Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Flashlight |
FlashlightNoun1. A small portable battery-powered electric lamp. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "flashlight" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1919. (references) |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
A flashlight, or torch (as it is known in the United Kingdom), is a handheld portable electric spotlight. A typical flashlight consists of a small electric lightbulb with associated parabolic reflector, powered by electric batteries, and with an electric power switch. The components are mounted in a housing that contains the necessary electric circuit and provides ease of handling, a means of access to the batteries for replacement, and a clear covering over the lightbulb for its protection.Although a relatively simple device, its invention did not occur until the late 19th century because it depended upon the earlier invention of the electric battery and electric light. The batteries in the first ones were of such short useful life that the common method of operating them was to flash them just long enough to discern the environs, and only as needed; hence the term "flash-light".
Recently, flashlights which use LED's instead of conventional lightbulbs have become available. LED's are far more efficient than, and use less power than normal lightbulbs, and so torches which use them have longer battery lifetimes. Another innovation in flashlight design is the headlamp, a flashlight worn on the head for hands-free operation. Powerful headlamps mounted on helmets have been used in mining for decades, but general-purpose ones with fabric straps are now also available.
External link
Hobbyists who enjoy modifying and collecting flashlights enjoy a forum at [1].Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Flashlight."
Synonym: FlashlightSynonym: torch (n). (additional references) |
Crosswords: Flashlight |
| English words defined with "flashlight": Anomalopidae ♦ cast, contrive ♦ family Anomalopidae ♦ penlight, project ♦ throw. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "flashlight": DRIVE-IN THEATER ATTENDANT ♦ field attendant, fish-bait picker ♦ general lot attendant, GROOVING-LATHE TENDER ♦ magnesium foil ♦ PARKING LOT SIGNALER ♦ safety light, Shot Firer ♦ WELD INSPECTOR I, welding tester, WORM PICKER. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Lewis, we've had Presidents who were beloved, who couldn't find a coherent sentence with two hands and a flashlight. People don't drink the sand because they're thirsty, Lewis (The American President; writing credit: Aaron Sorkin.) Anybody gotta flashlight and a couple of shovels (Man on the Moon; writing credit: Scott Alexander; Larry Karaszewski) | |
Movie/TV Titles | The Flashlight (1917) A Flashlight Flivver (1915) | |
Song Titles | FLASHLIGHT (performing artist: PARLIAMENT) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Cut-off, i.e. flashlight, in use at night on comparator Night-time operations in comparing lengths of steel tapes Fig. No. 13, Appendix No. 3, Report of Superintendent ... 1901, p. 258. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection. |  | After making contact, the forward end of tape is moved ahead Note lantern and flashlight - these operations were conducted at night Relatively constant night temperatures minimized expansion of tape Fig. No. 12, Appendix No. 3, Report of Superintendent ... 1901, p. 258. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection. |
 | "Dr. Wilson and Lieut. Bowers reading the ramp thermometer in the winter night, -40 Fahr. (A flashlight photograph.) In: "Scott's Last Expedition ....", 1913. Dodd, Mead, and Company. New York. Volume I. Page 221. Credit: Paths Less Taken - NOAA at the Ends of the Earth. |  | Boutan's method for using a magnesium flashlight under water. In: Reighard , Jacob, 1907, "The Photography of Aquatic Animals in Their Natural Environment. " Bulletin of the Bureau of Fisheries, Vol. XXVII, 1907, pp. 41-68. Credit: Sailing for Science - the NOAA Fleet Then and Now. |
 | Saustad and his son, Robert, fixing a flashlight. Credit: Library of Congress. | ||
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
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| "Flashlight" by Borbás Krisztián Commentary: "Flashlight." | "Shine" by Marcel Hol Commentary: "Flashlight shining in the lens." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. | |
| Author | Quotation |
Minna Antrim | An epigram is a flashlight of a truth; a witticism, truth laughing at itself. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Title | Author | Quote |
Grapes of Wrath | Steinbeck, John | They heard footsteps on wood, and, then from inside the house they saw the glow of a flashlight. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Flashlight" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Flashlight" is used about 73 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 100% | 73 | 39,105 |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "flashlight": automatic rear fog flashlight ♦ flashlight battery ♦ flashlight fish. Additional references. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "flashlight"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | llambë fleshi (flashbulb), llambë elektrike dore, dritë vezulluese, dritë sinjalizimi. (various references) | |
Arabic | مصباح يدوي (torch), نور ساطع, ومض (flickering, fulgurate), المشعل الكهربائي, الضوء الومضي. (various references) | |
Chinese | 手电. (various references) | |
Czech | bleskové svìtlo. (various references) | |
Danish | lysglimt fra detonationen (detonative flashlight), lynlysapparat (photographic flashlight apparatus), lygtebatteri (flashlight battery). (various references) | |
Dutch | flitslichtapparaat (photographic flashlight apparatus), flitsapparaat (photographic flashlight apparatus), flits (lightning), zaklantaarnlamp (flashlight bulb, flashlight lamp, pocket lamp, torch lamp), zaklantaarnbatterij (flashlight battery), zaklamp (flashlight bulb, flashlight lamp, hand lamp, hand lantern, pocket lamp, torch lamp), knipperend mistachterlicht (automatic rear fog flashlight). (various references) | |
Finnish | taskulamppu (torch). (various references) | |
French | flash (flash, flash light, flashgun), lampe électrique (flash light), lampe. (various references) | |
German | Taschenlampe (lamp, pocket lamp, torch), blitzlicht (flash, photoflash). (various references) | |
Greek | στιγμιαίο φώσ, ηλεκτρικόσ φανόσ (torch). (various references) | |
Hebrew | מבזק (flash), פנס כיס (torch), אור מבזיק, אור אתות. (various references) | |
Hungarian | zseblámpa (electric torch, flash, flashlamp, torch), villanófény (blinker, blinking light, flash, flashing light), vaku (flash, flashbulb, flashgun), jelzőfény (beacon, beacon-light, flare, flash), fényjelzés (flare, flash), elemlámpa (torch). (various references) | |
Italian | flash (flash), torcia elettrica. (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | フラクション活動 (flag, flannel, flap, flap pocket, flapper, flash, flashback, flask, flat, flat collar, flat race, flush, fractal, fraction activity, fragment, fragmentation, frappe, fresco, frustration, hula dance, news flash), 懐中電灯 (electric torch), 懐中電灯 (electric torch). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | フラッシュライト , かいちゅうでんとう (electric torch). (various references) | |
Korean | 플래쉬 등. (various references) | |
Manx | lostan (glow-lamp, lamp). (various references) | |
Maya | hulub. (various references) | |
Mohawk | yehahserenhahstha. (various references) | |
Norwegian | lommelykt (electric torch). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | ashlightflay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | fogueira de alarme, fogueira (balefire, blaze, bonfire, camp-fire, dap, hack), pira funerária (balefire, pyre), lanterna (lamp, lantern). (various references) | |
Russian | сигнальный огонь (balefire, beacon fire, beacon light), фонарь (bay window, clearstory, lantern), фонарик карманный, проблесковый огонь маяка. (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | svetlost svetionika, džepna lampa, baterijska lampa, baterija (battery, superimposed). (various references) | |
Spanish | linterna eléctrica, flash (flash, flashbulb, photoflash). (various references) | |
Swedish | ficklampa (electric torch, torch). (various references) | |
Turkish | işaret feneri. (various references) | |
Turkmen | panys (torch). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | сигнальний вогонь (balefire, beacon). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "flashlight": flashlights. (additional references) | |
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"Flashlight" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: flashlit. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "flashlight" (pronounced fla"shlī't) |
| 3 | -l ī' t | acolyte, backlight, candlelight, cryolite, impolite, daylight, floodlight, headlight, highlight, inflight, lazulite, limelight, moonlight, niccolite, overflight, satellite, searchlight, skylight, socialite, spotlight, starlight, stoplight, sunlight, twilight. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-f-g-h-h-i-l-l-s-t" | |
-3 letters: alights, flights, hagfish, tallish. | |
-4 letters: alight, faiths, fights, filths, flails, flight, gaslit, hights, laighs, lathis, latish, lights, slight, tahsil, tallis, thalli, thighs, thills. | |
-5 letters: agist, alifs, alist, fails, faith, falls, fiats, fight, fills, filth, flags, flail, flash, flats, flits, gaits, galls, ghast, ghats, gifts, gills, gilts, glial, glias, hafis, hafts, hails, halls, halts. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-f-g-h-h-i-l-l-s-t" | |
+1 letter: flashlights. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Images: Digital Art | 9. Quotations: Familiar 10. Quotations: Fiction 11. Usage Frequency 12. Expressions | 13. Expressions: Internet 14. Translations: Modern 15. Derivations 16. Rhymes | 17. Anagrams 18. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
