gleams

Noun

gleam (countable and uncountable, plural gleams)

1. (countable) An appearance of light, especially one which is indistinct or small, or short-lived.
   • Is not yon gleame, the ſhuddering morne that flakes, / VVith ſiluer tinctur, the eaſt vierge of heauen?c. 1599 (date written), I. M. [i.e., John Marston], The History of Antonio and Mellida. The First Part. […], London: […] [Richard Bradock] for Mathewe Lownes, and Thomas Fisher, […], published 1602...

   Synonyms:

   leam

2. (figuratively) An indistinct sign of something; a glimpse or hint.
   • The rescue workers preserved a gleam of optimism that the trapped miners might still survive.

   Synonyms:

   flicker, glimmer, trace

3. (figuratively) A bright, but intermittent or short-lived, appearance of something.
4. (figuratively) A look of joy or liveliness on one's face.
   • [H]is black visage lighted up with a curious, mischievous gleam.1851 June – 1852 April, Harriet Beecher Stowe, “Discovery”, in Uncle Tom’s Cabin; or, Life among the Lowly, volume I, Boston, Mass.: John P[unchard] Jewett & Company; Cleveland, Oh.: Jewett, Proctor...
5. (countable, obsolete) Sometimes as hot gleam: a warm ray of sunlight; also, a period of warm weather, for instance, between showers of rain.
   • The Pepper-trees live in Italie; the ſhrub of Caſia or the Canell likevviſe in the Northerly regions; the Frankincenſe tree alſo hath been knovvne to live in Lydia: but vvhere vvere the hote gleames of the Sunne to be found in thoſe regions, either to drie up the vvateriſh humor of the one, or to...1601, C[aius] Plinius Secundus [i.e., Pliny the Elder], “[Book XVI.] Of Certaine Prodigious Trees, and Presages Observed by Them. By what Meanes Trees Grow of Their Owne Accord. That All Plants Grow...
6. (obsolete, uncountable) Brightness or shininess; radiance, splendour.
   • Then vvas the faire Dodonian tree far ſeene, / Vpon ſeauen hills to ſpread his gladſome gleame, / And conquerours bedecked vvith his greene, / Along the bancks of the Auſonian ſtreame: […]1591, Joachim du Bellay, “The Visions of Bellay”, in Ed[mund] Sp[enser], transl., Complaints. Containing Sundrie Small Poemes of the Worlds Vanitie. […], London: […] William Ponsonbie, […], →OCLC...

   Synonyms:

   dazzle, lambency, shine

See all 10 meanings of gleam