glance1
/ɡlɑːns
/verb [no object, with adverbial of direction]
1Take a brief or hurried look: Ginny glanced at her watch...
- I saw him frown and I watched, as it grew deeper when he glanced at me for a moment before glancing back down at the photo.
- I glanced at a kid that looked about my age who was glancing around nervously until he saw me looking at him and gave me a hard look.
- He gave a sigh of relief as she glanced at him and gave him a small smile, then glanced back down at the floor and blushed.
Synonyms
take a quick look, look quickly, look briefly, peek, peep;
glimpse, catch a glimpse of;
Scottish keek
informal sneak a look, take a gander
British informal take a dekko, have a shufti, take a butcher's
Australian/New Zealand informal squiz
archaic glance one's eye
1.1 (glance at/through) Read quickly or cursorily: I glanced through your personnel file last night...
- Thus, by just taking a cursory glance through the list one notices that alloy steel has larger industrial applications in each of the segments as raw materials.
- Having this in your wallet will allow you to quickly glance at it before parting with your money.
- I haven't read it, but glancing through it, there are some pretty objectionable statements.
Synonyms
read quickly, scan, have a quick look, run one's eye over;
skim, leaf, flick, flip, thumb, browse;
dip into
informal give something a/the once-over
2Hit something at an angle and bounce off obliquely: the stone glanced off a crag and hit Tom on the head...
- Instead, they glance off walls at 200 mph, looking showroom fresh.
- First, the axes glance off the tree, the wood is so hard to cut.
- The wooden shaft was flitted with small bits of steel and iron, so it could glance off blades and other things without being split or cut.
Synonyms
ricochet, rebound, be deflected;
fly, bounce;
graze, clip, make contact with;
Billiards & Pool cannon, carom
rare resile
2.1(Of light) reflect off something with a brief flash: sunlight glanced off the curved body of a dolphin...
- A ray of sunlight glanced off the walls of the castle on the shores of Edinample, lighting up its whiteness against the surrounding trees.
- The gentle rays glanced over his blond locks, turning them into glistening sliver and gold.
- It stands towering over the landscape, the sun's rays glancing off the polished superstructure to dance upon the gently rippling waters of the canal below.
Synonyms
reflect, flash, gleam, glint, glitter, glisten, glimmer, shimmer, flicker, sparkle, twinkle
rare coruscate
2.2 [with object and adverbial of direction] (In ball games) deflect (the ball) slightly with a delicate contact: he glanced the ball into the corner of the net...
- He met the free kick with his head and glanced the ball into the net.
- His cross was nicely placed for the young striker to glance the ball past the goalie, raise the spirits of the home support and signal the charge for the final period of the game.
- In fact, the defence was missing en mass when he got on the end of a well-timed cross to glance the ball home with his head at the near post.
2.3 [with object] Cricket Deflect (the ball) with the bat held slantwise; play such a stroke against (the bowler): Simpson glanced Statham’s fourth ball...
- Eventually he did get to three figures, glancing King to the fine-leg fence.
- Shuffled across his stumps to glance, but the ball brushed leg stump to give him his fifth wicket.
noun
1A brief or hurried look: I stole a glance at John...
- The briefest of glances in her direction found her to be still looking at me, still silent.
- This is but a brief glance back into how our ancestors managed to live without electricity or many of the mod cons we have today.
- I waited for a few girls to come down the stairs, smiled distractedly at their approving glances, and then hurried upstairs.
Synonyms
peek, peep, brief look, quick look;
glimpse;
Scottish keek;
French coup d'œil
informal gander
British informal dekko, shufti, butcher's
Australian/New Zealand informal squiz, geek
New Zealand informal Jack Nohi
2 archaic A flash or gleam of light: fish ... sporting with quick glance, Show to the Sun their wav’d coats
Synonyms
flash, gleam, glitter, glint, glimmer, shimmer, flicker, sparkle, twinkle
3 Cricket A stroke with the bat’s face turned slantwise to deflect the ball slightly.The short boundaries looked even smaller with his glances, off-drives and swings through midwicket....
- He was a strong left-handed batsman who scored all around the wicket, but had a preference to square cuts, hooks and deft leg glances.
Phrases
at a glance
at first glance
glance one's eye
Origin
Late Middle English (in the sense 'rebound obliquely'): probably a nasalized form of obsolete glace in the same sense, from Old French glacier 'to slip', from glace 'ice', based on Latin glacies.
Rhymes
glance2
/ɡlɑːns/noun [mass noun]
A shiny black or grey sulphide ore of lead, copper, or other metal: lead glance...
- It is usually assumed that when lead glance is opened up with nitric and tartaric acids and water, the silver remains in solution as nitrate.
Origin
Late Middle English: from German Glanz 'brightness, lustre'; compare with Dutch glanserts 'glance ore'.