Adjacent Words

shimmer definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a weak and tremulous light; "the shimmer of colors on iridescent feathers"; "the play of light on the water" [syn: shimmer, play] v
1: shine with a weak or fitful light; "Beech leaves shimmered in the moonlight"
2: give off a shimmering reflection, as of silk

Merriam Webster's

I. verb (shimmered; shimmering) Etymology: Middle English schimeren, from Old English scimerian; akin to Old English sc?nan to shine — more at shine Date: before 12th century intransitive verb 1. to shine with a soft tremulous or fitful light ; glimmer 2. to reflect a wavering sometimes distorted visual image transitive verb to cause to shimmer Synonyms: see flash II. noun Date: 1821 1. a light that shimmers ; subdued sparkle or sheen ; glimmer 2. a wavering sometimes distorted visual image usually resulting from heat-induced changes in atmospheric refraction • shimmery adjective

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v.intr. shine with a tremulous or faint diffused light. --n. such a light. Derivatives: shimmeringly adv. shimmery adj. Etymology: OE scymrian f. Gmc: cf. SHINE

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Shimmer Shim"mer, n. A faint, tremulous light; a gleaming; a glimmer. TWo silver lamps, fed with perfumed oil, diffused . . . a trembling twilight-seeming shimmer through the quiet apartment. --Sir W. Scott.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Shimmer Shim"mer, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Shimmered; p. pr. & vb. n. Shimmering.] [OE. schimeren, AS. scimerian; akin to sc[=i]mian, sc[=i]man, to glitter, D. schemeren, G. schimmern, Dan. skimre, Sw. skimra, AS. sc[=i]ma a light, brightness, Icel. sk[=i]ma, Goth. skeima a torch, a lantern, and E. shine. [root]157. See Shine, v. i.] To shine with a tremulous or intermittent light; to shine faintly; to gleam; to glisten; to glimmer. The shimmering glimpses of a stream. --Tennyson.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(shimmers, shimmering, shimmered) If something shimmers, it shines with a faint, unsteady light or has an unclear, unsteady appearance. The lights shimmered on the water... VERB: V • Shimmer is also a noun. ...a shimmer of starlight. N-SING

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. n. Glimmer, gleam, glisten, shine faintly.

Moby Thesaurus

blink, blinking, coruscate, coruscation, firefly, flicker, gleam, glimmer, glimmering, glint, glisk, glisten, glister, glitter, glittering, gloss, glow, glowworm, light, ripple, scintilla, scintillate, scintillation, shimmering, shine, spangle, spark, sparking, sparkle, stroboscopic light, tinsel, twinkle, twinkling