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PlainSpell

flash

/flæʃ/verb, noun, adjective

flash is spelled F-L-A-S-H: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 28 times per million words in written English, the 3,288th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, flash means “To cause to shine briefly or intermittently” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in flash?

Letters5: F-L-A-S-H
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing28 times per million words; the 3,288th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is flash?

Flash appears 28 times per million words in written English, the 3,288th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce flash?

  • /flæʃ/

Flash has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-flash.ogg, En-au-flash.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of flash

  • flashes present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • flashing participle, present
  • flashed participle, past
  • more flash comparative
  • most flash superlative

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does flash mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    To cause to shine briefly or intermittently.

    He flashed the light at the water, trying to see what made the noise.

  2. 2

    To blink; to shine or illuminate intermittently.

    The light flashed on and off.

  3. 3

    To be visible briefly.

    The scenery flashed by quickly.

  4. 4

    To make visible briefly.

    A number will be flashed on the screen.

  5. 5

    informalTo expose one's intimate body part or undergarment, often momentarily and unintentionally. (Contrast streak.)

    She flashed a vocalist at a rock concert.

  6. 6

    To break forth like a sudden flood of light; to show a momentary brilliance.

  7. 7

    To flaunt; to display in a showy manner.

    He flashed a wad of hundred-dollar bills.

  8. 8

    To show a gang sign or similar hand gesture.

    I knew he was serious when he flashed a Bloods sign.

noun

  1. 1

    A sudden, short, temporary burst of light.

  2. 2

    A very short amount of time.

  3. 3

    UScolloquialA flashlight; an electric torch.

    I reached a flash out of my car pocket and went down-grade and looked at the car.

  4. 4

    A sudden and brilliant burst, as of genius or wit.

  5. 5

    Pizzazz, razzle-dazzle.

  6. 6

    Material left around the edge of a moulded part at the parting line of the mould.

  7. 7

    UKThe strips of bright cloth or buttons worn around the collars of market traders.

  8. 8

    A pattern where each prop is thrown and caught only once.

  9. 9

    A pool of water, in some areas especially one that is marshy, and/or one formed by subsidence of the ground due to mining. (Compare flush (“marsh; pool”).)

  10. 10

    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.

adjective

  1. 1

    AustraliaBritishslangExpensive-looking and demanding attention; stylish; showy.

  2. 2

    UKHaving plenty of ready money.

  3. 3

    UKLiable to show off expensive possessions or money.

  4. 4

    USslangOccurring very rapidly, almost instantaneously.

  5. 5

    obsoleteslangRelating to thieves and vagabonds.

    the flash language: thieves' cant or slang

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Flash in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Portugueselampejar (to cause to shine), piscar (to blink), lampejo, clarão (burst of light)
Spanishdestellar, flashear (to cause to shine), destellear, parpadear (to blink), relámpago (burst of light), despechugarse (to expose one's body briefly in public)
Frenchclignoter (to blink), éclair (burst of light), s'exhiber (to expose one's body briefly in public)
Germanblinken (to blink), Blitz (burst of light), flashen (computing: to write to the memory of an…), Nu, Blitzeseile (very short amount of time), Einfall (sudden and brilliant burst)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does flash come from?

In some senses, from Middle English flasshen, a variant of flasken, flaskien (“to sprinkle, splash”), which was likely of imitative origin; in other senses probably of North Germanic origin akin to Swedish dialectal flasa (“to burn brightly, blaze”), related to flare. Compare also Icelandic flasa (“to rush, go hastily”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after flash