— gleamingly , adv. — gleamless , adj.
/gleem/ , n.
1. a flash or beam of light: the gleam of a lantern in the dark.
2. a dim or subdued light.
3. a brief or slight manifestation or occurrence; trace: a gleam of hope.
v.i.
4. to send forth a gleam or gleams.
5. to appear suddenly and clearly like a flash of light.
[ bef. 1000; (n.) ME glem ( e ), OE glaem; c. OHG gleimo glowworm; akin to OS glimo brightness; (v.) ME, deriv. of the n. See GLIMMER, GLIMPSE ]
Syn. 1. GLEAM, GLIMMER, BEAM, RAY are terms for a stream of light. GLEAM denotes a not very brilliant, intermittent or nondirectional stream of light. GLIMMER indicates a nondirectional light that is feeble and unsteady: a faint glimmer of moonlight. BEAM usually means a directional, and therefore smaller, stream: the beam from a searchlight. RAY usually implies a still smaller amount of light than a beam, a single line of light: a ray through a pinprick in a window shade. 4. shine, glimmer, flash, glitter, sparkle, beam.