glide

[glahyd] /glaɪd/
verb (used without object), glided, gliding.
1.
to move smoothly and continuously along, as if without effort or resistance, as a flying bird, a boat, or a skater.
2.
to pass by gradual or unobservable change (often followed by along, away, by, etc.).
3.
to move quietly or stealthily or without being noticed (usually followed by in, out, along, etc.).
4.
Aeronautics.
  1. to move in the air, especially at an easy angle downward, with less engine power than for level flight, solely by the action of air currents and gravity, or by momentum already acquired.
  2. to fly in a glider.
5.
Music. to pass from one note to another without a break.
verb (used with object), glided, gliding.
6.
to cause to glide.
noun
7.
a gliding movement, as in dancing.
8.
a dance marked by such movements.
9.
Music. slur (def 10a).
10.
Phonetics.
  1. a speech sound having the characteristics of both a consonant and a vowel, especially w in wore and y in your, and, in some analyses, r in road and l in load; semivowel.
  2. a transitional sound heard during the articulation linking two phonemically contiguous sounds, as the y- sound often heard between the i and e of quiet.
11.
a calm stretch of shallow, smoothly flowing water, as in a river.
12.
an act or instance of gliding.
13.
Metallurgy, slip1 (def 49).
14.
a smooth metal plate, as on the bottom of the feet of a chair or table, to facilitate moving and to prevent scarring of floor surfaces.
15.
a metal track in which a drawer, shelf, etc., moves in or out.
Origin
before 900; Middle English gliden (v.), Old English glīdan; cognate with German gleiten
Related forms
glidingly, adverb
ungliding, adjective
Synonyms
1. flow. See slide.
Antonyms
1. stick.
Examples from the web for glide
  • But they glide quickly over the fact that modern aquaculture is at an early stage of development.
  • Characters glide smoothly through scenes viewed from shifting, dramatic angles.
  • Without a smooth surface to glide over, the jet encounters friction and slows down.
  • But the astronauts lightly glide along the surface, kicking loose dirt around.
  • glide overhead, travelling onto milder climes: if they look down between shared clouds, see nothing.
  • The vanishing-edge pool creates the illusion that it could slip from its moorings and glide away.
  • Ice occasionally forms during the winter, and maybe the rocks glide about locked in ice sheets floating on shallow water.
  • Sparkles of light dance off a lagoon, and snowy herons glide over the wetlands.
  • Pre-fly lizards began to glide first--perching is a modern physical capability as pointed out in the article.
  • The best seem to glide through the air from the waist up, but their feet are a blur.
British Dictionary definitions for glide

glide

/ɡlaɪd/
verb
1.
to move or cause to move easily without jerks or hesitations: to glide in a boat down the river
2.
(intransitive) to pass slowly or without perceptible change: to glide into sleep
3.
to cause (an aircraft) to come into land without engine power, or (of an aircraft) to land in this way
4.
(intransitive) to fly a glider
5.
(intransitive) (music) to execute a portamento from one note to another
6.
(intransitive) (phonetics) to produce a glide
noun
7.
a smooth easy movement
8.
  1. any of various dances featuring gliding steps
  2. a step in such a dance
9.
a manoeuvre in which an aircraft makes a gentle descent without engine power See also glide path
10.
the act or process of gliding
11.
(music)
  1. a long portion of tubing slipped in and out of a trombone to increase its length for the production of lower harmonic series See also valve (sense 5)
  2. a portamento or slur
12.
(phonetics)
  1. a transitional sound as the speech organs pass from the articulatory position of one speech sound to that of the next, as the (w) sound in some pronunciations of the word doing
  2. another word for semivowel
13.
(crystallog) another name for slip1 (sense 33)
14.
(cricket) another word for glance1 (sense 11)
Derived Forms
glidingly, adverb
Word Origin
Old English glīdan; related to Old High German glītan
Word Origin and History for glide
v.

Old English glidan "move along smoothly and easily, glide, slip, slide" (class I strong verb, past tense glad, past participle gliden), from West Germanic *glidan "to glide" (cf. Old Saxon glidan, Old Frisian glida, German gleiten). Related: Glided; gliding. Strong past tense form glid persisted into 20c. The noun is attested 1580s, from the verb.