glance

Meaning

Verb

1. (transitive) To turn (one's eyes or look) at something, often briefly.
2. (transitive) To look briefly at (something).
3. (transitive) To cause (light) to gleam or sparkle.
4. (also, figuratively, transitive) To cause (something) to move obliquely.
5. (also, figuratively, transitive) To cause (something) to move obliquely.
6. (also, figuratively, transitive) To cause (something) to move obliquely.
7. (figuratively, transitive) To communicate (something) using the eyes.
8. (obsolete, transitive) To touch (something) lightly or obliquely; to graze.
9. (obsolete, transitive) To make an incidental or passing reflection, often unfavourably, on (a topic); also, to make (an incidental or passing reflection, often unfavourable).
10. (also, figuratively, intransitive) To strike and fly off in an oblique direction; to dart aside.
11. (also, figuratively, intransitive) To strike and fly off in an oblique direction; to dart aside.
12. (also, figuratively, intransitive) To strike and fly off in an oblique direction; to dart aside.
13. (intransitive) Of light, etc.: to gleam, to sparkle.
14. (intransitive) Of a thing: to move in a way that catches light, and flash or glitter.
15. (figuratively, intransitive) Often followed by at: of the eyes or a person: to look briefly.
16. (figuratively, intransitive) Often followed by at: of a topic: to make an incidental or passing reflection on, often unfavourably; to allude to; to hint at.
17. (intransitive, obsolete) Followed by by: to pass near without coming into contact.
18. (intransitive, obsolete) To move quickly; to dart, to shoot.

Noun

1. (also, countable, figuratively, uncountable) A brief or cursory look.
2. (also, countable, figuratively, uncountable) A quick movement that catches light, and causes a flash or glitter; also, the flash or glitter.
3. (countable, uncountable) A stroke in which the ball is hit with a bat held in a slanted manner.
4. (countable, uncountable) Of certain juvenile fish, chiefly of the Cichlidae family: an act of rapidly touching the side of its parent's body, usually to feed on mucus.
5. (countable, obsolete, uncountable) An act of striking and flying off in an oblique direction; a deflection.
6. (countable, figuratively, obsolete, uncountable) An incidental or passing allusion or thought, often unfavourable, expressed on a topic.

Noun

1. (abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable) Ellipsis of glance coal (“any hard, lustrous coal such as anthracite”).
2. (countable, uncountable) Any of various sulphides, mostly dark-coloured, which have a brilliant metallic lustre.

Synonyms

look

glimpse

gaze

peep

peek

gleam

scan

glint

view

shine

glow

look at

stare

eye

👁️

vision

watch

⌚

eyes

👀

flash

inspect

brighten

light

see

👀

sight

cast

behold

side-long look

coruscate

coup d’oeil

squint

regard

ogle

take a peep at

look sideways

slant

slide

summary

sweep

take a look

twinkle

twinkling

vaguely

views

have a glance

look around

look at carefully

peep in

one’s eyes

throw a glance

give a glance

eye-wink

Translations

occhiata

Blick

regard

sguardo

mirada

βλέμμα

mirar

vistazo

glänzen

regarder

blicken

ματιά

olhar

coup d’œil

relance

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ɡlɑːns/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: glenchen

Cognate with Middle English: glacen

Inherited from Middle English: glaunce

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.
The sense "to look briefly (at something)" is probably due to partial conflation with Middle English glenten (“to look askance”)—the ancestor of English glint—in the Middle English period. This conflation may also have reinforced the medial -n-. See English glint