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

[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 unnumbered struggles. --Talfourd.

The object is made to flash upon the eye of the mind. --M. Arnold.

A thought flashed 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.

Usage: 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.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Flashing \Flash"ing\, n.

1. (Engineering) The creation of an artifical flood by the sudden letting in of a body of water; -- called also flushing.

2. (Arch.) Pieces of metal, built into the joints of a wall, so as to lap over the edge of the gutters or to cover the edge of the roofing; also, similar pieces used to cover the valleys of roofs of slate, shingles, or the like. By extension, the metal covering of ridges and hips of roofs; also, in the United States, the protecting of angles and breaks in walls of frame houses with waterproof material, tarred paper, or the like. Cf. Filleting.

3. (Glass Making)
   (a) The reheating of an article at the furnace aperture during manufacture to restore its plastic condition; esp., the reheating of a globe of crown glass to allow it to assume a flat shape as it is rotated.
   (b) A mode of covering transparent white glass with a film of colored glass. --Knight.

Flashing point (Chem.), that degree of temperature at which a volatile oil gives off vapor in sufficient quantity to burn, or flash, on the approach of a flame, used as a test of the comparative safety of oils, esp. kerosene; a flashing point of 100[deg] F. is regarded as a fairly safe standard. The burning point of the oil is usually from ten to thirty degree above the flashing point of its vapor.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)