1. [n]  a lamp for providing momentary light to take a photograph
2. [n]  a momentary brightness
3. [n]  a sudden brilliant understanding; "he had a flash of intuition"
4. [n]  a short news announcement concerning some on-going news story
5. [n]  a burst of light used to communicate or illuminate
6. [n]  a short vivid experience; "a flash of emotion swept over him"; "the flashings of pain were a warning"
7. [n]  a sudden intense burst of radiant energy
8. [n]  a very short time (as the time it takes to blink once); "if I had the chance I'd do it in a flash"
9. [adj]  tastelessly showy; "a flash car"; "a flashy ring"; "garish colors"; "a gaudy costume"; "loud sport shirts"; "a meretricious yet stylish book"; "tawdry ornaments"
10. [v]  make known or cause to appear with great speed; "The latest intelligence is flashed to all command posts"
11. [v]  appear briefly; "The headlines flashed on the screen"
12. [v]  emit a brief burst of light; "A shooting star flashed and was gone."
13. [v]  protect by covering with a thin sheet of metal, as of parts of roofs
14. [v]  run or move very quickly or hastily; "She dashed into the yard"
15. [v]  expose or show briefly; "he flashed a $100 bill"
16. [v]  display proudly; act ostentatiously or pretentiously
17. [v]  gleam or glow intermittently; "The lights were flashing"

Flash
Description not available.

more details ...

1. \Flash\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Flashed}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Flashing}.] [Cf. OE. flaskien, vlaskien to pour, sprinkle,
   dial. Sw. flasa to blaze, E. flush, flare.]
   1. To burst or break forth with a sudden and transient flood
      of flame and light; as, the lighting flashes vividly; the
      powder flashed.
   2. To break forth, as a sudden flood of light; to burst
      instantly and brightly on the sight; to show a momentary
      brilliancy; to come or pass like a flash.
            Names which have flashed and thundered as the watch
            words of unnumbered struggles.        --Talfourd.
            The object is made to flash upon the eye of the
            mind.                                 --M. Arnold.
            A thought flashed through me, which I clothed in
            act.                                  --Tennyson.
   3. To burst forth like a sudden flame; to break out
      violently; to rush hastily.
            Every hour He flashes into one gross crime or other.
                                                  --Shak.
   {To flash in the pan}, to fail of success. [Colloq.] See
      under {Flash}, a burst of light. --Bartlett.
   Syn: {Flash}, {Glitter}, {Gleam}, {Glisten}, {Glister}.
   Usage: Flash differs from glitter and gleam, denoting a flood
          or wide extent of light. The latter words may express
          the issuing of light from a small object, or from a
          pencil of rays. Flash differs from other words, also,
          in denoting suddenness of appearance and
          disappearance. Flashing differs from exploding or
          disploding in not being accompanied with a loud
          report. To glisten, or glister, is to shine with a
          soft and fitful luster, as eyes suffused with tears,
          or flowers wet with dew.
   

2. \Flash\, v. t.
   1. To send out in flashes; to cause to burst forth with
      sudden flame or light.
            The chariot of paternal Deity, Flashing thick
            flames.                               --Milton.
   2. To convey as by a flash; to light up, as by a sudden flame
      or light; as, to flash a message along the wires; to flash
      conviction on the mind.
   3. (Glass Making) To cover with a thin layer, as objects of
      glass with glass of a different color. See {Flashing}, n.,
      3
      (b) .
   4. To trick up in a showy manner.
            Limning and flashing it with various dyes. --A.
                                                  Brewer.
   5. [Perh. due to confusion between flash of light and plash,
      splash.] To strike and throw up large bodies of water from
      the surface; to splash. [Obs.]
            He rudely flashed the waves about.    --Spenser.
   {Flashed glass}. See {Flashing}, n., 3.
   

3. \Flash\, n.; pl. {Flashes}.
   1. A sudden burst of light; a flood of light instantaneously
      appearing and disappearing; a momentary blaze; as, a flash
      of lightning.
   2. A sudden and brilliant burst, as of wit or genius; a
      momentary brightness or show.
            The flash and outbreak of a fiery mind. --Shak.
            No striking sentiment, no flash of fancy. --Wirt.
   3. The time during which a flash is visible; an instant; a
      very brief period.
            The Persians and Macedonians had it for a flash.
                                                  --Bacon.
   4. A preparation of capsicum, burnt sugar, etc., for coloring
      and giving a fictious strength to liquors.
   {Flash light}, or {Flashing light}, a kind of light shown by
      lighthouses, produced by the revolution of reflectors, so
      as to show a flash of light every few seconds, alternating
      with periods of dimness. --Knight.
   {Flash in the pan}, the flashing of the priming in the pan of
      a flintlock musket without discharging the piece; hence,
      sudden, spasmodic effort that accomplishes nothing.
   

4. \Flash\, a.
   1. Showy, but counterfeit; cheap, pretentious, and vulgar;
      as, flash jewelry; flash finery.
   2. Wearing showy, counterfeit ornaments; vulgarly
      pretentious; as, flash people; flash men or women; --
      applied especially to thieves, gamblers, and prostitutes
      that dress in a showy way and wear much cheap jewelry.
   {Flash house}, a house frequented by flash people, as thieves
      and whores; hence, a brothel. ``A gang of footpads,
      reveling with their favorite beauties at a flash house.''
      --Macaulay.
   

5. \Flash\, n.
   Slang or cant of thieves and prostitutes.
   

6. \Flash\, n. [OE. flasche, flaske; cf. OF. flache, F.
   flaque.]
   1. A pool. [Prov. Eng.] --Haliwell.
   2. (Engineering) 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.
   {Flash wheel} (Mech.), a paddle wheel made to revolve in a
      breast or curved water way, by which water is lifted from
      the lower to the higher level.
   

1. (Or "Shockwave Flash") A file format for delivering interactive vector graphics and animation on the World-Wide Web, developed by Macromedia.

   Home.

2. 1. A program which allows one to flood another Unix user's terminal with garbage, through exploiting a common security hole in the victim's host's talk daemon. Users with "messages off" (mesg n) and users on systems running fixed talk daemons, or not running talk daemons at all, are immune.

   2. See Flash Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory.