Something that is as yet no more than an idea or dream.
‘the scheme is only a gleam in the developer's eye’
‘Her smile was so fake and there was a gleam in her eye, a gleam of hatred as she dragged out every word painfully.’
‘‘Good idea,’ said the Colonel with a twinkle in his eye.’
‘I just had an idea! ‘he said, with a gleam in his eye that made me nervous.’’
‘He would approach the podium and take on a demeanor of sheer delight at the opportunity to speak to others about his ideas, and then, with a gleam in his eye, he would craft these amazing sentences.’
‘If the contrast gets too disturbing, there's no need to despair, because the locals are always on hand with a pitcher of something noxious and a twinkle in their eye.’
‘Long before Dame Berwick was a twinkle in Mother Kaler 's eye, men have dressed up as women for entertainment, and vice versa.’
‘Red was looking at him, and John swore there was a twinkle in Red 's eye.’
‘There's a twinkle in Hartley 's eye as he is reminded of that.’
‘Forty years ago, with only two channels available, no one had heard of attention deficit disorder; remote-controls weren't even a twinkle in a boffin 's eye so no one knew about repetitive strain injury either.’
‘How to teach youngsters the facts of life has presented problems ever since those famous birds and bees were just a twinkle in someone's eye.’
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