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glide

[glahyd]
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verb (used without object), glid·ed, glid·ing.
  1. to move smoothly and continuously along, as if without effort or resistance, as a flying bird, a boat, or a skater.
  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), glid·ed, glid·ing.
  1. to cause to glide.
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noun
  1. a gliding movement, as in dancing.
  2. a dance marked by such movements.
  3. Music. slur(def 10a).
  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. slip1(def 49).
  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.
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Origin of glide

before 900; Middle English gliden (v.), Old English glīdan; cognate with German gleiten
Related formsglid·ing·ly, adverbun·glid·ing, adjective

Synonyms

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1. flow. See slide.

Antonyms

1. stick.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

flysailslitherflitfloatdriftspiralwaftslideskateskimdescendslipskipsoarshootdeclinerunstreamwing

Examples from the Web for gliding

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • The line extends from the drum to the flying or gliding machine.

    Flying Machines

    W.J. Jackman and Thos. H. Russell

  • In her sleep she had seen it gliding among the pale heather-blossoms on her curtains.

    The Dream

    Emile Zola

  • As in a dream I heard her cry of recognition, and knew that she was gliding toward me.

    In the Valley

    Harold Frederic

  • Lucy Ann could almost hear the gliding of his rhythmic feet.

    Tiverton Tales

    Alice Brown

  • But when I came to cross the road no crouching or gliding would do.

    The Cavalier

    George Washington Cable

British Dictionary definitions for gliding

gliding

noun
  1. the sport of flying in a glider
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glide

verb
  1. to move or cause to move easily without jerks or hesitationsto glide in a boat down the river
  2. (intr) to pass slowly or without perceptible changeto 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
    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 powerSee 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 seriesSee also valve (def. 5)
    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 (def. 33)
  8. cricket another word for glance 1 (def. 11)
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Derived Formsglidingly, adverb

Word Origin

Old English glīdan; related to Old High German glītan
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

Word Origin and History for gliding

glide

v.

Old English glidan "move along smoothly and easily, glide, slip, slide" (class I strong verb, past tense glad, past participle gliden), from West Germanic *glidan "to glide" (cf. Old Saxon glidan, Old Frisian glida, German gleiten). Related: Glided; gliding. Strong past tense form glid persisted into 20c. The noun is attested 1580s, from the verb.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper