Phrase guide

Clayden effect

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A dark streak that appears in a photograph when there has been a very brief flash of intense light, such as a stroke of lightning, while the photographic plate is being exposed. This effect is due to the flash causing the part of the photographic plate exposed to be less sensitive, so that it is less affected than the surrounds during the rest of the exposure.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: arts, hobbies, lifestyle, photography

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Derived from experiments described by A. W. Clayden.