in a flash
32
2.5
- idiom
- Informal
- One minute he is on the house and in a flash, he is beside me.
- go in a flash
- come in a flash
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Watch on YouTubeObviously they come in a flash, bow grab me.
- Obviously they come in a flash, bow grab me.
- The months and the years go by in a flash.
Examples
-
She completed the project in a flash, impressing her boss.
-
Sam felt a moment's disappointment, but it was gone in a flash.
Fiction book (1993) -
We'll be in there in a flash - oh, look at that view.
-
Right, we'll be back in a flash.
-
And in a flash, that summer had changed our lives.
-
Okay, stay here, I'll be back in a flash.
-
Because my kids will be grown up in a flash, and I will have missed it.
-
I realised in a flash that I love him.
-
Word spread in a flash among the residents of Dream Street Shopping Arcade.
Fiction book (1996) -
But another had carefully watched her—and in a flash, Keane understood what the princess attempted.
Fiction book (1992)
Synonyms
∞
1.0
Moving or happening quickly
∞
1.0
At a fast speed or without delay
∞
1.0
Quickly and without warning
∞
1.0
At once without waiting
∞
1.0
Happening or done without any delay
743
7.1
Happens quickly and without warning
737
2.7
Very quickly and without warning
356
1.4
In a very short time
310
1.0
Right away without any delay
237
1.0
Immediately without delay
156
1.3
Very quickly, in a short time
131
2.8
Immediately at the exact place where something happens, often needing a quick response
108
3.3
In a sudden way that gives no warning
75
1.0
Quickly and smoothly
49
3.2
Right away without any hesitation
25
3.0
Happening suddenly and without warning
25
5.6
Happen at once without delay
24
3.3
Very quickly, in almost no time
6
2.4
To act quickly without delay
4
4.2
Happens almost instantly
3
6.0
Very quickly and without hesitation
2
3.0
It happens very quickly with little effort
2
3.8
In a very short time
1
7.0
In a very short time
1
3.5
Very quickly, in an instant
1
7.2
In a very short time
1
2.0
Happen very fast
1
5.0
Happens very quickly
1
8.0
In a very quick way, like someone running fast
1
6.8
Happen very quickly in the short time it takes to blink an eye
1
5.1
To happen or be done very quickly
1
5.1
Very quickly, in almost no time
1
7.9
In a very short time
Very quickly and in a hurry
It happens very quickly
Antonyms
How Fast
33
5.1
- Informal
24
3.3
- Informal
32
2.5
∞
1.0
∞
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'very quickly; in an instant' is directly derivable from the parts: 'flash' can mean a very short period and the pattern 'in a + time unit' yields 'within that brief moment'. This compositional temporal pattern is common across languages (e.g., Spanish 'en un instante'), so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
In a flash comes from the sudden bright light of a flash, like lightning or a camera. That quick, bright moment is over almost at once, so the phrase means 'very quickly' or 'in an instant'.