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Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. v. To emit light.
  2. v. To reflect light; glint or glisten.
  3. v. To distinguish oneself in an activity or a field; excel.
  4. v. To be immediately apparent: Delight shone in her eyes.
  5. v. To aim or cast the beam or glow of (a light).
  6. v. To make glossy or bright by polishing.
  7. n. Brightness from a source of light; radiance.
  8. n. Brightness from reflected light; luster.
  9. n. A shoeshine.
  10. n. Excellence in quality or appearance; splendor.
  11. n. Fair weather: rain or shine.
  12. n. Informal Pranks or tricks.
  13. n. Slang Whiskey; moonshine.
  14. n. Offensive Slang Used as a disparaging term for a Black person.
  15. idiom. shine up to Informal To try to impress or please: shined up to the boss, hoping to get a raise.
  16. idiom. take a shine to Informal To like spontaneously.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. To send forth or give out light or brightness, literally or figuratively: as, the sun shines by day, the moon by night.
  2. To present a bright appearance; glow; gleam; glitter.
  3. To beam forth; show itself clearly or conspicuously; be noticeably prominent or brilliant.
  4. To excel; be eminent, distinguished, or conspicuous: as, to shine in society, or in conversation; to shine in letters.
  5. To present a splendid or dazzling appearance; make a brave show.
  6. Synonyms To radiate, glow. Shine differs from the words compared under glare, v., in that it generally stands for a steady radiation or emission of light. It is with different thoughts of the light of the fixed stars that we say that they shine, sparkle, gleam, or glitter.
  7. To cause to shine. To direct or throw the light of in such a way as to illuminate something; flash: as, the policeman shone his lantern up the alley.
  8. n. Light; illumination.
  9. n. Sunshine; hence, fair weather.
  10. n. Sheen; brilliancy; luster; gloss.
  11. n. Brightness; splendor; irradiation.
  12. n. A fancy; liking: as, to take a shine to a person.
  13. n. A disturbance; a row; a rumpus; a shindy.
  14. n. A trick; a prank: as, to cut up shines.
  15. Bright or shining; glittering.

Wiktionary

  1. v. To emit light.
  2. v. To reflect light.
  3. v. To distinguish oneself; to excel.
  4. v. To be immediately apparent.
  5. v. To polish (something).
  6. v. To polish a cricket ball using saliva and one’s clothing.
  7. v. To create light with a flashlight, lamp, torch, etc.
  8. n. Brightness from a source of light.
  9. n. Brightness from reflected light.
  10. n. Excellence in quality or appearance.
  11. n. Shoeshine.
  12. n. Sunshine.
  13. n. Moonshine.
  14. n. The amount of shininess on a cricket ball, or on each side of the ball.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. v. To emit rays of light; to give light; to beam with steady radiance; to exhibit brightness or splendor
  2. v. To be bright by reflection of light; to gleam; to be glossy.
  3. v. To be effulgent in splendor or beauty.
  4. v. To be eminent, conspicuous, or distinguished; to exhibit brilliant intellectual powers.
  5. v. To cause to shine, as a light.
  6. v. To make bright; to cause to shine by reflected light.
  7. n. The quality or state of shining; brightness; luster, gloss; polish; sheen.
  8. n. Sunshine; fair weather.
  9. n. A liking for a person; a fancy.
  10. n. Caper; antic; row.
  11. adj. Shining; sheen.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. the quality of being bright and sending out rays of light
  2. v. emit light; be bright, as of the sun or a light
  3. v. have a complexion with a strong bright color, such as red or pink
  4. v. be shiny, as if wet
  5. v. be bright by reflecting or casting light
  6. v. experience a feeling of well-being or happiness, as from good health or an intense emotion
  7. v. throw or flash the light of (a lamp)
  8. v. touch or seem as if touching visually or audibly
  9. v. make (a surface) shine
  10. v. be distinguished or eminent
  11. v. be clear and obvious

Etymologies

  1. Middle English shinen, from Old English scīnan.

Examples

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Lists

These user-created lists contain the word ‘shine’.

Comments

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  • patty4jc God be merciful to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us.
    Psalm 67:1 Oct 25, 2007

  • zero ♪we♪can♪re♪mem♪ber♪ Mar 8, 2007

‘shine’ has been looked up 2167 times, added to 37 lists, commented on 2 times, and has a Scrabble score of 8.