I. verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a candle flickers (= the flame moves in an unsteady way )
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As the door opened, the candles flickered unsteadily.
a flicker of excitement (= a feeling of excitement that lasts a very short time )
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He felt a flicker of excitement when he heard someone mention his name.
a flickering candle (= with the flame moving unsteadily )
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The church was full of flickering white candles.
a gleam/glimmer/flicker of amusement (= a small amount in someone's eyes or on someone’s face )
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He examined her face with a wry gleam of amusement.
a hint/trace/flicker of emotion (= a very small sign that someone feels an emotion )
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I thought I saw a flicker of emotion in his eyes.
flames flicker ( also flames dance literary ) (= they move )
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He watched the flames flickering in the fireplace.
flickering shadows (= shadows that move about quickly )
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Candles cast strange flickering shadows on the walls.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
on
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The lights flickered on before Graham could do more than put his arms round her.
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Lights flicker on throughout the house at the touch of a single button.
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The lights began to flicker on and off.
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Its light flickered on and off for a moment, as if it was making itself comfortable in a mechanical kind of way.
over
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His eyes flickered over her shoulders.
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The tiny beam of light flickered over the telephone - and back.
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It flickered over stone walls, glinting on darker, shinier patches here and there.
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Light a match, they say, and flames flicker over it like brandy on a Christmas pudding.
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Nathan's gaze flickered over her, his own thoughts hidden behind eyes reflecting the soft glow of the bedhead lamp.
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His eyes flickered over her legs sheathed in fine black stockings.
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Tommaso's gaze flickered over her, appraisingly, and he had made no such reckoning of Caterina, as Davide grasped.
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Sunlight sought out the gaps and flickered over the new-green fields far below.
■ NOUN
candle
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Instead, we wander down to the conservatory, where a lone table is laid, its pink candles flickering .
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Another candle flickered for me in the front of the church.
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The candle flickered again, so badly that it almost flickered out.
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As the fan blew upon it, the flame of the votary candle swayed and flickered .
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Holy candles flickered on a shelf.
flame
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Light a match, they say, and flames flicker over it like brandy on a Christmas pudding.
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The flame flickered briefly on the Fourth of July.
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She watched the kiln's flames flicker on the walls.
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The brass plate to the memory of Paul and Florence above the window; inside, the little flame flickering .
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The flames would flicker on the glass of the brass-framed pictures, enlivening the theatrical characters, making everything cosy.
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The oil flame flickered and flared alarmingly, shooting jagged shadows up around the walls.
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The flame continued to flicker gently on a bare stone that was awash with water.
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The flames were already flickering just beneath the surface, waiting to be fanned into fierce, burning life.
light
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The lights flickered on before Graham could do more than put his arms round her.
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The lights began to flicker on and off.
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Through a telescope, it is a pinpoint of light , flickering as it rotates once every 5 hours.
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The lights flicker off and on, off and on, the signal that the library is about to close.
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By night, faery lights flicker in the darkness, drifting behind the Everqueen's courtiers and illuminating the revels and feasting.
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The fluorescent light buzzed and flickered .
lightning
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Overhead, lightning flickered frequently as the static electricity accumulating in the ash cloud discharged.
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Despite the peace of the early night, lightning was flickering about the horizon.
smile
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It smiled a bleary, yellow smile and flickered .
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The winsome smile flickered back with its sly message.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
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A welcoming fire flickered in the grate.
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Inside the shrine candles flicker next to statues of saints.
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Penny's eyelids flickered for a moment, then she slept.
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The candle flickered a few times and then went out.
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The lights flickered; I wondered if we were about to lose our power.
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The overhead lights suddenly flickered and went out.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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By night, faery lights flicker in the darkness, drifting behind the Everqueen's courtiers and illuminating the revels and feasting.
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He told me the story, sitting in my room with the firelight flickering on the ceiling rafters.
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His eyes flickered over her shoulders.
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His flat-tax fire, which burned hot for months, ultimately flickered out along with his popularity.
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Months at sea had rusted their connections so they flickered irritatingly.
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She allowed her steady gaze to flicker from the glass which she had been holding firm.
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Suddenly, an hour after the opening bell, the computers at the New York Stock Exchange flicker off.
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The stream flickered slightly in the moonlight.
II. noun
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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Bruce Law walks through a desert hell, looking for saguaros that still show a flicker of life at McDowell Mountain Park.
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I really have never felt even a flicker of emotion when I sang the National Anthem.
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Nothing could get out - or in, she registered with a flicker of hope.
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Only once did he show a flicker of being a person.
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Saying it helped to quell that flicker of excitement.
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The heretofore brilliant, often blinding light of classical culture was gradually reduced to a pitiful flicker .