Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (also give a flash) to show off one’s money ostentiously; often as flash a roll

1747		Life and Character of Moll King 12: She flash’d half a Slat, a Bull’s-Eye, and some other rum Slangs.
1768		Proc. Old Bailey 7 Sept. 317/1: They say I was shewing my money, a man has a right to flash his money.
1784		H. Lemoine ‘The Clever Fellow’ in Wit’s Mag. 155/1: I’ll flash a quid with any cull / And fly a pigeon blue.
1821		Egan Life in London (1869) 265: I have got a duce [...] and Tom’s got a win, — and Dirty Suke can flash a mag.
1821		J. Burrowes Life in St George’s Fields 10: If you can flash the ready you may command every luxury on earth.
1834		‘The Rake’s Register’ in Bang-Up Songster 23: I married her and got her pelf, / With which I soon was flashing.
1840		R. Barham ‘The Dead Drummer’ in Ingoldsby Legends (1842) 209: When trav’lling, don’t ‘flash’ / Your notes or your cash / Before other people – it is foolish and rash!
1857		‘Ducange Anglicus’ Vulgar Tongue 39: Cocum gonnofs flash by night the cooters in the boozing kens.
1859		Matsell Vocabulum 33: flash her diles Spend her money.
1865		Leaves from Diary of Celebrated Burglar 71/1: ‘Thau dozent see t’ lyke o’ this growin’ i’ t’ tops o’ trees, duz thau, lass — eh?’ and he ‘flashed’ a fistful of ‘screens’.
1880		Bulletin (Sydney) 20 Nov. 9/1: A Daily Telegraph reporter was ‘flashing’ a pound in the street the other night when a young woman snatched it out of his hand.
1890		Bulletin (Sydney) 19 July 7/3: This E.T. Smith was the Drury-lane manager, a most remarkable card. He once hired a thousand-pound note from Genuse, the West-end money lender, just to flash about and inspire confidence.
1893		St Louis Post-Dispatch (MO) 3 Dec. 17/7: T‘o give a flash’ means to show money .
1893		Whitstable Times 15 July 3/5: Tips to Strangers [...] who are to visit Chicago [...] Don’t flash your bank roll upon the crowded thoroughfare.
1913		Sun (NY) 27 July 40/1: Everybody around the joint flashes a million dollars — it looks like it, with an Abe Lincoln on the outside of a Michigan bankroll. You’re jerry to the Michigan?
1913		Sport (Adelaide) 15 Feb. 11/1: They Say [...] Don't go crook, Ponk, you know you do flash those quids a lot; why not spend a few bob now and again?
1929		W. Winchell Your Broadway & Mine 24 May [synd. col.] In the old days if you flashed a lot of one-dollar bills you referred to it as a ‘Michigan bankroll’.
1930		M. Fiaschetti You Gotta Be Rough 184: I was flashing the bankroll and dealing out a pinochle hand of yellowbacks.
1941		V. Davis Phenomena in Crime 214: He [...] carries a wad of notes about with him and ‘flashes’ them ostentatiously.
1969		R. Rendell Best Man To Die (1981) 116: He was flashing all this money about in the Dragon.
1981		A.K. Shulman On the Stroll 8: He’d prepared the rest [of one’s money] for flashing.
1989		(con. 1950s–60s) in G. Tremlett Little Legs 35: He’d been flashing his money round.
1996		P. Howard The Joy (2015) [ebook] He never seemed to flash any of the sponds he claimed to earned from various ‘job’ and ‘blags’.
1999		R.G. Barrett Wind & Monkey (2013) [ebook] ‘[H]e’s going to be running around Newcastle somewhere tonight flashing his chops’.
2001		(con. 1964–8) J. Ellroy Cold Six Thousand 147: They saw the cab. They ran up. They flashed money. The driver dispensed packets.

2. to ‘cut a figure’, to show off, usu. one’s material possessions and gross self-esteem; to display one’s wit.

1779		(con. 1777) Thrale Thraliana i Dec. 7 415: [O]ne day in the first Week of April 1777 [. . .] I remember Boswell dining here: we talked, we rattled, we flashed, we made extempore Verses, we did so much that at last Mr Boswell said why Mrs Thrale (says he) you are in most riotous spirits to-day—So I am reply'd I gaily.
1785, 1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue n.p.: Flash, to shew ostentatiously. To flash one’s ivory; to laugh and shew one’s teeth. Don’t flash your ivory, but shut your potatoe trap, and keep your guts warm; the Devil loves hot tripes.
1800		‘Sung in Fontainbleau’ in Songster’s Companion 80: With swearing, tearing, ranting, jaunting, flashing [...] this is the life of a frolicksome fellow.
c.1805		‘The Rage’ in Jovial Songster 19: Be’t to bam, or to hoax, or to queer, or to quis, / Or howe’er in the ton you are flashing.
1819		‘One of the Fancy’ Tom Crib’s Memorial to Congress 22: Bets ran a hundred to ten / The Adonis would ne’er flash his ivory again.
1849		Sam Sly 26 May 2/3: We advise Ch—y T—y—r [...] not to flash of an evening with that hideous fisherman's jacket on.
1859		‘Scene in a London Flash-Panny’ Matsell Vocabulum 99: ‘Stubble your red rag,’ answered a good-looking young fellow. ‘Bell had better flash her dibs than let you bubble her out of them.’.
1864, 1867, 1870		Hotten Sl. Dict.
1877		J. Greenwood Dick Temple I 244: ‘Flashing’ the Brummagem jewellery which adorned their thievish fingers.
1885		Bulletin (Sydney) 14 Feb. 6/3: [U]nlike the ordinary bogus aristocrat, ’Sir Roger’ never ‘flashed his rank’ – that is, when he walked or talked with prisoners, he did not ‘put on airs,’ or adopt the patronizing manners that […] usually denote alike the parvenu and the impostor.
1896		Ade Artie (1963) 55: I give Mame a wad o’ roses that laid over anything the bride could flash.
1908		H. Green Maison De Shine 277: I see yuh flashin’ ’round in a swell noo gray soot.
1914		Sport (Adelaide) 14 Mar. 4/6: Morris H. was seen flashing around the streets with white boots .
1936		(con. 1830s–60s) ‘Miles Franklin’ All That Swagger 317: William rendered his family inconspicuous by a routine imposed to counteract the ‘flashing about’ of Robert’s family.
1959		C. Himes Crazy Kill 74: Slim black boy. Plays it cool. Working stiff jive. Don’t never flash.
1974		V.E. Smith Jones Men 151: They wouldn’t miss an opportunity to flash at something like this fight.
1999		J. Ridley Love Is a Racket 56: Hair cut nice and tight, clean shaven. Dumas even flashed a manicure.

3. to display, e.g. a gun or police badge.

1735		Proceedings Old Bailey 11 Sept. 143/2: One of the Men flash’d a Pistol.
1812		Vaux Vocab. of the Flash Lang.
1906		S. Ford Shorty McCabe 89: Every tinhorn sport has his bundle, you know; but it’s only your real gent that can flash a check book.
1908		B. Fisher A. Mutt in Blackbeard Compilation (1977) 68: Sensational scene in court when Atty. Beany flashed a piece of artillery.
1915		D. Lowrie My Life out of Prison 283: A detective’s badge had been ‘flashed’.
1925		D. Hammett ‘The Scorched Face’ Story Omnibus (1966) 80: Pat flashed his buzzer.
1931		(con. 1900s) C.W. Willemse Behind The Green Lights 106: ‘It’s all right officer, I’m a cop myself!’ ‘Well if you are, flash!’ The order to show me his shield.
1933		Gloucs. Eecho 2 Sept. 1/4: A man who was being chased [...] flashed a sword and lunged at a policeman pursuing him.
1935		Thieves Slang ms list from District Police Training Centre, Ryton-on-Dunsmore, Warwicks 4: Flash it: Show it.
1946		J. Evans Halo in Blood (1988) 133: A snooper, huh? I should of caught on when you didn’t flash a buzzer on me.
1952		‘Burglar Cops’ in C. Hamilton Men of the Und. 117: Eddy flashed the super, to look at it.
1953		C. Boeckman ‘Tough Cop’ in Margulies Back Alley Jungle (1963) 112: Grimm took out his buzzer and flashed it.
1959		Galton & Simpson ‘The Picnic’ Hancock’s Half-Hour [radio script] Shorts eh? You’re going to flash the legs. Do you think that’s wise.
1963		M. Braly Shake Him Till He Rattles (1964) 43: Well, what’re you flashing that stuff for? You know I don’t have a ’fit.
1974		V.E. Smith Jones Men 65: Heat hanging all out of their belts, really flashing the guns.
1985		B. Humphries Traveller’s Tool 91: So flash your badge and once she clocks it, open your Samsonite.
1993		G. Disher Deathdeal [ebook] ‘You flash your badge’.
1994		N. McCall Makes Me Wanna Holler (1995) 101: We walked up, flashed our guns, and cleaned them out.
1996		W.D. Myers Slam! 129: Web was clowning [...] and flashing gang signals.
2006		D. Gorman Deliciously Evil 1: He flashed his badge to the officer by the entrance. ‘I’m Detective Rovelli Homicide.’.

4. in fig. use of sense 3, in non-material senses, e.g. to display an idea.

1848		Flash Dict. in Sinks of London Laid Open 107: Flashing his gab, showing off his talk.
1887		Cincinnati Enquirer (OH) 24 Dec. 12/2: Giving the young man a warning look, said: ‘Nixey, Toohey, don’t flash, blow it, man’ [...] which meant [...] Toohey ought not to talk quite so much.
1901		‘Hugh McHugh’ John Henry 83: Day after tomorrow he’ll flash the intelligence on me that he has invented a stranglehold line of business.
1905		‘Hugh McHugh’ You Can Search Me 68: Why didn’t you flash this stingy talk on me before we got started? [Ibid.] 114: He [a magician] flashed a line of hot illusions that had them groggy in short order.
1934		M. Fulcher ‘Believe Me’ in Afro-American (Baltimore, MD) 22 Dec. 12/3: They’d better start laying bets again as to who flashes me the stuff [i.e. items of gossip].

5. (orig. US) used both transitively and intransitively, to expose a part of the body, usu. the genitals of either sex or, for women, the breasts or underwear, in a quick or provocative manner.

1841		‘Nix My Jolly Gals Poke Away’ in Gentleman’s Spicey Songster 16: No gal who ever flash’d her snatch, / Could ever bring more swell coves up to the scratch.
1854		Leicester Jrnl 28 Apr. 4/2: My companion was asked ‘if there was any flashing dancing?’ With a knowing wink the boy answered, ’Lots! show their legs and all prime!’’.
1868		Sportsman 11 July 4/1: Notes on News [...] But is it not pity that [they] cannot [...] take in a little heavier metal than Theresa’s smut and Finette’s flashing of muslin drawers.
1870		Cythera’s Hymnal 63: A flashing of her Old Cunt Grey.
1887		W.E. Henley ‘Villon’s Good-Night’ in Farmer Musa Pedestris (1896) 174: Likewise you molls that flash your bubs / For swells to spot and stand you sam.
1890–1904		Farmer & Henley Sl. and Its Analogues.
1904		Number 1500 Life In Sing Sing 248: Flash. To exhibit.
1904		Sydney Sportsman (Surry Hills, NSW) 2 Mar. 3/1: They lifted their frocks and flashed their silk socks.
1938		H.M. Anderson Strip Tease 10: Carmen [...] flashes her chest [...] Carmen is small and slender. She hasn’t much to flash.
1944		E. Wilson 17 Mar. [synd. col.] She also ‘flashed’ — bared her busts.
1947		Thieves Slang ms list from District Police Training Centre, Ryton-on-Dunsmore, Warwicks 4: Flashing hampton: Exposing the person.
1965		G. Melly Owning Up (1974) 226: The door flew open and there was the blonde lady flashing her tits.
1967		M. Braly On the Yard (2002) 160: He didn’t want to flash his prune for a skin shake.
1974		(con. 1940s) E. Thompson Tattoo (1977) 51: The crazy day they had flashed their cocks at a pretty woman in glasses in the balcony stacks of the public library.
1977		(con. 1960s) D. Goines Black Gangster (1991) 72: Some goddam woman flashin’ their ass.
1985		Totally True Diaries of an Eighties Roller Queen 🌐 10 Oct. Today was ‘New York’ day at school. I dressed as a flasher [...] I flashed three teachers and two classrooms.
1987		‘Joe Bob Briggs’ Joe Bob Goes to the Drive-In 116: This bimbo pops open a raincoat and flashes her groceries.
1991		D. Jarman letter 30 July Smiling in Slow Motion (2000) 44: The Chips never flashed their dicks.
1999		N. Cohn Yes We have No 186: She danced, she flashed, she took the boy back to her hotel.
1999		Guardian Guide 2–8 Oct. 18: Barrymore is a pretty ardent exposer of her own jailbait assets, having posed for Playboy, flashed David Letterman as a birthday present.
2004		Mad mag. Oct. 35: [He] went out to the alley to score some coke and flash a busload of tourists.
2005		Sun-Herald (Sydney) 17 Aug. 🌐 But finding out that a celebrity like Tara Reid has got drunk and flashed her panties?
2010		J. Ellroy Hilliker Curse 9: She flashed her snatch at him at some movie-biz party.
2015		J. Stahl OG Dad 21: An attractive [...] woman facing us flashes a semi-beaver. Pencil skirt crawling up her parted thighs to reveal Hot Mama panties.

6. (US tramp) to turn State’s evidence.

1927		‘Jargon of the Und.’ in DN V 446: Flash, To turn state’s evidence.
1931		Irwin Amer. Tramp and Und. Sl. 75: FLASH. To turn State’s evidence.

7. (US teen) to smash light-bulbs as an act of vandalism.

1957

Beckley Post-Herald (WV) 1 Dec. 7/4: Flashing — Breaking light bulbs in sockets.

8. (US teen) to shout at, while others are watching.

2002

Teen Lingo: The Source for Youth Ministry 🌐 flashing v. yelling at someone, usually in front of others.

9. (US drugs) for blood to appear in a syringe, mixing with the drug during the injection of narcotics.

2019

N. Walker Cherry 313: I put the needle in my arm. [...] I felt a little pop and my blood flashed in the rig. I sent it home.

10. (UK black/gang) of a police car, to pull a vehicle over on suspicion [the flashing of blue lights as an indicator].

2018-20

T. Thorne (ed.) ‘Drill Slang Glossary’ at Forensic Linguistic Databank 🌐 Flashed - stopped, pulled over e.g by police.