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# twinkle

«twinkle» in Mova's school dictionary: **to shine with a light that flickers, getting brighter and…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

verb (twinkle, twinkles, twinkled, twinkling); noun (a twinkle)

### meaning for a pupil

1) To twinkle is to shine with a light that flickers, getting brighter and dimmer quickly, as stars do. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/twinkle/#m1)

2) If someone's eyes twinkle, they look bright and happy, often because the person is amused. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/twinkle/#m2)

3) A twinkle is a small flickering light, or a happy, cheeky look in the eyes. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/twinkle/#m3)

4) «In the twinkling of an eye» means very quickly. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/twinkle/#m4)

### sense in the lessons

In science lessons stars twinkle because their light is bent by moving air in the atmosphere; planets twinkle much less, which helps you tell them apart. In music, children learn «Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star». In stories «a twinkle in his eye» shows kindness, fun or a secret joke. Phrases: «a twinkle in your eye», «twinkle like stars», «in the twinkling of an eye».

### examples

- The stars twinkle in the night sky. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/twinkle/#x1)
- The fairy lights twinkled on the tree. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/twinkle/#x2)
- Grandpa's eyes twinkled when he told the joke. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/twinkle/#x3)
- Planets don't twinkle as much as stars. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/twinkle/#x4)
- We sang «Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/twinkle/#x5)
- The lights of the town twinkled below the hill. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/twinkle/#x6)
- In the twinkling of an eye, the cake was gone. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/twinkle/#x7)
- The king smiled, and his eyes twinkled. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/twinkle/#x8)

### note

Past: twinkled. Adjective/noun: twinkling. Trap: stars do not really switch on and off; the twinkling happens in Earth's air.

### In the corpora

- [The Hatter mumbles about «the twinkling of the tea»; the King says «Of course twinkling begins with a T!](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/22-alice-who-stole-the-tarts-2/19/)
- [In a hole in the opposite bank something twinkles: an eye, then a whiskered brown face.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/25-willows-ch1-part1-the-mole-meets-the-river/6/)
- [But the Rat thinks he sees a twinkle in Toad's sorrowful eye.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/46-willows-ch6-part2-not-sorry-and-locked-up/3/)
- [Something small and bright twinkles inside it, and a face grows round it: brown and small, with whiskers.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/64-willows-ch10-part4-into-the-horse-pond/14/)
- [Twinkling eyes mean fun and mischief, so she is probably hiding a present.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/18-inference-reading-between-the-lines/8/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «twinkle» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/twinkle/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.