gleam
[gleem]
- a flash or beam of light: the gleam of a lantern in the dark.
- a dim or subdued light.
- a brief or slight manifestation or occurrence; trace: a gleam of hope.
Show More
- to send forth a gleam or gleams.
- to appear suddenly and clearly like a flash of light.
Show More
Origin of gleam
Synonyms
See more synonyms for gleam on Thesaurus.com1. 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. 4. shine, glimmer, flash, glitter, sparkle, beam.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for gleaming
Contemporary Examples
Nothing does it quite like deftly decapitating a bottle of bubbly with a gleaming blade.
But then, like a scene in a horror movie, she will wake as though someone were coming at her with a gleaming knife.
I jammed my thumb into my mouth and almost choked on it while the screen lit up with sunny skies on a gleaming lake.
She found out on her first day on the job in 1941, when confronted with two bodies laid out on gleaming white porcelain tables.
Caroline and John Jr. took great interest in the gleaming dirk.
Historical Examples
A light not of this world is gleaming there; and it has grown brighter and clearer since we parted.
PhilotheaLydia Maria Child
They see no gleaming roofs and high-lifted statues and joyful games.
Buried Cities, Part 2Jennie Hall
But to-night some gleaming wave from a greater sea had lifted them, and borne them on.
Meadow GrassAlice Brown
Some five thousand feet up in the night was a gleaming ship.
The walls beyond them were of metal, white and gleaming; there were doorways.
gleam
- a small beam or glow of light, esp reflected light
- a brief or dim indicationa gleam of hope
Show More
- to send forth or reflect a beam of light
- to appear, esp brieflyintelligence gleamed in his eyes
Show More
Word Origin
Old English glǣm; related to Old Norse gljā to flicker, Old High German gleimo glow-worm, glīmo brightness, Old Irish glē bright
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for gleaming
gleam
v.
early 13c., from gleam (n). Related: Gleamed; gleaming.
Show More
gleam
n.
Old English glæm "brilliant light; brightness, splendor, radiance," from Proto-Germanic *glaimiz (cf. Old Saxon glimo "brightness;" Middle High German glim "spark," gleime "glowworm;" German glimmen "to glimmer, glow;" Old Norse glija "to shine, glitter"), from root *glim-, from PIE *ghel- "to shine, glitter, glow" (see glass).
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper