What means iPhone is flashed to Sprint?

So I'm buying iPhone 5C from eBay and it says: "Bad ESN (which mean that it can't be activated on Sprint) and flashed to Sprint" my question is: What means "flashed to sprint"?

It means you can't activate it.

That it can't be used on their network. Since the phone is CDMA it would have to be activated on their network

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