glow

1 of 2

verb

glowed; glowing; glows

intransitive verb

1
a
: to shine with or as if with an intense heat
embers glowing in the darkness
b(1)
: to have a rich warm typically ruddy color
cheeks glowing with health
(2)
: flush, blush
the children glowed with excitement
2
a
: to experience a sensation of or as if of heat
glowing with rage
b
: to show exuberance or elation
glow with pride

glow

2 of 2

noun

1
: brightness or warmth of color
especially : redness
2
a
: warmth of feeling or emotion
b
: a sensation of warmth
the drug produces a sustained glow
3
a
: the state of glowing with heat and light
b
: light such as is emitted by a solid body heated to luminosity : incandescence

Examples of glow in a Sentence

Verb The coals glowed in the fireplace. The fireplace glowed with the dying coals. This toy glows in the dark. Noun We could see the glow of the lamp in the window. The town's lights cast a glow on the horizon. the rosy glow of health He felt a glow as he remembered the day they first met. Their problems were all forgotten in the glow of victory. She felt the glow from the fireplace.
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
City Hall glows blue and yellow in honor of Ukraine on the second anniversary of the war. Thomas Curwen, Los Angeles Times, 10 Mar. 2024 Around the corner from Homer’s Coffee House, down the street from the Overland Park Farmers’ Market pavilion, a green sign glows in a window. Jenna Thompson, Kansas City Star, 6 Mar. 2024 For a couple weeks in winter, just before sunset, the light hits in such a way that the water glows gold and yellow, like lava. Michael Levitt, NPR, 4 Mar. 2024 The chromosphere, or part of the sun’s atmosphere, may glow in a thin pink circle around the moon during totality, while the sun’s hot outer atmosphere, or corona, will appear as white light. Ashley Strickland, CNN, 3 Mar. 2024 In 1877, Father Isidore Hobi came to explore the area and sent back glowing reports about the region. Curtis Varnell The Timepiece, arkansasonline.com, 25 Feb. 2024 After glowing introductions from Jennifer Aniston and Bradley Cooper that drew a standing ovation, Streisand, 81, delivered a heartfelt speech that reached back to her days as a teenage girl watching black-and-white films at the theater and a young actress pursuing her dreams in Hollywood. Jessica Wang, EW.com, 24 Feb. 2024 Inflation can’t smudge the glowing beauty industry Overall sales at Macy’s namesake department stores were down 2.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023 compared with the same period a year earlier. Jaclyn Peiser, Washington Post, 27 Feb. 2024 In the dining room of Capítulo restaurant, which was built as the chapter house for noblemen to assemble and make rulings, original vaulted ceilings and marble columns are complemented by modern glowing globes suspended from the ceiling by artful ribbons. Elizabeth Brownfield, Forbes, 26 Feb. 2024
Noun
To your left, an engine hums and a man’s face is lit from the glow of his phone as he doom-scrolls in the driver’s seat until his order is up. Detroit Free Press, 6 Mar. 2024 Sofia Richie will be the first to tell you that her pregnancy glow is mostly just an oily face. Beth Sobol, Allure, 5 Mar. 2024 Style Skincare Achieve a natural glow without harmful UV rays. Addie Morton, Southern Living, 4 Mar. 2024 On the horizon the rubble glows red, as the curtain falls. Jennifer Homans, The New Yorker, 4 Mar. 2024 In the video, Lokesh waves his hands across the sand to produce the bluish glow. Don Sweeney, Sacramento Bee, 26 Feb. 2024 Processions take place from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday, when the entire city is cast with an ethereal candlelit glow. Meagan Drillinger, Travel + Leisure, 20 Feb. 2024 The formula also includes grapefruit oil (which has antibacterial and antimicrobial properties), and vitamin C, which brightens skin, leaving it with a radiant glow. Jamie Allison Sanders, Peoplemag, 28 Feb. 2024 For anybody who participated in or benefited from the post-war American economic boom — which number would include, among others, everybody reading this page — seeing those names should produce a warm glow similar to a baseball fan’s when recalling the lineup of the 1927 Yankees. Neal B. Freeman, National Review, 27 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'glow.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Middle English, from Old English glōwan; akin to Old English geolu yellow — more at yellow

First Known Use

Verb

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Noun

1600, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of glow was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near glow

Cite this Entry

“Glow.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/glow. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

glow

1 of 2 verb
1
: to shine with or as if with great heat : give off light without flame
glowing coals
2
: to have a rich warm usually reddish color
3
: to be or look warm and flushed (as from excitement)
glow with pride

glow

2 of 2 noun
1
: brightness or warmth of color
a rosy glow of health
2
a
: warmth of feeling
b
: a feeling of physical warmth
3
: light such as that given off by something that is very hot but not flaming

More from Merriam-Webster on glow

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