Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To shine with a subdued flickering light.
- intransitive verb To be reflected as a subdued, flickering light.
- noun A flickering or tremulous light; a glimmer.
from The Century Dictionary.
- In mech., to correct an inequality by inserting a thin slip or shim.
- To shine with a veiled, tremulous light; gleam faintly.
- noun A faint or veiled and tremulous gleam or shining.
- noun A workman in cabinet-work or other fine woodwork who fills up cracks or makes parts fit by the insertion of shims or thin pieces.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb To shine with a tremulous or intermittent light; to shine faintly; to gleam; to glisten; to glimmer.
- noun A faint, tremulous light; a gleaming; a glimmer.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb intransitive To
shine with aveiled ,tremulous , orintermittent light ; togleam faintly ; toglisten ; toglimmer . - noun A faint or veiled and tremulous gleam or
shining ; a glimmer.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb shine with a weak or fitful light
- verb give off a shimmering reflection, as of silk
- noun a weak and tremulous light
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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This dreamy shimmer is a tension that both sustains the poems idealism and exposes the ideological bind of proffering poetry as the thing to be done in political crisis
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As tiny, pretty mega-talent Cher Lloyd stepped on to the X Factor stage last month in shimmer foundation, squashed-spider eyelashes and over-pruned brows, only for Louis Walsh to trill, You're 16?
Slap shtick: How not to put on make-up Grace Dent 2010
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They call it a "shimmer" - a glint, a glitter, a glisten.
The Guardian World News Martin Amis 2009
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You type in -war" (knocking the errant hair aside as you strike the A), and watch the word shimmer like a line of phosphorescent battle dust on the PC screen.
Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas Robbins, Tom 1994
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I used a creamier face and body shimmer, which is easier to work with than watery/gel-based products, which are good for the body but hard to work with on the face.
Best in Beauty Riku Campo 2010
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The texture of the lipstick is lovely, not too opaque and with slight "wet" shimmer, which is exactly what I like.
Weekend Beauty - Makeup: MAC Lavender Whip and Marina Geigert 2009
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The texture of the lipstick is lovely, not too opaque and with slight "wet" shimmer, which is exactly what I like.
Archive 2009-03-01 Marina Geigert 2009
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Galead saw the Stone set in the sword shimmer and pale.
Last Sword Of Power Gemmell, David 1988
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In order to sell flats to people who might not like the idea of council estates, the developers wanted what the architects call "shimmer".
The Guardian World News Rowan Moore 2011
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Giant honeybees are known to flip their bellies up en masse to create a giant wave called a shimmer, somewhat akin to humans rhythmically throwing their hands in the air in a wave at a football game.
alexz commented on the word shimmer
Spotted in the news as a card skimmer installed in the card slot of a banking machine. (shim / skimmer)
February 4, 2017
natalie_portmanteaux commented on the word shimmer
Shimmer, a portmanteau of shine and glimmer.
March 8, 2020