[f. FLASH v.1 + -ING2.]
1. That flashes, in various senses of the vb.
1548. Udall, etc., Erasm. Par. Jas. iii. 5. Wherof cometh that horrible and broade flasshing flame of fyre?
1616. J. Lane, Cont. Sqr’s. T., xi. 330.
| His horse was of a sangine color redd, | |
| so weare his flasshinge plumes aloft his head. |
1727–46. Thomson, Summer, 378.
| Embolden’d then, nor hesitating more, | |
| Fast, fast, they plunge amid the flashing Wave, | |
| And panting labour to the farthest Shore. |
1835. Lytton, Rienzi, I. iii. Before the flashing eye and menacing gesture of the cavalier, the worthy brawler retreated some steps, so as to leave an open space between the towering form of the smith, and the small, slender, but vigorous frame of the young noble.
b. transf. and fig.
1613. Hieron, Triall of Adopt., Wks. 1624, I. 315. Imagination and fancy may breed a certaine flashing ioy, but there is no perpetuity, no setlednesse of reioycing, where there is doubt of hauing that which is made the matter of the ioy.
1654. Z. Coke, Logick, Ded. (1657), A v b. The want whereof agitates their lighter minds, scorched with flashing Zeal (unduly tempered and set on fire) to pinch the Magistrate of their duty.
1826. Disraeli, Viv. Grey, V. xii. She answered not, but holding down her head, covered her face with her small white hand; her lovely face was crimsoned with her flashing blood.
1875. Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), II. 93, Phaedrus, Introduction. Again and again she beholds the flashing beauty of the beloved. But before that vision can be finally enjoyed the animal desires must be subjected.
c. Flashing light (in a lighthouse, etc.). Flashing signals, signals made with flashes of light.
1858. Merc. Marine Mag., V. Jan., 30. Flashing Light on Hogsten…. It is Fixed, with a Flash once every three minutes, and visible from all points of the compass towards the fairway.
1863. Colomb, in Jrnl. R. United Service Instit., VII. 386. We then agreed that for fixed positions, a system of flashing signals was practicable.
2. Comb., as flashing-eyed adj.
1880. Miss Broughton, Sec. Th., III. iv. ‘You are ruining the child!’ cries Gillian, still flashing-eyed and panting; ‘ruining his temper, his manners, his—’
Hence Flashingly adv., in a flashing manner.
1891. Illustr. Lond. News, 21 Nov., 658/3. They rain flashingly, a visible brilliance.
