twinkle

Valid in Scrabble

Scrabble points
14
Words With Friends
16
Letters
7
Pronunciation
/ˈtwɪŋ.kəl/

Definition of twinkle

9 senses · 2 parts of speech · etymology included

verb

  1. 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.”
    “As the train rumbled slowly over the Forth Bridge, the western sky was aflame with a particularly gorgeous sunset, and lights were twinkling from the small craft riding at anchor on the calm waters of the firth.”
See all 9 definitions

verb

  1. 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.”
    “As the train rumbled slowly over the Forth Bridge, the western sky was aflame with a particularly gorgeous sunset, and lights were twinkling from the small craft riding at anchor on the calm waters of the firth.”
  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. To flit to and fro.
    “A butterfly twinkled among the vines[…]”

noun

  1. 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.”
  2. 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.”
  3. A flitting movement.
    “I saw the twinkle of white feet,”
  4. (colloquial)A brief moment; a twinkling.
  5. (childish)The female genitalia.
    “The popular Swedish cartoon song about genitals was translated as "Willie and Twinkle".”

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

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”).

Hooks

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