glance.
To turn (one's eyes or look) at something, often briefly.
Meaning & usage
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 hit (a ball) lightly, causing it to move in another direction.
To cause (something) to move obliquely. To hit (a ball) with a bat held in a slanted manner; also, to play such a stroke against (the bowler).
To communicate (something) using the eyes.
To touch (something) lightly or obliquely; to graze.
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. To hit a ball with a bat held in a slanted manner.
To strike and fly off in an oblique direction; to dart aside. Of certain juvenile fish, chiefly of the Cichlidae family: to rapidly touch the side of its parent's body, usually to feed on mucus.
Of light, etc.: to gleam, to sparkle.
She watched the spring sunlight glancing on the water of the pond.
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.
She glanced at her reflection as she passed the mirror.
Often followed by at: of a topic: to make an incidental or passing reflection on, often unfavourably; to allude to; to hint at.
Followed by by: to pass near without coming into contact.
To move quickly; to dart, to shoot.
Where this word comes from
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
A brief or cursory look.
A quick movement that catches light, and causes a flash or glitter; also, the flash or glitter.
A stroke in which the ball is hit with a bat held in a slanted manner.
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.
An act of striking and flying off in an oblique direction; a deflection.
An incidental or passing allusion or thought, often unfavourable, expressed on a topic.
Where this word comes from
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
Ellipsis of glance coal (“any hard, lustrous coal such as anthracite”).
Any of various sulphides, mostly dark-coloured, which have a brilliant metallic lustre.
copper glance silver glance
Where this word comes from
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-.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.