<p><strong>Noun</strong></p><ul><li>a brief, sudden burst of bright light:<ul><li>The sky lit up with a flash of lightning.</li></ul></li><li>Synonyms: glare, gleam, flare</li><li>a sudden, brief outburst or display of joy, wit, etc.:<ul><li>Her brilliant eye for detail and quiet flashes of humor make the book a joy to read.</li></ul></li><li>a very brief moment; instant:<ul><li>I'll be back in a flash.</li></ul></li><li>Synonyms: wink, twinkling</li><li>Informal: flashlight</li><li>Journalism: news flash</li><li>Photography: bright artificial light thrown briefly upon a subject during an exposure.</li><li>flash lamp</li><li>flashbulb</li><li>electronic flash</li><li>the sudden flame or intense heat produced by a bomb or other explosive device.</li><li>a sudden thought, insight, inspiration, or vision:<ul><li>I smelled the sea breeze and had a flash of my childhood summers at the beach.</li></ul></li><li>a showy or ostentatious display.</li><li>Slang: rush</li><li>Metallurgy: a ridge of metal left on a casting by a seam between parts of the mold.</li><li>a ridge formed at the edge of a forging or weld where excess metal has been squeezed out.</li><li>Poker: a hand containing all five suits in a game played with a five-suit pack.</li><li>a device, such as a lock or sluice, for confining and releasing water to send a boat down a shallow stream.</li><li>the rush of water thus produced.</li><li>hot flash</li><li>Obsolete: the cant or jargon of thieves, vagabonds, etc.</li></ul><p><strong>Verb</strong></p><ul><li>(used without object) to break forth into sudden flame or light, especially transiently or intermittently:<ul><li>We saw a buoy flashing in the distance.</li></ul></li><li>to gleam:<ul><li>The car's chrome bumpers flashed in the sun.</li></ul></li><li>to burst suddenly into view or perception:<ul><li>The answer flashed into his mind.</li></ul></li><li>to move very suddenly and quickly.</li><li>to speak or behave with sudden anger, outrage, or the like (often followed by out):<ul><li>to flash out at a stupid remark.</li></ul></li><li>to break into sudden action.</li><li>Slang: to open one's clothes and expose the genitals suddenly, and usually briefly, in public.</li><li>Slang: to experience the intense effects of a narcotic or stimulant drug.</li><li>to dash or splash, as the sea or waves.</li><li>Archaic: to make a flash or sudden display.</li></ul><p><strong>Adjective</strong></p><ul><li>happening suddenly and usually lasting a short time:<ul><li>a flash storm.</li></ul></li><li>very brief, fast, or short:<ul><li>flash poetry and fiction.</li></ul></li><li>flash freezing of vegetables; flash poetry and fiction.</li><li>Computers: relating to or using a type of reprogrammable memory that retains information even with the power turned off:<ul><li>a flash drive.</li></ul></li><li>showy or ostentatious.</li><li>Synonyms: ostentatious, pretentious, tawdry, gaudy, flashy</li><li>caused by or used as protection against flash from an explosive device:<ul><li>flash injuries; flash clothing.</li></ul></li><li>counterfeit or sham.</li><li>Synonyms: fake, false</li><li>Obsolete: belonging to or connected with thieves, vagabonds, etc., or their cant or jargon.</li></ul>