What does flushing mean?
Flushing most commonly describes two everyday phenomena. In physiology, it is the sudden reddening of the skin—typically the face, neck, and chest—caused by dilating blood vessels; triggers include embarrassment, anger, heat, exercise, alcohol, spicy food, and medications, and doctors often use the term when discussing menopausal hot flashes or conditions such as rosacea. In household and engineering contexts, flushing means cleansing something with a rapid flow of water, most familiarly the toilet but also pipes, radiators, and cooling systems. The word can also describe driving game birds or people out of cover, or purging unwanted material from an organization or process. Distinct from all of these is the proper-noun sense: Flushing, a bustling neighborhood in Queens, New York, named after the Dutch city of Vlissingen. Versatile and vivid, the term bridges medicine, plumbing, hunting, and geography alike.
An instance of the skin reddening, especially on the face, due to emotion, heat, exertion, alcohol, or illness.
"The patient reported frequent flushing after her morning coffee."
In medical writing, flushing is a standard symptom term, often linked with menopause, rosacea, or fever.
The act of cleansing or clearing something with a sudden flow of water, especially a toilet or a pipe system.
"He heard the distant flushing of a toilet through the thin hotel wall."
To become red in the face, or to cleanse or drive out something using water, air, or pressure; as a transitive verb, to force a hidden person, animal, or thing out into the open.
"The hunters spent the afternoon flushing pheasants from the tall grass."
Rarely pluralized; repeated instances are usually described individually or with terms like 'frequent flushing'. The plural appears mainly in clinical or technical contexts listing multiple episodes or procedures.
"Repeated flushings of the wound were necessary to remove all debris."
One little 'flush' carries three unrelated lives at once: your face turning red, your toilet doing its job, and an entire neighborhood in Queens named after a Dutch port.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of flushing
The verb 'flush' descends from Middle English, with roots entwined with the Latin fluxus ('a flowing'), which also gives us 'flux', 'fluid', and 'influent'. Its senses branched early: one strand captured the sudden rush of water or surge of liquid, another the sudden rush of color to the face, and a third the startling of birds into flight ('flushing' the quarry). The place name Flushing in Queens derives independently from the Dutch town Vlissingen, dating to the Dutch settlement of New Netherland in the seventeenth century.
Related word forms
How flushing is actually used
'Flushing' spans very different domains: it is used clinically in medicine (often paired with menopause, rosacea, or carcinoid syndrome), domestically for plumbing, and idiomatically in phrases like 'flushing out' ideas. As a proper noun, 'Flushing' names places in New York, Michigan, Cornwall, and the Netherlands (where the Dutch town Vlissingen gave its name to several of these).
Easily confused with flushing
Blushing refers specifically to reddening of the face from embarrassment or shame, while flushing is broader and can be caused by heat, exertion, alcohol, medication, or emotion.
As a proper noun, Flushing is a neighborhood in Queens, New York — unrelated in meaning to the physiological or plumbing term despite sharing the word.