I. ˈtwiŋkəl verb
( twinkled ; twinkled ; twinkling -k(ə)liŋ ; twinkles )
Etymology: Middle English twinklen, from Old English twinclian; akin to Middle English twinken to wink, twinkle, Middle Dutch twinc wink of an eye, Middle High German zwinken to blink
intransitive verb
1. : to shine with a flickering, sparkling, or intermittent light : give off a fluctuating radiance : scintillate
stars twinkled in the night sky
street lamps twinkled dully — Wilson Collison
tiny wavelets twinkling among the black boulders — William Beebe
2.
a. : to flutter the eyelids : blink the eyes open and shut
b. : to emit gleams of joy, merriment, or other vivid usually happy feeling : flash , glitter , sparkle
his eyes twinkled in a friendly way — T.B.Costain
c. : to beam with gay or lively feeling
twinkles happily through gold-rimmed spectacles — Irish Digest
3. : to move in flashing or evanescent manner : flutter or flit rapidly
the buggy twinkled away in the sunlight — Katherine Mansfield
her little feet twinkled on the pavement — A.R.Foff
transitive verb
1. : to cause to shine with fluctuating or intermittent light : give off radiance from
twinkled her blue eyes
in the dark coverts the … beetle twinkles its tiny lamp — Haldane MacFall
2. : to transmit or communicate by a gleam of the eyes
stopped twinkling mischief at him — Richard Blaker
not one bright star to twinkle hope and light to him — Meg Dyan
3. : to flicker or flirt rapidly : twitch with flashing motions
deer feeding, twinkling their scuts as they moved — Maurice Hewlett
II. noun
( -s )
1. : a winking or blinking of the eyes : a flutter or quiver of the eyelids
2. : the instant's duration of a flicker of the eyelids : twinkling , wink — used especially in the phrase in a twinkle
and in a twinkle it is gone — D.G.Campbell
3. : an intermittent radiance : flicker , gleam , sparkle
a laughing twinkle in his bright eye — Charles Dickens
4. : a rapid flashing motion : flirt
a twinkle of long, black-stockinged legs — Flora Thompson
5. : a ballroom dance step in which one foot is brought forward, then to the side of the other, and finally to the rear or these movements executed in reverse order