in a flash

English

Pronunciation

Audio (AU) (file)

Prepositional phrase

(idiomatic) Instantaneously; very quickly; in almost no time.
Synonyms: fulgurant, fast as lightning, lightning fast, lightning-quick, quick as a flash, quick as a flash, lightning fast

It happened so fast that it was all over in a flash.
- 1987, “Sri Ramanasramam Charities”, in Mountain Path‎, volume 24, page 152:
  Therefore its completeness, though instantaneous, was total. His realisation was in a flash, but it did not vanish like a flash.
- 2017, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], Bad Dad, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN:
  “I bet you want to come and live here in this big house in the lap of luxury with me and Biggie, don’t you?”
  “NO,” replied the boy in a flash.

Translations

very quickly

Chinese:
Mandarin: 瞬間／瞬间 (zh) (shùnjiān)
Finnish: silmänräpäyksessä
German: blitzartig (de), im Nu (de), blitzschnell (de)
Greek: αστραπιαία (el) (astrapiaía)
Italian: in un baleno (it), in un lampo
Polish: w lot
Portuguese: rapidamente (pt)
Spanish: en un segundo, en un santiamén

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