to glance

Examples

• All

• Most blows glance off.

  A Knight's Tale (2001)

• I woke up to Jack's low whistle and a pebble glancing off the screen.

  Fiction book (1995)

• Then one morning, I noticed light glancing off something bright on the floor.

  Fiction book (1997)

• The axe sliced easily through the fire monster and glanced off the surface of the stove.

  Fiction book (1995)

• The blow glances off PK's shoulder and sends him flying, spinning over a table.

  Fiction book (1992)

• In just a few months, the small island absorbed glancing blows from four major tropical cyclones.

  Academic text (2006)

• Another bolt glances off Wallace's helmet; a third rips into his thigh plate, making his legs collapse.

  Fiction book (1995)

• The ball glanced off the wall and changed direction.

• As the car swerved, the branch glanced off the windshield without breaking it.

• The arrow glanced off the target, missing the bullseye completely.

Idioms

A

at first glance

32 3.5

You notice something before you look more closely

A

at a glance

9 3.0

With a quick look you notice something right away

Phrasal Verbs

G

to glance at

150 2.0

Look quickly at someone or something

G

to glance over

18 3.2

Look at something quickly without reading it carefully

Compounds

O

one glance

4 1.9

A quick look that gives enough information at once

B

backward glance

2 3.5

A quick look over the shoulder at something behind you

S

side-glance

1 4.6

A quick look to the side that shows a feeling or intention

C

copper glance

• Specialized

9.9

A heavy grey mineral with a metallic shine that is mined for copper

F

frosty glance

6.6

A cold unfriendly look someone gives to show dislike

S

smoochy-woochy glance

• Informal

9.9

A short loving or flirty look that shows attraction

How Oblique

to skim

1 2.9

to glance

7 4.4

to hit

∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

Etymology