glide
to move smoothly and continuously along, as if without effort or resistance, as a flying bird, a boat, or a skater.
to pass by gradual or unobservable change (often followed by along, away, by, etc.).
to move quietly or stealthily or without being noticed (usually followed by in, out, along, etc.).
Aeronautics.
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.
to fly in a glider.
Music. to pass from one note to another without a break.
to cause to glide.
a gliding movement, as in dancing.
a dance marked by such movements.
Music. slur (def. 10a).
Phonetics.
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.
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.
a calm stretch of shallow, smoothly flowing water, as in a river.
an act or instance of gliding.
Metallurgy. slip1 (def. 49).
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.
a metal track in which a drawer, shelf, etc., moves in or out.
Origin of glide
1synonym study For glide
Other words for glide
Opposites for glide
Other words from glide
- glid·ing·ly, adverb
- un·glid·ing, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use glide in a sentence
Toomey glides around the room like a Brazilian capoeira dancer.
How Taryn Toomey’s ‘The Class’ Became New York’s Latest Fitness Craze | Lizzie Crocker | January 9, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTThis may have once been true: “Bananafish” glides across the page like a cold, chiseled iceberg.
He glides almost instantly from place to place as if unbound by mortal shackles such as gravity and momentum.
How the Oklahoma City Thunder Out-Heated the Miami Heat in Game 1 of the NBA Finals | Jesse Singal | June 13, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTLife glides on quietly and monotonously, so that I have hardly anything to tell you.
The Life & Letters of Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky | Modeste TchaikovskyThe boat glides on the black waters, carrying Don Juan and his cortge of victims.
Charles Baudelaire, His Life | Thophile Gautier
The tin glides over the greasy surface, noiselessly, smoothly, till the thick layer of filth is worn off.
Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist | Alexander BerkmanThe swing made wide circles, graceful glides as the thing explored the air currents.
Star Born | Andre NortonOh, what is that glides quickly where velvet flowers grow thickly,Their scent comes rich and sickly?
The Ontario Readers: The High School Reader, 1886 | Ministry of Education
British Dictionary definitions for glide
/ (ɡlaɪd) /
to move or cause to move easily without jerks or hesitations: to glide in a boat down the river
(intr) to pass slowly or without perceptible change: to glide into sleep
to cause (an aircraft) to come into land without engine power, or (of an aircraft) to land in this way
(intr) to fly a glider
(intr) music to execute a portamento from one note to another
(intr) phonetics to produce a glide
a smooth easy movement
any of various dances featuring gliding steps
a step in such a dance
a manoeuvre in which an aircraft makes a gentle descent without engine power: See also glide path
the act or process of gliding
music
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 (def. 5)
a portamento or slur
phonetics
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
another word for semivowel
crystallog another name for slip 1 (def. 33)
cricket another word for glance 1 (def. 11)
Origin of glide
1Derived forms of glide
- glidingly, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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