glissade

American  

[gli-sahd, -sayd] / glɪˈsɑd, -ˈseɪd /

noun

1. a skillful glide over snow or ice in descending a mountain, as on skis or a toboggan.

2. Dance. a sliding or gliding step.

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verb (used without object)

glissaded, glissading

1. to perform a glissade.

glissade British  

/ ɡlɪˈsɑːd, -ˈseɪd /

noun

1. a gliding step in ballet, in which one foot slides forwards, sideways, or backwards

2. a controlled slide down a snow slope

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verb

1. (intr) to perform a glissade

Other Word Forms

• glissader
  noun

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Etymology

Origin of glissade

1830–40; < French, equivalent to gliss ( er ) to slip, slide + -ade -ade ¹

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

glissade glissaded glissading

But the body found Monday was a bit south of the spot where hikers typically glissade — on a steep, icy section of trail known as the 99 Switchbacks, according to Stine.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 15, 2025

From hiking a few miles to learning how to use an ice ax and glissade down a mountain, we trained and grew stronger together to ultimately reach the summit.

From Seattle Times ● May 20, 2022

She went to see Lauren Anderson — one of the first black ballerinas to become a principal dancer in a major company — glissade across the stage at the Houston Ballet.

From New York Times ● Oct. 15, 2018

You reverse what you tried for going up and aim for the sandiest places in order to glissade down.

From Slate ● Oct. 22, 2014

Still, the glissade was one of Nancy's favorite steps.

From "The Cinderella Ballet Mystery: Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew, #4" by Carolyn Keene

But as I glissaded down the slope, it seemed to me also that a part of him might be pleased by our gesture, simply as an indication that his books had gotten read.

From Slate ● Oct. 22, 2014

We sat down and glissaded in the dark with only the vaguest idea where we should end.

From Running Water by A. E. W. (Alfred Edward Woodley) Mason

The Cornet-Major of the B.S.R. glissaded into the trench and found himself shaking hands with a very young subaltern of the ——th ——s.

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 147, December 30, 1914 by Sir Owen Seaman

Notwithstanding this, they had boldly glissaded down the Couloir du Lion, J. J. Carrel having his shoeless foot tied up in a pocket handkerchief.

From The Ascent of the Matterhorn by Edward Whymper

Then slipping, feet foremost off the ledge, he glissaded down on his back, bending his knees at the exact moment when his feet thudded heavily on to the sand.

From The Mistress of Shenstone by Florence L. (Florence Louisa) Barclay

At about 7 a.m., around 300 dancers — boys and girls, men and women — took turns glissading across the concrete at 44th Street and Seventh Avenue, which was transformed into a scene from “Fame.”

From New York Times ● Aug. 26, 2019

Now they can, on a U.S. tour with the Ice Capades, which features the pair glissading and grinning all the way.

From Time Magazine Archive

They roll out a cake for the dancing duos, who pucker up and blow out the candles before glissading into a waltz.

From Time Magazine Archive

Here her delight in the exhilarating exercise of glissading landed her in a danger which, but for the presence of mind of Mr. Snepp, must have ended fatally to herself and one of the guides.

From Excellent Women by Various

A dark speck had suddenly detached itself from the ball upon which the vane stood, and could now be seen glissading with horrible swiftness down the slope of the spire.

From King John of Jingalo The Story of a Monarch in Difficulties by Laurence Housman

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