Hold your dominant hand in an 'S' handshape in front of you, as if gripping the cylindrical body of a flashlight. Place your non-dominant hand just in front of it, starting closed. Then, spring your non-dominant hand open into a '5' handshape with your fingers spread wide, moving it slightly forward. This motion represents the beam of light shining out from the flashlight.
Sign 'flashlight' when explaining what specific tool you need to navigate through a dark house during a power outage.
Use this sign when double-checking your outdoor gear and asking someone if they remembered to bring the light source.
Pair 'flashlight' with the sign for 'broken' to explain to a friend why your handheld device isn't producing any light.
Sign 'flashlight' when explaining what specific tool you need to navigate through a dark house during a power outage.
Use this sign when double-checking your outdoor gear and asking someone if they remembered to bring the light source.
Pair 'flashlight' with the sign for 'broken' to explain to a friend why your handheld device isn't producing any light.
Yes! A very common one-handed variation involves simply holding an 'S' handshape in front of you and tilting your wrist up and down slightly. This mimics the action of aiming a flashlight around a dark room to look for something.
Usually, you hold the imaginary flashlight with your dominant hand, just as you would in real life, while your non-dominant hand represents the light beam. However, doing it the other way around is still perfectly understandable to fluent signers.
The general sign for 'light' (like an overhead room light) often involves flicking your middle finger and thumb open under your chin, or both hands opening downwards from above. 'Flashlight' specifically includes the gripping 'S' handshape to show the physical handheld tool.
