glimpse
[glimps]
- a very brief, passing look, sight, or view.
- a momentary or slight appearance.
- a vague idea; inkling.
- Archaic. a gleam, as of light.
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- to catch or take a glimpse of.
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- to look briefly; glance (usually followed by at).
- Archaic. to come into view; appear faintly.
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Origin of glimpse
1350–1400; Middle English glimsen (v.); cognate with Middle High German glimsen to glow; akin to glimmer
Synonyms
See more synonyms for glimpse on Thesaurus.com5. spot, spy, view, sight, espy.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for glimpse
Contemporary Examples
The tumult was such that young Sarah had cause to worry that she might not get even a glimpse of Will and Kate.
On the back cover of the first paperback edition we get a glimpse of the media buzz.
When he gets his hands on a Canon copier, the reader gets a glimpse into the unique fashion in which his mind works.
It is a glimpse at life exactly as it was at 3:32 am on April 6, 2009 when the earthquake stopped time.
Madonna, Carla Bruni & Obama Abandoned Pledges To Rebuild L'Aquila After The QuakeBarbie Latza Nadeau
November 18, 2014
That tells us not just the story of other star systems, but offers a glimpse into our own deep history, the one we can never see.
Historical Examples
I catch a glimpse of the grandness of your sister's meaning.
Ester Ried Yet SpeakingIsabella Alden
I'll burn my copy before I will let you have a glimpse of it.
In the Midst of AlarmsRobert Barr
Yet how imperfect a glimpse do we obtain of him, through the medium of this, or any of his letters!
A Book of AutographsNathaniel Hawthorne
I thought I had a glimpse of something behind that thick bush.
The Gorgon's HeadNathaniel Hawthorne
At the first glimpse of the terrible head of Medusa, they whitened into marble!
The Gorgon's HeadNathaniel Hawthorne
glimpse
- a brief or incomplete viewto catch a glimpse of the sea
- a vague indicationhe had a glimpse of what the lecturer meant
- archaic a glimmer of light
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- (tr) to catch sight of briefly or momentarily
- (intr usually foll by at) mainly US to look (at) briefly or cursorily; glance (at)
- (intr) archaic to shine faintly; glimmer
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Word Origin
C14: of Germanic origin; compare Middle High German glimsen to glimmer
usage
Glimpse is sometimes wrongly used where glance is meant: he gave a quick glance (not glimpse) at his watch
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 glimpse
v.
c.1400, "to glisten, be dazzling," probably from Old English *glimsian "shine faintly," from Proto-Germanic *glim- (see gleam). If so, the intrusive -p- would be there to ease pronunciation. Sense of "catch a quick view" first recorded mid-15c. Related: Glimpsed. The noun is recorded from mid-16c.; earlier in verbal noun glimpsing (mid-14c.).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper