gliding

UK: /ˈglaɪdɪŋ/

From the verb glide: (⇒ conjugate)

gliding is: ⓘ

v pres p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

glide /glaɪd/   v., glid•ed, glid•ing, n. 
v. 

1. to move smoothly, as if without effort:
   [no object] skaters gliding over the ice.
2. (of time) to elapse in a gradual way that goes unnoticed:
   [no object] The years glided by.
3. to move quietly or without being noticed:
   [no object] He glided noiselessly into the room.
4. Aeronautics
   • to move in the air, esp. at an easy angle downward, with little or no engine power: [no object]
     The plane glided toward the runway.
     [~ + object]
     The pilot glided the plane to a safe landing.
   • [no object] to fly in a glider.

n. [countable]

5. a gliding movement, as in dancing.
6. an act or instance of gliding.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

glide  (glīd), v., glid•ed, glid•ing, n. 
v.i. 

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 fol. by along, away, by, etc.).
3. to move quietly or stealthily or without being noticed (usually fol. by in, out, along, etc.).
4. Aeronautics
   • to move in the air, esp. 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.
   • to fly in a glider.
5. Music and Dance to pass from one note to another without a break.

v.t. 

6. to cause to glide.

n. 

7. a gliding movement, as in dancing.
8. Music and Dance a dance marked by such movements.
9. Music and Dance slur (def. 10a).
10. Phonetics
    • a speech sound having the characteristics of both a consonant and a vowel, esp. w in wore and y in your, and, in some analyses, r in road and l in load;
      semivowel.
    • 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. 56).
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.

• bef. 900; Middle English gliden (verb, verbal), Old English glīdan; cognate with German gleiten

glid′ing•ly, adv. 
Synonyms

• 1. flow. See slide. 

Antonyms

• 1. stick.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

glide / ɡlaɪd/ verb

1. to move or cause to move easily without jerks or hesitations
2. (intransitive) to pass slowly or without perceptible change: to glide into sleep
3. to cause (an aircraft) to come in to land without engine power, or (of an aircraft) to land in this way
4. (intransitive) to fly a glider
5. (intransitive) to execute a portamento from one note to another
6. (intransitive) to produce a glide

noun

1. a smooth easy movement
2. any of various dances featuring gliding steps
3. a step in such a dance
4. a manoeuvre in which an aircraft makes a gentle descent without engine power
   See also glidepath
5. the act or process of gliding
6. 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 valve5
7. a portamento or slur
8. 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
9. another word for semivowel
10. another name for slip133

Etymology: Old English glīdan; related to Old High German glītan

ˈglidingly adverb