glance

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English

Pronunciation

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) , a blend of:

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.
      • a. 1657, Joseph Hall, “Observations on Some Specialties of Divine Providence in the Life of Jos. Hall, Bishop of Norwich”, in The Shaking of the Olive-Tree. The Remaining Works of that Incomparable Prelate Joseph Hall, D.D. , London: J. Cadwel for J Crooke, , published 1660, →OCLC, page 22:
        One morning as I lay in my bed, a ſtrong motion was ſuddenly glanced into my thoughts of going to London; I aroſe and betook me to the way,
      • 1697, William Dampier, “An Account of the Author’s Return out of the South Seas, to His Landing near Cape St. Lawrence, in the Isthmus of Darien: With an Occasional Description of the Moskito Indians”, in A New Voyage Round the World. , London: James Knapton, , →OCLC, page 10:
        hould we croſs them, tho they ſhould ſee Shoals of Fiſh, or Turtle, or the like, they will purpoſely ſtrike their Harpoons and Turtle-irons aſide, or ſo glance them as to kill nothing.
      1. (ball games) To hit (a ball) lightly, causing it to move in another direction.
        • 2011 January 18, “Wolverhampton 5 – 0 Doncaster”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 2023-04-09:
          Doncaster paid the price two minutes later when Doyle sent Hunt away down the left and his pinpoint cross was glanced in by Fletcher for his sixth goal of the season.
      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.
      • 1718, Mat Prior, “Alma: Or, The Progress of the Mind”, in Poems on Several Occasions, London: Jacob Tonson , and John Barber , →OCLC, canto II, page 345:
        here his Eye took diſtant Aim, / And glanc'd Reſpect to that bright Dame,
      • 1846, Robert Browning, “Luria. A Tragedy.”, in Poems , new edition, volume II, London: Chapman & Hall, , published 1849, →OCLC, page 201:
        As if there were no glowing eye i’ the world, / To glance straight inspiration to my brain, / No glorious heart to give mine twice the beats!
    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.
      • c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 228, column 1:
        A has a little gald me I confeſſe: / And as the Ieſt did glaunce awaie from me,
      • c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare,   he Merrie Wiues of Windsor.  (First Quarto), London: T C for Arthur Ihonson, , published 1602, →OCLC, :
        I am glad yet your arrow hath glanced.
      • 1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. , London: ">…] , and are to be sold by Peter Parker ; nd by Robert Boulter ; nd Matthias Walker, , →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: , London: Basil Montagu Pickering , 1873, →OCLC, lines 1053–1055:
        On mee the Curſe aſlope / Glanc'd on the ground, with labour I muſt earne / My bread; what harm? Idleneſs had bin worſe;
      • 1676, , “Of Afflictions, the Best Preparation for Them, and Improvement of Them, and of Our Delivery out of Them”, in Contemplations Moral and Divine. , London: William Godbid, for William Shrowsbury , and John Leigh , →OCLC, pages 66–67:
        So that the more friends and relations I have, and the dearer and nearer they are, the more croſſes I have, by participating theirs: and every bitter Arrow that wounds any of them, glanceth upon me, and makes my wounds the more by how much the more friends and relations I have; and makes them deeper, by how much the nearer or dearer thoſe friends or relations are to me.
      • 1726, Homer, “Book XXII”, in , transl., The Odyssey of Homer. , volume V, London: Bernard Lintot, →OCLC, page 113, lines 308–309:
        rom Cteſippus’ arm the ſpear elanc’d / On good Eumæus’ ſhield and ſhoulder glanc’d;
      • 1828 May 15, , chapter II, in Chronicles of the Canongate. Second Series.  In Three Volumes.">…] (The Fair Maid of Perth), volume I, Edinburgh: ">…] for Cadell and Co.; London: Simpkin and Marshall, →OCLC, page 61:
        But the object of this violence was so ready to defend himself by striking upon the assailant's hand, that the blow only glanced on the bone, and scarce drew blood.
      • 1833 December, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, “The Mortal Immortal”, in Charles Gibbon, editor, The Casquet of Literature: , volume III, London, Glasgow: Blackie & Son, , published 1873, →OCLC, page 355, column 1:
        I started—I dropped the glass—the fluid flamed and glanced along the floor, while I felt Cornelius’s gripe at my throat, as he shrieked aloud, “Wretch! you have destroyed the labour of my life!”
      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.
        • 1988 May 1, Kathryn Kavanagh, “Notes on the Frequency and Function of Glancing in Juvenile Acanthochromis (Pomacentridae)”, in Michael E. Douglas, editor, Copeia, number 2, Lawrence, Kan.: American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, →ISSN, →JSTOR, →OCLC, pages 493 and 494:
          eneral impressions of glancing frequency in Acanthochromis juveniles have suggested that the glancing off parents occurs most often in young juveniles and appears to diminish in frequency as juveniles age The unusually high variance in lagoon stage-3 juveniles was caused by one relatively small brood (14) that glanced 36 times in one 30-min observation period.
    2. Of light, etc.: to gleam, to sparkle.
      She watched the spring sunlight glancing on the water of the pond.
      • 1678, Robert Barclay, An Apology for the True Christian Divinity, as the Same is Held Forth, and Preached, by the People, Called in Scorn, Quakers: , 4th edition, London: T. Sowle, , published 1701, →OCLC, page 195:
        hou didſt call, thou didſt cry, thou didſt break my Deafneſs, thou glancedſt, thou didſt ſhine, thou chaſeſt away my Darkneſs.
      • 1850, , “Canto XLVIII”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, , →OCLC, page 71:
        From art, from nature, from the schools, / Let random influences glance, / Like light in many a shiver’d lance, / That breaks about the dappled pools:
    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.
        She glanced at her reflection as she passed the mirror.
      2. Often followed by at: of a topic: to make an incidental or passing reflection on, often unfavourably; to allude to; to hint at.
        • c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 82, column 1:
          Is’t not enough thou haſt ſuborn’d theſe women, / To accuſe this worthy man? but in foule mouth, / And in the witneſſe of his proper eare, / To call him villaine; and then to glance from him, / To th’ Duke himſelfe, to taxe him with Iniuſtice?
        • a. 1746 (date written), Jonathan Swift, “An Essay on the Fates of Clergymen”, in Thomas Sheridan, John Nichols, editors, The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, , new edition, volume V, London: J Johnson,  Nichols, R Baldwin, Otridge and Son, J Sewell, F and C Rivington, T Payne, R Faulder, G and J Robinson, R Lea, J Nunn, W. Cuthell, T Egerton, Clarke and Son, Vernor and Hood, J Scatcherd, T Kay, Lackington Allen and Co., Carpenter and Co., Murray and Highley, Longman and Rees, Cadell Jun. and Davies, T. Bagster, J. Harding, and J Mawman.">…], published 1801, →OCLC, page 120:
          He could never procure himself to be chosen fellow; for it was objected against him, that he had written verses, and particularly some, wherein he glanced at a certain reverend doctor famous for dulness;
        • 1834, L E L, chapter XXIX, in Francesca Carrara.  In Three Volumes.">…], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, , (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 237:
          Francesca followed, reluctant enough in her secret; for though she would not have admitted it even to herself, she did shrink from the infliction of the inane solemnities with which her father garnished his discourse—to say nothing of the ungracious reflections which so often glanced at herself.
        • 1892, Robert Louis Stevenson, “Lord Advocate Prestongrange”, in Catriona, London; Edinburgh: Thomas Nelson & Sons, →OCLC, page 49:
          You do not appear to me to recognize the gravity of your situation, or you would be more careful not to pejorate the same by words which glance upon the purity of justice.
    5. (obsolete)
      1. Followed by by: to pass near without coming into contact.
        • c. 1670s (date written), Thomas Brown , “Sect III”, in John Jeffery, editor, Christian Morals, , Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: t the University-Press, for Cornelius Crownfield printer to the University; and are to be sold by Mr. Knapton ; and Mr. Morphew , published 1716, →OCLC, part II, page 49:
          Some have digged deep, yet glanced by the Royal Vein; and a Man may come unto the Pericardium, but not the Heart of Truth.
      2. To move quickly; to dart, to shoot.
        • 1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 76”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. , London: By G Eld for T T and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC:
          Why is my verſe ſo barren of new pride? / So far from variation or quicke change? / Why with the time do I not glance aſide / To new found methods, and to compounds ſtrange?
        • 1642, H M, “ΨΥΧΑΘΑΝΑΣΙΑ Platonica: Or A Platonicall Poem of the Immortality of Souls, Especially Mans Soul”, in ΨΥΧΩΔΙΑ Platonica: Or A Platonicall Song of the Soul, . ΨΥΧΑΘΑΝΑΣΙΑ . ΑΝΤΙΨΥΧΟΠΑΝΝΥΧΙΑ . ΑΝΤΙΜΟΝΟΨΥΧΙΑ . Hereto is Added a Paraphrasticall Interpretation of the Answer of Apollo Consulted by Amelius, about Plotinus Soul Departed this Life. By H. M. Master of Arts, and Fellow of Christs Colledge in Cambridge.">…], Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Roger Daniel, printer to the Universitie, →OCLC, book 1, canto 2, stanza 24, page 44:
          are / They paſſe the outſide and venture ſo farre / As into the depth of the ſouls ſubſtance? / / If that; the object gone, away thoſe forms do glance.
        • 1834–1838 (date written), Thomas Babington Macaulay, “Virginia”, in Lays of Ancient Rome, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, , published 1842, →OCLC, page 153:
          And all along the Forum, and up the Sacred Street, / His vulture eye pursued the trip of those small glancing feet.
Conjugation
Conjugation of glance
infinitive (to) glance
present tense past tense
1st-person singular glance glanced
2nd-person singular glance, glancest glanced, glancedst
3rd-person singular glances, glanceth glanced
plural glance
subjunctive glance glanced
imperative glance
participles glancing glanced

Archaic or obsolete.

Alternative forms
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.
      • 1605, Francis Bacon, “The First Booke”, in The Twoo Bookes of Francis Bacon. Of the Proficience and Aduancement of Learning, Diuine and Humane, London: ">…] for Henrie Tomes, , →OCLC, folio 35, verso:
        hen Marcus Philoſophus came in, Sylenus was grauelled, and out of countenance, not knowing where to carpe at him, ſaue at the laſt, he gaue a glaunce at his patience towards his wife.
      • 1677, Tho Herbert, Some Yeares Travels into Divers Parts of Africa, and Asia the Great. , 4th edition, London: R. Everingham, for R. Scot, T. Basset, J Wright, and R. Chiswell, →OCLC, page 349:
        lbeit in that brief diſcourſe I made concerning the Red ſea and Carmania where I made mention of the Burial-place of Erythreus there are ſome glances at it; I ſhall nevertheleſs (as in the moſt proper place) ſpeak a little further upon that ſubject.
Alternative forms
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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. Ellipsis of 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.
    copper glance    silver glance
    • 1840, William Whewell, “Aphorisms Concerning Science. Aphorism XVII.”, in The Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences, Founded upon Their History.  In Two Volumes.">…], volume I, London: John W Parker, ; Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: J. and J. J. Deighton, →OCLC, page cxix:
      The Oxides, Pyrites, Glances, and Blendes, might be so termed; thus we should have Tungstic Iron Oxide (usually called Tungstate of Iron), Arsenical Iron Pyrites (Mispickel), Tetrahedral Copper Glance (Fahlerz), Quicksilver Blende (Cinnabar), and the Metals might be termed native, as Native Copper, Native Silver.
Derived terms
Translations

References

  1. ^ glenchen, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  2. ^ glance, v.1”, in OED Online Paid subscription required, Oxford: Oxford University Press, March 2023; glance1, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  3. ^ glācen, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  4. ^ glance, n.1”, in OED Online Paid subscription required, Oxford: Oxford University Press, March 2023; glance1, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  5. ^ glance2, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  6. ^ glaunce-ọ̄re, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  7. ^ Compare glance, n.2”, in OED Online Paid subscription required, Oxford: Oxford University Press, March 202.

Further reading