FLASHEST

Adjective

flashest

superlative form of flash: most flash

Source: Wiktionary


FLASH

Flash, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Flashed; p. pr. & vb. n. Flashing.] Etym: [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 floashed 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.

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)

Definition: 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. Etym: [Perh. due to confusion between flash of light and plash, splash.]

Definition: 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.

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.

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.

Flash, n.

Definition: Slang or cant of thieves and prostitutes.

Flash, n. Etym: [OE. flasche, flaske; cf. OF. flache, F. flaque.]

1. A pool. [Prov. Eng.] Haliwell.

2. (Engineering)

Definition: 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.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

18 December 2024

ROOT

(noun) (linguistics) the form of a word after all affixes are removed; “thematic vowels are part of the stem”


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Coffee Trivia

According to Guinness World Records, on 25 September 2016, the Birla Institute of Management Technology (India) in Uttar Pradesh, India, constructed the largest coffee cups pyramid consisting of 23,821 cups. They used paper takeaway coffee cups to build the pyramid.

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