flash

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To shine suddenly and brightly, often for a short time.

   A shooting star flashed across the sky.

2. 2
   verb

   To appear suddenly for a very short time.

   The headlines flashed on the screen.

3. 3
   noun

   A sudden bright light.

   There was a flash of lightning during the storm.

4. 4
   noun

   A very short moment of time.

   If I had the chance, I'd do it in a flash.

5. 5
   noun

   A sudden experience of a feeling or idea.

   I had a flash of inspiration in the shower.

From Middle English flashe, flaske, also found as flosche and flushe (whence modern English flosh and flush), used in Middle and modern English for bodies of water with varying emphasis on them being "pools" or "marshes". It is not entirely clear whether these constitute a single term with varied spellings, or have distinct etymologies. The form flash, flashe is often suggested to be from Old French flache, French flaque, which is of Germanic origin, akin to Middle Dutch vlacke (“an estuary, flats with stagnant pools”). See flush for more on that form.

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