glancing blow

noun

: a blow with less than full force that falls off to one side
The falling tile struck him with a glancing blow on the head.

Examples of glancing blow in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Even a glancing blow can make the difference between a galaxy filled with stars and no galaxy at all. — Lee Billings, Scientific American, 16 Apr. 2026 This new storm will deliver a glancing blow to southern New England on Sunday before quickly racing out to sea. — Terry Eliasen, CBS News, 11 Dec. 2025 For now, forecasters are watching whether any material from the latest eruptions delivers a glancing blow to Earth’s magnetic field in the coming days. — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 24 Apr. 2026 However, this round of rainfall will be more of a glancing blow for San Antonio, with more widespread storms expected to stay farther north, from the Hill Country toward Austin. — Anthony Franze, San Antonio Express-News, 31 Mar. 2026 See All Example Sentences for glancing blow

Rhymes for glancing blow

See All Rhymes for glancing blow

Browse Nearby Words

glancing angle
glancing blow
glancing boom
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Glancing blow.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/glancing%20blow. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All