gleam vs scintillate

gleam

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

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

  • To be strongly but briefly apparent. 

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. 

scintillate

verb
  • To give off sparks; to shine as if emanating sparks; to twinkle or glow. 

  • Of a star or other celestial body: to vary rapidly in brightness; to twinkle. 

  • Especially of a phosphor: to emit a flash of light upon absorbing ionizing radiation. 

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