glide
/ˈɡlaɪd/ verb, noun, proper noun
Forms glides gliding glided glid glode glidden
- verb (intransitive) To move softly, smoothly, or effortlessly.
- verb (intransitive) To fly unpowered, as of an aircraft. Also relates to gliding birds and flying fish.
- verb (transitive) To cause to glide.
- verb (phonetics) To pass with a glide, as the voice.
- noun The act of gliding.
- noun (phonology) A transitional sound, especially a semivowel.
- noun (fencing) An attack or preparatory movement made by sliding down the opponent’s blade, keeping it in constant contact.
- noun A bird, the glede or kite.
- noun A kind of cap affixed to the base of the legs of furniture to prevent it from damaging the floor while being moved.
- noun The joining of two sounds without a break.
- noun A smooth and sliding step in dancing the waltz.
- proper noun A census-designated place in Douglas County, Oregon, United States.
Synonyms
coast slide semivowel semiconsonant gliding sailplaning soaring sailing
Etymology
From Middle English gliden, from Old English glīdan, from Proto-West Germanic *glīdan, from Proto-Germanic *glīdaną, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰleydʰ-.
Cognate with West Frisian glide, glydzje, Low German glieden, Dutch glijden, German gleiten, Norwegian Nynorsk gli, Danish glide, Swedish glida, Finnish liitää.
Webster’s 1913
- noun The glede or kite.
- verb To move gently and smoothly; to pass along without noise, violence, or apparent effort; to pass rapidly and easily, or with a smooth, silent motion, as a river in its channel, a bird in the air, a skater over ice. The river glideth at his own sweet will. Wordsworth.
- verb To pass with a glide, as the voice.
- noun The act or manner of moving smoothly, swiftly, and without labor or obstruction.
Etymology [AS. glidan; akin to D. glijden, OHG. glitan, G. gleiten, Sw. glida, Dan. glide, and prob. to E. glad.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “glide”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details