Definitions

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

  • noun The act of scintillating.
  • noun A spark; a flash.
  • noun Astronomy Rapid variation in the light of a celestial body caused by turbulence in Earth's atmosphere; a twinkling.
  • noun Physics A flash of light produced in a phosphor by absorption of an ionizing particle or photon.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The act of scintillating, or emitting sparks or spark-like flashes of light; the act of sparkling.
  • noun A flash; a spark.
  • noun Specifically, the twinkling or tremulous motion of the light of the larger fixed stars.

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

  • noun The act of scintillating.
  • noun A spark or flash emitted in scintillating.

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

  • noun A flash of light; a spark
  • noun astronomy The twinkling of a star caused by turbulence in the Earth's atmosphere
  • noun physics The flash of light produced by a phosphor when it absorbs ionizing radiation

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

  • noun a rapid change in brightness; a brief spark or flash
  • noun (physics) a flash of light that is produced in a phosphor when it absorbs a photon or ionizing particle
  • noun the quality of shining with a bright reflected light
  • noun a brilliant display of wit
  • noun the twinkling of the stars caused when changes in the density of the earth's atmosphere produce uneven refraction of starlight

Etymologies

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Examples

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  • "Specifically, the twinkling or tremulous motion of the light of the larger fixed stars. By shaking the head, so as to elongate the image, it is seen that not merely the intensity, but also the color of the light varies."

    --Century Dictionary

    April 11, 2011

  • *shakes his head*

    April 11, 2011

  • CD getting cosmic on our asses.

    April 11, 2011