination, but leave no durable effect. 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. II. xxxiv. 281 A martial ardour flashed from the eyes of the warriors. 1852 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xv, A sudden recollection seemed to flash upon him. 1856 Masson Ess. v. 165 In 1720..he [Swift] again flashed forth as a political luminary. 1861 Thackeray Four Georges iii. (1876) 75 Garrick flashing in with a story from his theatre. 1866 Mrs. Gaskell Wives & Dau. xi. (1867) 111 Molly's colour flashed into her face. 1874 F. C. Burnand My Time viii. 68 It flashed across me that almost the last name I had heard..was this identical one. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. III. 186 The picture flashes out almost instantly. |
b. To move like a flash, pass with lightning speed. Also with cognate
obj. to flash its way. Also with
round.
| 1821 Shelley Hellas 956 When desolation flashes o'er a world destroyed. 1839–40 W. Irving Wolfert's R. (1855) 151 The French intellect..flashes its way into a subject with the rapidity of lightning. 1853 Kingsley Hypatia v, The steel-clad apparition suddenly flashed round, and vanished. 1859 Kingsley Misc. (1860) II. 141 The lurchers flashed like grey snakes after the hare. 1877 Black Green Past. ii. (1878) 11 The swallows dipped and flashed and circled over the bosom of the lake. 1893 M. E. Mann In Summer Shade xvi, ‘He must be paid.’ ‘How?’ demanded Mary, flashing round upon him. 1903 R. Langbridge Flame & Flood iii, Susette flashed round upon him with a brilliant smile. |
c. to flash back: to jump back, as when a flame in a Bunsen burner retreats down the tube and burns at the air-inlet; to ‘light back’.
| 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXVIII. 596/2 A still further addition of air causes the mixture to become so highly explosive that it flashes back into the tube of the burner. |
10. a. To break out
into sudden action; to pass abruptly
into a specified state. Also with
forth,
out, and
quasi-trans. with quoted words.
| 1605 Shakes. Lear i. iii. 4 Euery howre He flashes into one grosse crime, or other. 1711 H. Felton Diss. Classics (1713) 8 They flash out sometimes into an irregular Greatness of Thought. 1859 Tennyson Idylls, Enid 273 Whereat Geraint flash'd into sudden spleen. 1862 G. P. Scrope Volcanos 39 It [water] flashes instantly into steam with explosive violence. 1873 Symonds Grk. Poets vii. 189 Athens..flashed..into the full consciousness of her own greatness. 1875 Harper's Mag. Aug. 415/1 One day she flashed out upon Tom Saymour ‘Vote!—why should I?’ 1877 A. H. Green Phys. Geol. 219 The imprisoned steam flashes forth in repeated explosions. 1883 Stevenson Treasure Isl. iii. xiv, At this poor Tom flashed out like a hero. 1886 ‘M. Gray’ Silence of Dean Maitland i. v, ‘The whole village looking on and not lifting a finger—the cowards!’ Lilian flashed out. 1907 Munsey's Mag. Nov. 169 ‘I intend to see Varani—alone,’ she flashed. |
b. to flash up: to burst into sudden passion or anger.
| 1822 Scott Fam. Let. 25 June (1894) II. xviii. 143 Though we do not flash up in an instant like Paddy, our resentments are much more enduring. |
11. a. trans. To cause to flash; to kindle with a flash; to draw or wave (a sword) so as to make it flash.
| 1632 Lithgow Trav. viii. 375 We eyther shot off a Harquebuse, or else flashed some powder in the Ayre. 1709 Brit. Apollo II. No. 7. 2/2 They will flash off the Gun⁓powder. 1801 Southey Thalaba v. xxxvi, Forth he flash'd his scymetar. 1816 Keatinge Trav. (1817) I. 155 The oil..is..usually flashed; a few drops of water make it deflagrate. 1850 Kingsley Alt. Locke v. (1876) 60 Turning round I had a lantern flashed in my face. 1880 Encycl. Brit. XI. 325/2 Sometimes a small portion [of gunpowder] is roughly granulated, and ‘flashed’ on plates of glass. |
† b. To illuminate intermittently;
transf., to make resplendent with bright colours.
Obs. or
arch.| 1607 Brewer Lingua i. i, Limming and flashing it with various Dyes. 1861 Buckle Civiliz. II. 189 The darkened sky flashed by frequent lightning. 1894 E. H. Barker Two Summers in Guyenne 71 The turf was flashed with splendid flowers of the purple orchis. |
12. a. To express, utter, or communicate by a flash or flashes;
esp. in modern use, to send (a message) along the wires of a telegraph.
| 1789 Cowper Ann. Mirab. 55 Then suddenly regain the prize And flash thanksgivings to the skies! 1813 Shelley Q. Mab v. 119 The proud rich man's eye Flashing command. 1847 Tennyson Princ. Prol. 78 Thro' twenty posts of telegraph They flash'd a saucy message to and fro. 1858 Froude Hist. Eng. III. xvii. 459 The cannon..flashed their welcome through the darkness. 1888 Burgon Lives 12 Gd. Men II. v. 69 The intelligence was flashed next day all over England. |
b. Cinemat. trans. and intr. To show abruptly on the screen;
intr., to change abruptly
to (another scene).
| 1913 E. W. Sargent Technique of Photoplay (ed. 2) ii. 15 A one word leader flashed on the screen that said ‘Later’. 1935 H. G. Wells Things to Come x. 93 Flash the date a.d. 2054. 1936 ― Man who could work Miracles (film ed.) vii. 43 Flash to a brief bright scene in a San Francisco hospital. |
13. a. intr. To make a flash or display, cut a figure, show off. Also,
to flash it (about or away). Now
colloq. or
slang.| 1607 Shakes. Timon ii. i. 32 A naked gull Which flashes now a Phœnix. 1652 C. B. Stapylton Herodian 115 While they with Plaies and Sports doe squib and flash. 1697 Collier Ess. Mor. Subj. i. iii. 130 Methinks 'tis fine..to Flash in the Face of Danger. 1780 Mrs. Thrale in Mad. D'Arblay Diary & Lett. 29 June (1842) I. 409 My master..jokes Peggy Owen for her want of power to flash. 1798 O'Keefe Fontainbleau iii. i, Spunging upon my customers, and flashing it away in their old clothes. 1798 Geraldina I. 46, I nod to him..whilst he is flashing the gentleman amongst the girls. 1877 Five Years' Penal Serv. iii. 220 He flashed it about a good deal for a long time..Sometimes he was a lord, at others an earl. |
b. slang. To make a great display of, exhibit ostentatiously, show off, ‘sport’.
| 1785 Grose Dict. Vulg. Tong., Flash..to shew ostentatiously; to flash one's ivory, to laugh and shew one's teeth. 1819 Moore Tom Crib's Mem. (ed. 3) 2 His Lordship, as usual..is flashing his gab. 1832 Examiner 845/1 It was known that the deceased had money, in consequence of flashing his purse about. 1864 Reader 23 Jan. 96 Ladies go to church to exhibit their bonnets, and young gentlemen to flash their diamond rings. |
c. trans. (also refl.).
slang. Of a man: to exhibit or expose (part of one's body,
esp. the genitals) briefly and indecently. Also
intr.| 1846 [see root n.1 4 d]. 1893 Farmer & Henley Slang III. 11/2 To flash it,..to expose the person. 1968 [implied at flashing vbl. n.1 5]. 1969 M. Pugh Last Place Left xv. 108 He has a great faith in people like me. He would flash himself to the Sovereign before he searched my house. 1978 G. Vidal Kalki iv. 104 Men stared at me. Some leered. None, thank God, flashed. |
14. In certain technical uses.
a. Glass-making.
intr. Of a blown globe of glass: To spread
out or expand into a sheet. Also
trans. (
a) To cause (a globe of glass) to expand into a sheet; (
b) To cover (colourless glass) with a film of coloured glass; to melt (the film)
on or
over a sheet of colourless glass.
| 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 581 s.v. Glass-making Few tools are needed for blowing and flashing crown-glass. 1846 W. Johnston Beckmann's Invent. (ed. 4) I. 135 Plain glass flashed or coated with a very thin layer of [rose-coloured] glass. Ibid. 133 Glass-makers used to flash a thin layer of red over a substratum of plain glass. 1876 Barff Glass & Silicates 82 Until at last the softened mass instantaneously flashes out into a circular sheet. 1883 Proctor in 19th Cent. Nov. 882 Not merely flashed with a violet tint, but the glass itself so tinted. |
b. Electric lighting. To make (a carbon filament) uniform in thickness, by plunging it when heated into a heavy hydro-carbon gas.
| 1888 Pall Mall G. 19 July 2/2 We have carried the manufacture of our filaments to such perfection that although we do not flash them there are absolutely no inequalities discoverable. |
c. Photogr. To cover
over with a very thin layer.
| 1903 Nature 29 Jan. 301/2 The so-formed negative is sprung from the wax, cleaned and polished, and flashed over with a very thin layer of nickel in a nickel bath. |
Hence
flashed ppl. a.| 1876 Barff Glass & Silicates 96 Glass made in this way is called ‘coated’ and sometimes ‘flashed’ glass. 1890 Urquhart Electric Light ix. (ed. 3) 284 ‘Flashed’ Filaments. |
▪ IX. flash, v.2 (
flæʃ)
[f. flash n.4]| 1884 Cheshire Gloss., Flash, to put small sheets of lead under the slates of a house..to prevent the rain from running into the joint. 1957 N.Z. Timber Jrnl. Mar. 52/1 To flash means to make a watertight joint with sheet lead and other metal known as flashings, at the intersection, e.g. between chimney and roof. 1964 J. S. Scott Dict. Building 130 Flash, to make a weathertight joint, called a flashing. |