Glide vs. Approximant — What's the Difference?
Difference Between Glide and Approximant
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Compare with Definitions
Glide
To move in a smooth, effortless manner
A submarine gliding through the water.
Approximant
Approximants are speech sounds that involve the articulators approaching each other but not narrowly enough nor with enough articulatory precision to create turbulent airflow. Therefore, approximants fall between fricatives, which do produce a turbulent airstream, and vowels, which produce no turbulence.
Glide
To move silently and furtively
The thief glided across the room.
Approximant
A speech sound, such as a glide or liquid, produced by narrowing but not blocking the vocal tract, as by placing an articulator, such as the tongue, near another part of the vocal tract.
Glide
To occur or pass imperceptibly
The autumn days glided by.
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Approximant
(phonetics) A consonant sound made by slightly narrowing the vocal tract, while still allowing a smooth flow of air. Liquids and glides are approximants.
Glide
To fly without propulsion from wings or an engine.
Approximant
(mathematics) An approximation to the solution of a function, series, etc.
Glide
(Music) To blend one tone into the next; slur.
Glide
(Linguistics) To articulate a glide in speech.
Glide
To cause to move or pass smoothly, silently, or imperceptibly
Glided the key into the lock.
Glide
To operate or fly (an aircraft) without propulsion from wings or an engine
She glided the paraglider over the trees.
Glide
The act of gliding.
Glide
(Music) A slur.
Glide
The transitional sound produced by passing from the articulatory position of one speech sound to that of another.
Glide
See semivowel.
Glide
(intransitive) To move softly, smoothly, or effortlessly.
Glide
(intransitive) To fly unpowered, as of an aircraft. Also relates to gliding birds and flying fish.
Glide
(transitive) To cause to glide.
Glide
(phonetics) To pass with a glide, as the voice.
Glide
The act of gliding.
Glide
(phonology) A transitional sound, especially a semivowel.
Glide
(fencing) An attack or preparatory movement made by sliding down the opponent’s blade, keeping it in constant contact.
Glide
A bird, the glede or kite.
Glide
A kind of cap affixed to the base of the legs of furniture to prevent it from damaging the floor.
Glide
The joining of two sounds without a break.
Glide
A smooth and sliding step in dancing the waltz.
Glide
The glede or kite.
Glide
The act or manner of moving smoothly, swiftly, and without labor or obstruction.
They prey at last ensnared, he dreadful darts,With rapid glide, along the leaning line.
Seeing Orlando, it unlink'd itself,And with indented glides did slip away.
Glide
A transitional sound in speech which is produced by the changing of the mouth organs from one definite position to another, and with gradual change in the most frequent cases; as in passing from the begining to the end of a regular diphthong, or from vowel to consonant or consonant to vowel in a syllable, or from one component to the other of a double or diphthongal consonant (see Guide to Pronunciation, 19, 161, 162). Also (by Bell and others), the vanish (or brief final element) or the brief initial element, in a class of diphthongal vowels, or the brief final or initial part of some consonants (see Guide to Pronunciation, 18, 97, 191).
Glide
Movement of a glider, aëroplane, etc., through the air under gravity or its own movement.
Glide
To move gently and smoothly; to pass along without noise, violence, or apparent effort; to pass rapidly and easily, or with a smooth, silent motion, as a river in its channel, a bird in the air, a skater over ice.
The river glideth at his own sweet will.
Glide
To pass with a glide, as the voice.
Glide
To move through the air by virtue of gravity or momentum; to volplane.
Glide
A vowel-like sound that serves as a consonant
Glide
The act of moving smoothly along a surface while remaining in contact with it;
His slide didn't stop until the bottom of the hill
The children lined up for a coast down the snowy slope
Glide
The activity of flying a glider
Glide
Move smoothly and effortlessly
Glide
Fly in or as if in a glider plane
Glide
Cause to move or pass silently, smoothly, or imperceptibly
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