Once the 30 minutes of the match are up, the lightning round takes action.

Just this month he has overseen a lightning round of major appointments and the start of budget meetings with 57 department heads, who have been instructed to trim costs by at least 10 percent.

Seeking to counter that, Mr. Carter used what he called a "lightning round" of pithy questions to demand clear yes or no answers.

Then there was a lightning round of customer-service questions.

The most common format of a lightning round is in a question-and-answer game, to answer as many questions as possible within a given time limit.

The term "lightning round" is usually reserved for a single round in a game whose normal gameplay is untimed.

Occasionally, a lightning round is included in a game, during which one team attempts to answer multiple questions as fast as possible under a given time limit.

Individual formats vary but may include worksheets, lightning rounds, give-and-takes, and tossups, with or without accompanying bonuses.

She returned to escapism- recounting the ingredients in her favorite foods, then a lightning round of movie trivia.

The next morning, he was on the practice court at the Verizon Center in Washington, to begin a lightning round of auditions with N.B.A. teams.