flash, v.³ — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

flash v.³

[compounded by drug imagery]

1. to notice.

1909		H. Green Mr. Jackson 197: ‘What if the elbows flash us?’ whispered Henry.
1921		H.C. Witwer Leather Pushers 196: The minute he flashed me he dragged me into a little room.
1927		C. Coe Me – Gangster 191: As soon as I flashed Gip I recognized him from pictures I had seen in the papers.
1927		C. Drew ‘Grafter and Goose’ in Bulletin (Sydney) 11 Aug. n.p.: There was not much time to be lost if a goose was to be flashed before barrier-rise.
2001		(con. 1964–8) J. Ellroy Cold Six Thousand 113: The hatch popped open. Pete B. jumped out. Wayne flashed him. Pete waved and winked.

2. to amaze, to impress.

1972

E. Grogan Ringolevio 275: He flashed everyone with his ability to make hip-sounding remarks.

flash on (v.)

1. to have a sudden inspiration, memory, moment of absolute comprehension etc.

1888		J. Runciman Chequers 79: Then it flashed on me. ‘This beauty has heard of me from the Suffolk gipsies.’.
1938		(con. 1900s) in J.B. Booth Sporting Times 88: ‘Your old pot and pan must be half a tree!’ / Said the cove; and it flashed on Meg.
1968		N. von Hoffman We are the People Our Parents Warned Us Against 161: I go on peace marches because they’re groovy. I flash on the experience.
1977		C. McFadden Serial 13: She just flashed on it: for once in her life she ought to put her own needs right up front.
1985		(con. 1969–70) D. Bodey F.N.G. (1988) 99: I flash on a time ten years ago when I was at my mother’s rural church.
1990		R. Campbell Sweet La-La Land (1999) 137: Bitsy flashed on the idea that if he left Hogan’s name out of it [...] they’d be out looking for him.
2000		G. Pelecanos Shame the Devil 137: He’d been trying to nap, but he’d flashed on Jimmy, and knew then that he’d never get to sleep.
2008		T. Dorsey Atomic Lobster 85: Just before I came, I started flashing on Andrew Jackson.
2012		T. Piccirilli Last Kind Words 13: We’d flash on the little girl a couple of times a day [...] Step through a doorway and see her on the floor of the mobile home, intuit her terror.

2. (US) to catch sight of.

1970		E. Tidyman Shaft 71: He flashed almost immediately on the three [...] shadow figures in the darkness.
1998		(con. 1986) G. Pelecanos Sweet Forever 36: His eyes flashed on hers from the front to the back of the room.