glance
1 Americanverb (used without object)
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to look quickly or briefly.
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to gleam or flash.
a silver brooch glancing in the sunlight.
- Synonyms:
- scintillate, glisten
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to strike a surface or object obliquely, especially so as to bounce off at an angle (often followed byoff ).
The arrow glanced off his shield.
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to allude briefly to a topic or subject in passing (usually followed byat ).
verb (used with object)
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to cast a glance or brief look at; catch a glimpse of.
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to cast or reflect, as a gleam.
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to throw, hit, kick, shoot, etc. (something) so that it glances off a surface or object.
noun
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a quick or brief look.
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a gleam or flash of light, especially reflected light.
- Synonyms:
- glitter
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a deflected movement or course; an oblique rebound.
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Digital Technology. information on an electronic screen that can be understood quickly or at a glance.
Get news and weather glances on your phone.
Tap anywhere on a glance to open the app.
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Cricket. a stroke in which the batsman deflects the ball with the bat, as to leg.
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Archaic. a passing reference or allusion; insinuation.
noun
verb
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(intr) to look hastily or briefly
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(intr; foll by over, through, etc) to look over briefly
to glance through a report
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(intr) to reflect, glint, or gleam
the sun glanced on the water
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to depart (from an object struck) at an oblique angle
the arrow glanced off the tree
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(tr) to strike at an oblique angle
the arrow glanced the tree
noun
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a hasty or brief look; peep
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from one's first look; immediately
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a flash or glint of light; gleam
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the act or an instance of an object glancing or glancing off another
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a brief allusion or reference
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cricket a stroke in which the ball is deflected off the bat to the leg side; glide
noun
Usage
Glance is sometimes wrongly used where glimpse is meant: he caught a glimpse (not glance ) of her making her way through the crowd
Synonym Usage
See flash.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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glancesimple
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glancessimple
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have glancedperfect
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has glancedperfect
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are glancingprogressive
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am glancingprogressive
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is glancingprogressive
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have been glancingperfect progressive
-
has been glancingperfect progressive
Past
-
glancedsimple
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had glancedperfect
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was glancingprogressive
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were glancingprogressive
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had been glancingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of glance1
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English verb glenchen, glansen, variant (perhaps influenced by obsolete glent “to shine”) of Middle English glacen “to strike a glancing blow,” from Old French glacier “to slip, slide,” from Latin glaciāre “to freeze”; see glacé, glint
Origin of glance2
First recorded in 1795–1805; from German Glanz “brightness, luster”
Explanation
Glance involves quick contact. When you glance at someone you take a quick peek at them. When a knife blow glances off you, it doesn't penetrate, but hits at an angle. When you glance at someone, it's often because you don't want to be caught staring. Remember: "Strangers in the night/exchanging glances..." In certain circles, if someone is caught glancing at someone else's girlfriend, he'll find himself in a fist fight, praying only that his beefy opponent will deliver only a glancing blow.
Vocabulary lists containing glance
"All Summer in a Day" by Ray Bradbury
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Unit 1: Telling Details
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Beowulf vocabulary
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Paris Texas Glance at the Coachella poster and you may miss Paris Texas’ name on the second to last row, but show up to catch the band’s Sunday afternoon set.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2023
Doing the Second Glance puzzle in the magazine was a weekend exercise for me.
From Washington Post • Jan. 20, 2023
Glance at it from a distance, and you might mistake the auditorium of the Colorado Chautauqua, where this 44 year-old, five-and-a-bit week festival is based, for Wagner’s temple in Bayreuth.
From New York Times • Aug. 5, 2022
Glance will surely have competition, but it’s already a good example of where this is all headed.
From The Verge • Jul. 5, 2022
Glance back at the girls, sitting in the dark car.
From "X: A Novel" by Ilyasah Shabazz
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
