| flash | 1. A pool. 2. <engineering> A reservoir and sluiceway beside a navigable stream, just above a shoal, so that the stream may pour in water as boats pass, and thus bear them over the shoal. <mechanics> Flash wheel, a paddle wheel made to revolve in a breast or curved water way, by which water is lifted from the lower to the higher level. Origin: OE. Flasche, flaske; cf. OF. Flache, F. Flaque. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| flash blindness | A temporary loss of vision produced when retinal light-sensitive pigments are bleached by light more intense than that to which the retina is physiologically adapted at that moment. (05 Mar 2000) |
| flash burn | A burn due to very brief exposure to intense radiant heat; the typical burn produced by atomic explosion. (05 Mar 2000) |
| flash dispersal | The property of rapid disintegration of a tablet when placed on the tongue. (05 Mar 2000) |
| flash evaporator | <apparatus> An apparatus used to concentrate a solute by evaporating its solvent. The device is fairly simple: a heated, rotating glass sphere with an exhaust tube to let the solvent fumes to escape. (09 Oct 1997) |
| flash keratoconjunctivitis | Acute keratoconjunctivitis resulting from exposure to intense ultraviolet irradiation. Synonym: actinic conjunctivitis, arc-flash conjunctivitis, flash keratoconjunctivitis, ophthalmia nivalis, snow conjunctivitis, welder's conjunctivitis. (05 Mar 2000) |
| flash method | Sterilization of milk by raising it rapidly to a temperature of 178캟, holding it there for a short time, and reducing it rapidly to 40캟. (05 Mar 2000) |
| flash point | The lowest temperature at which vapors of a liquid may be ignited by a flame. (05 Mar 2000) |
| flashback | An involuntary recurrence of some aspect of a hallucinatory experience or perceptual distortion occurring some time after taking the hallucinogen that produced the original effect and without subsequent ingestion of the substance. (05 Mar 2000) |
| flashboard riser | <ecology> A weir made with removable boards that can be used to adjust the level of water held up behind the weir. (09 Oct 1997) |
| flasher | 1. One who, or that which, flashes. 2. A man of more appearance of wit than reality. 3. <zoology> A large sparoid fish of the Atlantic coast and all tropical seas (Lobotes Surinamensis). The European red-backed shrile (Lanius collurio). Synonym: flusher. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| flashing | 1. <engineering> The creation of an artifical flood by the sudden letting in of a body of water; called also flushing. 2. Pieces of metal, built into the joints of a wall, so as to lap over the edge of the gutters or to cover the edge of the roofing; also, similar pieces used to cover the valleys of roofs of slate, shingles, or the like. By extension, the metal covering of ridges and hips of roofs; also, in the United States, the protecting of angles and breaks in walls of frame houses with waterproof material, tarred paper, or the like. Cf. Filleting. 3. The reheating of an article at the furnace aperture during manufacture to restore its plastic condition; especially, the reheating of a globe of crown glass to allow it to assume a flat shape as it is rotated. A mode of covering transparent white glass with a film of coloured glass. <chemistry> Flashing point, that degree of temperature at which a volatile oil gives off vapor in sufficient quantity to burn, or flash, on the approach of a flame, used as a test of the comparative safety of oils, especially. Kerosene; a flashing point of 100 deg F. Is regarded as a fairly safe standard. The burning point of the oil is usually from ten to thirty degree above the flashing point of its vapor. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| flashing pain syndrome | <syndrome> Sudden, intermittent, and severe brief episodes of pain, without apparent cause, in the distribution of a spinal dermatome; resembles in character the pain of tic douloureux. Compare: tic douloureux. (05 Mar 2000) |
| arc-flash conjunctivitis | Acute keratoconjunctivitis resulting from exposure to intense ultraviolet irradiation. Synonym: actinic conjunctivitis, arc-flash conjunctivitis, flash keratoconjunctivitis, ophthalmia nivalis, snow conjunctivitis, welder's conjunctivitis. (05 Mar 2000) |
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| hot flash | Colloquialism for one of the vasomotor symptoms of the climacteric that may involve the whole body as a flash of heat; also used interchangeably with hot flush. (05 Mar 2000) |