glide

American  

[glahyd] / glaɪd /

verb (used without object)

• glides,
  present (3rd person singular)
• glided,
  past participle,  past
• gliding
  present participle

1. to move smoothly and continuously along, as if without effort or resistance, as a flying bird, a boat, or a skater.

   Synonyms:

   flow

   Antonyms:

   stick

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)

• glides,
  present (3rd person singular)
• glided,
  past participle,  past
• gliding
  present participle

1. to cause to glide.

noun

• glides
  plural

1. a gliding movement, as in dancing.

2. a dance marked by such movements.

3. Music. slur.

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. slip.

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.

glide British  

/ ɡlaɪd /

verb

1. to move or cause to move easily without jerks or hesitations

   to glide in a boat down the river

2. (intr) to pass slowly or without perceptible change

   to 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

2. 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 power See 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 series See also valve

   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

8. cricket another word for glance 1

Usage

What does glide mean? To glide is to move smoothly along without effort, as in Ana loved the feeling of just gliding along the ice in her new ice skates. Glide means to move along water or air with little to no effort, as a boat might do in the water. Glide can be used figuratively to mean to proceed through life with little care or effort. People who glide through situations appear to have done nothing to get through, although they may have done something unseen or someone may have done something for them. To glide also means to move quietly or without being noticed, as in Carlos tried to glide by the teacher on duty, but they saw him and told him to go back to class. As a noun, glide refers to a gliding movement, as in dancing. Example: Once you reach the top of the hill, you can just glide all the way down.

Synonym Usage

See slide.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• ungliding
  adjective
• glidingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• glides
  plural

Participles

• gliding
  present
• glided
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• glide
  simple
• glides
  simple
• have glided
  perfect
• has glided
  perfect
• am gliding
  progressive
• are gliding
  progressive
• is gliding
  progressive
• have been gliding
  perfect progressive
• has been gliding
  perfect progressive

Past

• glided
  simple
• had glided
  perfect
• was gliding
  progressive
• were gliding
  progressive
• had been gliding
  perfect progressive

Future

• will glide
  simple
• will have glided
  perfect
• will be gliding
  progressive
• will have been gliding
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of glide

First recorded before 900; Middle English gliden (verb), Old English glīdan; cognate with German gleiten

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Explanation

To glide is to sail or skate with ease across a surface. Your favorite thing about winter might be watching the skaters in the park glide silently on the ice-covered lake. A sled glides down a snowy hill, and a kayak glides across a silvery pond. Another way to glide is to soar in the air: your paper airplane, if you make it the right way, will glide all the way across the room, and a hawk can glide through the sky without seeming to move its wings. A different kind of glide is linguistic, a sound that's pronounced like a vowel but functions as a consonant.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

glide glides glided gliding

UN human rights monitors said Russia had used "powerful aerial glide bombs" in the strike.

From Barron's ● Nov. 3, 2026

However, this is considered a starting point for discussions, while there are also concerns about providing a suitable glide path down to the new number to enable teams to manage the impact on workforces.

From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2026

Like the rest of the villagers, her jealousy stems from a seemingly harmonious yet ultimately unfulfilling relationship, providing just enough humor and stakes for “Wicker” to glide amiably.

From Salon ● Oct. 26, 2026

“While the drones are a problem, by far the biggest problem for Ukraine is glide bombs,” said Justin Bronk, a research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, a British think tank.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026

Hundreds of flying cars glide through neon lights shaped like tunnels.

From "The Manifestor Prophecy" by Angie Thomas

It glides by smoothly, and Ms. Mann’s lilting, melancholy songs are hypnotically lovely, but the characters’ anguish and psychological distress are only faintly sketched in.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026

From the world’s vantage point, Los Angeles can look like a place that glides serenely along beneath a beatific sun.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 26, 2026

Nothing seems to ruffle his fur as this political veteran glides from crisis to crisis with feline calm, and the lick of a paw.

From Barron's ● Feb. 15, 2026

From the first moments she glides across the frame, Paltrow is pulling focus.

From Salon ● Dec. 22, 2025

Tano glides to his desk and leans on the edge of it.

From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer

Manzambi glided past powerless Fenerbahce tackles, Ibraham Mbaye found space to exploit - even if he needs to improve - and Jackson was clinical.

From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026

On Thursday afternoon, Shadow glided into the nest with KD1 not far behind, according to Friends of Big Bear Valley, a nonprofit that runs the livestream.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

Like walking museum plaques, they glided through rooms in silk brocade gowns, panniers extending their hips to improbable widths, dispensing facts about furnishings.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026

In a sparkly gold dress, the 20-year-old floated above the pressure, bopped along to the music of Donna Summer and glided her way to stardom—and the top of the podium.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 23, 2026

Aunt Kitty glided down the steps without a sound and moved along the path like a ghostly apparition.

From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan

The steady, gliding images, part surveillance, part concern, suggest a de-evolution.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2026

She points to a stretch of water where three ducks are gliding by.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

As Weber explains, "they send the newly formed nuclei of their daughter cells gliding across long distances to repopulate the damaged area of the brain and knit the astrocyte network back together."

From Science Daily ● Aug. 12, 2026

Increasingly, the journey starts with a squat silver floor robot gliding beneath a storage rack, lifting a shelf and carrying it across a warehouse to a waiting worker.

From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026

A lone seagull was gliding along the river’s edge, flipping a wing to correct itself as it went.

From "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman

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Related Words

• descend
• drift
• flit
• float
• fly
• sail
• skate
• skim
• skip
• slide
• slip
• slither
• soar
• spiral
• waft

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