(いなびかり)

いなびかり
noun
flash of lightning
1. flash of lightning
The bright flash of light produced by lightning during a thunderstorm, as distinct from the sound of thunder.
稲光(いなびかり)(はし)った。
A flash of lightning streaked across the sky.
(とお)くで稲光(いなびかり)()えた。
I saw a flash of lightning in the distance.
(はげ)しい(あめ)(なか)稲光(いなびかり)夜空(よぞら)何度(なんど)()らした。
In the heavy rain, flashes of lightning lit up the night sky again and again.

Refers specifically to the visible flash of lightning, as opposed to the sound of thunder. (いね) ('rice plant') is in the word because lightning was traditionally believed to help rice ripen.

COMMON COLLOCATIONS:

  • 稲光(いなびかり)(はし)る: a flash of lightning streaks across the sky
  • 稲光(いなびかり)(ひか)る: lightning flashes

SIMILAR WORDS:

  • 稲妻(いなずま): lightning; lightning bolt — near-synonym, often of the jagged bolt itself
  • (かみなり): thunder; lightning — the general word, covering both the flash and the sound