Definition of glint verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

glint

verb

/ɡlɪnt/

Verb Forms

present simple I / you / we / they glint	/ɡlɪnt/ /ɡlɪnt/
he / she / it glints	/ɡlɪnts/ /ɡlɪnts/
past simple glinted	/ˈɡlɪntɪd/ /ˈɡlɪntɪd/
past participle glinted	/ˈɡlɪntɪd/ /ˈɡlɪntɪd/
-ing form glinting	/ˈɡlɪntɪŋ/ /ˈɡlɪntɪŋ/

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[intransitive] (+ adv./prep.) to produce small bright flashes of light
- The sea glinted in the moonlight.
- The sun glinted on the windows.
Synonyms shine
shinegleam ▪ glow ▪ sparkle ▪ glisten ▪ shimmer ▪ glitter ▪ twinkle ▪ glintThese words all mean to produce or reflect light.
shine to produce or reflect light, especially brightly:
The sun was shining and the sky was blue.
gleam to shine with a clear bright or pale light, especially a reflected light:
Moonlight gleamed on the water.
glow (often of something hot or warm) to produce a steady light that is not very bright:
The end of his cigarette glowed red.
sparkle to shine brightly with small flashes of light:
The diamonds sparkled in the light.
glisten (of something wet) to shine:
The road glistened wet after the rain.
shimmer to shine with a soft light that seems to shake slightly:
Everything seemed to shimmer in the heat.
glitter to shine brightly with small flashes of reflected light:
The ceiling of the cathedral glittered with gold.
sparkle or glitter?There is very little difference in meaning between these two words. Glitter can sometimes suggest a lack of depth, but this is more frequent in the figurative use of glitter as a noun: the superficial glitter of show business. Sparkle is also often used to talk about light reflected off a surface, but things that produce light can also sparkle: Stars sparkled in the sky.
twinkle to shine with a light that changes rapidly from bright to faint to bright again:
Stars twinkled in the sky.
glint to give small bright flashes of reflected light:
The blade of the knife glinted in the darkness.
Patterns
- to shine/gleam/sparkle/glisten/shimmer/glitter/glint on something
- to shine/gleam/glow/sparkle/glisten/shimmer/glitter/twinkle/glint with something
- to shine/gleam/sparkle/glisten/shimmer/glitter/glint in the sunlight
- to shine/gleam/glisten/shimmer/glitter/glint in the moonlight
- the stars shine/sparkle/glitter/twinkle
- somebody’s eyes shine/gleam/glow/sparkle/glisten/glitter/twinkle/glint
- to shine/gleam/glow/glitter brightly
- to shine/gleam/glow/shimmer softly
Extra Examples
- A flash of a blade glinted in the darkness.
- Her glasses were glinting in the firelight.
[intransitive] + adv./prep. if a person’s eyes glint with a particular emotion, or an emotion glints in a person’s eyes, the person shows that emotion, which is usually a strong one
- Her eyes glinted angrily.
- Hostility glinted in his eyes.
Extra Examples
- Her eyes glinted with amusement.
- Amusement glinted in his eyes.
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
adverb
- angrily
preposition
- with
See full entry

Word OriginMiddle English (in the sense ‘move quickly or obliquely’): variant of dialect glent, probably of Scandinavian origin and related to Swedish dialect glänta, glinta ‘to slip, slide, gleam’.

See glint in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary

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glint noun

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trait

noun

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