flashback
flashback Lexical Profile
flashback Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A scene in a film, novel, or play set in a time earlier than the main story, inserted to provide background context.
"The director used a series of flashbacks to reveal the protagonist's childhood in the countryside."
A sudden, vivid, and often involuntary memory of an event in the past, especially a traumatic experience or a recurring perceptual distortion after the effects of a hallucinogenic drug have worn off.
"Loud fireworks can sometimes trigger a vivid flashback in survivors of severe accidents."
A dangerous condition in which a flame propagates backward into the supply tube or nozzle of a gas burner or welding torch.
"The technician installed a safety arrestor on the oxyacetylene torch to prevent a dangerous flashback."
Word Nuance & Usage
As a noun, 'flashback' is written as a single solid word, whereas the corresponding phrasal verb is written as two separate words ('flash back').
• Rhymes for flashback
Word Origin & Etymology
Formed in the early 20th century as a compound of 'flash' and 'back', originally used in early cinema to describe a brief scene returning to an earlier event before being adopted into psychology for vivid traumatic memories.