Definition
A glimpse is a fragment of seeing — a quick, incomplete look caught in passing, never the whole thing and never for long. You catch a glimpse of a face in a crowd, of the sea between two buildings, of an idea before it slips away. The word insists on brevity and partiality at once: what a glimpse gives you is real but unfinished, a sliver you have to guess the rest from. As a verb, to glimpse is to see for exactly that instant and no longer.
Examples
- Through the closing doors she caught a glimpse of the platform before the train pulled away.
- The film offers only a glimpse of a world that is already ephemeral, vanishing as fast as it is filmed.
- A good introduction gives the reader a glimpse of the argument without letting the main point linger unexplained.
Collocations
catch a glimpse of·a fleeting glimpse·a rare glimpse·offer a glimpse into·a brief glimpse
Synonyms
glance·peek·flash·sighting·look
Antonyms
gaze·stare
Word family
glimpse (verb)·glimpsed (adjective)
In TOEFL & IELTS
Most often a noun in the fixed phrase 'catch a glimpse of'. In IELTS Speaking it is a natural upgrade for 'see for a second'; in Writing it works figuratively — 'the data offers a glimpse into future trends'. Don't confuse it with 'glance' (a quick, deliberate look you choose to give): a glimpse is what you happen to catch, often by chance and only for a moment.