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flashback

nounverbattested in dialogue

  • //ˈflæʃ.bæk//

A dramatic device in which an earlier event is inserted into the normal chronological flow of a narrative.

noun

  1. 1

    A dramatic device in which an earlier event is inserted into the normal chronological flow of a narrative.

  2. 2

    A vivid mental image of a past trauma or other sensation that the trauma is happening in the present, especially one that recurs.

  3. 3

    Something that evokes old memories; a throwback.

    We danced fast to Martha and the Vandellas, Supremes or even the Beach Boys. Slow to Dusty Springfield or Righteous Brothers (how's that for a heavy flash back?)

  4. 4

    A similar recurrence of the effects of a hallucinogenic drug.

    Maude Lebowski: What do you do for recreation? / The Dude: Oh, the usual. I bowl. Drive around. The occasional acid flashback.

  5. 5

    The condition of the flame propagating down the hose of an oxy-fuel welding system.

  6. 6

    A query that operates against data from an earlier time, before it was changed.

    As noted, that method provides limited support for multi-table flashbacks.

    […] less used and specialized types of queries, including composite queries, hierarchical queries, version flashbacks, and parallel queries.

Etymology

From flash + back.

verb

  1. 1

    To undergo a flashback; to experience a vivid mental image from the past.

Forms

plural
flashbacks
past tense
flashbacked
past participle
flashbacked
present participle
flashbacking
third person singular
flashbacks
The neighbouring pagesAlphabetical order follows the rules of the language, not byte values: an accent decides only between two otherwise identical words, and Spanish files Ñ as a letter of its own.

Lexical content from Wiktionary, under CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source entry · Data version 2026-08-23

Rank among the words of the OpenSubtitles 2018 corpus — film and television subtitles, so spoken rather than written usage (CC BY-SA 3.0).