at or near the beginning of a period of time or course of events or before the usual or expected time; "early morning"; "an early warning"; "early diagnosis"; "an early death"; "took early retirement"; "an early spring"; "early varieties of peas and tomatoes mature before most standard varieties"
being or occurring at an early stage of development; "in an early stage"; "early forms of life"; "early man"; "an early computer"
of an early stage in the development of a language or literature; "the Early Hebrew alphabetical script is that used mainly from the 11th to the 6th centuries B.C."; "Early Modern English is represented in documents printed from 1476 to 1700"
very young; "at an early age"
expected in the near future; "look for an early end to the negotiations"
before the usual time or the time expected; "she graduated early"; "the house was completed ahead of time"
a lamp for providing momentary light to take a photograph
a bright patch of color used for decoration or identification; "red flashes adorned the airplane"; "a flash sewn on his sleeve indicated the unit he belonged to"
a momentary brightness
a sudden brilliant understanding; "he had a flash of intuition"
a short vivid experience; "a flash of emotion swept over him"; "the flashings of pain were a warning"
a sudden intense burst of radiant energy
appear briefly; "The headlines flashed on the screen"
emit a brief burst of light; "A shooting star flashed and was gone"
make known or cause to appear with great speed; "The latest intelligence is flashed to all command posts"
protect by covering with a thin sheet of metal; "flash the roof"
expose or show briefly; "he flashed a $100 bill"
gleam or glow intermittently; "The lights were flashing"
merriment expressed by a brightness or gleam or animation of countenance; "he had a sparkle in his eye"; "there's a perpetual twinkle in his eyes"
be lively or brilliant or exhibit virtuosity; "The musical performance sparkled"; "A scintillating conversation"; "his playing coruscated throughout the concert hall"
reflect brightly; "Unquarried marble sparkled on the hillside"
past times (especially in the phrase `in days of old')
of a very early stage in development; "Old English is also called Anglo Saxon"; "Old High German is High German from the middle of the 9th to the end of the 11th century"
old in experience; "an old offender"; "the older soldiers"
of long duration; not new; "old tradition"; "old house"; "old wine"; "old country"; "old friendships"; "old money"
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age; "an old man's eagle mind"--William Butler Yeats; "his mother is very old"; "a ripe old age"; "how old are you?"
a book (or manuscript) consisting of large sheets of paper folded in the middle to make two leaves or four pages; "the first folio of Shakespeare's plays"