Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A quick survey; a glance.
Wiktionary
- n. A glimpse, a glance; the ability, especially of a military officer, to understand much at a glance.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Mil.) The faculty or the act of comprehending at a glance the weakness or strength of a military position, of a certain arrangement of troops, the most advantageous position for a battlefield, etc.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a quick look
Etymologies
- French coup d'œil ("stroke of the eye"). (Wiktionary)
- French coup d'œil : coup, stroke + de, of + oeil, eye. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“When afterwards traveling by himself, a student can not pass an advantageous position without examining it minutely; and at any place by a glance of the eye, or coup d'oeil (as the French call it) is enabled to judge of the best disposition that could be made of his party in every possible situation.”
The Beginnings of Public Education in North Carolina; A Documentary History, 1790-1840. Vol. I
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘coup d'oeil’.
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foreign
demitasse, apéritif, joie de vivre, sui generis, weltschmerz, weltanschauung, l'esprit de l'esc..., magnum opus, paterfamilias, idée fixe, saudade, gestalt and 62 more...
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Super-fishy
Whut. Huh. Make it quick, I's gotsta go TV or whatever. Huh? That's too brainy.
Boobs.holophrasis, perfunctory, desultory, sciolist, smattering, epigone, velleity, dilettante, simulacrum, shallow, one-dimensional, noddy and 68 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for coup d'oeil.
sionnach not to be confused with the trompe l'oeil, or (s)trumpet May 19, 2008
whichbe Quick survey; a glance (literally, stroke of the eye). (from WordCraft) May 19, 2008