What does flashbulb mean?
A flashbulb is a single-use glass bulb designed to produce an intense burst of light for photography. Filled with fine magnesium foil or wire, it ignites electrically to create a brief, blinding flash that illuminates a scene for a single exposure. Flashbulbs were indispensable to mid-twentieth-century photojournalism — think of the era's press cameras crowned with flash reflectors — until reusable electronic flash units displaced them from the 1960s onward. The word is a straightforward compound of 'flash' and 'bulb'. Although its literal use is now largely confined to vintage photography, 'flashbulb' lives on prominently in psychology: a 'flashbulb memory' is the strikingly vivid recollection people form of the circumstances in which they learned of a dramatic public event. The word thus carries both nostalgic connotations of old-fashioned photojournalism and a modern scientific meaning.
nounA glass bulb filled with fine magnesium foil or wire that produces a brief, brilliant flash of light when fired electrically, used in photography as an artificial light source. By extension, the term refers to the single-use photographic flash lamps common before electronic flash became standard.
- A disposable glass bulb containing magnesium foil that burns with a brilliant flash when fired electrically, used in photography.
- (figuratively) something likened to such a sudden burst of light, especially in the psychological term 'flashbulb memory'.
"The press photographers' flashbulbs popped in unison as the president stepped onto the tarmac."
"He inserted a fresh flashbulb into the camera before shooting the wedding party."
"The announcement seared itself into her mind like a flashbulb, fixing every detail of that morning."
Standard English plural; the word is countable.
"Dozens of spent flashbulbs littered the floor after the premiere."
Psychologists named an entire category of vivid memories after it — a 'flashbulb memory' is the mind's snapshot of exactly where you were when shocking news broke.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of flashbulb
Flashbulb is a compound of 'flash' and 'bulb', formed in English in the early twentieth century alongside the technology it names. 'Flash' derives from Middle English 'flasche', referring to a sudden burst of light, while 'bulb' entered English via French 'bulbe' from Latin 'bulbus', originally denoting an onion-like swelling. Related English derivatives sharing the 'flash' root include flashlight, flashback, and flashpoint.
How flashbulb is actually used
The word is largely historical in literal photographic use, since electronic flash replaced flashbulbs from the 1960s onward; today it most often appears in discussions of vintage photography and in the established psychological phrase 'flashbulb memory', coined by Roger Brown and James Kulik in 1977.
Easily confused with flashbulb
A flashgun is the reusable handheld or camera-mounted device holding the light source, while a flashbulb is the disposable bulb itself that the device fires.