glint
/ɡlɪnt/
glint noun: a short flash of light, usually when reflected off a shiny surface.
Noun
glint (plural glints)
- A short flash of light, usually when reflected off a shiny surface.
- I saw the glint of metal as he raised the gun.
- To be plunged straight into the old nut and bolt shop, as was the writer's experience, during a spell of cloudless June Weather was a real hardship, and the mind kept flitting back to the glint of blue water under willow trees and the click of ball on bat on a quiet spacious greensward.1944 September and October, A Former Pupil, “Some Memories of Crewe Works—I”, in Railway Magazine, page 283
- A brief look; a glance.
- "My name is Elphinstone, ma'am," said the young man, and then he cleared his throat and gave a glint at Mary, and grew redder in the face than ever.1849, chapter V, in Passages in the Life of Mrs. Margaret Maitland, of Sunnyside. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, page 147
- Are ye the gentleman that’s speering for my hayreens—they’re fresh this morning—cast a glint at them, sir, and you’ll say you neever saw rubies, emeralds, and silver, and gold, sparkle sa boneely as the finny jewels that dazzle ye in this wee basket.c. 1858, Charles Selby, The Bonnie Fish Wife: An Original Musical Interlude in One Act, Lacy's Acting edition, London: Thomas Hailes Lacy, Scene II, page 15
Adjective
glint (comparative more glint, superlative most glint)
Verb
glint (third-person singular simple present glints, present participle glinting, simple past and past participle glinted)
- To flash or gleam briefly.
- A wedding ring glinted on her finger.
- Thor glared at him [...] what little light there was in the place mustered its forces briefly to glint menacingly off the horns of his helmet.1982, Douglas Adams, Life, the Universe and Everything, page 110
- To glance; to peep forth, as a flower from the bud; to glitter.
- The rising sun owre Galston muirs, / Wi' glorious light was glintin'1785, Robert Burns, The Holy Fair
- There was Clavers and six wild dragoons standin’ ranged in a raw, wi’ their muskets in hand, and a form kneelin’ on the grass afore them. I saw the flash o’ the guns, and as I turned to glint at the mangled corpse, oh, mither!1847 November 6, “Lilly Begg: A Tale of the Times of the Covenant”, in Hogg's Weekly Instructor, volume VI, number 141, page 168, column 1
- To cause to flash or gleam; to reflect.
- The scientists theorized that a meteoroid, ranging in size from a speck of dust to a marble, might have struck the satellite and chipped off a bit of debris that glinted a ray of sun back on the Vela's second sensor […]1980, Inquiry Magazine
- To dry; to wither.
- The sun glints grass and corn.
glint meaning in Urdu, Malayalam and Kannada
glint in Urdu
- چمک, چمکنا
glint in Malayalam
- gleam, shine, catch the light
- മിന്നുക, തിളങ്ങുക, ഒളിവീശുക, പ്രകാശിക്കുക, സ്ഫുരിക്കുക, വീറുക
- sparkle, glitter, gleam
- മിനുക്കം, മിന്നൽ, വില്ല്, ഒളി, ഒളിവീശൽ, വെട്ടിത്തിളക്കം
glint in Kannada
- ಹೊಳಪು, ಮಿಂಚು, ಮಿರುಗುವಿಕೆ, ಥಳಥಳಿಸುವಿಕೆ, ಮಿಂಚಿಸು, ಬೆಳಕನ್ನು ಪ್ರತಿಫಲಿಸು
Examples of glint in a sentence
- They were all shocked when the crews saw the lights and glinting steel of a ghost ship.
- When her headcloth came off, the coils of hair shone night-black, with hoarfrosty glints of silver.
- His uniform was undirtied by the dust of the roads, his boots sparkling; even his spurs glinted.
Forms of glint
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | glints |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more glint |
| superlative | most glint |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | glints |
| present participle | glinting |
| past participle | glinted |
| past | glinted |
Origin of glint
15th century. Borrowed from Scots glint, from Middle English glenten (“to shine, gleam; flash”), probably from Old Norse *glenta, from Proto-Germanic *glantijaną, causitive of Proto-Germanic *glintaną (“to gleam, shine”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰley- (“to shine”). Cognate with Danish glente, Swedish glänta, Norwegian Nynorsk gletta (“to peep, look”), Middle High German glinzen; compare also Swedish glinta (“to slip, slide, gleam, shine”), Swedish glimt (“flash, glint, glimpse”), Norwegian Nynorsk glanta, gletta (“to glide, slip”). Reintroduced into literary English by Robert Burns.
Words formed from glint
Words that rhyme with glint
Questions about glint
- What does glint mean?
- Glint means a short flash of light, usually when reflected off a shiny surface.
- What is glint in Urdu?
- Glint in Urdu is چمک, چمکنا. See Glint meaning in Urdu.
- What part of speech is glint?
- Glint can be a noun, an adjective or a verb.
- How do you pronounce glint?
- Glint is pronounced /ɡlɪnt/.
- What is the plural of glint?
- The plural of glint is glints.
Words near glint in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: glint (page history and authors); glint (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); glint (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); glint (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-glint.wav.
Cite this entry: “glint.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/glint. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.