Literary notes about glim (AI summary)
The term “glim” operates in a multifaceted manner within literature, functioning both as a noun for a small light or candle and as a verb in the phrase “douse the glim,” meaning to extinguish that light. In narrative settings, its imagery enhances mood and mystery—a sudden appearance or disappearance of a glim can evoke anticipation or signal change, as when a door opens to a tantalizing glim ([1]) or a party sets out at the first glim-mer of light ([2]). In dialogue and colloquial exchanges, particularly within criminal or seafaring contexts, “glim” takes on a specialized, sometimes slang, usage as seen when characters instruct one another to douse the glim in times of stealth or danger ([3], [4]). This layering of meanings—from a literal flicker of flame to an emblem of fleeting insight or tension—demonstrates the rich versatility of the word across a range of literary voices ([5], [6], [7]).
- At one moment there was the solid wall; the next, without touch of human hands, a door would fly open, giving a tantalizing glim
— from The Puritan Twins by Lucy Fitch Perkins - As soon as there was a glim-mer of light they and a party of their friends set out.
— from Stories of Great Americans for Little Americans by Edward Eggleston - The glim was dowsed—the words were Archie's—and in the best contraband manner we stole down the gully.
— from Prester John by John Buchan - The Top Sergeant made the round of the cots, reached the door and “doused his glim.”
— from Conscript 2989: Experiences of a Drafted Man by Irving Crump - Ardent , m. (thieves’), candle , or “glim.”
— from Argot and Slang A New French and English Dictionary of the Cant Words, Quaint Expressions, Slang Terms and Flash Phrases Used in the High and Low Life of Old and New Paris by Albert Barrère - I love to rise before the sun, And see his rosy beams Shine glim'ring through the waving trees, In quiv'ring fitful gleams.
— from The Snow-Drop A Holiday Gift by Sarah S. Mower - "Well, as soon as we hear them coming in we'll douse the glim."
— from The Khaki Boys Fighting to Win; or, Smashing the German Lines by Gordon Bates
