Princeton's WordNet(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition: 1  shimmer, play(verb) a weak and tremulous light. 2  shimmer(verb) shine with a weak or fitful light. 3  shimmer(verb) give off a shimmering reflection, as of silk.
Cats, like humans, have both rods and cones in the retina. Rods are the receptors that the eye uses for night time viewing and sudden movement. Cones are used during the daytime, and process color information. Cats have more rods than cones, as compared with humans, making cat night vision superior to humans.
Howeveâ¦r, they are not sensitive to color. The 6 to 7 million cones provide the eye's color sensitivity and they are much more concentrated in the central yellow spot known as the macula. In the center of that region is the  fovea centralis , a 0.3 mm diameter rod-free area with very thin, densely packed cones.