Flit

//flɪt// adj, noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Fast, nimble. obsolete, poetic

    "And in his hand two darts exceeding flit, / And deadly sharpe he held [...]."

Noun
  1. 1
    A fluttering or darting movement.
  2. 2
    A flow control unit or flow control digit.

    "header flit"

  3. 3
    a secret move (to avoid paying debts) wordnet
  4. 4
    A sudden departure from a property.

    "I did a flit, as the landlord was due to arrive to collect the rent."

  5. 5
    a sudden quick movement wordnet
Show 2 more definitions
  1. 6
    A particular, unexpected, short lived change of state.

    "My computer just had a flit."

  2. 7
    A homosexual. dated, slang

    "The other end of the bar was full of flits. They weren't too flitty-looking—I mean they didn't have their hair too long or anything—but you could tell they were flits anyway."

Verb
  1. 1
    To move about rapidly and nimbly.

    "A shadow flits before me, / Not thou, but like to thee; […]"

  2. 2
    move along rapidly and lightly; skim or dart wordnet
  3. 3
    To move quickly from one location to another.

    "By their means it became a received opinion, that the souls of men departing this life, do flit out of one body into some other."

  4. 4
    To unpredictably change state for short periods of time.

    "My blender flits because the power cord is damaged."

  5. 5
    To move house (sometimes a sudden move to avoid debts). UK, dialectal

    "After this manner did the late Warden of Barchester Hospital accomplish his flitting, and change his residence."

Show 2 more definitions
  1. 6
    To move a tethered animal to a new grazing location.
  2. 7
    To be unstable; to be easily or often moved.

    "the free soul to flitting air resign'd"

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English flitten, flytten, from Old Norse flytja (“to move”), from Proto-Germanic *flutjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *plewd- (“to flow; run”). Cognate Icelandic flytja, Swedish flytta, Danish flytte, Norwegian flytte, Faroese flyta. Compare also Saterland Frisian flitskje (“to rush; run quickly”).

Etymology 2

From Middle English flitten, flytten, from Old Norse flytja (“to move”), from Proto-Germanic *flutjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *plewd- (“to flow; run”). Cognate Icelandic flytja, Swedish flytta, Danish flytte, Norwegian flytte, Faroese flyta. Compare also Saterland Frisian flitskje (“to rush; run quickly”).

Etymology 3

From Middle English flitten, flytten, from Old Norse flytja (“to move”), from Proto-Germanic *flutjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *plewd- (“to flow; run”). Cognate Icelandic flytja, Swedish flytta, Danish flytte, Norwegian flytte, Faroese flyta. Compare also Saterland Frisian flitskje (“to rush; run quickly”).

Etymology 4

Short for fl(ow control un)it or fl(ow control dig)it.

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