gleam

• (noun) From Middle English gleme, from Old English glæm, from Proto-Germanic *glaimiz, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰley-.
• (verb) Derived from the Middle English noun form before the first millennium.

• IPA^(key): /ɡliːm/

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• Rhymes: -iːm

gleam (plural gleams)

1. a small or indistinct shaft or stream of light.
   • Longfellow

     A glimmer, and then a gleam of light.

2. a glimpse or hint; an indistinct sign of something.

   The rescue workers preserved a gleam of optimism that they might still survive.

3. brightness or shininess; splendor.
   • Alexander Pope

     In the clear azure gleam the flocks are seen.

• (small shaft or stream of light): beam, ray
• (glimpse or indistinct sign): flicker, glimmer, trace
• (brightness or splendor): dazzle, lambency, shine

gleam (third-person singular simple present gleams, present participle gleaming, simple past and past participle gleamed)

1. To shine; to glitter; to glisten.
2. To be briefly but strongly apparent.
3. (obsolete, falconry) To disgorge filth, as a hawk.

• (to shine, glitter, or glisten) glint, sparkle
• (to radiate or emanate) glow, shine
• (to be briefly but strongly apparent) flare, flash, kindle

• leam

• “gleam” in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin, 2000, →ISBN.
• “gleam” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• "gleam" in On-line Medical Dictionary, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, 1997–2005.
• "gleam" in WordNet 2.0, Princeton University, 2003.

• Gamel, megal-