Flitter

//ˈflɪtɚ// noun, verb

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A fluttering movement

    "A waxing moon riding high in the sky and a flitter of bats about the rooftops, dipping and swerving as they gathered up the gnats that danced there in ephemeral clouds."

  2. 2
    Pronunciation spelling of fritter. Caribbean, Southern-US, alt-of, archaic, pronunciation-spelling
  3. 3
    A rag; a tatter; a small piece or fragment.

    "Without a flitter of a blanket o'er me"

  4. 4
    Any of various hesperiid butterflies of the genus Hyarotis.
  5. 5
    A small aircraft or spacecraft.

    "Then all three went out to the flitter. A tiny speedster, really; a torpedo bearing stubby wings and the ludicrous tail-surfaces, the multifarious driving-, braking-, side-, top-, and under-jets so characteristic of the tricky, cranky, but ultra-maneuverable breed."

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  1. 6
    A small perceptible feeling

    "Hannah couldn't stop a flitter of panic at the thought."

Verb
  1. 1
    To scatter in pieces.
  2. 2
    move back and forth very rapidly wordnet
  3. 3
    To move about rapidly and nimbly.
  4. 4
    To move quickly from one condition or location to another.

    "How she remembered the gray-feathered titmouse flittering about as she stared unbelievingly at the grave of her sister and clung to Reese, then five years old."

  5. 5
    To flutter or quiver.

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English flytteren, frequentative form of flitten, flytten, flütten, possibly from Old Norse flytja (“to carry about, convey”), equivalent to flit + -er (frequentative suffix).

Etymology 2

From flit + -er.

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