What does gleam mean?

Definitions for gleam
glimgleam

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word gleam.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. gleam, gleaming, glow, lambencynoun

    an appearance of reflected light

  2. gleam, gleaming, glimmerverb

    a flash of light (especially reflected light)

  3. glitter, glisten, glint, gleam, shineverb

    be shiny, as if wet

    "His eyes were glistening"

  4. gleam, glimmerverb

    shine brightly, like a star or a light

  5. gleamverb

    appear briefly

    "A terrible thought gleamed in her mind"

Wiktionary

  1. gleamnoun

    a small or indistinct shaft or stream of light.

  2. gleamnoun

    a glimpse or hint; an indistinct sign of something.

    The rescue workers preserved a gleam of optimism that they might still survive.

  3. gleamnoun

    brightness or shininess; splendor.

  4. gleamverb

    To shine; to glitter; to glisten.

  5. gleamverb

    To be briefly but strongly apparent.

  6. gleamverb

    To disgorge filth, as a hawk.

  7. Etymology: * (noun) Originates before the first millennium from Middle English gleme, from Old English glæm; see ghel-.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. GLEAMnoun

    Sudden shoot of light; lustre; brightness.

    Etymology: gelioma, Saxon.

    Then was the fair Dodonian tree far seen
    Upon seven hills to spread his gladsome gleam;
    And conquerors bedecked with his green,
    Along the banks of the Ausonian stream. Edmund Spenser.

    At last a gleam
    Of dawning light turn’d thitherward in haste
    His travell’d steps. John Milton, Paradise Lost, b. iii.

    As I bent down to look just opposite,
    A shape within the wat’ry gleam appear’d,
    Bending to look on me. John Milton, Paradise Lost, b. iv.

    Mine is a gleam of bliss, too hot to last;
    Wat’ry it shines, and will be soon o’ercast. John Dryden, Aurengz.

    We ken them from afar; the setting sun
    Plays on their shining arms and burnish’d helmets,
    And covers all the field with gleams of fire. Joseph Addison, Cato.

    In the clear azure gleam the flocks are seen,
    And floating forests paint the waves with green. Alexander Pope.

    Nought was seen, and nought was heard,
    Around the dreary coast,
    But dreadful gleams,
    Fires that glow,
    Shrieks of woe. Alexander Pope, St. Cecilia.

  2. To Gleamverb

    Etymology: from the noun.

    Observant of approaching day,
    The meek-ey’d morn appears, mother of dews,
    At first faint gleaming in the dappled East. James Thomson, Summer.

    Ye gleamings of departed peace
    Shine out your last. James Thomson, Spring.

    On each hand the gushing waters play,
    And down the rough cascade white dashing fall,
    Or gleam in lengthen’d vista’s through the trees. James Thomson.

ChatGPT

  1. gleam

    Gleam is a faint or brief light, often reflecting off a surface, or a glimpse or indication of something. It can also mean to shine brightly, especially with reflected light.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Gleamverb

    to disgorge filth, as a hawk

  2. Gleamnoun

    a shoot of light; a small stream of light; a beam; a ray; a glimpse

  3. Gleamnoun

    brightness; splendor

  4. Gleamverb

    to shoot, or dart, as rays of light; as, at the dawn, light gleams in the east

  5. Gleamverb

    to shine; to cast light; to glitter

  6. Gleamverb

    to shoot out (flashes of light, etc.)

  7. Etymology: [OE. glem, gleam, AS. glm, prob. akin to E. glimmer, and perh. to Gr. warm, to warm. Cf. Glitter.]

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Gleam

    glēm, v.i. to glow or shine: to flash.—n. a small stream of light: a beam: brightness.—n. Gleam′ing, a sudden shoot of light.—adj. Gleam′y, casting beams or rays of light. [A.S. glǽm, gleam, brightness (see Glimmer); akin to glass, glow.]

Matched Categories

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of gleam in Chaldean Numerology is: 7

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of gleam in Pythagorean Numerology is: 2

Examples of gleam in a Sentence

  1. Hannah More:

    Genius without religion is only a lamp on the outer gate of a palace; it may serve to cast a gleam on those that are without while the inhabitant sits in darkness.

  2. Thomas Carlyle:

    One life - a little gleam of Time between two Eternities.

  3. AiR Atman in Ravi:

    We may Get everything we Desire, we may Achieve all that we Dream. But if we can't realize God in our life, then our Life is without a Gleam!

  4. Victor Hugo:

    Separated lovers cheat absence by a thousand fancies which have their own reality. They are prevented from seeing one another and they cannot write; nevertheless they find countless mysterious ways of corresponding, by sending each other the song of birds, the scent of flowers, the laughter of children, the light of the sun, the sighing of the wind, and the gleam of the stars --all the beauties of creation.

  5. Agnes Repplier:

    A villain must be a thing of power, handled with delicacy and grace. He must be wicked enough to excite our aversion, strong enough to arouse our fear, human enough to awaken some transient gleam of sympathy. We must triumph in his downfall, yet not barbarously nor with contempt, and the close of his career must be in harmony with all its previous development.

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Translations for gleam

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"gleam." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 26 Apr. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/gleam>.

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