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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

gleam       (glēm)  Pronunciation Key  n.   A brief beam or flash of light: saw gleams of daylight through the cracks. A steady but subdued shining; a glow: the gleam of burnished gold. A brief or dim indication; a trace: a gleam of intelligence. v.   gleamed, gleam·ing, gleams v.   intr. To emit a gleam; flash or glow: "It shone with gold and gleamed with ivory" (Edith Hamilton). See Synonyms at flash. To be manifested or indicated briefly or faintly. v.   tr. To cause to emit a flash of light. [Middle English glem, from Old English glǣm; see ghel-2 in Indo-European roots.] gleam'er n.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
gleam 

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

gleam
noun
1.	an appearance of reflected light
2.	a flash of light (especially reflected light)
verb
1.	be shiny, as if wet; "His eyes were glistening" [syn: glitter]
2.	shine brightly, like a star or a light
3.	appear briefly; "A terrible thought gleamed in her mind"

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Gleam

Flash\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Flashed; p. pr. & vb. n. Flashing.] [Cf. OE. flaskien, vlaskien to pour, sprinkle, dial. Sw. flasa to blaze, E. flush, flare.]

1. To burst or break forth with a sudden and transient flood of flame and light; as, the lighting flashes vividly; the powder flashed.

2. To break forth, as a sudden flood of light; to burst instantly and brightly on the sight; to show a momentary brilliancy; to come or pass like a flash.

Names which have flashed and thundered as the watch words of unnumbered struggles. --Talfourd.

The object is made to flash upon the eye of the mind. --M. Arnold.

A thought flashed through me, which I clothed in act. --Tennyson.

3. To burst forth like a sudden flame; to break out violently; to rush hastily.

Every hour He flashes into one gross crime or other. --Shak.

To flash in the pan, to fail of success. [Colloq.] See under Flash, a burst of light. --Bartlett.

Syn: Flash, Glitter, Gleam, Glisten, Glister.

Usage: Flash differs from glitter and gleam, denoting a flood or wide extent of light. The latter words may express the issuing of light from a small object, or from a pencil of rays. Flash differs from other words, also, in denoting suddenness of appearance and disappearance. Flashing differs from exploding or disploding in not being accompanied with a loud report. To glisten, or glister, is to shine with a soft and fitful luster, as eyes suffused with tears, or flowers wet with dew.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Gleam

Gleam\, v. i. [Cf. OE. glem birdlime, glue, phlegm, and E. englaimed.] (Falconry) To disgorge filth, as a hawk.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Gleam

Gleam\, n. [OE. glem, gleam, AS. gl[ae]m, prob. akin to E. glimmer, and perh. to Gr. ? warm, ? to warm. Cf. Glitter.]

1. A shoot of light; a small stream of light; a beam; a ray; a glimpse.

Transient unexpected gleams of joi. --Addison.

At last a gleam Of dawning light turned thitherward in haste His [Satan's] traveled steps. --Milton.

A glimmer, and then a gleam of light. --Longfellow.

2. Brightness; splendor.

In the clear azure gleam the flocks are seen. --Pope.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Gleam

Gleam\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Gleamed; p. pr. & vb. n. Gleaming.]

1. To shoot, or dart, as rays of light; as, at the dawn, light gleams in the east.

2. To shine; to cast light; to glitter.

Syn: To Gleam, Glimmer, Glitter.

Usage: To gleam denotes a faint but distinct emission of light. To glimmer describes an indistinct and unsteady giving of light. To glitter imports a brightness that is intense, but varying. The morning light gleams upon the earth; a distant taper glimmers through the mist; a dewdrop glitters in the sun. See Flash.