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Glimpse

//ɡlɪm(p)s// noun, verb

Definitions

Noun

1
Chiefly followed by of: a brief and incomplete look.
"I only got a glimpse of the car, so I can tell you the colour but not the registration number."
2
a quick look wordnet
3
A brief, sudden flash of light; a glimmer. archaic
"[W]hat may this meane, / That thou, dead corſe, againe in compleate ſteele, / Reuiſſits thus the glimſes of the Moone, / Making night hideous, and vve fooles of nature, / So horridely to ſhake our diſpoſition, / VVith thoughts beyond the reaches of our ſoules?"
4
a brief or incomplete view wordnet
5
A faint or imprecise idea; an inkling. figuratively
"Every surmise and vaticination of the mind is entitled to a certain respect, and we learn to prefer imperfect theories, and sentences, which contain glimpses of truth, to digested systems which have no one valuable suggestion."

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6
a vague indication wordnet
7
A brief, unspecified amount of time; a moment. figuratively, rare
"[…] Alwin smiled, / When aught that from his young lips archly fell / The gloomy film from Harold's eye beguiled; / And pleased for a glimpse appeared the woeful Childe."
8
A faint (and often temporary) appearance; a tinge. obsolete
"Reuiued with a glimſe of grace old ſorowes to let fal, / The hidden ſtraines I know and ſecret ſnares of loue: / How ſoone a loke wil print a thought, that neuer may remoue."

Verb

1
To see or view (someone, or something tangible) briefly and incompletely. transitive
"Morning!—the Vestal Mother of the Sun / Seem'st thou to be, since from thy bosom born, / (Thou that first glimpsest—like a white-stoled nun!—) / He springeth forth—Oh! thou triumphal Morn!— / His race of glory and of joy to run; […]"
2
catch a glimpse of or see briefly wordnet
3
To perceive (something intangible) briefly and incompletely. figuratively, transitive
"I have only begun to glimpse the magnitude of the problem."
4
Chiefly followed by at or upon: to look at briefly and incompletely; to glance. intransitive
"The door always opens directly into the kitchen, without any vestibule; and, glimpsing in, you see that a cottager's life must be the very plainest and homeliest that ever was lived by men and women."
5
To shine with a faint, unsteady light; to glimmer, to shimmer. intransitive
"O Lothſome place where I / Haue ſene and herd my dere / When in my hart her eye / Hath made her thought appere / By glimſing with ſuch grace / As fortune it ne would, / That laſten any ſpace, / Betwene vs lenger ſhould."

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6
To appear or start to appear, especially faintly or unclearly; to dawn. archaic, intransitive, poetic
"Straitvvaies on heapes the thronging cloudes ariſe, / As though the heauen vvere angry vvith the night, / Deformed ſhadovves, glimpſing in his ſight / As darkenes, for it vvould more darkened be, / Through thoſe poore crannies forcde it ſelfe to ſee."
7
Sometimes followed by out: to provide a brief and incomplete look. intransitive, rare

Etymology

Etymology 1

The verb is derived from earlier glimse (obsolete), from Middle English glimsen (“to dazzle; to glisten; to glance with the eyes”), possibly from Old English *glimsian, from Proto-West Germanic *glimmisōjan, from Proto-Germanic *glimō, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰley- (“to shine”). Doublet of glimmer. The noun is derived from the verb. Cognates Middle Dutch glinsen (modern Dutch glinsteren (“to glint, glitter, shimmer, sparkle; to glance”), glimmen (“to gleam, shine”)) Middle High German glimsen (“to glow, smoulder”), glinsen (“to glimmer, shine”) Middle Low German glinsen, glintzen, glinzen (“to shimmer, shine”)

Etymology 2

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