glide

American  

[glahyd] / glaɪd /

verb (used without object)

• glides,
  present (3rd person singular)
• glided,
  past participle,  past
• gliding
  present participle

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)

• glides,
  present (3rd person singular)
• glided,
  past participle,  past
• gliding
  present participle

1. to cause to glide.

noun

• glides
  plural

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.

Synonym Usage

See slide.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• ungliding
  adjective
• glidingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• glides
  plural

Participles

• gliding
  present
• glided
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• glide
  simple
• glides
  simple
• have glided
  perfect
• has glided
  perfect
• am gliding
  progressive
• are gliding
  progressive
• is gliding
  progressive
• have been gliding
  perfect progressive
• has been gliding
  perfect progressive

Past

• glided
  simple
• had glided
  perfect
• was gliding
  progressive
• were gliding
  progressive
• had been gliding
  perfect progressive

Future

• will glide
  simple
• will have glided
  perfect
• will be gliding
  progressive
• will have been gliding
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of glide

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

Explanation

To glide is to sail or skate with ease across a surface. Your favorite thing about winter might be watching the skaters in the park glide silently on the ice-covered lake. A sled glides down a snowy hill, and a kayak glides across a silvery pond. Another way to glide is to soar in the air: your paper airplane, if you make it the right way, will glide all the way across the room, and a hawk can glide through the sky without seeming to move its wings. A different kind of glide is linguistic, a sound that's pronounced like a vowel but functions as a consonant.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

glide glides glided gliding

Sinner, meanwhile, will glide back slowly to Cincy, taking time off following an impressive victory at Wimbledon.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

Tech scion David Ellison for months projected confidence that his blockbuster Hollywood merger was on a glide path to completion.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026

"This sport is indescribable. When you catch a wave, ride it, glide along it, that feeling can't be put into words," said 23-year-old Tahseen Abu Assi, who learned how to surf from his father.

From Barron's ● Jun. 22, 2026

"He can glide across the pitch with elegance. He's such an athlete," he said.

From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2026

They glide through the silkiness in one smooth, napless sweep.

From "Like Vanessa" by Tami Charles

Where her music was once jittery, now it glides.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 21, 2026

Nothing seems to ruffle his fur as this political veteran glides from crisis to crisis with feline calm, and the lick of a paw.

From Barron's ● Feb. 15, 2026

The movie glides by so unassumingly, you may be stunned how moved you are by the end.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 24, 2025

From the first moments she glides across the frame, Paltrow is pulling focus.

From Salon ● Dec. 22, 2025

She glides as easy as a hand on the surface of water.

From "X: A Novel" by Ilyasah Shabazz

For nearly 25 years, GoPro cameras have gone underwater, glided with parachutes and slipped down ski slopes, allowing the adventurous to record images of their experiences.

From Barron's ● Jun. 11, 2026

“You are all set to go,” a U.S. military officer radioed as the ship glided through the Strait of Hormuz on Monday and swung around the peninsula at the northern end of Oman.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 8, 2026

Their analysis of fossil jaws suggests giant octopuses glided through the oceans equipped with the ability to chew on the hard shells and skeletons of large fish and marine reptiles.

From BBC ● Apr. 23, 2026

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

From Salon ● Feb. 6, 2026

She sat on it, pushed a button, and it glided up and down the stairs.

From "The Old Willis Place" by Mary Downing Hahn

Increasingly, the journey starts with a squat silver floor robot gliding beneath a storage rack, lifting a shelf and carrying it across a warehouse to a waiting worker.

From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026

It’s gliding along the water, occasionally changing direction or ruffling its feathers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026

She hasn’t dropped a set in three matches, gliding into the fourth round and looking more and more like the favorite in her quarter.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 4, 2026

Rather than flying like modern birds, these dinosaurs were probably adapted for gliding.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 23, 2026

The riverbanks were lush with shrubs and trees, rising and meeting above the water in a canopy it reflected like a mirror, so it felt like we were gliding inside a tunnel of green.

From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo

Related Words

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