intransitive verb-·kled, -·kling
- to shine with quick, intermittent flashes of light, as some stars; sparkle
- to light up, as with amusement: said of the eyes
- to move about or back and forth quickly and lightly, as a dancer's feet; flicker
- Archaic to wink or blink
Origin of twinkleMiddle English twinklen from Old English twinclian, frequentative of base seen in Middle High German zwinken, to wink
- to make twinkle
- to emit (light) in quick, intermittent flashes
- a flicker or wink of the eye
- a quick flash of amusement, etc. in the eye
- a quick, intermittent flash of light; sparkle
- the very brief time it takes to wink; twinkling
verbtwin·kled, twin·kling, twin·kles
- To shine with slight, intermittent gleams, as distant lights or stars; flicker; glimmer. See Synonyms at flash.
- To be bright or sparkling, as with merriment or delight: eyes that twinkled with joy.
- To blink or wink the eyes.
- To move about or to and fro rapidly and gracefully; flit.
- A slight, intermittent gleam of light; a sparkling flash; a glimmer.
- A sparkle of merriment or delight in the eye.
- A brief interval; a twinkling.
- A rapid to-and-fro movement.
Origin of twinkleMiddle English twinklen from Old English twinclian frequentative of twincan to blink
(third-person singular simple present twinkles, present participle twinkling, simple past and past participle twinkled)
Middle English, from Old English twinclian