[Elamur Dictionary](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/flashback/)

[dictionaries](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [English](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/) / [F](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/f/) / flashback

# flashback

noun (a flashback, flashbacks)

«flashback» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. A flashback is a part of a story, film or play that goes back to show something that happened earlier. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/flashback/#m1)
2. A flashback is a sudden, very clear memory of a past event, often a frightening one, that feels like it is happening again. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/flashback/#m2)

### In the lessons

English lessons on narrative structure (flashbacks to give backstory), films and TV. Health: some people who lived through scary events have flashbacks and can get help. Phrases: in a flashback, flashback scene, have flashbacks.

### Examples

- The film opens with a flashback to the hero's childhood. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/flashback/#x1)
- Write a flashback to show why the character is afraid of dogs. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/flashback/#x2)
- In the flashback we learn the grandfather was a sailor. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/flashback/#x3)
- The soldier had flashbacks of the war. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/flashback/#x4)
- Use the past perfect tense to start a flashback: «She had once lived by the sea.» [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/flashback/#x5)
- The wavy picture told us it was a flashback. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/flashback/#x6)

### Note

Countable. A flashback breaks time order, so use clues (tense, «years before») for the reader. Opposite: flash-forward.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «flashback» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/flashback/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«flashback» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/flashback.html) on Mova free.