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glimmering

[glim-er-ing]
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noun
  1. a faint or unsteady light; glimmer.
  2. a faint glimpse or idea; inkling.
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adjective
  1. shining faintly or unsteadily; shimmering.
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Origin of glimmering

Middle English word dating back to 1300–50; see origin at glimmer, -ing1, -ing2
Related formsglim·mer·ing·ly, adverb

glimmer

[glim-er]
noun
  1. a faint or unsteady light; gleam.
  2. a dim perception; inkling.
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verb (used without object)
  1. to shine faintly or unsteadily; twinkle, shimmer, or flicker.
  2. to appear faintly or dimly.
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Origin of glimmer

1300–50; Middle English glimeren to gleam; cognate with German glimmern; compare Old English gleomu splendor

Synonyms

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1. See gleam.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for glimmering

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • A glimmering of the truth came to Dunk, and his eyes narrowed.

  • And the lamps shone round them, and above them was the glimmering moon.

    A Son of Hagar

    Sir Hall Caine

  • Zora knows this glimmering light is not love, but renunciation.

    Melomaniacs

    James Huneker

  • The glimmering of an explanation of this did not come until a long time afterward.

    Disowned

    Victor Endersby

  • Side by side they had sat, watching that glimmering scene about them.

British Dictionary definitions for glimmering

glimmer

verb (intr)
  1. (of a light, candle, etc) to glow faintly or flickeringly
  2. to be indicated faintlyhope glimmered in his face
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noun
  1. a glow or twinkle of light
  2. a faint indication
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Derived Formsglimmeringly, adverb

Word Origin

C14: compare Middle High German glimmern, Swedish glimra, Danish glimre
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 glimmering

glimmer

n.

1580s, from glimmer (v.).

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glimmer

v.

early 14c., "shine brightly," a frequentative from Proto-Germanic *glim-, root of Old English glæm "brightness" (see gleam (n.)). Sense shifted 15c. to "shine faintly." Cf. Dutch glimmeren, German glimmeren "to shine dimly." Related: Glimmered; glimmering.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper