glimpse
If you had a brief or incomplete look at something, you had a glimpse. “He didn’t mean to peek, but he got a glimpse of his birthday present when his wife tried to sneak it into the house. Of course, it’s pretty hard to hide a ladder.”
You can use glimpse as a noun (like when you “catch a glimpse of someone”) or as a verb (like when you “glimpse in someone’s direction”). Although the word glimpse is usually used to describe the physical act of sneaking a peek at something, you can also use the noun glimpse to indicate a vague idea or suggestion. Perhaps, you can have a glimpse into your future by observing your parents’ actions or by consulting a Tarot card reader.
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a brief or incomplete view
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a quick look
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synonyms:
coup d’oeil, gander, glance-
types:
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eye-beaming
a radiant glance of the eye
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side-glance, side-look
a glance sideways
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type of:
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look, looking, looking at
the act of directing the eyes toward something and perceiving it visually
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eye-beaming
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a vague indication
“he caught only a
glimpse of the professor’s meaning”-
type of:
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indicant, indication
something that serves to indicate or suggest
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indicant, indication
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catch a glimpse of or see briefly
“We
glimpsed the Queen as she got into her limousine”-
type of:
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see
perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
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see