flash vs kite

flash

verb
  • To move, or cause to move, suddenly. 

  • To blink; to shine or illuminate intermittently. 

  • To flaunt; to display in a showy manner. 

  • To cover with a thin layer, as objects of glass with glass of a different colour. 

  • To burst out into violence. 

  • To send by some startling or sudden means. 

  • To release the pressure from a pressurized vessel. 

  • To evaporate suddenly. (See flash evaporation.) 

  • To expand (blown glass) into a disc. 

  • To telephone a person, only allowing the phone to ring once, in order to request a call back. 

  • To expose one's intimate body part or piece of clothing, often momentarily. (Contrast streak.) 

  • To write to the memory of (an updatable component such as a BIOS chip or games cartridge). 

  • To cause to shine briefly or intermittently. 

  • To perform a flash. 

  • To be visible briefly. 

  • To climb (a route) successfully on the first attempt. 

  • To make visible briefly. 

  • To break forth like a sudden flood of light; to show a momentary brilliance. 

  • To communicate quickly. 

noun
  • A language, created by a minority to maintain cultural identity, that cannot be understood by the ruling class. 

  • The strips of bright cloth or buttons worn around the collars of market traders. 

  • A pool. 

  • Pizzazz, razzle-dazzle. 

  • Material left around the edge of a moulded part at the parting line of the mould. 

  • A sudden, short, temporary burst of light. 

  • The (intentional or unintentional) exposure of an intimate body part or undergarment in public. 

  • Any of various lycaenid butterflies of the genera Artipe, Deudorix and Rapala. 

  • A reservoir and sluiceway beside a navigable stream, just above a shoal, so that the stream may pour in water as boats pass, and thus bear them over the shoal. 

  • A brief exposure or making visible (of a smile, badge, etc). 

  • A form of military insignia. 

  • A pattern where each prop is thrown and caught only once. 

  • A flashlight; an electric torch. 

  • The sudden sensation of being "high" after taking a recreational drug. 

  • A very short amount of time. 

  • A tattoo flash (example design on paper to give an idea of a possible tattoo). 

  • A sudden and brilliant burst, as of genius or wit. 

adj
  • Occurring very rapidly, almost instantaneously. 

  • Expensive-looking and demanding attention; stylish; showy. 

  • Having plenty of ready money. 

  • Liable to show off expensive possessions or money. 

kite

verb
  • To cause (something) to move upwards rapidly like a toy kite; also (chiefly US, figuratively) to cause (something, such as costs) to increase rapidly. 

  • To tamper with a document or record by increasing the quantity of something beyond its proper amount so that the difference may be unlawfully retained; in particular, to alter a medical prescription for this purpose by increasing the number of pills or other items. 

  • To pass a (usually concealed) letter or oral message, especially illegally into, within, or out of a prison. 

  • To write or present (a cheque) on an account with insufficient funds, either to defraud or expecting that funds will become available by the time the cheque clears. 

  • To move rapidly; to rush. 

  • To deflect sideways in the water. 

  • To (cause to) glide in the manner of a kite (“bird”). 

  • To manipulate like a toy kite; also, usually preceded by an inflection of go: to fly a toy kite. 

  • To travel by kite, as when kitesurfing. 

  • To steal. 

  • To keep ahead of (an enemy) in order to attack repeatedly from a distance, without exposing oneself to danger. 

noun
  • A rider who is good at climbs but less good at descents. 

  • A measure of weight equivalent to ¹⁄₁₀ deben (about 0.32 ounces or 9.1 grams). 

  • A lightweight toy or other device, traditionally flat and shaped like a triangle with a segment of a circle attached to its base or like a quadrilateral (see sense 9), carried on the wind and tethered and controlled from the ground by one or more lines. 

  • An aeroplane or aircraft. 

  • A bird of the genus Elanus, having thin pointed wings, that preys on rodents and hunts by hovering; also, any bird of related genera in the subfamily Elaninae. 

  • A spinnaker (“supplementary sail to a mainsail”). 

  • The stomach; the belly. 

  • A tethered object which deflects its position in a medium by obtaining lift and drag in reaction with its relative motion in the medium. 

  • A rapacious person. 

  • A blank cheque; a fraudulent cheque, such as one issued even though there are insufficient funds to honour it, or one that has been altered without authorization. 

  • The brill (Scophthalmus rhombus), a type of flatfish. 

  • A polygon resembling the shape of a traditional toy kite (sense 3): a quadrilateral having two pairs of edges of equal length, the edges of each pair touching each other at one end. 

  • A bird of prey of the family Accipitridae. 

  • Any bird of the subfamily Milvinae, with long wings and weak legs, feeding mostly on carrion and spending long periods soaring; specifically, the red kite (Milvus milvus) and the black kite (Milvus migrans). 

  • A planetary configuration wherein one planet of a grand trine is in opposition to an additional fourth planet. 

  • Some species in the subfamily Perninae. 

  • A (usually concealed) letter or oral message, especially one passed illegally into, within, or out of a prison. 

  • An accommodation bill (“a bill of exchange endorsed by a reputable third party acting as a guarantor, as a favour and without compensation”). 

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