/ɡlɪnt/
Origin15th 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.
- 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 blu”
- obsoleteA 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.”
“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 t”
““[…] I also remember the following dialogue in the Suffolk vernacular between a neighbouring farmer and his backus (¹) boy :—‘I sa, Mester?’ ‘ Well, bor.’ (²) ‘If thar ain't Sillett's owd razor-backed”
- Shropshire, archaicNot sharp; dull.
- intransitiveTo 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.”
- intransitive, uncommonTo glance; to peep forth, as a flower from the bud; to glitter.
“The rising sun owre Galston muirs, / Wi' glorious light was glintin'”
“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 m”
- transitiveTo 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'”
- Shropshire, archaic, transitiveTo dry; to wither.
“The sun glints grass and corn.”
Formsglints(plural) · more glint(comparative) · most glint(superlative) · glints(present, singular, third-person) · glinting(participle, present) · glinted(participle, past) · glinted(past)