Glance

/ɡlɑːns/ noun, verb

noun, verb ·Very common ·Middle school level

Meaning at a glance

  • Primary sense: A brief or cursory look.
  • Grammar: glance is listed as noun, verb.
  • Nearest alternatives: glimpse, aid to navigation, alarm, amber light.
  • Useful contrasts: comb, currycombing, darkness.
  • Usage evidence: At a glance, he knew that the child was hungry.

How to use "glance"

  1. Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
  2. Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "glance" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
  3. Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.

Meaning check

  • Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
  • Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
  • Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
  • Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?

Source and review context

This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "glance" in a final draft.

If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.

Before you rely on this definition

Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "glance" as the right word for your sentence.

If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "glance" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.

Compare nearby meanings

  • Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
  • Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
  • Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
  • Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.

Definition decision workflow

1. Identify the role

Check whether "glance" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.

2. Test the nearest option

Compare it with "glimpse" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.

3. Confirm with context

Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.

Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.

Final meaning check

Before publishing a sentence with "glance", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.

When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A brief or cursory look. also, countable, figuratively, uncountable

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

  2. 2
    Ellipsis of glance coal (“any hard, lustrous coal such as anthracite”). abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable
  3. 3
    a quick look wordnet
  4. 4
    A quick movement that catches light, and causes a flash or glitter; also, the flash or glitter. also, countable, figuratively, uncountable

    "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: […]"

  5. 5
    Any of various sulphides, mostly dark-coloured, which have a brilliant metallic lustre. countable, uncountable

    "copper glance    silver glance"

Show 4 more definitions
  1. 6
    A stroke in which the ball is hit with a bat held in a slanted manner. countable, uncountable
  2. 7
    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. countable, uncountable
  3. 8
    An act of striking and flying off in an oblique direction; a deflection. countable, obsolete, uncountable
  4. 9
    An incidental or passing allusion or thought, often unfavourable, expressed on a topic. countable, figuratively, obsolete, uncountable

    "[W]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."

Verb
  1. 1
    To turn (one's eyes or look) at something, often briefly. transitive

    "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?"

  2. 2
    hit at an angle wordnet
  3. 3
    To look briefly at (something). transitive

    "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; […]"

  4. 4
    throw a glance at; take a brief look at wordnet
  5. 5
    To cause (light) to gleam or sparkle. transitive

    "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."

Show 15 more definitions
  1. 6
    To cause (something) to move obliquely. also, figuratively, transitive

    "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, […]"

  2. 7
    To cause (something) to move obliquely.; To hit (a ball) lightly, causing it to move in another direction. also, figuratively, transitive

    "Doncaster paid the price two minutes later when [Kevin] Doyle sent [Stephen] Hunt away down the left and his pinpoint cross was glanced in by Fletcher for his sixth goal of the season."

  3. 8
    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). also, figuratively, transitive
  4. 9
    To communicate (something) using the eyes. figuratively, transitive

    "[T]here his Eye took diſtant Aim, / And glanc'd Reſpect to that bright Dame, […]"

  5. 10
    To touch (something) lightly or obliquely; to graze. obsolete, transitive

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

  6. 11
    To make an incidental or passing reflection, often unfavourably, on (a topic); also, to make (an incidental or passing reflection, often unfavourable). obsolete, transitive

    "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."

  7. 12
    To strike and fly off in an oblique direction; to dart aside. also, figuratively, intransitive

    "A has a little gald me I confeſſe: / And as the Ieſt did glaunce awaie from me, […]"

  8. 13
    To strike and fly off in an oblique direction; to dart aside.; To hit a ball with a bat held in a slanted manner. also, figuratively, intransitive
  9. 14
    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. also, figuratively, intransitive

    "[Page 493] [G]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."

  10. 15
    Of light, etc.: to gleam, to sparkle. intransitive

    "She watched the spring sunlight glancing on the water of the pond."

  11. 16
    Of a thing: to move in a way that catches light, and flash or glitter. intransitive

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

  12. 17
    Often followed by at: of the eyes or a person: to look briefly. figuratively, intransitive

    "She glanced at her reflection as she passed the mirror."

  13. 18
    Often followed by at: of a topic: to make an incidental or passing reflection on, often unfavourably; to allude to; to hint at. figuratively, intransitive

    "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?"

  14. 19
    Followed by by: to pass near without coming into contact. intransitive, obsolete

    "Some have digged deep, yet glanced by the Royal Vein; and a Man may come unto the Pericardium, but not the Heart of Truth."

  15. 20
    To move quickly; to dart, to shoot. intransitive, obsolete

    "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?"

Synonyms

All synonyms
glimpseaid to navigationalarmamber lightattouchementavert

Example

"At a glance, he knew that the child was hungry."

Common questions

What does "glance" mean?

A brief or cursory look.

What is a synonym for "glance"?

Common synonyms include: glimpse, aid to navigation, alarm, amber light, attouchement, avert.

How do you use "glance" in a sentence?

At a glance, he knew that the child was hungry.

How do you pronounce "glance"?

Pronounced /ɡlɑːns/.

Etymology

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”) [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

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-.

More for "glance"

Synonyms

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