Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To stare fixedly and angrily. synonym: gaze.
  • intransitive verb To shine intensely and blindingly.
  • intransitive verb To be conspicuous; stand out obtrusively.
  • intransitive verb To express by staring angrily.
  • noun A fierce or angry stare.
  • noun An intense, blinding light.
  • noun Overwhelming attention or intrusiveness.
  • noun A sheet or surface of glassy and very slippery ice.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Smooth; slippery; transparent; glassy.
  • To shine with a strong, bright, dazzling light; be intensely or excessively bright.
  • To look with a fierce and piercing stare.
  • To be intensely or excessively bright in color; be too brilliantly ornamented; be ostentatiously splendid.
  • Synonyms Glare, Glisten, Scintillate, Glister, Glitter, Gleam, Sparkle, Coruscate, Glimmer, Flicker. Glare indicates a steady, dazzling, or painful excess of light; glisten is a popular word, while scintillate is the exact or formal word, for a light that is unequal or is slightly interrupted: as, glistening eyes, dew, stars; scintillating stars. Scintillate is also used for the throwing off of sparkles: as, the scintillating iron at the forge. Glisten represents a softer, and glitter a harder, light than glister, glitter implying a cold, metallic ray: as, glittering bayonets: “all is not gold that glitters.” Gleam stands for a small but generally steady and pleasant light, a long ray: as, the light gleamed through the keyhole; hope gleamed upon him. Sparkle represents a hard light that seems to be emitted irregularly in ignited particles or visible parts: as, sparkling diamonds, eyes, wit. Coruscate expresses a rapid throwing off of vivid or brilliant flashes of light, as in the aurora borealis or by a revolving piece of fireworks. Glimmer represents a faint and unsteady light: as, stars glimmering through the mist. Flicker goes further, and suggests, as glimmer does not, a probable extinction of the light: as, a flickering taper. See flame, n., and radiance.
  • To shoot out or emit, as a dazzling light.
  • noun A strong, bright, dazzling light; clear, brilliant luster or splendor that dazzles the eyes; especially, a confusing and bewildering light.
  • noun A fierce, piercing look.
  • noun A stretch of ice; an icy condition.
  • noun Synonyms Flare, etc. See flame, n.
  • Another spelling of glair.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb To shine with a bright, dazzling light.
  • intransitive verb To look with fierce, piercing eyes; to stare earnestly, angrily, or fiercely.
  • intransitive verb To be bright and intense, as certain colors; to be ostentatiously splendid or gay.
  • transitive verb To shoot out, or emit, as a dazzling light.
  • adjective United States Smooth and bright or translucent; -- used almost exclusively of ice.
  • noun A bright, dazzling light; splendor that dazzles the eyes; a confusing and bewildering light.
  • noun A fierce, piercing look or stare.
  • noun A viscous, transparent substance. See Glair.
  • noun U. S. A smooth, bright, glassy surface.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun uncountable An intense, blinding light.
  • noun Showy brilliance; gaudiness.
  • noun An angry or fierce stare.
  • noun telephony A call collision; when an incoming call occurs at the same time of an outgoing call.
  • verb intransitive To stare angrily.
  • verb intransitive To shine brightly.
  • adjective US smooth and bright or translucent; glary

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a light within the field of vision that is brighter than the brightness to which the eyes are adapted
  • verb be sharply reflected
  • noun an angry stare
  • noun a focus of public attention
  • verb look at with a fixed gaze
  • verb shine intensely

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English glaren, to glitter; akin to Middle Low German glaren, to glisten; see ghel- in Indo-European roots.]

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Probably from glare.]

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