glide

Etymology

From Middle English gliden, from Old English glīdan, from Proto-West Germanic *glīdan, from Proto-Germanic *glīdaną, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰleydʰ-. Cognate with West Frisian glide, glydzje, Low German glieden, Dutch glijden, German gleiten, Norwegian Nynorsk gli, Danish glide, Swedish glida.

verb

1. (intransitive) To move softly, smoothly, or effortlessly.
   The water over which the boats glided was black and smooth, rising into huge foamless billows, the more terrible because they were silent. 1874, Marcus Clarke, For the Term of His Natural Life, Chapter VI
   But it was 37-year-old Giggs who looked like a care-free teenager as he glided across the pitch he knows so well to breathtaking effect. January 22, 2011, “Man Utd 5 - 0 Birmingham”, in BBC
2. (intransitive) To fly unpowered, as of an aircraft. Also relates to gliding birds and flying fish.
   The tide was out, and we drew up amid the strong bracing smell of seaweed, with gulls screeching, wheeling around, and gliding on the wind. 1947 January and February, O. S. Nock, “"The Aberdonian" in Wartime”, in Railway Magazine, page 8
3. (transitive) To cause to glide.
4. (phonetics) To pass with a glide, as the voice.

noun

1. The act of gliding.
2. (phonology) A transitional sound, especially a semivowel.
3. (fencing) An attack or preparatory movement made by sliding down the opponent’s blade, keeping it in constant contact.
4. A bird, the glede or kite.
5. A kind of cap affixed to the base of the legs of furniture to prevent it from damaging the floor.
6. The joining of two sounds without a break.
7. A smooth and sliding step in dancing the waltz.