gleam
Americannoun
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a flash or beam of light.
the gleam of a lantern in the dark.
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a dim or subdued light.
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a brief or slight manifestation or occurrence; trace.
a gleam of hope.
noun
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a small beam or glow of light, esp reflected light
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a brief or dim indication
a gleam of hope
verb
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to send forth or reflect a beam of light
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to appear, esp briefly
intelligence gleamed in his eyes
Usage
What does gleam mean?
A gleam is a flash or flicker of light, as in As Val scrolled through their phone in the dark, the screen projected a gleam of light on their face.
A gleam is also a dim light, such as you might get from a flashlight with a dying battery.
To gleam means to send out a gleam, as in The candle gleamed in the darkness.
To gleam also means to appear quickly and clearly, as a flash of light would.
Example: I love the way this dress gleams in the sun.
Related Words
Gleam, glimmer, beam, ray are terms for a stream of light. Gleam denotes a not very brilliant, intermittent or nondirectional stream of light. Glimmer indicates a nondirectional light that is feeble and unsteady: a faint glimmer of moonlight. Beam usually means a directional, and therefore smaller, stream: the beam from a searchlight. Ray usually implies a still smaller amount of light than a beam, a single line of light: a ray through a pinprick in a window shade.
Other Word Forms
- gleaming adjective
- gleamingly adverb
- gleamless adjective
- gleamy adjective
- outgleam verb (used with object)
Etymology
Origin of gleam
First recorded before 1000; (noun) Middle English glem(e), Old English glǣm; cognate with Old High German gleimo “glowworm”; akin to Old Saxon glīmo “brightness”; (verb) Middle English, derivative of the noun. See glimmer, glimpse
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
When Elizabeth writes of stepping into her gleaming kitchen to “test the crumbly brown goodness of the toasted veal cutlets à la Connecticut,” she is not so much lying as world-building.
From Salon
Like Erivo, Nelson is a gleaming star in a vast sky.
From Los Angeles Times
Dollops of candied citrus gleam like jewels, Turbinado sugar crowns the loaf with a satisfyingly crackly crust, and the coffee whispers beneath it all, cutting through sweetness and coaxing out the pumpkin’s earthy depth.
From Salon
Suddenly, my idea of great architecture broadened beyond the ornate church, grand mansion, distinctive Spanish Colonial or gleaming glass skyscrapers like the Westin Bonaventure hotel.
From Los Angeles Times
Two months later, on Nov. 15, 1856, Neptune’s Car, gleaming and shipshape, enters the harbor of San Francisco.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
