How do you use the word "glance" in a sentence?

Here are real-life examples of using "glance": At a glance, he knew that the child was hungry. At a glance I knew that he was tired.

Glance Meaning

/ɡlɑːns/

Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

Definition

verbTo turn (one's eyes or look) at something, often briefly.

verbTo look briefly at (something).

Sentence Examples

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

At a glance I knew that he was tired.

He cast a quick glance at his watch during the meeting.

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms:

peek glimpse glint

Antonyms:

None

CEFR Practice Quiz

He gave a brief ____ at the paper before signing his signature.

CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)

He stole a quick ____ at his watch to see how much time was left before the important meeting began.

Word Origin & History

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

Literary Quotations & Historical Citations

"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?" — 1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 139”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC, signature I, verso:

"Vivian glanced a look, which would have been annihilation to any one, not a freeholder of five hundred acres." — 1826, [Benjamin Disraeli], “The Hall”, in Vivian Grey, volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, book II, page 195:

"He, however, blenched not a step, but glancing his severe eye round the group, which half encompassed him, at last bent it sternly on Sir Edmund Andros." — 1837 March 6, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “The Gray Champion”, in Twice-Told Tales, Boston, Mass.: American Stationers Co.; John B. Russell, →OCLC, page 19:

"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; […]" — 1816, Jedadiah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter VI, in Tales of My Landlord, […], volume IV (Old Mortality), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for William Blackwood, […]; London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, page 110:

"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." — 1824 June, [Walter Scott], “Letter IV. The Same to the Same [Darsie Latimer to Alan Fairford].”, in Redgauntlet, […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, page 70:

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