online medical dictionary | definition of Glance

1. A sudden flash of light or splendor. "Swift as the lightning glance." (Milton)

2. A quick cast of the eyes; a quick or a casual look; a swift survey; a glimpse. "Dart not scornful glances from those eyes." (Shak)

3. An incidental or passing thought or allusion. "How fleet is a glance of the mind." (Cowper)

4. <chemical>

A name given to some sulphides, mostly dark-coloured, which have a brilliant metallic luster, as the sulphide of copper, called copper glance. Glance coal, anthracite; a mineral composed chiefly of carbon. Glance cobalt, cobaltite, or gray cobalt. Glance copper, calcocite. Glance wood, a hard wood grown in Cuba, and used for gauging instruments, carpenters' rules, etc. McElrath.

Origin: Akin to D. Glans luster, brightness, G. Glanz, Sw. Glans, D. Glands brightness, glimpse. Cf. Gleen, Glint, Glitter, and Glance a mineral.

(01 Mar 1998)