shine

Etymology 1

From Middle English shinen, schinen (preterite schon, past participle schinen), from Old English scīnan (“to shine, flash; be resplendent”; preterite scān, past participle scinen), from Proto-West Germanic *skīnan (“to shine”), from Proto-Germanic *skīnaną (“to shine”).

verb

1. (intransitive, copulative) To emit or reflect light so as to glow.
   ‘No. I only opened the door a foot and put my head in. The street lamps shine into that room. I could see him. He was all right. Sleeping like a great grampus. Poor, poor chap.’ 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 20, in The China Governess
2. (intransitive, copulative) To reflect light.
3. (intransitive, copulative) To distinguish oneself; to excel.
   […] I was grateful to you for giving him a year’s schooling—where he shined at it—and for putting him as a clerk in your counting-house, where he shined still more. 1867, Frederick William Robinson, No Man's Friend, Harper & Brothers, page 91
   It prompted an exchange of substitutions as Jermain Defoe replaced Palacios and Javier Hernandez came on for Berbatov, who had failed to shine against his former club. January 15, 2011, Phil McNulty, “Tottenham 0 - 0 Man Utd”, in BBC
   My nephew tried other sports before deciding on football, which he shone at right away, quickly becoming the star of his school team.
4. (intransitive, copulative) To be effulgent in splendour or beauty.
5. (intransitive, copulative) To be eminent, conspicuous, or distinguished; to exhibit brilliant intellectual powers.
   Few are qualified to shine in company; but it in most men's power to be agreeable. c. 1713, Jonathan Swift, Thoughts on Various Subjects
6. (intransitive, copulative) To be immediately apparent.
7. (transitive) To create light with (a flashlight, lamp, torch, or similar).
   As Jenks shined the large spotlight on the water, he saw a few bubbles and four long wakes leading away from an expanding circle of blood. 2007, David Lynn Goleman, Legend: An Event Group Thriller, St. Martin’s Press, published 2008, page 318
   I shone my light into the darkness to see what was making the noise.
8. (transitive) To cause to shine, as a light or by reflected light.
   in hunting, to shine the eyes of a deer at night by throwing a light on them

noun

1. Brightness from a source of light.
2. Brightness from reflected light.
3. Excellence in quality or appearance; splendour.
4. Shoeshine.
5. Sunshine.
   be fair or foul, or rain or shine 1685, John Dryden, Sylvae
6. (slang) Moonshine; illicitly brewed alcoholic drink.
7. (cricket) The amount of shininess on a cricket ball, or on each side of the ball.
8. (slang) A liking for a person; a fancy.
   She's certainly taken a shine to you.
9. (archaic, slang) A caper; an antic; a row.

Etymology 2

From the noun shine, or perhaps continuing Middle English schinen in its causative uses, from Old English scīn (“brightness, shine”), and also Middle English schenen, from Old English scǣnan (“to render brilliant, make shine”), from Proto-Germanic *skainijaną, causative of *skīnaną (“to shine”).

verb

1. (transitive) To cause (something) to shine; put a shine on (something); polish (something).
   He shined my shoes until they were polished smooth and gleaming.
2. (transitive, cricket) To polish a cricket ball using saliva and one’s clothing.