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twinkle

verb
/ˈtwɪŋ.kəl/

Etymology

From Middle English twinclen, twynclen, from Old English twinclian (“to twinkle”), equivalent to twink (“to wink; blink; twinkle”) + -le (frequentative suffix). Compare German zwinkern (“to wink; twinkle”).

  1. inherited from twinclian — “to twinkle”
  2. inherited from twinclen

Definitions

  1. To shine with a flickering light

    To shine with a flickering light; to glimmer.

    • We could see the lights of the village twinkling in the distance.
    • These stars do not twinkle when viewed through telescopes that have large apertures.
    • The western sky twinkled with stars.

  2. To be bright with delight.

    • His shrewd little eyes twinkled roguishly.

  3. To bat, blink or wink the eyes.

    • She smiled and gave a little nod and twinkled her eyes[…]
    • The Owl Fell a Moping and Twinkling.
  4. ›+ 6 more definitions

    1. To flit to and fro.

      • A butterfly twinkled among the vines[…]

    2. A sparkle or glimmer of light.

      • Soon the rocket was out of sight, and the flame was only seen as a tiny twinkle of light.

    3. A sparkle of delight in the eyes.

      • He was a rotund, jolly man with a twinkle in his eye.
      • One of thoſe archers cloſely I did ſpy, / ayming his arrovv at my very hart: / vvhen ſuddenly vvith tvvincle of her eye, / the Damzell broke his miſintended dart.

    4. A flitting movement.

      • I saw the twinkle of white feet,

    5. A brief moment

      A brief moment; a twinkling.

    6. The female genitalia.

      • The popular Swedish cartoon song about genitals was translated as "Willie and Twinkle".

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for twinkle. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

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