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Twinkle - 5 dictionary results
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twin⋅kle

  [twing-kuhl] verb, -kled, -kling, noun
Use Twinkle in a Sentence
–verb (used without object)
1. to shine with a flickering gleam of light, as a star or distant light.
2. to sparkle in the light: The diamond on her finger twinkled in the firelight.
3. (of the eyes) to be bright with amusement, pleasure, etc.
4. to move flutteringly and quickly, as flashes of light; flit.
5. Archaic. to wink; blink.
–verb (used with object)
6. to emit (light) in intermittent gleams or flashes.
7. Archaic. to wink (the eyes or eyelids).
–noun
8. a flickering or intermittent brightness or light.
9. a scintillating brightness in the eyes; sparkle.
10. the time required for a wink; twinkling.
11. Archaic. a wink.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME twinklen (v.), OE twinclian; see twink, -le

Related forms:
twinkler, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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twin·kle   (twĭng'kəl)   
v.   twin·kled, twin·kling, twin·kles

v.   intr.
  1. To shine with slight, intermittent gleams, as distant lights or stars; flicker; glimmer. See Synonyms at flash.
  2. To be bright or sparkling, as with merriment or delight: eyes that twinkled with joy.
  3. To blink or wink the eyes. See Synonyms at blink.
  4. To move about or to and fro rapidly and gracefully; flit.
v.   tr.
To emit (light) in slight, intermittent gleams.
n.  
  1. A slight, intermittent gleam of light; a sparkling flash; a glimmer.
  2. A sparkle of merriment or delight in the eye.
  3. A brief interval; a twinkling.
  4. A rapid to-and-fro movement.

[Middle English twinklen, from Old English twinclian, frequentative of twincan, to blink.]
twin'kler n., twink'ly adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Twinkle

Twin"kle\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Twinkled; p. pr. & vb. n. Twinkling.] [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.

Twinkle

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.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : Twinkle
Spanish: centellear, parpadear, titilar,
German: funkeln,
Japanese: きらめく
More Translations »

twinkle  (v.)
O.E. twinclian, frequentative of twincan "to wink, blink;" related to M.H.G. zwinken, Ger. zwinkern, and probably somehow imitative. The noun is recorded from 1548. Phrase in the twinkling of an eye is attested from 1303.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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