to glance at
- phrasal verb
- /ɡlæns æt/
- He glanced at his watch to check the time before leaving the house.
- glance at his watch
- glance at the man
- only glance at
I had no idea that you glanced at my toes and you judge me.
- I had no idea that you glanced at my toes and you judge me.
- Let me just glance at the lineup for Wednesday.
- The judge, Sonia Sotomayor glanced at the clock.
- Like it's unreal when all of that stuff is, all of that stuff is just just because someone glances at you, it doesn't mean they're going to follow you home.
- It's maybe not as dark as my chest, but it seems to be like a pretty decent match just glancing at the monitor.
- And I vowed to not glance at the rest of those books that I have already paid for and will read at some point.
- I just, I think the whole thing, like if you glance at this, it might feel slightly chaotic to someone that exclusively loves neutrals.
- The painting might be there and I'll and I'll glance at it, but the video demands to be seen, which makes it a lot harder to hang or decorate a room with.
- So when you just glance at that, that story, whatever it is, you're like, Oh my God, that person's, that person's whole life has, has collapsed.
Examples
-
Before you start to take the history, though, glance at the baby to assess the urgency of the situation.
Academic text (2014) -
Keep your eyes on the class, and glance down at your score or notes only occasionally.
Academic text (2003) -
Have you found and are you glancing at that number as you drive?
-
Before I glance at my smart watch, I can see things.
-
Well, you gave one man back his life, but did you even glance at the others?
-
"You look nice," Danny said, glancing at me and turning back to the road.
Fiction book (1990) -
All I have to do is glance at this monitoring panel every 5 minutes.
-
The nurse at the station glanced at the monitor and noticed a man standing at her door.
-
Very seldom did the teacher even glance at his students during the lecture.
Academic text (1997) -
I've brought you all out here this evening in the cold not to glance over my shoulder at the past, but to join me in looking forward toward the future.
Synonyms
To look at something to check it or find information
To look quickly at someone or something
To look quickly and secretly at something
To see someone or something for a short time
To see someone or something for a very short time
To look quickly and secretly at something you are not supposed to see
Look at something quickly without reading it carefully
To see something for a short time, usually by chance
To look quickly through something to find an item or fact
To see someone or something suddenly and for a short time
To look quickly and casually at something you are curious about
To look quickly at something
To look quickly in an informal way
Antonyms
How Quickly
Surface Forms
Morphology
glance + at
The meaning 'to look quickly or briefly at' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'glance' (to look briefly) with the preposition 'at' (indicating the target of the look). This verb + preposition composition is a standard, cross-linguistically common pattern that a B1 learner who knows both words would readily understand.
Etymology
Glance at comes from the image of a quick flash with the eyes, where your glance touches something for a moment and then moves on, like a light passing by. So, to glance at something means 'to look quickly'.