glowing

Pluralglowings

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of glow.

   The coals were still glowing when we woke up the next morning.

   The proud parents were glowing as their daughter crossed the stage.

   Note

   The -ing form of glow carries both its literal and its emotional senses. After be it builds progressive tenses (her cheeks were glowing after the run), and at the head of a phrase it describes the subject (Glowing with pride, she took a bow). Placed before a noun it becomes an adjective, and there it can mean full of praise, as in a glowing review, where praise, not light, is the point.

2. 2
   adjective

   Giving off a steady glow of light or heat.

   We roasted marshmallows over the glowing coals of the campfire.

   A glowing trail of plankton followed the boat through the dark water.

   Similarincandescent, luminous, radiant, red-hot

3. 3
   adjectivefiguratively

   Full of praise, especially of a review, report or reference.

   The coach spoke in glowing terms about his rookie quarterback.

   Of all the reports on the project, the inspector's was the most glowing.

   Similarenthusiastic, admiring, complimentary, flattering

   Oppositedamning, critical, scathing, unfavorable

   Note

   The figurative sense turns warmth into words, and it keeps close company with a few nouns: glowing references, a glowing review, and the set phrase in glowing terms. It grades freely, so one report can be more glowing than another, and a reference can be the most glowing a manager has ever written.

4. 4
   nouncountable or uncountable

   The act or process of giving off a glow.

   A faint glowing in the east told the hikers that dawn was near.

   The steady glowing of the furnace filled the workshop with heat.

   Similarradiance, shining, gleam

   Note

   As a noun it can be counted, and the plural names separate bursts of heat or light rather than one steady shine. Robert Jackson's A Treatise on the Fevers of Jamaica (1791) describes "glowings of heat" felt between the shivering fits of a fever, glowings that "grew gradually stronger."

Showing meanings only. Show all 4