glow

verb
/ɡləʊ/UK/ɡloʊ/US

Etymology

The verb is derived from Middle English glouen, glowen (“to give off heat and light without flame; of a thing: to be heated until red hot; to be brightly coloured; to shine brightly; (figurative) to be filled with emotion; of the face, etc.: to turn red, flush; etc.”), and then either: * from Old English glōwan (“to glow”) (a strong verb), from Proto-West Germanic *glōan (“to glow”); or * because the Middle English and modern English words are weak verbs, possibly from Old Norse *glówa, thought to be a variant of glóa (“to glow”), also a weak verb; both from Proto-Germanic *glōaną (“to glow”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰleh₁- (“to shine, glow; to be shining, glowing”). Possibly a doublet of glass. The noun is derived from the verb. cognates * Dutch gloeien * Finnish loistaa * German glühen * Norwegian glo * Old Norse glóa (Danish glo, Icelandic glóa, Swedish glo) * Saterland Frisian gloie, glöie, gluuje * West Frisian gloeie

  1. derived from *ǵʰleh₁- — “to shine, glow; to be shining, glowing
  2. inherited from *glōaną — “to glow
  3. derived from *glówa
  4. inherited from *glōan — “to glow
  5. inherited from glōwan — “to glow
  6. inherited from glouen

Definitions

  1. To emit heat and light without a flame.

    • Iron glows red hot when heated to near its melting point.
  2. Of a fire

    Of a fire: to emit heat and light.

    • The fire was still glowing after ten hours.
    • The mettled Steeds, vvhen from their Noſtrils flovvs / The ſcorching Fire, that in their Entrails glovvs.
  3. To emit light brightly and steadily as if heated to a high temperature

    To emit light brightly and steadily as if heated to a high temperature; to shine.

    • [N]ovv glovv'd the Firmament / VVith living Saphirs: […]
  4. + 15 more definitions
    1. To be very hot

      To be very hot; also, to be on fire; to burn.

      • [T]he torrid Zone / Glovvs vvith the paſſing and repaſſing Sun.
      • [N]ow, evermore, till thy long race is run, mine eyes shall glow into thy brain, and mine arms shall clasp thee, when thou wouldst take the wings of the Morning, and flee from the embrace of Night!
    2. Of a colour

      Of a colour: to be bright; also, of a thing: to have a bright colour.

      • The new baby’s room glows with bright, loving colours.
      • To vvhom the Angel vvith a ſmile that glovv'd / Celeſtial roſie red, Loves proper hue, / Anſvver'd.
      • Vice dvvells in Palaces, is Richly Dreſt, / There glovvs in Scarlet, and the Tyrian Veſt.
    3. Of a person

      Of a person: to display intense emotion.

      • The zealots glowed with religious fervor.
      • You are glowing from happiness!
      • A fire vvhich every vvindy paſſion blovvs; / VVith pride it mounts, and vvith revenge it glovvs.
    4. Of a person's body or a part of it

      Of a person's body or a part of it: to feel hot and often to flush (“become suffused with a reddish colour”) as well, due to an emotional response, exertion, etc.

      • After their workout, the gymnasts’ faces were glowing.
      • Moreover, is not this an opinion generally received, That vvhen our ears do glovv and tingle, ſome there be that in our abſence doe talke of us?
      • Did not he lead you through the Mid-day Sun, / And Clouds of Duſt? Did not his Temples glovv / In the ſame ſultry VVinds, and ſcorching Heats?
    5. To be involved in an (chiefly online) undercover sting operation, especially by American…

      To be involved in an (chiefly online) undercover sting operation, especially by American federal agencies.

      • If this post glows any brighter I'm going to need sunglasses. 😄🕶👌
    6. To create a threatening online post that may involve violence, and look suspicious enough…

      To create a threatening online post that may involve violence, and look suspicious enough to attract a police investigation.

    7. To emit (flame).

      • Shall Pagan Pages glovv celeſtial Flame, / And Chriſtian, languiſh?
    8. To expose (someone) to the authorities.

    9. To make (something) hot

      To make (something) hot; to heat.

      • On each ſide her, / Stood pretty Dimpled Boyes, like ſmiling Cupids, / VVith diuers coulour'd Fannes vvhoſe vvinde did ſeeme / To gloue the delicate cheekes vvhich they did coole, / And vvhat they vndid did.
    10. A state of heat and light being emitted by a hot object.

      • The struggling spark of good within, / Just smother'd in the strife of sin, / They quicken to a timely glow, / The pure flame spreading high and low.
      • My garden is the cloven rock, / And my manure the snow; / And drifting sand-heaps feed my stock, / In summer's scorching glow.
    11. A state of heat being emitted by a person or an animal's body.

      • He had so heated himself with rapid walking in the fog and frost, this nephew of Scrooge's, that he was all in a glow; his face was ruddy and handsome; his eyes sparkled, and his breath smoked again.
      • ["]You must be frozen." / "Well, Lizzie, I ain't of a glow; that's certain. And my hands seemed nailed through to the sculls. See how dead they are!"
    12. A state of light being emitted by something (for example, a bioluminescent animal or…

      A state of light being emitted by something (for example, a bioluminescent animal or fungus, or a mineral) which is not hot; luminescence.

      • So if you find yourself regularly up late at night, basking in the TV's glow, you might be doing more than just depriving yourself of sleep.
    13. A state of brightness or warmth of colour

      A state of brightness or warmth of colour; specifically, a reddish colour on a person's face indicating health or youth; a flush.

      • He had a bright red glow on his face.
      • If you vvill ſee a pageant truely plaid / Betvveene the pale complexion of true Loue, / And the red glovve of ſcorne and provvd diſdaine, / Goe hence a little, and I ſhall conduct you / If you vvill marke it.
      • As ſhines the lily thro' the cryſtal mild; / Or as the roſe amid the morning-devv / Puts on a vvarmer glovv.
    14. A condition of being passionate or having warm feelings

      A condition of being passionate or having warm feelings; an ardour.

      • There's not a joy the world can give like that it takes away, / When the glow of early thought declines in feeling's dull decay; […]
      • […] Romola felt herself surrounded and possessed by the glow of his passionate faith.
      • "And you come, brother," said Mr. Wegg, in a hospitable glow, "you come like I don't know what—exactly like it—I shouldn't know you from it—shedding a halo all around you."
    15. To look intently

      To look intently; to stare.

      • Borgnoyer. To vvant an eye; to looke, or ſee but vvith one eye; […] alſo, to glovv, glote, or loure.
      • [A] thouſand frantick Spirits / Peep'd from the VVatry brink, and glovv'd upon me.
      • Then he glowed on me / With all his face and eyes.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at glow. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01glow02fire03carbon04transparent05clearly06clear07bright08luminous09glowing10glows

A definitional loop anchored at glow. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

10 hops · closes at glow

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA