▪ I. glance, n.1
(glɑːns, -æ-)
[f. glance v.]
1. a. A swift oblique movement or impact. † by glance: obliquely. Also fig. ? Obs.
| 1570 Levins Manip. 21/10 A Glance, transitus. 1599 Hakluyt Voy. II. i. 134 For they saile away, being not once touched with the glaunce of a shot, and are quickly out of the Turkish canons reach. 1654 H. L'Estrange Chas. I (1655) 55 And though these speeches did not take their aime directly at his Majesty, yet did they by glance and obliquely deeply wound him. 1735 Somerville Chase iii. 332 The watchful angry Beast Th' Advantage spies; and at one sidelong Glance Rips up his Groin. |
b. Cricket. (See quot. 1897.)
| 1883 Cricket 19 Apr. 39/1 Leg glances being his favourite stroke. 1892 Daily News 1 July 2/2 A remarkable ability to play the stroke, which can be best described as the leg glance. 1897 Ranjitsinhji Jubilee Bk. Cricket 172 There is another stroke by which good-length balls on the leg-side can be played—the glide or glance... The face of the bat is turned slantwise to meet the ball, which should glance off towards fine-long-leg... In these days, with perfect wickets, the glance-stroke is very useful. |
† 2. fig. a. A satirical hit or allusion, a jest at (or upon) something. b. Allusion, reference. Obs.
| a. 1602 W. Fulbecke 2nd Pt. Parall. 36 This was but the glaunce of Diogenes, who made more accompt of his scoffe then his state. 1605 Bacon Adv. Learn. i. vii. §8 (1873) 57 Silenus was gravelled..not knowing where to carp at him; save at the last he gave a glance at his patience towards his wife. 1639 Horn & Rob. Gate Lang. Unl. §842 Pleasant jests, conceits, and witty glances [L. allusiones] beseem men of civility, but not bitter tart girds. 1697 Potter Antiq. Greece iv. xiii. (1715) 317 In these Songs they now and then gave a Satyrical Glance upon those who had misbehav'd themselves in the Wars. |
| b. 1665 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (1677) 349 Albeit in that brief discourse I made..there are some glances at it; I shall here..speak a little further upon that subject. 1702 Echard Eccl. Hist. (1710) 5 Every part of it [the temple-ministration] had a glance at a future and better state of things. |
3. A sudden movement producing a flash or gleam of light; also, the flash or gleam itself.
| 1503 Dunbar Thistle & Rose 96 Reid of his cullour, as is the ruby glance. a 1547 Surrey æneid ii. 223 Yea thrise..In glaunces bright she glittered from the ground [L. terque ipsa solo..Emicuit]. 1637 Earl Stirling Jonathan i. lxxxi, Each swords bright glance, seem'd summons from their fate. 1665 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (1677) 387 The Sun..shines with utmost ardour upon those parts..whether his glances be oblique or perpendicular. 1667 Milton P.L. vii. 405 Fish..sporting with quick glance, Show to the Sun thir wav'd coats. 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. I. 132 The famous Ice-glance... It is a large high field of ice, whose glance in the air may be seen for many leagues at sea. 1810 Scott Lady of L. i. xxxv, The silver light, with quivering glance, Played on the water's still expanse. 1849 T. Woolner My Beautiful Lady (1863) 21 As knight led captive, in romance Through postern and dark passage, past grim glance Of arms. |
| fig. 1814 Apostate v. ii, How awful is this silence Which has succeeded to that glance of sound! 1827 Hood Plea of Mids. Fairies xxiii, So do we flutter in the glance of youth. |
4. A brief or hurried look. Also a glance at, into, of, over, upon, etc. (the object looked at).
| 1591 Greene Disc. Coosnage (1592) 4 The verser cuts off some four cards, and..geueth the cony a glance of the bottom card. 1592 Davies Immort. Soul Introd. xli. (1742) 11 The Glance of this Dame's angry Eyes. 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. iii. ii. 126, I was won my Lord With the first glance. 1667 Milton P.L. ix. 1034 So said he, and forbore not glance or toy Of amorous intent. 1718 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. to C'tess Mar 10 Mar., In most courts..the glance of the monarch is watched, and every smile is waited for with impatience. 1796 H. Hunter tr. St.-Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) II. 532 This arrangement pleases at first glance, but soon fatigues the eye by it's uniformity. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth xxxiii, He passed the papers through his hands, turning some over with a hasty glance. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. xvi. 113 Casting a glance over the glorious scene beneath us [etc.]. 1874 Green Short Hist. iii. §7. 154 A glance satisfied him of the hopelessness of the struggle. |
| fig. 1781–3 Cowper Verses A. Selkirk 41 How fleet is a glance of the Mind! 1805 Foster Ess. iv. i. 105 A decisive glance of thought. 1849 E. B. Eastwick Dry Leaves 200 It is idle hypocrisy now to pretend that our design..included the slightest glance at their advantage. |
5. Comb. glance-pitch (see quot. 1897); glance-wood, a hard wood grown in Cuba, and used for gauging-instruments, carpenter's rules, etc.
| 1871 M{supc}Elrath Dict. Words Comm. (Webster 1890) Glance-wood. 1897 Birm. Weekly Post 18 Sept. 5/1 Barbadoes is commencing to export ‘manjak or glance-pitch’, of the nature of petroleum in a bituminous form. |
▪ II. glance, n.2
(glɑːns, -æ-)
Also glanz.
[ad. G. glanz (Du. glans) brightness, lustre, also glance-ore.]
A variety of ore having a lustre which indicates its metallic nature. Obs. exc. in antimony-, bismuth-, copper-, iron-, lead-, silver-glance, q.v.
| [1457–8, 1747: see glance-ore.] 1828 Stark Elem. Nat. Hist. II. 488 Order XI.—Glance. Lustre metallic. Gray black. 1847 in Craig. 1858 Whewell Hist. Sci. Ideas II. 141 The Orders Pyrites, Glance, and Blende, are common to Naumann and Mohs. |
b. Comb. glance-coal, a variety of anthracite (G. glanzkohle, Du. glanskool).
| 1805 Edin. Rev. VI. 230 With respect to glance-coal..it is surely far from being new under its vulgar name of blind-coal. 1848 J. G. Wilkinson Dalmatia, etc. I. 198 It is a variety of glanz coal. c 1865 Letheby in Circ. Sci. I. 117/1 Glance-coal, or anthracite, is not rich enough in hydrogen to be of any use to the gas manufacturer. |
▪ III. glance, v.1
(glɑːns, -æ-)
Forms: 5 glench, glens, gla(u)nche, 5–6 glence, 6 gla(u)nse, glawnse, Sc. glanss, 6–7 glaunce, 6– glance.
[Of obscure origin. As the earliest sense is the same with that of glace v., it seems possible that the word may be a nasalized form of OF. glaichier to slip, slide, perhaps influenced by OF. guenchir, guencir to turn aside, or by glent v.
The word has been commonly explained as f. glance n.1, a. Du. or Sw. glans, but these are only adoptions of MHG. glanz brightness, lustre (related to glent, glint).]
1. a. intr. Of a weapon: To glide off an object struck, without delivering the full effect of the blow. Also to glance aside, off. to glance on: to strike obliquely upon and turn aside.
| c 1450 Merlin 198 The stroke of the ax glenched, and smote the horse bak asunder. c 1500 Melusine xxxvi. 250 The helmet was hard and þe swerd glenced asyde & dommaged hym nought. 1590 Sir J. Smyth Disc. Weapons 30 Most of their volees of arrowes should have..glaunced or lighted upon the piques. 1725 Pope Odyss. xxii. 309 And from Ctesippus' arm the spear elanc'd On good Eumæus' shield and shoulder glanc'd. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth ii, The blow only glanced on the bone, and scarce drew blood. 1882 Lecky Eng. in 18th C. IV. 245 The heaviest shot glanced harmlessly from the sides of the assailing vessels. |
| transf. and fig. 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. v. ii. 61 As the Iest did glaunce awaie from me, 'Tis ten to one it maim'd you too out right. 1626 Jackson Creed viii. xxi. §4 Their projects..doe often glance or fall upon some other object then they thought of. 1846 Trench Mirac. xx. (1862) 329 He..means that rebuke to glance off on Him who has put forth on this day his power to help and to save. |
† b. To pass by without touching.
| c 1540 tr. Pol. Verg. Eng. Hist. (Camden) I. 246 The river Nadder..glawnceth bie the village Wersminster. a 1682 Sir T. Browne Christ. Mor. ii. iii. (1716) 49 Some have digged deep, yet glanced by the Royal Vein. |
† 2. To move rapidly, esp. in an oblique or transverse direction; to dart, shoot; to spring aside.
| 1489 Caxton Faytes of A. i. ix. 23 The manere how they shall glaunche or with-drawe themself from y⊇ strokes. c 1500 Melusine xix. 67 He glanched asyde, and so the kyngis nevew, for he recountred ayenst nothing, fell doun to the grounde. c 1600 Shakes. Sonn. lxxvi. 3 Why with the time do I not glance aside To new found methods? 1618 Bolton Florus iv. ii. (1636) 264 The warre..glanced into Asia, and lay heavy upon Africke. 1647 H. More Song of Soul ii. ii. ii. xxiv, If that, the object gone, away those forms do glance. 1786 tr. Beckford's Vathek (1868) 20 Glancing from the precipice with the rapidity of lightning, [he] was lost in the gulf below. |
| fig. 1604 T. Wright Passions iii. i. 79 If thou see..one eate very greedily..such actions glaunce out of gluttony. |
3. With reference to discourse: To pass quickly over, glide from, off (a subject). to glance at (upon, † against): to allude or refer to obliquely or in passing, usually by way of censure or satire; to hit at, reflect upon.
| 1570 Dee Math. Pref. 33 Yet will I glanse ouer it, with wordes very few. 1591 Greene Disc. Coosnage Pref. (1592) 3 Thus Gentlemen I haue glaunst at the Barnards lawe. 1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. v. i. 311 To call him villaine: and then to glance from him To th' Duke himselfe, to taxe him with Iniustice. 1621 T. Williamson tr. Goulart's Wise Vieillard To Rdr. A iv, The wise Old Man..seemes to glance at our English Proverb: No foole to the old foole. 1672–3 Marvell Reh. Transp. i. 40 Whatsoever may have glanced upon him, was directed only to our Author. 1720 Swift Fates of Clergymen Wks. 1755 II. ii. 29 Verses..wherein he glanced at a certain reverend doctor. 1819 W. Taylor in Monthly Mag. XLVII. 119 The discourse mostly glanced upon the corruption of Manners and Morals among the Romans. 1872 O. W. Holmes Poet Breakf.-t. vi. 174, I glanced off, as one often does in talk. 1893 Stevenson Catriona 39 Words which glance upon the purity of justice. |
4. To cause a flash of light by rapid movement; † Sc. to shine. Of light: To dart, flash, gleam.
| 1568 Satir. Poems Reform. xlviii. 76 To..mak it [cloth] weill hewit And gar it glanss lyk Dunmygrane. 1617 Moryson Itin. i. 19 The Sunne beames glancing on my face, as I lay in bed. 1648 Milton Ps. lxxxvii. 27 In thee [Sion] fresh brooks and soft streams glance. 1727 P. Walker Life Peden (1827) 49 He broke out in a Rapture about our Martyrs, saying..now they are all Glancing in Glory. 17.. Ramsay Ode Mem. Mrs. Forbes 13 Her soul glanc'd with each heavenly ray. 1781 Cowper Truth 242 Now flashing wide, now glancing as in play, Swift beyond thought the lightnings dart away. 1822 Scott Pirate xxiii, These pretty feet and ancles, that glance so white in the moonbeam. 1852 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xxxiv, An insane light glanced in her heavy black eyes. 1859 Tennyson Marr. Geraint 172 He..glancing like a dragon-fly In summer suit and silks of holiday. |
| fig. 1824 S. E. Ferrier Inher. xcvi, The thought glanced upon her, that L. would be glad to see her so protected. 1884 W. C. Smith Kildrostan I. i. 242 The ripples that glimmer and glance Where the sun flashes. |
5. Of the eye: To move quickly, to cast a momentary look, to flash. Also said of the person looking; esp. to glance at, to give a brief look at; to glance over, to look quickly over, to read hurriedly (also to glance through); and with various preps. and advs., as to glance down, up, etc.
| 1583 Stanyhurst æneis ii. (Arb.) 61 In this wise musing myn eye glaunst to my coompanye fensiue. 1586 T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. i. xxiii. 233 They that glaunce at honor [Fr. qui iettent legerement les yeux à l'honneur], as if that were vertue it selfe. 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. v. i. 13. 1638 F. Junius Paint. Ancients 293 The eyes..loosly swimming in pleasure, glancing and (to speake so) venereall. 1816 Scott Old Mort. xxxv, A horseman..gave a letter. Claverhouse glanced it over. 1820 W. Irving Sketch Bk. I. 51 A beautiful face glanced out at the window and vanished. 1823 Scoresby Whale Fishery 396 Some of those who glance over these pages, may have been the ‘sons and daughters of affliction’. 1831 T. L. Peacock Crotchet Castle xvi. 252 Her eye glanced on something which made her change colour. 1843 W. H. Ainsworth Windsor Castle i. iii, The duke..was glancing rather wistfully at them. 1862 G. Macdonald D. Elginbrod ii. xviii, Every now and then glancing up at her from her work. 1865 M. C. Harris Christine (1866) xxx. 181 Mrs Sherman and the party..glanced off their cards and chatted. Ibid. 187 She glanced up at the clock. Ibid. xxxiii. 208 He would..open her books, and glance through them for some trace of her in them. 1871 L. Stephen Playgr. Europe iii. (1894) 81 We crept..cautiously along..glancing down the mighty cliffs beneath us. 1881 Mrs. J. H. Riddell Sen. Partner I. v. 96 He did not glance round as the manager entered. Ibid. III. vi. 139 ‘No,’ she agreed, glancing nervously around her. 1881 J. Fothergill Kith & Kin I. ii. 22 She..glanced for a moment into his face. 1894 A. Conan Doyle Mem. Sherlock Holmes 147 Glancing very keenly across at me. 1902 R. Machray Night Side of London v. 93 You indulge in pleasant little dreams, or glance away from what may become a tragedy. 1907 Smart Set Jan. 54 Her brother-in-law glanced after her. a 1953 E. O'Neill Long Day's Journey (1956) ii. i. 57 As she talks, she glances everywhere except at any of their faces. Ibid. ii. 70 He glances away, ignoring her question. Ibid. iv. 132 He glances up at the chandelier disapprovingly. Ibid. 152 She glances around vaguely. |
| fig. 1861 Geo. Eliot Silas M. 37 His thoughts glanced at all the neighbours who had made any remarks. |
6. trans. a. to glance one's eye, look: † (a) to turn aside one's gaze as when dazzled (cf. sense 2); (b) to give a quick or momentary look; also, to look quickly at or upon an object.
| 1590 Greene Never too late (1600) F, Finding the sunne too glorious for my sight, I glaunst my looke. c 1600 Shakes. Sonn. cxxxix. 6 Deare heart, forbeare to glance thine eye aside. 1632 Brome North. Lasse i. vii. Wks. 1873 III. 16 Now glaunce your eye on this side, on the yoke, You bring your neck to. 1642 Life, etc. J. Puffe 4 in Hazl. E.P.P. IV. 315 His downcast eyes upon his boots are glanct. 1716 Addison tr. Ovid Wks. 1753 I. 194 Fire broke in flashes when he glance'd his eyes. a 1794 Gibbon Misc. Wks. (1814) I. 177 After glancing my eye over Addison's agreeable dialogues, I more seriously read the great work of Ezekiel Spanheim. 1826 Disraeli Viv. Grey ii. xiii, Vivian glanced a look of annihilation. 1837 Hawthorne Twice-Told T. (1851) I. i. 21 He..glancing his severe eye around the group..at last bent it sternly on Sir Edmund Andros. |
b. To survey with a glance; to catch a glimpse of.
| 1635–56 Cowley Davideis ii. 182 Still does he glance the fortune of that day. 1765 J. Brown Chr. Jrnl. (1814) 163 With enrapturing joy shall we glance the countless facts of redeeming love. 1797 A. M. Bennett Beggar Girl (1813) V. 302 Lady Gauntlet just glanced the hind wheels of two carriages, which drove round to the back of the house. 1828 Montgomery Vision Heaven 28 Who ever glanced the Heavens, nor dream'd of God..and things divine? Ibid. 39 Those burning mysteries that mortals glance With wonder. |
c. To express or convey with a glance (of the eye).
| 1717 Prior Alma ii. 185 There his eyes took distant aim, and glanc'd respect to that bright dame. 1843 E. Jones Sens. & Event 109 Glancing sublime devotion. 1845 Browning Luria Poet. Wks. (1868) 105 As if there were no glowing eye i' the world, To glance straight inspiration to my brain. |
† 7. To touch obliquely; to graze, barely touch; fig. to glance at, allude to. Obs.
| 1590 Shakes. Com. Err. v. i. 66 Alone, it was the subiect of my Theame: In company I often glanced it. 1651 Evelyn Diary 15 Sept., I observ'd that the mall gos the whole square thereof next y⊇ wall, and bends with an angle so made as to glance y⊇ wall. |
8. a. To direct obliquely. lit. and fig.
| a 1656 Bp. Hall Rem. Wks. (1660) 22 One morning as I lay in my bed, a strong motion was suddenly glanced into my thoughts of going to London. 1685 Gracian's Courtier's Orac. 32 Seeing they [words or hints] are cunningly glanced, so also are they to be cautiously received. 1697 W. Dampier Voy. I i. 10 They will purposely strike their Harpoons..aside, or so glance them as to kill nothing. 1704 Swift T. Tub x. 191, I will here take Leave to glance a few Innuendo's. a 1800 Cowper Wks. (1835–7) I. 120 Formerly, in my happiest hours, I had never been able to glance a single thought that way. 1806 R. Cumberland Mem. (1807) I. 404 He came home..to refute some malicious imputations that had been glanced at his character. 1825 Carlyle Schiller iii. (1845) 165 He narrowly escapes killing or ducking for having ventured to glance a censure at the General. |
b. To emit with a flash or gleam. to glance back: to flash back, reflect.
| 1746–7 Hervey Medit. II. 7 The curling Waves, glowing with purple in one place..in another, glancing a cast of undulating Green. 1824 Scott Redgauntlet Let. iv, The bink, with its usual arrangement of pewter and earthenware..glanced back the flame of the lamp merrily. |
c. Cricket. To deflect (the ball) with the glance-stroke (see glance n.1 1 b). Also absol., and with the bowler as obj.
| 1898 K. S. Ranjitsinhji With Stoddart's Team (ed. 4) iii. 50 He seemed able to ‘drive’,..or ‘glance’..with equal skill and success. 1899 Captain I. 593/1 You had better practise slipping and glancing the ball. 1899 Daily News 22 July 4/2 Men were then less apt to ‘glance and glide’, like The Brook, and K. S. Ranjitsinhji. 1928 Daily Express 19 Dec. 3/2 White..glancing Ironmonger for three. 1963 A. Ross Australia 63 vii. 129 Simpson glanced Statham's fourth ball and Smith, diving, caught it. |
▪ IV. glance, v.2 U.S.
[? ad. Du. glanzen to polish, planish (metals), f. glans lustre: see glance n.2 Cf. G. glänzen, Sw. glansa.]
trans. To planish.
| 1894 Times 16 Aug. 6/3 Sheet steel, polished, planished, or glanced,..one and three-fourths cents per pound. |