flash bulb
1
3.5
- noun
- /flæʃ bʌlb/
- Archaic
:
flash
- Every time she pressed the shutter, the flash bulb erupted with a bright light, freezing the action in time.
Examples
-
Then the visionaries go outside and, as cameras buzz and flash bulbs go off, they hurry to the church building.
Academic text (1990) -
When I was a tiny kid, two or three-ish, I became desperately frightened of cameras, of the flash bulbs, particularly.
Blog text (2) -
You never have flash bulbs when you need them.
-
A flash bulb goes off.
Fiction book (1996) -
A flash bulb momentarily lights up the scene.
Fiction book (2000) -
The focus adjusts and a flash bulb fires again.
Fiction book (1992) -
An exploding flash bulb fills the screen.
Fiction book (1995) -
The photographer replaced the old flash bulb before the next wedding shoot.
-
During the concert, he captured the moment with his camera as the flash bulb illuminated the stage.
Synonyms
273
1.7
A sudden, brief burst of bright light, for example from a camera
9
5.1
A small lamp that gives a short, very bright light for taking photos
2
2.2
A short bright light that brightens a scene when you take a photo
1
6.7
A small light that attaches to a camera to make photos brighter
1
5.6
A small lamp that makes a very bright short flash of light for photographs
A small device that makes a short bright light for taking photos
A bright, short burst that lights a subject for photos or tests
A small device that makes a bright light for taking photos
How Bright
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a small lamp that produces a brief, intense burst of light' is directly derivable from combining 'flash' (a sudden, brief burst of light) with 'bulb' (a lamp/enclosure). This simple noun+noun composition follows regular English compounding patterns and is cross-linguistically transparent, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily understand it.
Etymology
The noun flash bulb comes from the small glass bulb that makes a sudden bright flash when a photographer takes a picture. So, it means 'a small lamp that gives a quick, very bright light'.