TWINKLE

sparkle, twinkle, spark, light

(noun) merriment expressed by a brightness or gleam or animation of countenance; “he had a sparkle in his eye”; “there’s a perpetual twinkle in his eyes”

twinkle, scintillation, sparkling

(noun) a rapid change in brightness; a brief spark or flash

flash, blink, wink, twinkle, winkle

(verb) gleam or glow intermittently; “The lights were flashing”

twinkle, winkle, scintillate

(verb) emit or reflect light in a flickering manner; “Does a constellation twinkle more brightly than a single star?”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Verb

twinkle (third-person singular simple present twinkles, present participle twinkling, simple past and past participle twinkled)

(of a source of light) to shine with a flickering light; to glimmer

(chiefly, of eyes) to be bright with delight

Synonym: sparkle

to bat, blink or wink the eyes

to flit to and fro

Synonyms

• glimmer

• scintillate

• wink

Noun

twinkle (plural twinkles)

a sparkle or glimmer of light

a sparkle of delight in the eyes.

a flitting movement

(colloquial) A brief moment; a twinkling.

(childish) The female genitalia.

Source: Wiktionary


Twin"kle, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Twinkled; p. pr. & vb. n. Twinkling.] Etym: [OE. twinklen, AS. twinclian; akin to OE. twinken to blink, wink, G. zwinken, zwinkern, and perhaps to E. twitch.]

1. To open and shut the eye rapidly; to blink; to wink. The owl fell a moping and twinkling. L' Estrange.

2. To shine with an intermitted or a broken, quavering light; to flash at intervals; to sparkle; to scintillate. These stars not twinkle when viewed through telescopes that have large apertures. Sir I. Newton. The western sky twinkled with stars. Sir W. Scott.

Twin"kle, n.

1. A closing or opening, or a quick motion, of the eye; a wink or sparkle of the eye. Suddenly, with twinkle of her eye, The damsel broke his misintended dart. Spenser.

2. A brief flash or gleam, esp. when rapidly repeated.

3. The time of a wink; a twinkling. Dryden.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

9 March 2025

CLOG

(verb) fill to excess so that function is impaired; “Fear clogged her mind”; “The story was clogged with too many details”


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