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

"Jian and the other microraptors probably weren't capable of true, powered flight, but they could probably glide like a flying squirrel," says O'Connor.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 23, 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

Built around a small lake, the park offers plenty of places to sit, eat and watch the ducks glide by.

From Salon ● Jun. 11, 2026

“A consensus 80,000 print with unemployment at 4.3% says slow glide, not stall,” First Citizens Bank’s Phil Neuhart said in a note.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026

The hands glide to indicate the proper time, the planetary alignments set themselves in order.

From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern

Maxine glides along, bathed in gratitude, making assured artistic decisions and certain that she is on the precipice of something that will change her life forever.

From Salon ● Jun. 29, 2026

It glides by smoothly, and Ms. Mann’s lilting, melancholy songs are hypnotically lovely, but the characters’ anguish and psychological distress are only faintly sketched in.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026

"The way he carries the ball and he glides past players. Often he offloads it at the right time. His vision and understanding of the game is phenomenal for someone so young."

From BBC ● Mar. 7, 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

At the door, now, is a woman in a purple satin dress with cascading brown hair, elegantly nonchalant, waving at the porter with a bejeweled hand as she glides into the foyer.

From "Orphan Train" by Christina Baker Kline

Kudos to Styles who managed to mostly keep his composure as Hernández glided around him.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 15, 2026

In a sparkly gold dress, the 20-year-old floated above the pressure, bopped along to the music of Donna Summer and glided her way to stardom—and the top of the podium.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 23, 2026

The USA glided into the final of the women's ice hockey tournament at the Winter Olympics with a 5-0 win against Sweden on Monday.

From Barron's ● Feb. 16, 2026

Masterful France captain Dupont again glided through the Welsh defence but centre Brau-Boirie lost possession with the try-line beckoning.

From BBC ● Feb. 15, 2026

Renata kicked with her fins and glided toward it.

From "Wolfie & Fly" by Cary Fagan

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

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026

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

From Science Daily ● Jun. 23, 2026

The lively Gregoire Arfeuil followed soon after, gliding onto Yoram Moefana's neat inside ball to give France a 14-5 lead.

From BBC ● Jun. 19, 2026

Those kind of scenes come once in never, where you feel like you’re letting the character drive, and you’re just gliding behind it.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 13, 2026

It looks like the trio of mallards is gliding through painted water.

From "The Sky at Our Feet" by Nadia Hashimi

Related Words

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