glance
Meaning
-
- To turn (one's eyes or look) at something, often briefly.
- To look briefly at (something).
- To cause (light) to gleam or sparkle.
- To cause (something) to move obliquely.
- To cause (something) to move obliquely.
- To communicate (something) using the eyes.
- (obsolete) To touch (something) lightly or obliquely; to graze.
- (obsolete) To make an incidental or passing reflection, often unfavourably, on (a topic); also, to make (an incidental or passing reflection, often unfavourable).
- To strike and fly off in an oblique direction; to dart aside.
- To strike and fly off in an oblique direction; to dart aside.
- Of light, etc.: to gleam, to sparkle.
- Of a thing: to move in a way that catches light, and flash or glitter.
- Often followed by at: of the eyes or a person: to look briefly.
- Often followed by at: of a topic: to make an incidental or passing reflection on, often unfavourably; to allude to; to hint at.
- (obsolete) Followed by by: to pass near without coming into contact.
- (obsolete) To move quickly; to dart, to shoot.
Synonyms
side-long look
coup d’oeil
take a peep at
look sideways
have a glance
look at carefully
peep in
one’s eyes
throw a glance
give a glance
eye-wink
cast one’s eyes
glance sideways
visual search
single flash
look-over
have a look-see
have a glimpse
take a glance
lay eyes
throw a look
look in
looking at
onceover
Frequency
Pronounced as (IPA)
/ɡlɑːns/
Etymology
In summary
The verb is derived from Late Middle English glenchen (“of a blow: to strike obliquely, glance; of a person: to turn quickly aside, dodge”) [and other forms], a blend of: * Old French glacier, glachier, glaichier (“to slide; to slip”) (whence also Middle English glacen (“of a blow: to strike obliquely, glance; to glide”)), from glace (“frozen water, ice”) (from Vulgar Latin *glacia, from Latin glaciēs (“ice”), of uncertain origin, + -ier (suffix forming infinitives of first-conjugation verbs); and * Old French guenchir, ganchir (“to avoid; to change direction; to elude, evade”) [and other forms], from Proto-West Germanic *wankijan (“to move aside; to stagger, sway; to wave”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weng- (“to bend”). The noun is derived from the verb.
Bookmark this
Improve your pronunciation
Start learning English with learnfeliz.
Practice speaking and memorizing "glance" and many other words and sentences in English.
Go to our English course page
Notes