gleam

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To shine softly, especially from a clean or polished surface.

   The kitchen counters gleamed after she cleaned them.

2. 2
   noun

   A soft or brief flash of light.

   We saw the gleam of a lighthouse far across the water.

3. 3
   noun

   A small sign or trace of a feeling or hope.

   There was still a gleam of hope that the missing hikers would be found.

4. 4
   noun

   A look of joy or excitement on someone's face.

   There was a mischievous gleam in his eye.

A variant of Middle English gleimen, gleym (“to smear; to make slimy or sticky; to fill up (the stomach); to nauseate; of a slimy or viscous substance: to be stuck together; (figuratively) to captivate, ensnare; to infect with heresy”) [and other forms], probably a blend of glet (“slimy or viscous matter produced by animals; mucus, phlegm; congestion of mucus or phlegm in the body; viscosity”), gleu (“substance used to stick things together, glue; viscous medicine made from plants”), etc. + Old Norse kleima (“to daub, smear”) (whence Old English clǣman (“to smear”)) (ultimately from Proto-Germ…

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