glow

verb

1. (intransitive)To emit heat and light without a flame.

   “Iron glows red hot when heated to near its melting point.”

2. (intransitive)Of a fire: to emit heat and light.

   “The fire was still glowing after ten hours.”

   “The mettled Steeds, vvhen from their Noſtrils flovvs / The ſcorching Fire, that in their Entrails glovvs.”

   “To-night will I pure Magian be, / Hymns to thy [a fire's] sole honor raising, / While thou leapest fast and faster, / Wild with self-delighted glee, / Or sink'st low and glowest faintly / As an aureole still and saintly, / Keeping cadence to my praising / Thee! still thee! and only thee!”

   “The Sun, how it gloweth, all day gloweth down, / On the gray of thy turrets, O wonderful town!”

3. (intransitive)To emit light brightly and steadily as if heated to a high temperature; to shine.

   “[N]ovv glovv'd the Firmament / VVith living Saphirs: […]”

   “The Temple ſhakes, the ſounding Gates unfold, / VVide Vaults appear, and Roofs of fretted Gold: / […] / Of bright, tranſparent Beryl vvere the VValls, / The Freezes Gold, and Gold the Capitals: / As Heaven vvith Stars, the Roof vvith Jevvels glovvs, / And ever living Lamps depend in Rovvs.”

4. (intransitive)To be very hot; also, to be on fire; to burn.

   “[T]he torrid Zone / Glovvs vvith the paſſing and repaſſing Sun.”

   “Firſt vvith nice eye emerging Naiads cull / From leathery pods the vegetable vvool [cotton]; / VVith vviry teeth revolving cards releaſe / The tangled knots, and ſmooth the ravell'd fleece; / […] / Then fly the ſpoles, the rapid axles glovv, / And ſlovvly circumvolves the labouring vvheel belovv.”

   “[N]ow, evermore, till thy long race is run, mine eyes shall glow into thy brain, and mine arms shall clasp thee, when thou wouldst take the wings of the Morning, and flee from the embrace of Night!”

5. (figuratively, intransitive)Of a colour: to be bright; also, of a thing: to have a bright colour.

   “The new baby’s room glows with bright, loving colours.”

   “To vvhom the Angel vvith a ſmile that glovv'd / Celeſtial roſie red, Loves proper hue, / Anſvver'd.”

   “Vice dvvells in Palaces, is Richly Dreſt, / There glovvs in Scarlet, and the Tyrian Veſt.”

   “[T]he fair Fruit that on yon' Branches glovvs / VVith that ripe red th' Autumnal Sun beſtovvs, […]”

   “As ſhines the lily thro' the cryſtal mild; / Or as the roſe amid the morning devv, / Freſh from Aurora’s hand, more ſvveetly glovvs.”

6. (figuratively, intransitive)Of a person: to display intense emotion.

   “The zealots glowed with religious fervor.”

   “You are glowing from happiness!”

   “A fire vvhich every vvindy paſſion blovvs; / VVith pride it mounts, and vvith revenge it glovvs.”

   “But vvhile vvith fierceſt Ire Bellona glovvs, / And Europe rather Hopes than Fears Her Fate: / VVhile Britain preſes Her afflicted Foes: / VVhat Horror damps the Strong, and quells the Great?”

   “Is it for him theſe Tears are taught to flovv, / For him theſe Sorrovvs? for my mortal Foe? / A gen'rous Friendſhip no cold Medium knovvs, / Burns vvith one Love, vvith one Reſentment glovvs; […]”

7. (figuratively, intransitive)Of a person's body or a part of it: to feel hot and often to flush (“become suffused with a reddish colour”) as well, due to an emotional response, exertion, etc.

   “After their workout, the gymnasts’ faces were glowing.”

   “Moreover, is not this an opinion generally received, That vvhen our ears do glovv and tingle, ſome there be that in our abſence doe talke of us?”

   “Did not he lead you through the Mid-day Sun, / And Clouds of Duſt? Did not his Temples glovv / In the ſame ſultry VVinds, and ſcorching Heats?”

   “She glovvs vvith Bluſhes, and ſhe hangs her Head.”

   “VVilliam, vvho high upon the yard [of a ship], / Rock'd vvith the billovv to and fro, / […] / The cord ſlides ſvviftly through his glovving hands, / And, (quick as lightning,) on the deck he ſtands.”

8. (Internet, US, figuratively, intransitive)To be involved in an (chiefly online) undercover sting operation, especially by American federal agencies.

   “If this post glows any brighter I'm going to need sunglasses. 😄🕶👌”

9. (Internet, US, figuratively, intransitive)To create a threatening online post that may involve violence, and look suspicious enough to attract a police investigation.
10. (archaic, obsolete, transitive)To emit (flame).

    “Shall Pagan Pages glovv celeſtial Flame, / And Chriſtian, languiſh?”

11. (Internet, figuratively, transitive)To expose (someone) to the authorities.
12. (obsolete, transitive)To make (something) hot; to heat.

    “On each ſide her, / Stood pretty Dimpled Boyes, like ſmiling Cupids, / VVith diuers coulour'd Fannes vvhoſe vvinde did ſeeme / To gloue the delicate cheekes vvhich they did coole, / And vvhat they vndid did.”

13. (dialectal, intransitive)To look intently; to stare.

    “Borgnoyer. To vvant an eye; to looke, or ſee but vvith one eye; […] alſo, to glovv, glote, or loure.”

    “[A] thouſand frantick Spirits / Peep'd from the VVatry brink, and glovv'd upon me.”

    “Then he glowed on me / With all his face and eyes.”

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)A state of heat and light being emitted by a hot object.

   “The struggling spark of good within, / Just smother'd in the strife of sin, / They quicken to a timely glow, / The pure flame spreading high and low.”

   “My garden is the cloven rock, / And my manure the snow; / And drifting sand-heaps feed my stock, / In summer's scorching glow.”

   “The door of the twins' room opposite was open; a twenty-watt night-light threw a weak yellow glow into the passageway. David could hear the twins breathing in time with each other.”

2. (countable, uncountable)A state of heat being emitted by a person or an animal's body.

   “He had so heated himself with rapid walking in the fog and frost, this nephew of Scrooge's, that he was all in a glow; his face was ruddy and handsome; his eyes sparkled, and his breath smoked again.”

   “["]You must be frozen." / "Well, Lizzie, I ain't of a glow; that's certain. And my hands seemed nailed through to the sculls. See how dead they are!"”

3. (countable, uncountable)A state of light being emitted by something (for example, a bioluminescent animal or fungus, or a mineral) which is not hot; luminescence.

   “So if you find yourself regularly up late at night, basking in the TV's glow, you might be doing more than just depriving yourself of sleep.”

4. (countable, figuratively, uncountable)A state of brightness or warmth of colour; specifically, a reddish colour on a person's face indicating health or youth; a flush.

   “He had a bright red glow on his face.”

   “If you vvill ſee a pageant truely plaid / Betvveene the pale complexion of true Loue, / And the red glovve of ſcorne and provvd diſdaine, / Goe hence a little, and I ſhall conduct you / If you vvill marke it.”

   “As ſhines the lily thro' the cryſtal mild; / Or as the roſe amid the morning-devv / Puts on a vvarmer glovv.”

   “[T]he roſes on thoſe cheeks are ſhaded vvith a ſort of velvet dovvn, that gives a delicacy to the glovv of health.”

   “The Moon is in her summer glow, / But hoarse and high the breezes blow, / And, racking o'er her face, the cloud / Varies the tincture of her shroud; […]”

5. (countable, figuratively, uncountable)A condition of being passionate or having warm feelings; an ardour.

   “There's not a joy the world can give like that it takes away, / When the glow of early thought declines in feeling's dull decay; […]”

   “[…] Romola felt herself surrounded and possessed by the glow of his passionate faith.”

   “"And you come, brother," said Mr. Wegg, in a hospitable glow, "you come like I don't know what—exactly like it—I shouldn't know you from it—shedding a halo all around you."”