Dictionary

shimmer en · NOUN · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• /ˈʃɪm.ə(ɹ)/ (UK)
• (UK) audio
• /ˈʃɪm.ɚ/ (US)

Etymology

From Middle English schimeren, from Old English sċymrian, sċimrian, sċimerian, from Proto-Germanic *skimarōną. Cognate with Dutch schemeren, German schimmern.

Meanings

1. A faint or veiled and tremulous gleam or shining.
   • The hives […] were scattered towards the back of the clearing, like small mounds of clean vegetable refuse. Over each mound there hung a dusty golden shimmer of bees. 1922, Katherine Anne Porter, “María Concepción”, in Flowering Judas and Other Stories, New York: The Modern Library, published 1940, page 6:
   • He’d aimed film lamps at the rectangular pools, which sent reflections up the gallery wall in veined and fractured shimmers. 2013, Rachel Kushner, chapter 16, in The Flamethrowers, New York: Vintage, published 2014, page 294:
   • I shut the closet, to conceal the strange, wraith-like apparel it contained; which, at this evening hour—nine o’clock—gave out certainly a most ghostly shimmer through the shadow of my apartment. 1847 October 16, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], chapter X, in Jane Eyre. […], volume II, London: Smith, Elder, and Co., […], →OCLC, page 254:
2. A measure of the irregularities in the loudness of a particular pitch over time.
   • As such, perturbation measures can only be derived from vowels, most accurately, sustained vowels or steady-state portions of vowels extracted from connected speech. Two commonly obtained perturbation measures are jitter and shimmer. 2010, Daniel R. Boone, The Voice and Voice Therapy, Pearson College Division, →ISBN:

Forms

Coordinates

jitter

Synonyms

glimmer

Translations (23)

vi lung linh (faint or veiled and tremulous gleam or shining; a glimmer) · nl glans (faint or veiled and tremulous gleam or shining; a glimmer) · hi चमक (faint or veiled and tremulous gleam or shining; a glimmer) · de Schimmern (faint or veiled and tremulous gleam or shining; a glimmer) · ka ციმციმი (faint or veiled and tremulous gleam or shining; a glimmer) · ga loinnir (faint or veiled and tremulous gleam or shining; a glimmer) · bg трептене (faint or veiled and tremulous gleam or shining; a glimmer) · el λαμπύρισμα (faint or veiled and tremulous gleam or shining; a glimmer) · ru мерца́ние (faint or veiled and tremulous gleam or shining; a glimmer) · mi tiritiri (faint or veiled and tremulous gleam or shining; a glimmer) · ka კიაფი (faint or veiled and tremulous gleam or shining; a glimmer) · ka ციალი (faint or veiled and tremulous gleam or shining; a glimmer) · it luccichio (faint or veiled and tremulous gleam or shining; a glimmer) · el μαρμαρυγή (faint or veiled and tremulous gleam or shining; a glimmer) · de Schimmer (faint or veiled and tremulous gleam or shining; a glimmer) · ka ბჟუტვა (faint or veiled and tremulous gleam or shining; a glimmer) · sv skimmer (faint or veiled and tremulous gleam or shining; a glimmer) · bg блещукане (faint or veiled and tremulous gleam or shining; a glimmer) · fi kimmellys (faint or veiled and tremulous gleam or shining; a glimmer) · fr chatoiement (faint or veiled and tremulous gleam or shining; a glimmer) · nl glinstering (faint or veiled and tremulous gleam or shining; a glimmer) · fr chatoyement (faint or veiled and tremulous gleam or shining; a glimmer) · uk мерехті́ння (faint or veiled and tremulous gleam or shining; a glimmer)

shimmer en · VERB · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• /ˈʃɪm.ə(ɹ)/ (UK)
• (UK) audio
• /ˈʃɪm.ɚ/ (US)

Etymology

From Middle English schimeren, from Old English sċymrian, sċimrian, sċimerian, from Proto-Germanic *skimarōną. Cognate with Dutch schemeren, German schimmern.

Meanings

1. (intransitive) To shine tremulously or intermittently; to gleam faintly.
   • Pale tourists, tired but excited, emerge like apparitions from the heat haze that shimmers over the tarmac. 2018, Tsitsi Dangarembga, chapter 22, in This Mournable Body, Minneapolis: Graywolf Press:
   • The shimmering glimpses of a stream 1850, Alfred Tennyson, The Princess: A Medley, 3rd edition, London: Edward Moxon, Conclusion, p. 173:
   • 1581, John Studley (translator), Medea, Act 4, in Seneca his Tenne Tragedies, London: Thomas Marsh, p. 135, With dusky shimmering wanny globe, her lampe doth pale appeare
   • I looked then and saw that his robes, which had seemed white, were not so, but were woven of all colours, and if he moved they shimmered and changed hue so that the eye was bewildered. 1954, J. R. R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1973, Book 2, Chapter 2, p. 339:
2. Of a mass of bees: to move their abdomens in a coordinated manner so as to produce a shimmering wave effect, thought to deter predators.

Forms

Deriveds

shimmery · shimmerer · ashimmer · shimmer stick

Synonyms

glimmer · twinkle · sparkle · glisten

Translations (37)

bg трептя (to shine with a veiled light; to gleam faintly; to glisten; to glimmer) · cs mihotat se (to shine with a veiled light; to gleam faintly; to glisten; to glimmer) · ka კიაფობს (to shine with a veiled light; to gleam faintly; to glisten; to glimmer) · nl glinsteren (to shine with a veiled light; to gleam faintly; to glisten; to glimmer) · de schimmern (to shine with a veiled light; to gleam faintly; to glisten; to glimmer) · ka ციალებს (to shine with a veiled light; to gleam faintly; to glisten; to glimmer) · es escintilar (to shine with a veiled light; to gleam faintly; to glisten; to glimmer) · th ส่องแวววาว (to shine with a veiled light; to gleam faintly; to glisten; to glimmer) · hy առկայծել (to shine with a veiled light; to gleam faintly; to glisten; to glimmer) · es centellar (to shine with a veiled light; to gleam faintly; to glisten; to glimmer) · mi kārohirohi (to shine with a veiled light; to gleam faintly; to glisten; to glimmer) · cs pableskovat (to shine with a veiled light; to gleam faintly; to glisten; to glimmer) · nl glimmen (to shine with a veiled light; to gleam faintly; to glisten; to glimmer) · no skimra (to shine with a veiled light; to gleam faintly; to glisten; to glimmer) · es centellear (to shine with a veiled light; to gleam faintly; to glisten; to glimmer) · hi चमक (to shine with a veiled light; to gleam faintly; to glisten; to glimmer) · ru мерца́ть (to shine with a veiled light; to gleam faintly; to glisten; to glimmer) · no skimre (to shine with a veiled light; to gleam faintly; to glisten; to glimmer) · it rilucere (to shine with a veiled light; to gleam faintly; to glisten; to glimmer) · el τρεμοφέγγω (to shine with a veiled light; to gleam faintly; to glisten; to glimmer) · vi lung linh (to shine with a veiled light; to gleam faintly; to glisten; to glimmer) · th เปล่งประกาย (to shine with a veiled light; to gleam faintly; to glisten; to glimmer) · es cabrillear (to shine with a veiled light; to gleam faintly; to glisten; to glimmer) · ka ბჟუტავს (to shine with a veiled light; to gleam faintly; to glisten; to glimmer) · cs třpytit se (to shine with a veiled light; to gleam faintly; to glisten; to glimmer) · sv skimra (to shine with a veiled light; to gleam faintly; to glisten; to glimmer) · mk бле́ска (to shine with a veiled light; to gleam faintly; to glisten; to glimmer) · tr titrek ışık saçmak (to shine with a veiled light; to gleam faintly; to glisten; to glimmer) · es resplandecer (to shine with a veiled light; to gleam faintly; to glisten; to glimmer) · fr chatoyer (to shine with a veiled light; to gleam faintly; to glisten; to glimmer) · el λαμπυρίζω (to shine with a veiled light; to gleam faintly; to glisten; to glimmer) · es titilar (to shine with a veiled light; to gleam faintly; to glisten; to glimmer) · ka ციმციმებს (to shine with a veiled light; to gleam faintly; to glisten; to glimmer) · it luccicare (to shine with a veiled light; to gleam faintly; to glisten; to glimmer) · bg блещукам (to shine with a veiled light; to gleam faintly; to glisten; to glimmer) · ja 揺らめく (to shine with a veiled light; to gleam faintly; to glisten; to glimmer) · fi kimmeltää (to shine with a veiled light; to gleam faintly; to glisten; to glimmer)

shimmer en · NOUN · etymology 2

Pronunciation

• /ˈʃɪm.ə(ɹ)/ (UK)
• (UK) audio
• /ˈʃɪm.ɚ/ (US)

Etymology

From shim + -er.

Meanings

1. (qualifier:crime) A thin electronic device that is fit inside a card reader, such as on automated teller machines (ATMs), or point-of-sale terminals (POS's), that acts as an intermediate interface between the chip on a chip-and-pin technology card and the chip reader of the machine, to allow one to clone the chip.

Forms

Relateds

shimming · skimming · skimmer

Synonyms

shim