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Glite Dictionary
💎 To show off 🌐 To spread quickly
to flash around

to flash around

4.2
To spread news or pictures quickly among many people on the internet
  • phrasal verb
  • Texting
translation icon : circular rápidamente
  • After the scandal, the video flashed around the internet before officials issued a statement.

Examples

  • News of the scandal flashed around the office quickly.

  • As soon as the announcement was made, the details flashed around social media.

  • Short, funny clips flash around social media within hours of being uploaded.

  • By midnight the photo was flashing around several community forums and chat groups.

  • Did you see how fast the rumors flashed around?

  • Funny memes flash around the internet, bringing laughter to millions within minutes.

  • The shocking news flashed around the office, leaving everyone in disbelief.

Synonyms

to go around
vsto flash around
85 2.3

Spread among many people, as with a story or rumor

focuses on fast, broad sharing rather than simple occasional circulation
to go viral
vsto flash around
  • Texting
61 3.8

To spread very quickly online and reach many people

spreads quickly but not necessarily to massive online audiences
to get around
vsto flash around
56 2.8

Information becomes known to many people

spreads quickly, emphasizing rapid circulation rather than gradual awareness
to flash
vsto flash around
51 3.6

To send information quickly to many people

moves among people quickly rather than being actively shown by someone
to catch fire
vsto flash around
  • Texting
5 3.7

To become very popular quickly, especially online

spreads quickly without implying sudden popularity or strong public attention

Antonyms

to contain
388 3.5

To keep something dangerous from spreading or getting worse

to suppress
176 4.8

To stop public protest by force or by people in power

How Fast

to go viral
  • Texting
61 3.8
to flash around
  • Texting
4.2
to spread
750 1.6
to circulate
103 3.9
to trickle
70 3.4

Surface Forms

flash around infinitive
flashed around past
flashed around past participle
flashing around present participle
flashes around third person singular

Morphology

flash + around

The meaning 'to spread or circulate quickly' is directly inferable from combining 'flash' (to display or show briefly/quickly) with 'around' (to many people/places); a B1 learner who knows both constituents can reasonably derive that something is being shown or sent widely and rapidly. The verb + 'around' construction commonly signals distribution in English, so the expression follows standard compositional patterns and is therefore transparent.

Etymology

Flash around can be imagined as a quick flash of light moving around a town or the web, like news that jumps fast from place to place. So it came to mean 'to spread quickly'.