glance

English Online Dictionary. What means glance‎? What does glance mean?

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɡlɑːns/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɡlæns/
• Rhymes: -ɑːns, -æns

Etymology 1

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.

Verb

glance (third-person singular simple present glances, present participle glancing, simple past and past participle glanced)

1. (transitive)
   1. To turn (one's eyes or look) at something, often briefly.
   2. To look briefly at (something).
   3. To cause (light) to gleam or sparkle.
   4. (also figuratively) To cause (something) to move obliquely.
      1. (ball games) To hit (a ball) lightly, causing it to move in another direction.
      2. (cricket) To hit (a ball) with a bat held in a slanted manner; also, to play such a stroke against (the bowler).
   5. (figuratively) To communicate (something) using the eyes.
   6. (obsolete)
      1. To touch (something) lightly or obliquely; to graze.
      2. To make an incidental or passing reflection, often unfavourably, on (a topic); also, to make (an incidental or passing reflection, often unfavourable).
2. (intransitive)
   1. (also figuratively) To strike and fly off in an oblique direction; to dart aside.
      1. (cricket) To hit a ball with a bat held in a slanted manner.
      2. (ichthyology) Of certain juvenile fish, chiefly of the Cichlidae family: to rapidly touch the side of its parent's body, usually to feed on mucus.
   2. Of light, etc.: to gleam, to sparkle.
   3. Of a thing: to move in a way that catches light, and flash or glitter.
   4. (figuratively)
      1. Often followed by at: of the eyes or a person: to look briefly.
      2. Often followed by at: of a topic: to make an incidental or passing reflection on, often unfavourably; to allude to; to hint at.
   5. (obsolete)
      1. Followed by by: to pass near without coming into contact.
      2. To move quickly; to dart, to shoot.

Conjugation

Alternative forms

• glaunce (obsolete)

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

glance (countable and uncountable, plural glances)

1. (also figuratively) A brief or cursory look.
2. (also figuratively) A quick movement that catches light, and causes a flash or glitter; also, the flash or glitter.
3. (cricket) A stroke in which the ball is hit with a bat held in a slanted manner.
4. (ichthyology) 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. (obsolete)
   1. An act of striking and flying off in an oblique direction; a deflection.
   2. (figuratively) An incidental or passing allusion or thought, often unfavourable, expressed on a topic.

Alternative forms

• glaunce (obsolete)

Derived terms

• at a glance
• at first glance
• leg glance
• sideglance
• steal a glance
• wood glance

Translations

Etymology 2

From Late Middle English glaunce (compare glaunce-ore (“type of ore; lead ore used for glazing pottery (?)”)), borrowed from Middle High German glanz (“(adjective) gleaming, glittering, sparkling; (noun) a gleam, glitter, sparkle”), from Old High German glanz (“bright”, adjective), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʰlend-.

Noun

glance (countable and uncountable, plural glances) (mineralogy)

1. Short for glance coal (“any hard, lustrous coal such as anthracite”).
2. (obsolete except in the names of certain minerals) Any of various sulphides, mostly dark-coloured, which have a brilliant metallic lustre.

Derived terms

Translations

References

Further reading

• eye contact on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• glance (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia