flash back

flash back

1. verb To momentarily show or describe a past time or occurrence, as in a book, movie, or TV show. I liked that part when the narrator flashed back to all the times she had encountered the strange man before. Once the character flashes back to her childhood trauma, it really illuminates her present-day anxieties. When I started watching that show, they had already killed off Liz's boyfriend, so I loved when she would flash back to their time together.

2. verb To unexpectedly recall or re-experience something from the past. That particular smell always makes me flash back to my childhood. I don't know what that chemical smell is, but I just flashed back to my high school chemistry class. A: "Are you OK?" B: "I'm sorry, that song just made me flash back to times with my late husband."

3. noun An instance in which someone recalls or re-experiences something from the past. In this usage, the phrase is usually written as one word. That particular smell always makes me have a momentary childhood flashback. Mom and Aunt Judy are arguing again? Hoo boy, now I'm having a flashback to the fiasco that was last Thanksgiving. Would you guys hurry up? I just had a flashback to Mrs. Simon screaming at us for being late to class.

See also: back, flash

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

flash back (to someone or something)

to return briefly to a view of someone or something in the past. (In films, literature, and television.) The story suddenly flashed back to Tom when he was a child. The story flashed back to Tom's childhood.

See also: back, flash

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

flash back

v.

1. To undergo a change of scene to a previous point in time as a narrative device: In this chapter, the main character flashes back to her youth.

2. To remember or reexperience a previous point in time, usually suddenly: Whenever he hears sirens, he flashes back to his service in Vietnam.

See also: back, flash

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs. Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

flashback

n. a memory of the past; a portrayal of the past in a story. Suddenly, Fred had a wonderful flashback to his childhood.

McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.