n. 1
A sudden, short, temporary burst of light.
n. 2
A very short amount of time.
v. 1
To cause to shine briefly or intermittently.
He flashed the light at the water, trying to see what made the noise.
adj. 1
Expensive-looking and demanding attention; stylish; showy.

Related words

Word family: flashback flasher flash-freeze flashlight flashover flash-ball flashbulb flashfic
Phrases: flash fiction flash drive flash disk flash back flash pan flash point hot flash flash around
Is a kind of: light

Forms

Flash, Flare, Flame, Blaze or Light?

A flare is a wavering flame or blaze; a flash is a light that appears and disappears in an instant; as, a flash of lightning; the flash of gunpowder.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

3 letters: sec¹, jif¹
4 letters: born¹, loud¹, tear¹, dash¹, bolt¹, tick¹, wink¹, dart¹, beep¹, elan², scud¹
5 letters: light¹, shoot¹, cheap¹, crack¹, shine¹, blink¹, flare¹, flair¹, tacky², gleam¹, twink¹, spurt¹, scoot¹, gaudy²
6 letters: second², moment², glance¹, flashy², trashy², flaunt¹, winkle², garish², brassy², tawdry²
7 letters: instant², glimpse¹, glitter², sparkle², twinkle², fanfare², glimmer², glisten²
8 letters: gimcrack
9 letters: flashback², twinkling³, flashbulb², newsbreak, ostentate, coruscate
10 letters: photoflash
11 letters: inspiration⁴, ostentation⁴, coruscation
12 letters: meretricious
13 letters: scintillation

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (elan² = 2 syllables).