CATCH A GLIMPSE

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does catch a glimpse mean? 

• CATCH A GLIMPSE (verb)
  The verb CATCH A GLIMPSE has 1 sense:

1. see something for a brief time

  Familiarity information: CATCH A GLIMPSE used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CATCH A GLIMPSE (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

See something for a brief time

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Synonyms:

catch a glimpse; catch sight; get a look

Hypernyms (to "catch a glimpse" is one way to...):

see (perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

 Context examples 

But it is time that we took our order, for methinks that between the Needle rocks and the Alum cliffs yonder I can catch a glimpse of the topmasts of the galleys.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A hoarse roar of laughter from all the company answered it, and flushed faces craned over each other to catch a glimpse of the veteran.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

No one was moving about the house, nor could we catch a glimpse of any faces at the windows.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A lover finds his mistress asleep on a mossy bank; he wishes to catch a glimpse of her fair face without waking her.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Lodging as I did in Bond Street, there was hardly a day in which I did not catch a glimpse of one or other of you; and nothing but the most constant watchfulness on my side, a most invariably prevailing desire to keep out of your sight, could have separated us so long.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

They had kept him in the house without the girl’s knowledge, and the plaster over the face had been for the purpose of making recognition difficult in case she should ever catch a glimpse of him.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It was not often that she could turn her eyes on Mr. Darcy himself; but, whenever she did catch a glimpse, she saw an expression of general complaisance, and in all that he said she heard an accent so removed from hauteur or disdain of his companions, as convinced her that the improvement of manners which she had yesterday witnessed however temporary its existence might prove, had at least outlived one day.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

Through the gloom one could dimly catch a glimpse of bodies lying in strange fantastic poses, bowed shoulders, bent knees, heads thrown back, and chins pointing upward, with here and there a dark, lack-lustre eye turned upon the newcomer.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

There were to be no ceremonious performances, everything was to be as natural and homelike as possible, so when Aunt March arrived, she was scandalized to see the bride come running to welcome and lead her in, to find the bridegroom fastening up a garland that had fallen down, and to catch a glimpse of the paternal minister marching upstairs with a grave countenance and a wine bottle under each arm.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Behind them they could still catch a glimpse of the gray plains of Gascony, and could see her rivers gleaming like coils of silver in the sunshine.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)