| 释义 |
twin·kle
I. \ˈtwiŋkəl\ verb
(twinkled ; twinkled ; twinkling \-k(ə)liŋ\ ; twinkles)
Etymology: Middle English twinklen, from Old English twinclian; akin to Middle English twinken to wink, twinkle, Middle Dutch twinc wink of an eye, Middle High German zwinken to blink
intransitive verb
1. : to shine with a flickering, sparkling, or intermittent light : give off a fluctuating radiance : scintillate
< stars twinkled in the night sky >
< street lamps twinkled dully — Wilson Collison >
< tiny wavelets twinkling among the black boulders — William Beebe >
2.
a. : to flutter the eyelids : blink the eyes open and shut
b. : to emit gleams of joy, merriment, or other vivid usually happy feeling : flash, glitter, sparkle
< his eyes twinkled in a friendly way — T.B.Costain >
c. : to beam with gay or lively feeling
< twinkles happily through gold-rimmed spectacles — Irish Digest >
3. : to move in flashing or evanescent manner : flutter or flit rapidly
< the buggy twinkled away in the sunlight — Katherine Mansfield >
< her little feet twinkled on the pavement — A.R.Foff >
transitive verb
1. : to cause to shine with fluctuating or intermittent light : give off radiance from
< twinkled her blue eyes >
< in the dark coverts the … beetle twinkles its tiny lamp — Haldane MacFall >
2. : to transmit or communicate by a gleam of the eyes
< stopped twinkling mischief at him — Richard Blaker >
< not one bright star to twinkle hope and light to him — Meg Dyan >
3. : to flicker or flirt rapidly : twitch with flashing motions
< deer feeding, twinkling their scuts as they moved — Maurice Hewlett >
II. noun
(-s)
1. : a winking or blinking of the eyes : a flutter or quiver of the eyelids
2. : the instant's duration of a flicker of the eyelids : twinkling, wink — used especially in the phrase in a twinkle
< and in a twinkle it is gone — D.G.Campbell >
3. : an intermittent radiance : flicker, gleam, sparkle
< a laughing twinkle in his bright eye — Charles Dickens >
4. : a rapid flashing motion : flirt
< a twinkle of long, black-stockinged legs — Flora Thompson >
5. : a ballroom dance step in which one foot is brought forward, then to the side of the other, and finally to the rear or these movements executed in reverse order |