Glint Meaning

/ɡlɪnt/
C1

Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

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nounA short flash of light, usually when reflected off a shiny surface.

nounA brief look; a glance.

A glint of light caught my eye.
The diamond gave a bright glint.
There was a mischievous glint in his eye.
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
The sun caused a bright ____ from the piece of glass on the ground.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
There was a mischievous ____ in his eyes that suggested he was planning some kind of playful trick.

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.

"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:
""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:
"“[…] 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 hogs broke out agin. That thar owd sarpint of a sow ha' got her snout under the gate, and lifted it off the jimmers, (³) and I ketched a glint (⁴) of the rest on 'em skrigglin' (⁵) thar way through the shruff (⁶) in the hedge holl (⁷) and making another gap right atwin (⁸) the stub-apple (⁹) and the touch-wood (¹⁰) tree, and tha ha' bin' a pamplin' (¹¹) all over the land, and rootin (¹²) up our taters, and not one on 'em ringled (¹³). Mester, I think we'd better pound 'em.'” (¹⁴)" — 1875, Frederick Clifford, chapter XII, in The Agricultural Lock-out of 1874 […], Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, page 281:
"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:

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CEFR Practice Quiz
The sun caused a bright ____ from the piece of glass on the ground.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
There was a mischievous ____ in his eyes that suggested he was planning some kind of playful trick.

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