See flash in the pan in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
{
"etymology_text": "From the days of flintlock firearms, where the main charge was intended to be fired by a small charge of gunpowder in the priming pan. If the resultant fire did not pass through the touch hole and ignite the main charge, it produced noise and smoke, but no substantial effect, and was termed a flash in the pan. Sometimes called fluff in the pan, the term refers to any ineffectual, short, spasmodic effort that dies in the attempt, such as an explosion of priming in the lockpan of a gun while the gun itself does not go off.",
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{
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"_dis1": "0 0",
"word": "burst someone's bubble"
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{
"_dis1": "0 0",
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"word": "damp squib"
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{
"_dis1": "0 0",
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{
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"_dis1": "95 5",
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{
"_dis1": "95 5",
"code": "de",
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"tags": [
"neuter"
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"word": "Strohfeuer"
},
{
"_dis1": "95 5",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "transient occurrence with no long-term effect",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "Eintagsfliege"
},
{
"_dis1": "95 5",
"code": "hu",
"lang": "Hungarian",
"sense": "transient occurrence with no long-term effect",
"word": "szalmaláng (szerű teljesítmény)"
},
{
"_dis1": "95 5",
"code": "hu",
"lang": "Hungarian",
"sense": "transient occurrence with no long-term effect",
"word": "rövid fellángolás"
},
{
"_dis1": "95 5",
"code": "hu",
"lang": "Hungarian",
"sense": "transient occurrence with no long-term effect",
"word": "egyszeri felvillanás"
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{
"_dis1": "95 5",
"code": "hu",
"lang": "Hungarian",
"sense": "transient occurrence with no long-term effect",
"word": "gyorsan elmúló siker"
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{
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"code": "ga",
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"tags": [
"feminine"
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},
{
"_dis1": "95 5",
"code": "ga",
"lang": "Irish",
"sense": "transient occurrence with no long-term effect",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "rith searraigh"
},
{
"_dis1": "95 5",
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "transient occurrence with no long-term effect",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "fuoco di paglia"
},
{
"_dis1": "95 5",
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "transient occurrence with no long-term effect",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "słomiany zapał"
},
{
"_dis1": "95 5",
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "transient occurrence with no long-term effect",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "fogo de palha"
},
{
"_dis1": "95 5",
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "transient occurrence with no long-term effect",
"word": "llamarada de petate"
},
{
"_dis1": "95 5",
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "transient occurrence with no long-term effect",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
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{
"_dis1": "95 5",
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},
{
"_dis1": "95 5",
"code": "th",
"lang": "Thai",
"roman": "fai-mâi-faang",
"sense": "transient occurrence with no long-term effect",
"word": "ไฟไหม้ฟาง"
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{
"_dis1": "95 5",
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"lang": "Turkish",
"sense": "transient occurrence with no long-term effect",
"word": "saman alevi"
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"word": "flash in the pan"
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"etymology_text": "From the days of flintlock firearms, where the main charge was intended to be fired by a small charge of gunpowder in the priming pan. If the resultant fire did not pass through the touch hole and ignite the main charge, it produced noise and smoke, but no substantial effect, and was termed a flash in the pan. Sometimes called fluff in the pan, the term refers to any ineffectual, short, spasmodic effort that dies in the attempt, such as an explosion of priming in the lockpan of a gun while the gun itself does not go off.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "flashes in the pan",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
},
{
"form": "flash in the pans",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
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"2": "flash in the pans"
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"expansion": "flash in the pan (plural flashes in the pan or flash in the pans)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"related": [
{
"word": "burst someone's bubble"
},
{
"word": "bubble bursting"
},
{
"word": "damp squib"
},
{
"word": "go off half-cocked"
},
{
"word": "lightning in a bottle"
},
{
"word": "lock, stock and barrel"
},
{
"word": "losing game"
},
{
"word": "much ado about nothing"
},
{
"word": "one-hit wonder"
},
{
"word": "sleeveless errand"
},
{
"word": "wild-goose chase"
}
],
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],
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"text": "The concept turned out to be merely a flash in the pan and is no longer used.",
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{
"ref": "2015 April 4, Sally Weale, “The new dinner lady: 10 years on, can an Ottolenghi chef prove Jamie Oliver's revolution wasn't a flash in the pan?”, in The Guardian:",
"text": "The new dinner lady: 10 years on, can an Ottolenghi chef prove Jamie Oliver's revolution wasn't a flash in the pan? [title]",
"type": "quote"
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{
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"A transient occurrence with no long-term impact."
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"code": "ca",
"lang": "Catalan",
"sense": "transient occurrence with no long-term effect",
"tags": [
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],
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},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "tánhuāyīxiàn",
"sense": "transient occurrence with no long-term effect",
"word": "曇花一現 /昙花一现"
},
{
"code": "duf",
"lang": "Dumbea",
"sense": "transient occurrence with no long-term effect",
"word": "fx9s"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "transient occurrence with no long-term effect",
"word": "tähdenlento"
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{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "transient occurrence with no long-term effect",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "feu de paille"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "transient occurrence with no long-term effect",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "Strohfeuer"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "transient occurrence with no long-term effect",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "Eintagsfliege"
},
{
"code": "hu",
"lang": "Hungarian",
"sense": "transient occurrence with no long-term effect",
"word": "szalmaláng (szerű teljesítmény)"
},
{
"code": "hu",
"lang": "Hungarian",
"sense": "transient occurrence with no long-term effect",
"word": "rövid fellángolás"
},
{
"code": "hu",
"lang": "Hungarian",
"sense": "transient occurrence with no long-term effect",
"word": "egyszeri felvillanás"
},
{
"code": "hu",
"lang": "Hungarian",
"sense": "transient occurrence with no long-term effect",
"word": "gyorsan elmúló siker"
},
{
"code": "ga",
"lang": "Irish",
"sense": "transient occurrence with no long-term effect",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "gal soip"
},
{
"code": "ga",
"lang": "Irish",
"sense": "transient occurrence with no long-term effect",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "rith searraigh"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "transient occurrence with no long-term effect",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "fuoco di paglia"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "transient occurrence with no long-term effect",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "słomiany zapał"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "transient occurrence with no long-term effect",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "fogo de palha"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "transient occurrence with no long-term effect",
"word": "llamarada de petate"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "transient occurrence with no long-term effect",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "flor de un día"
},
{
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "transient occurrence with no long-term effect",
"tags": [
"common-gender"
],
"word": "dagslända"
},
{
"code": "th",
"lang": "Thai",
"roman": "fai-mâi-faang",
"sense": "transient occurrence with no long-term effect",
"word": "ไฟไหม้ฟาง"
},
{
"code": "tr",
"lang": "Turkish",
"sense": "transient occurrence with no long-term effect",
"word": "saman alevi"
},
{
"code": "cy",
"lang": "Welsh",
"sense": "transient occurrence with no long-term effect",
"tags": [
"masculine",
"plural"
],
"word": "siafins"
},
{
"code": "cy",
"lang": "Welsh",
"sense": "transient occurrence with no long-term effect",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "tân eithin"
}
],
"word": "flash in the pan"
}
Download raw JSONL data for flash in the pan meaning in English (6.5kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-02-15 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-02-02 using wiktextract (ca09fec and c40eb85). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.