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Flash in the pan   /flæʃ ɪn ðə pæn/   Listen
noun
Flash  n.  (pl. flashes)  
1.
A sudden burst of light; a flood of light instantaneously appearing and disappearing; a momentary blaze; as, a flash of lightning.
2.
A sudden and brilliant burst, as of wit or genius; a momentary brightness or show. "The flash and outbreak of a fiery mind." "No striking sentiment, no flash of fancy."
3.
The time during which a flash is visible; an instant; a very brief period; as, I'll be back in a flash. "The Persians and Macedonians had it for a flash."
4.
A preparation of capsicum, burnt sugar, etc., for coloring and giving a fictitious strength to liquors.
5.
A lamp for providing intense momentary light to take a photograph; as, to take a picture without a flash.
Synonyms: flashbulb, photoflash, flash lamp, flashgun.
6.
Same as flashlight. (informal)
7.
(Journalism) A short news item providing recently received and usually preliminary information about an event that is considered important enough to interrupt normal broadcasting or other news delivery services; also called a news flash or bulletin.
Flash light, or Flashing light, a kind of light shown by lighthouses, produced by the revolution of reflectors, so as to show a flash of light every few seconds, alternating with periods of dimness.
Flash in the pan, the flashing of the priming in the pan of a flintlock musket without discharging the piece; hence, sudden, spasmodic effort that accomplishes nothing.


Pan  n.  
1.
A shallow, open dish or vessel, usually of metal, employed for many domestic uses, as for setting milk for cream, for frying or baking food, etc.; also employed for various uses in manufacturing. "A bowl or a pan."
2.
(Manuf.) A closed vessel for boiling or evaporating. See Vacuum pan, under Vacuum.
3.
The part of a flintlock which holds the priming.
4.
The skull, considered as a vessel containing the brain; the upper part of the head; the brainpan; the cranium.
5.
(Carp.) A recess, or bed, for the leaf of a hinge.
6.
The hard stratum of earth that lies below the soil. See Hard pan, under Hard.
7.
A natural basin, containing salt or fresh water, or mud.
Flash in the pan. See under Flash.
To savor of the pan, to suggest the process of cooking or burning; in a theological sense, to be heretical.


verb
Flash  v. i.  (past & past part. flashed; pres. part. flashing)  
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." "The object is made to flash upon the eye of the mind." "A thought flashed through me, which I clothed in act."
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."
flash in the pan, a failure or a poor performance, especially after a normal or auspicious start; also, a person whose initial performance appears augur success but who fails to achieve anything notable. From 4th pan, n., sense 3 part of a flintlock. Occasionally, the powder in the pan of a flintlock would flash without conveying the fire to the charge, and the ball would fail to be discharged. Thus, a good or even spectacular beginning that eventually achieves little came to be called a flash in the pan.
To flash in the pan, to fail of success, especially after a normal or auspicious start. (Colloq.) See under Flash, a burst of light.
Synonyms: Flash, Glitter, Gleam, Glisten, Glister. 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.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Flash in the pan" Quotes from Famous Books



... The little flash in the pan of Chinese Labour was, I think, even more remarkable. The Press not only had word from the twin Party Machines (with which it was then allied for the purposes of power) to boycott the Chinese Labour agitation rigidly, but it was manifestly ...
— The Free Press • Hilaire Belloc
... yoke of the Medici had undermined the character of the Florentines. This, their last glorious struggle for liberty, was but a flash in the pan—a final flare-up of the dying lamp. The city was not satisfied with slavery; but it had no capacity for united action. The Ottimati were egotistic and jealous of the people. The Palleschi desired to restore the Medici at any price—some ...
— Sketches and Studies in Italy and Greece, Complete - Series I, II, and III • John Symonds
... right, Jack. It is not a flash in the pan. She is as steady as a rock." He then addressed her rapidly and business-like, but with deference. "You will stand by the helm on this side, and the moment I run forward, you will take the helm and ...
— Love Me Little, Love Me Long • Charles Reade
... your Strength you must rally, And labour and sweat like a Slave in a Gaily; And still you must charge—O blessed Condition!— Tho' you know, to your cost, you've no more Ammunition: Till at last the poor fool of a mortified man Is unable to make a poor Flash in the Pan. Fire, Flood, and Female, begin with a letter, But for all the World's not a Farthing the better. Your Flood is soon gone, and your Fire you must humble, If into Flames store of Water you tumble; But to cure the damn'd Lust of ...
— Quaint Gleanings from Ancient Poetry • Edmund Goldsmid
... And he,—who, as far as I can understand, has never done a ha'porth for her since the beginning. What's Mr Gordon? I should like to know. Diamonds! What's diamonds in the way of a steady income? They're all a flash in the pan, and moonshine and dirtiness. I hates to hear of diamonds. There's all the ill in the world comes from them; and you'd give her up to be taken off by such a one as he among the diamonds! I make bold to tell you, Mr Whittlestaff, that you ought to have more strength of mind than what that comes to. ...
— An Old Man's Love • Anthony Trollope
... the affair that you wot of. As for your remaining free, that's all very well to think during the interregnum, but a man without a true love is a ship without ballast, a one-tined fork, half a pair of scissors, an utter flash in the pan.... So you are going home, my dear Morse, and God knows if ever I shall see you again. Pardon, I pray you, anything of levity which you may have been offended at in me. Believe me it arose from my ...
— Samuel F. B. Morse, His Letters and Journals - In Two Volumes, Volume I. • Samuel F. B. Morse


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