blur vs gleam

blur

noun
  • Something that appears hazy or indistinct 

  • A smear, smudge or blot 

verb
  • To cause imperfection of vision in; to dim; to darken. 

  • To become indistinct. 

  • To transfer the input focus away from. 

  • To smear, stain or smudge. 

  • To make indistinct or hazy, to obscure or dim. 

adj
  • In a state of doubt or confusion. 

gleam

noun
  • A bright, but intermittent or short-lived, appearance of something. 

  • An appearance of light, especially one which is indistinct or small, or short-lived. 

  • A look of joy or liveliness on one's face. 

  • An indistinct sign of something; a glimpse or hint. 

verb
  • Chiefly in conjunction with an adverb: to cause (light) to shine. 

  • To shine, especially in an indistinct or intermittent manner; to glisten, to glitter. 

  • To be strongly but briefly apparent. 

How often have the words blur and gleam occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )