glance

Universal Words verb, noun verb [V+adv./prep.] 1 to look quickly at sth/sb: She glanced at her watch. * He glanced around the room. * I glanced up quickly to see who had come in. 2 ~ at / down / over through sth to read sth quickly and not thoroughly: I only had time to glance at the newspapers. * He glanced briefly down the list of names. * She glanced through the report. PHRASALVERBS glance on / off sth (of light) to flash on a surface or be reflected off it glance off (sth) to hit sth at an angle and move off it in a different direction: The ball glanced off the post into the net. noun ~ (at sb/sth) a quick look: to take / have a glance at the newspaper headlines * a cursory / brief / casual / furtive glance * The sisters exchanged glances (= looked at each other). * She shot him a sideways glance. * He walked away without a backward glance. * She stole a glance (= looked secretly) at her watch. IDIOMS at a (single) glance immediately; with only a quick look: He could tell at a glance what was wrong. at first glance when you first look at or think about sth, often rather quickly: At first glance the problem seemed easy.