glimpse
Americannoun
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a very brief, passing look, sight, or view.
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a momentary or slight appearance.
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a vague idea; inkling.
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Archaic. a gleam, as of light.
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
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to look briefly; glance (usually followed byat ).
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Archaic. to come into view; appear faintly.
noun
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a brief or incomplete view
to catch a glimpse of the sea
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a vague indication
he had a glimpse of what the lecturer meant
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archaic a glimmer of light
verb
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(tr) to catch sight of briefly or momentarily
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to look (at) briefly or cursorily; glance (at)
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archaic (intr) to shine faintly; glimmer
Usage
Glimpse is sometimes wrongly used where glance is meant: he gave a quick glance (not glimpse ) at his watch
Other Word Forms
- glimpser noun
- unglimpsed adjective
Etymology
Origin of glimpse
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English glimsen (verb); cognate with Middle High German glimsen “to glow”; akin to glimmer
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
For a glimpse of how much higher energy prices could still soar, look beyond the prices Wall Street analysts normally track for West Texas Intermediate in the U.S. and Brent in Europe.
What the BBC is hearing from Iran is a glimpse into the country that remains largely cut off from the world as a result of a government-imposed internet outage.
From BBC
If nothing else, it provided a glimpse into the market’s playbook for the end of the war—whenever that comes about.
From Barron's
Job seekers often have little more to guide them than word-of-mouth, social-media chatter and websites offering glimpses of pay and benefits.
That work offers a glimpse into what the future of business software could hold—one in which AI agents replace much of the software’s functionality.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
