brainstorm vs have a flash

brainstorm

noun
  • A sudden thought, particularly one that solves a long-standing problem. 

  • A session of brainstorming, investigating a problem to try to find solutions. 

  • An unexpected mental error. 

verb
  • To participate in a brainstorming session. 

  • To investigate something, or solve a problem using brainstorming. 

have a flash

How often have the words brainstorm and have a flash occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )