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 unumbered 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. 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.
© Webster 1913.
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.
© Webster 1913.
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, ∨ 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.
© Webster 1913.
Flash, a.
1.
Showy, but counterfeit; cheap, pretentious, and vulgar; as, flash jewelry; flash finery.
<-- different from flashy[3]? Not much used late 1900's. Perh. because of sense 2? -->
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.
© Webster 1913.
Flash, n.
Slang or cant of thieves and prostitutes.
© Webster 1913.
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.
© Webster 1913.