glance

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɡlɑːns/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɡlæns/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑːns, -æns

The verb is derived from Late Middle English glenchen (“of a blow: to strike obliquely, glance; of a person: to turn quickly aside, dodge”) ,^[1] a blend of:^[2]

• Old French glacier, glachier, glaichier (“to slide; to slip”) (whence also Middle English glacen (“of a blow: to strike obliquely, glance; to glide”)),^[3] 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”) , 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.^[4]

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.
      • 1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 139”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. , London: By G Eld for T T and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC, signature I, verso:

        Deare heart forbeare to glance thine eye aſide, / What needſt thou wound with cunning when thy might / Is more then my ore-preſt defence can bide?

      • 1826, [Benjamin Disraeli], “The Hall”, in Vivian Grey, volume I, London: Henry Colburn, , →OCLC, book II, page 195:

        Vivian glanced a look, which would have been annihilation to any one, not a freeholder of five hundred acres.

      • 1837 March 6, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “The Gray Champion”, in Twice-Told Tales, Boston, Mass.: American Stationers Co.; John B. Russell, →OCLC, page 19:

        He, however, blenched not a step, but glancing his severe eye round the group, which half encompassed him, at last bent it sternly on Sir Edmund Andros.

   2. To look briefly at (something).
      • 1816, Jedadiah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter VI, in Tales of My Landlord, , volume IV (Old Mortality), Edinburgh: [James Ballantyne and Co.] for William Blackwood, ; London: John Murray, , →OCLC, page 110:

        A horseman rode up as he spoke, and gave a letter. Claverhouse glanced it over, laughed scornfully, bade him tell his master to send his prisoners to Edinburgh, for there was no answer; […]

   3. To cause (light) to gleam or sparkle.
      • 1824 June, [Walter Scott], “Letter IV. The Same to the Same .”, in Redgauntlet, , volume I, Edinburgh: [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, page 70:

        The bink, with its usual arrangement of pewter and earthenware, which was most strictly and critically clean, glanced back the flame of the lamp merrily from one side of the apartment.

   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.
         • c. 1594 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Comedie of Errors”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 97, column 1:

           Alone, it was the ſubiect of my Theame: / In company I often glanced it: / Still did I tell him, it was vilde and bad.

         • 1651 September 25 (Gregorian calendar), John Evelyn, “”, in William Bray, editor, Memoirs, Illustrative of the Life and Writings of John Evelyn, , 2nd edition, volume I, London: Henry Colburn, ; and sold by John and Arthur Arch, , published 1819, →OCLC, page 255:

           Afterwards I tooke a walke in y^e King’s gardens, where I observ’d that the Mall gos the whole square thereof next y^e wall, and bends with an angle so made as to glace [glance] y^e hall; the angle is of stone.

      2. To make an incidental or passing reflection, often unfavourably, on (a topic); also, to make (an incidental or passing reflection, often unfavourable).
         • 1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 112, column 2:

           I will this Night, / in ſeuerall Hands, in at his Windowes throw, / As if they came from ſeuerall Citizens, / Writings, all tending to the great opinion / That Rome holds of his Name: wherein obſcurely / Cæſars Ambition ſhall be glanced at.

         • 1704, [Jonathan Swift], “Section X. A Tale of a Tub.”, in A Tale of a Tub. , London: John Nutt, , →OCLC, page 191:

           And therefore in order to promote ſo uſeful a Work, I will here take Leave to glance a few Innuendo’s, that may be of great Aſſiſtance to thoſe ſublime Spirits, who ſhall be appointed to labor in a univerſal Comment upon this wonderful Diſcourſe.

         • 1825, Thomas Carlyle, “Part III. From His Settlement at Jena to His Death (1790–1805).”, in The Life of Friedrich Schiller. , London: for Taylor and Hessey, , →OCLC, page 204:

           hey rush upon him, and he narrowly escapes killing or ducking, for having ventured to glance a censure at the General.

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, [Act V, scene v]:

        I am glad yet your arrow hath glanced.

      • 1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. , London: [Samuel Simmons], 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, [Matthew Hale], “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 [Alexander Pope], 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, [Walter Scott], chapter II, in Chronicles of the Canongate. Second Series.  (The Fair Maid of Perth), volume I, Edinburgh: [Ballantyne and Co.] 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:

           [Page 493] 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 […] [Page 494] 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, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, , →OCLC, Canto XLVIII, 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.
      • 1673, John Milton, “Psal[m] LXXXVII”, in Poems, &c. upon Several Occasions, London: Tho Dring , →OCLC, stanza 7, page 162:

        In thee freſh brooks, and ſoft ſtreams glance / And all my fountains clear.

      • 1781 (date written), William Cowper, “Truth”, in Poems, London: J Johnson, , published 1782, →OCLC, page 85:

        driving daſhing rain, / Peal upon peal redoubling all around, / Shakes it again and faſter to the ground, / Now flaſhing wide, now glancing as in play, / Swift beyond thought the light’nings dart away; […]

      • 1822, [Walter Scott], chapter X, in The Pirate. , volume II, Edinburgh: [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, page 248:

        Were there no stockings of Zetland wool soft enough for these pretty feet and ancles, that glance so white in the moon-beam?

      • 1851 June – 1852 April, Harriet Beecher Stowe, “The Quadroon’s Story”, in Uncle Tom’s Cabin; or, Life among the Lowly, volume I, Boston, Mass.: John P Jewett & Company; Cleveland, Oh.: Jewett, Proctor & Worthington, published 20 March 1852, →OCLC, page 211:

        n insane light glanced in her heavy black eyes.

      • 1859, Alfred Tennyson, “Enid”, in Idylls of the King, London: Edward Moxon & Co., , →OCLC, page 10:

        e gallop’d up / To join them, glancing like a dragon-fly / In summer suit and silks of holiday.

      • 1922, E R[ücker] Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros‎, London: Jonathan Cape, page 17:

        […] those that walked armed before the Witches’ booths, six in company, harnessed as for battle in byrnies of shining bronze, with greaves and shields of bronze and helms that glanced in the sun.

   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.

         • c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 53:

           The Poets eye, in a fine frenzy, rolling, doth glance / From heauen to earth, from earth to heauen.

         • 1796 July, “Selected Poetry. To the Memory of Dr. Rittenhouse.”, in The New-York Magazine, or Literary Repository, volume I (New Series), New York, N.Y.: T and J Swords, , →OCLC, page 386:

           Hither come—thou once of men, / Blest with pure science from above; / Thy spirit now returns again / To its native realms of love. / […] / And as thou glancest hence to there, / Remember that it gave thee birth, / And still illumine it from here.

         • 1819 June 23, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], “The Wife”, in The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., number I, New York, N.Y.: C S. Van Winkle, , →OCLC, page 53:

           A bright beautiful face glanced out at the window, and vanished—a light footstep was heard—and Mary came tripping forth to meet us.

         • 1831, [Thomas Love Peacock], “The Newspaper”, in Crotchet Castle. , London: T Hookham , →OCLC, page 252:

           The young lady took up the paper, and turned it over and over, […] when, suddenly, her eye glanced on something which made her change colour, […]

         • 1861, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter V, in Silas Marner: The Weaver of Raveloe, Edinburgh, London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, part I, page 83:

           His thoughts glanced at all the neighbours who had made any remarks, or asked any questions which he might now regard as a ground of suspicion.

         • 1893 (indicated as 1894), A Conan Doyle, “The Yellow Face”, in The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, London: George Newnes, Limited, , →OCLC, page 41:

           She was deadly pale, and breathing fast, glancing furtively towards the bed, as she fastened her mantle, to see if she had disturbed me.

      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, , 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. , 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 [i.e., Thomas Browne], “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, , 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.

• glaunce (obsolete)

glance (countable and uncountable, plural glances)

1. (also figuratively) A brief or cursory look.
   • 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 229, column 1:

     Fie, fie, vnknit that thretaning vnkinde brow, / And dart not ſcornefull glances from thoſe eies, / To wound thy Lord, thy King, thy Gouernour.

   • c. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Famous Historie of Troylus and Cresseid.  (First Quarto), London: G Eld for R Bonian and H Walley, , published 1609, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:

     Hard to ſeeme wonne: but I was wonne my Lord / With the firſt glance; […]

   • 1638, Tho Herbert, Some Yeares Travels Into Divers Parts of Asia and Afrique. , 2nd edition, London: R Bip for Iacob Blome and Richard Bishop, →OCLC, book II, page 206:

     is ſupercilious glances grew humbled, yea, his dazeling ſplendor (eclipſt in the ſetting [i.e., death] of his Maſter) becomes quickly darkned: […]

   • 1667, John Milton, “Book VII”, in Paradise Lost. , London: [Samuel Simmons], 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 1167–1170:

     ere paſſion firſt I felt, / Commotion ſtrange, in all enjoyments elſe / Superiour and unmov'd, here onely weake / Againſt the charm of Beauties powerful glance.

   • 1782, William Cowper, “Verses, Supposed to be Written by Alexander Selkirk, during His Solitary Abode in the Island of Juan Fernandez”, in Poems, London: J Johnson, , →OCLC, page 308:

     How fleet is a glance of a mind! / Compar’d with the ſpeed of its flight, / The tempeſt itſelf lags behind, / And the ſwift winged arrows of light.

   • 1828 May 15, [Walter Scott], chapter X, in Chronicles of the Canongate. Second Series.  (The Fair Maid of Perth), volume III, Edinburgh: [Ballantyne and Co.] for Cadell and Co.; London: Simpkin and Marshall, →OCLC, page 275:

     He passed the papers through his hands, turning some over with a hasty glance, and dwelling on others as if their contents had been of the last importance.

   • 1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “Stave I. Marley’s Ghost.”, in A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, London: Chapman & Hall, , →OCLC, page 24:

     As he threw his head back in the chair, his glance happened to rest upon a bell, a disused bell, that hung in the room, and communicated for some purpose now forgotten with a chamber in the highest story of the building.

   • 1900, Charles W Chesnutt, “A Stranger from South Carolina”, in The House Behind the Cedars, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company , →OCLC:

     Warwick left the undertaker’s shop and retraced his steps until he had passed the lawyer’s office, toward which he threw an affectionate glance.

   • 1959, Georgette Heyer, chapter 1, in The Unknown Ajax, 1st Australian edition, London, Melbourne, Vic.: William Heinemann, →OCLC, page 3:

     But Richmond, his grandfather’s darling, after one thoughtful glance cast under his lashes at that uncompromising countenance, appeared to lose himself in his own reflections.

2. (also figuratively) A quick movement that catches light, and causes a flash or glitter; also, the flash or glitter.
   • 1638, Tho Herbert, Some Yeares Travels Into Divers Parts of Asia and Afrique. , 2nd edition, London: R Bip for Iacob Blome and Richard Bishop, →OCLC, book II, page 193:

     The ayre here is freſh and ſweet in the morning and towards Sunſet, but in the Sunnes perpendicular glances, wee found it hot and raging: […]

   • 1667, John Milton, “Book VII”, in Paradise Lost. , London: [Samuel Simmons], 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 399–402 and 405–406:

     ach Creek & Bay / With Frie innumerable ſwarme, and Shoales / Of Fiſh that with thir Finns and ſhining Scales / Glide under the green Wave, […] ſporting with quick glance / Show to the Sun thir wav’d coats dropt with Gold, […]

   • 1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, .”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: J M for John Starkey , →OCLC, pages 76–77, lines 294–297:

     With winged expedition / Swift as the lightning glance he executes / His errand on the wicked, who ſurpris’d / Loſe their defence diſtracted and amaz’d.

   • 1810, Walter Scott, “Canto VI. The Guard-room.”, in The Lady of the Lake; , Edinburgh: [James Ballantyne and Co.] for John Ballantyne and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, and William Miller, →OCLC, stanza XV (BATTLE OF BEAL’ AN DUINE), page 264:

     Is it the lightning’s quivering glance / That on the thicket streams, / Or do they flash on spear and lance / The sun’s retiring beams?

   • 1822, [Walter Scott], chapter VIII, in The Pirate. , volume II, Edinburgh: [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, page 194:

     […] I likena cummers that can come and gae like a glance of the sun, or the whip of a whirlwind.

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: [Thomas Purfoot and Thomas Creede] 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.

• glaunce (obsolete)

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

From Late Middle English glaunce^[5] (compare glaunce-ore (“type of ore; lead ore used for glazing pottery (?)”)),^[6] borrowed from Middle High German glanz (“(adjective) gleaming, glittering, sparkling; (noun) a gleam, glitter, sparkle”),^[7] from Old High German glanz (“bright”, adjective), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʰlend-.

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.

   copper glance    silver glance

   • 1840, William Whewell, “Aphorisms Concerning Science. Aphorism XVII.”, in The Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences, Founded upon Their History. , 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.

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