glide

American  

[glahyd] / glaɪd /

verb (used without object)

glided, gliding

1. to move smoothly and continuously along, as if without effort or resistance, as a flying bird, a boat, or a skater.

   Synonyms:

   flow

   Antonyms:

   stick

2. to pass by gradual or unobservable change (often followed by along, away, by, etc.).

3. to move quietly or stealthily or without being noticed (usually followed by in, out, along, etc.).

4. Aeronautics.

   1. to move in the air, especially at an easy angle downward, with less engine power than for level flight, solely by the action of air currents and gravity, or by momentum already acquired.

   2. to fly in a glider.

5. Music. to pass from one note to another without a break.

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verb (used with object)

glided, gliding

1. to cause to glide.

noun

1. a gliding movement, as in dancing.

2. a dance marked by such movements.

3. Music. slur.

4. Phonetics.

   1. a speech sound having the characteristics of both a consonant and a vowel, especially w in wore and y in your, and, in some analyses, r in road and l in load; semivowel.

   2. a transitional sound heard during the articulation linking two phonemically contiguous sounds, as the y- sound often heard between the i and e of quiet.

5. a calm stretch of shallow, smoothly flowing water, as in a river.

6. an act or instance of gliding.

7. Metallurgy. slip.

8. a smooth metal plate, as on the bottom of the feet of a chair or table, to facilitate moving and to prevent scarring of floor surfaces.

9. a metal track in which a drawer, shelf, etc., moves in or out.

glide British  

/ ɡlaɪd /

verb

1. to move or cause to move easily without jerks or hesitations

   to glide in a boat down the river

2. (intr) to pass slowly or without perceptible change

   to glide into sleep

3. to cause (an aircraft) to come into land without engine power, or (of an aircraft) to land in this way

4. (intr) to fly a glider

5. (intr) music to execute a portamento from one note to another

6. (intr) phonetics to produce a glide

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noun

1. a smooth easy movement

2. 1. any of various dances featuring gliding steps

   2. a step in such a dance

3. a manoeuvre in which an aircraft makes a gentle descent without engine power See also glide path

4. the act or process of gliding

5. music

   1. a long portion of tubing slipped in and out of a trombone to increase its length for the production of lower harmonic series See also valve

   2. a portamento or slur

6. phonetics

   1. a transitional sound as the speech organs pass from the articulatory position of one speech sound to that of the next, as the ( w ) sound in some pronunciations of the word doing

   2. another word for semivowel

7. crystallog another name for slip 1

8. cricket another word for glance 1

Usage

What does glide mean? To glide is to move smoothly along without effort, as in Ana loved the feeling of just gliding along the ice in her new ice skates.Glide means to move along water or air with little to no effort, as a boat might do in the water.Glide can be used figuratively to mean to proceed through life with little care or effort. People who glide through situations appear to have done nothing to get through, although they may have done something unseen or someone may have done something for them.To glide also means to move quietly or without being noticed, as in Carlos tried to glide by the teacher on duty, but they saw him and told him to go back to class.As a noun, glide refers to a gliding movement, as in dancing.Example: Once you reach the top of the hill, you can just glide all the way down.

Related Words

See slide.

Other Word Forms

• glidingly adverb
• ungliding adjective

Etymology

Origin of glide

First recorded before 900; Middle English gliden (verb), Old English glīdan; cognate with German gleiten

Example Sentences

Mouths went silent while the president glided on to other questions.

From Salon

Skating to Laufey’s “Promise,” a haunting piano ballad, Liu glided through a flawless short program that she said nearly moved her to tears.

From Los Angeles Times

I was drifting farther and farther away, like I was gliding up to heaven.

From Literature

They glided on in silence, the water shimmering green around the boat, till the village was out of sight.

From Literature

And the closing “Sonora” is a spirited epic with a gliding beat and a modal jam that sounds like the instrumental coda from the Who’s “Baba O’Riley” played by an early iteration of Kraftwerk.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• descend
• drift
• flit
• float
• fly
• sail
• skate
• skim
• skip
• slide
• slip
• slither
• soar
• spiral
• waft