Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

Hide Quotations Hide Etymology

Abbreviations Cite this entry

About this entry:
First published 1956 (SND Vol. IV). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

GLENT, v., n. See also Glint.

I. v., intr. Strong pa.t. ¶glant; weak pa.t. glented, -it.

1. To gleam, glint, shine, sparkle (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.; Sh.¹⁰, Cai.⁷, Slg.³, Wgt., Rxb., Uls.⁴ 1952). Also in n.Eng. dial.Sc. 1728 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) II. 139:
Phoebus well pleas'd, shines from the blew Serene, Glents on the Stream, and guilds the checquer'd Green.Edb. 1773 R. Fergusson Poems (1925) 73:
Whan flowers and gowans wont to glent In bonny blinks upo' the bent.Bch. 1804 W. Tarras Poems 6:
Or whan the simmer glant wi' nature braw . . . He aft wad trystit's a' to tak a rest.Fif. 1811 C. Gray Poems 46:
Her rays . . . glented 'mang the trees.Rxb. 1847 J. Halliday Rustic Bard 199:
'Twas but a sternie glentin' On a pool that night.Abd. 1893 G. Macdonald Songs 12:
A star-beam glents frae yer ee, Nannie.Clc. 1902 J. Christie Poems 137:
Adoon yon wimplin' siller burn, Whaur gowans glent fu' braw.m.Sc. 1991 R. Crombie Saunders in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 30:
Nor Hell wi aa its smert:
Anely your bricht een glentan
And your cauld black bitch's hert.

Comb.: †glentin stanes, “small white stones struck or rubbed against each other by children, to strike fire, which they emit accompanied with a smell resembling that of sulphur” (Dmf. 1825 Jam.).

2. (1) To move quickly, to flash (by) (Sh.¹⁰ 1954); “to pass suddenly; applied to a gleam of light, as a flash of lightning, or any thing that resembles it” (Sc. 1808 Jam.); (2) to glance, strike obliquely.(1) Edb. 1791 J. Learmont Poems 12:
A wrath did glent afore her ein, Swift as the lichtens fly.Dmf. 1817 W. Caesar Poems 150:
Aye, lass, she can flee frae them glentin'.Sc. 1819 Scott Bride of Lamm. ix.:
I could but see them glent by wi' their bridles ringing, and their feathers fluttering, like the court of Elfland.Hdg. 1887 Mod. Sc. Poets X. 334:
The lichtnin' glents zigzag.(2) Rxb. 1951 per Rxb.⁴:
The stane just glented off the side o' the wundae.

3. To take a sidelong glance; to peep; to squint (Abd. 1790 A. Shirrefs Poems, Gl.; Sh.¹⁰ 1954). Also in Eng. dial.Sc. 1787 W. Taylor Sc. Poems 176:
An' close-mou' Lasses wont to glent, As blinkin gowans o' the bent.Kcb. 1789 D. Davidson Seasons 27:
Now, through the wattled stakes wi' glentin look, He peeps upo' his prey.Rxb. 1847 J. Halliday Rustic Bard 319:
An' whyles ne'er a word he can find oot to say, For glentin' an' glimin' at Meggie M'Givelry.Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B., obsol.:
What ir ee glentin' at?

4. tr. Of the eyes: (1) to flash (fire) (Sh.¹⁰ 1954); (2) to cast (the eye) (Id.).(1) Fif. 1827 W. Tennant Papistry 154:
Ae Lollard man got ere he wist A lounder frae a Papish fist, That garr'd his een glent fire.(2) Rxb. 1830 in Border Mag. (1881) II. 126:
Glentin' . . . his restless eye roond him.

II. n. 1. (1) A gleam, a flash (of light) (Sh.¹⁰, Rxb.⁵ 1954). Also in n.Eng. dial.Sc. 1728 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) II. 148:
Unlockt the Barn, clam up the Mou, Where was an Opening near the Hou, Throw whilk he saw a Glent of Light.Wgt. 1877 G. Fraser Sketches 209:
'Twas an eerie nicht, an' the storm-cluds lower'd An, the lichtnin's glent was keen.Abd. 1910 Abd. Jnl. N. & Q. III. 26:
An' glents wad be gleamin' an flichterin' around.Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.:
The glent o' siller.m.Sc. 1991 Tony McManus in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 154:
Rise quick in the gowden mid-day sun,
The reid glent in my dochter's wund-flaucht hair?
An frae whit marvellous, ayebidin sea

Hence glentie, adj., glistening (Rxb. 1942 Zai).

(2) fig. in phr. in a glent, in a flash, in a moment (Sh.¹⁰ 1954).Abd. p.1768 A. Ross Works (S.T.S.) 202:
Out thro' the trees she scours wi' a' her might, An' in a glent she's safe an' out o' sight.Per. 1802 S. Kerr Poems 24:
I wisht them a' ayont Dumblane, For in a glent, baith chiels war gane.Kcb. 1848 J. Hughan Poems 13:
Behind their han' just in a glent.

2. (1) A look, a glance (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.; Sh., Dmf., Slk. 1954); (2) a glimpse, a transient view (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Bwk. 1942 Wettstein; Sh., Wgt., Rxb., Slk. 1954). Common in Eng. dial.(1) Gall. 1796 J. Lauderdale Poems 21:
. . . ne'er a cuif Durst cast his eye, to gie a glent Up to the roof.s.Sc. 1834 Wilson's Tales of the Borders I. 17:
While Peter . . . giving a scowling glent at the stammerer, would give a sort of significant nod to his fist.Abd. 1871 W. Alexander Johnny Gibb xlvi.:
Peter gya a kin' o' a skair't glent.Dmf. 1915 J. L. Waugh Betty Grier 145:
A' I was conscious o' was the kindly glent o' twae big dark een.Sc. 1928 J. G. Horne Lan'wart Loon 18:
He wusht for warlock wings to flee, Cuist ae last glent athort the sea.(2) Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.:
A got a glent o'd.

3. A glancing blow, a slap (Dmf. 1954).Dmf. 1825 Jam.:
I'll tak ye a glent below the haffets.Gall. 1912 Trans. Dmf. & Gall. Antiq. Soc. 291:
A glent on the chafts.