Etymology : Middle English glencen, glenchen
Pronunciation : 'glan(t)s
Function : verb
Date : 15th century
1. quick look, brief glance; gleam, flash; deflection, rebound. look quickly; shine, gleam; bounce off, strike at an angle. glance\glance\ , n. [akin to d. glans luster, brightness, g. glanz, sw. glans, d. glands brightness, glimpse. cf. gleen, glint, glitter, and glance a mineral.].
2. a sudden flash of light or splendor. swift as the lightning glance.
3. a quick cast of the eyes; a quick or a casual look; a swift survey; a glimpse. dart not scornful glances from those eyes.
4. an incidental or passing thought or allusion. how fleet is a glance of the mind.
5. (min.) a name given to some sulphides, mostly dark-colored, which have a brilliant metallic luster, as the sulphide of copper, called copper glance.glance coal, anthracite; a mineral composed chiefly of carbon.glance cobalt, cobaltite, or gray cobalt.glance copper, chalcocite.glance wood, a hard wood grown in cuba, and used for gauging instruments, carpenters' rules, etc.glance \glance\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. glanced ; p. pr. & vb. n. glancing .].
6. to shoot or emit a flash of light; to shine; to flash. from art, from nature, from the schools, let random influences glance, like light in many a shivered lance, that breaks about the dappled pools.
7. to strike and fly off in an oblique direction; to dart aside. "your arrow hath glanced". on me the curse aslope glanced on the ground.
8. to look with a sudden, rapid cast of the eye; to snatch a momentary or hasty view. the poet's eye, in a fine frenzy rolling, doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven.
9. to make an incidental or passing reflection; to allude; to hint; -- often with at. wherein obscurely c?sar"s ambition shall be glanced at. he glanced at a certain reverend doctor.
10. to move quickly, appearing and disappearing rapidly; to be visible only for an instant at a time; to move interruptedly; to twinkle. and all along the forum and up the sacred seat, his vulture eye pursued the trip of those small glancing feet.glance \glance\ , v. t.
11. to shoot or dart suddenly or obliquely; to cast for a moment; as, to glance the eye.
12. to hint at; to touch lightly or briefly. [obs.] in company i often glanced it.glance a quick look [syn: glimpse, coup d'oeil ] v.
13. throw a glance at; take a brief look at; "she only glanced at the paper"; "glint" is archaic; "i only peeked--i didn't see:
anything interesting" [syn: peek, glint].
14. rebound after hitting: "the car caromed off several lampposts" [syn: carom].
15. A sudden flash of light or splendor.
16. A quick cast of the eyes; a quick or a casual look; a swift survey; a glimpse.
17. An incidental or passing thought or allusion.
18. A name given to some sulphides, mostly dark-colored, which have a brilliant metallic luster, as the sulphide of copper, called copper glance.
19. To shoot or emit a flash of light; to shine; to flash.
20. To strike and fly off in an oblique direction; to dart aside. "Your arrow hath glanced".
21. To look with a sudden, rapid cast of the eye; to snatch a momentary or hasty view.
22. To make an incidental or passing reflection; to allude; to hint; often with at.
23. To move quickly, appearing and disappearing rapidly; to be visible only for an instant at a time; to move interruptedly; to twinkle.
24. To shoot or dart suddenly or obliquely; to cast for a moment; as, to glance the eye.
25. To hint at; to touch lightly or briefly. a quick look throw a glance at; take a brief look at; "She only glanced at the paper"; "I only peeked--I didn't see:
anything interesting".
26. 1. If you glance at something or someone, you look at them very quickly and then look away again immediately. He glanced at his watch I glanced back.
27. If you glance through or at a newspaper, report, or book, you spend a short time looking at it without reading it very carefully. I picked up the phone book and glanced through it I never even glanced at the political page of a daily paper.
28. A glance is a quick look at someone or something. Trevor and I exchanged a glance.
29. If you see:
something at a glance, you see:
or recognize it immediately, and without having to think or look carefully. One could tell at a glance that she was a compassionate person.
30. If you say that something is true or seems to be true at first glance, you mean that it seems to be true when you first see:
it or think about it, but that your first impression may be wrong. At first glance, organic farming looks much more expensive for the farmer.
31. If you steal a glance at someone or something, you look at them quickly so that nobody sees you looking. He stole a glance at the clock behind her. Any of various minerals that have a brilliant luster: silver glance.