Definitions for gleam
glimgleam

Princeton's WordNet(1.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

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(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

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(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

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.

   1. To shine with sudden coruscation.

   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.

   2. To shine.

   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.

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

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(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

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

1. • Appear
   • Radiate
   • Shine

How to pronounce gleam?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say gleam in sign language?

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. William Wordsworth:

   She was a phantom of delight When first she gleam'd upon my sight A lovely apparition, sent To be a moment's ornament.

2. 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.

3. Thomas Carlyle:

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

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. Ralph Waldo Emerson:

   A man should learn to detect and watch that gleam that flashes across his mind from within, more than the lustre of the firmament of bards and sages. Yet he dismisses without notice his own thought, because it is his. In every work of genius we recognize our own rejected thoughts they come back to us with a sort of alienated majesty.

Popularity rank by frequency of use