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flash back

B2 neutral intransitive
In simple words

To suddenly remember something from the past very vividly, or for a story to jump back to an earlier moment.

Literal meaning: A flash (sudden bright image) going backward in time — back to an earlier moment.

Meanings

1 B2 idiomatic neutral

To suddenly and vividly recall or experience a past memory, often involuntarily.

"The smell of gunpowder made him flash back to his time in the war."

2 B2 idiomatic neutral

In a narrative (film, novel, TV show), to return to an earlier scene or point in time.

"In the opening chapter, the story flashes back to the character's difficult childhood."

"The film flashes back to 1942 in its most powerful sequence."

— Common critical language in film reviews; widely used in publications such as The Guardian and The New York Times
Usage notes

Used in two main contexts: psychological (involuntary vivid memories, especially in trauma/PTSD) and narrative (in film, TV, and literature when the story returns to an earlier event). The noun 'flashback' is very common. 'Flash back to' takes a prepositional phrase.

Commonly used with

childhood memory scene war past traumatic event

Forms

Base
flash back
I/you/we/they
3rd person
flashes back
he/she/it
Past simple
flashed back
yesterday
Past participle
flashed back
have + pp
-ing form
flashing back
continuous

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Synonyms

recall remember vividly cut back return to recollect

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