What does "skitter" mean?
A skittering movement.
Skitter
/ˈskɪtɚ/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A skittering movement.
- Grammar: skitter is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: burst, crab, dart, dash.
- Useful contrasts: crawl, creep, plod.
- Usage evidence: I opened the cabinet and a number of cockroaches went skittering off into the darkness.
How to use "skitter"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "skitter" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "skitter" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "skitter" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "skitter" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "skitter" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "burst" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "skitter", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A skittering movement. also, figuratively
"A skitter of activity. A skitter of gooseflesh."
- 2 Often skitters: the condition of suffering from diarrhea; thin excrement. Northern-England, Scotland, uncountable
"I can't give it my immediate attention, as the cow has the skitter (diarrhoea) and I'm waiting on the Vit (vet)."
Verb
- 1 To move hurriedly or as by bouncing or twitching; to scamper, to scurry; to scuttle. intransitive
"I opened the cabinet and a number of cockroaches went skittering off into the darkness."
- 2 To cause to have diarrhea. Northern-England, Scotland, transitive
""[…] I'd like you to give the calves two heaped tablespoonfuls [of Epsom salts] three times a day." / "Oh 'ell, you'll skitter the poor buggers to death!" / "Maybe so, but there's nothing else for it," I said."
- 3 twitch the hook of a fishing line through or along the surface of water wordnet
- 4 To make a scratching or scuttling noise while, or as if, skittering. intransitive
"Both "Dark Snow" and "Aurelia" [by AFI] feature subtle washes of brittle piano à la Decemberunderground, while "She Speaks The Language" boasts a skittering electronic underbelly, and eerie synths are suspended like low clouds in "Above The Bridge.""
- 5 To suffer from a bout of diarrhea; to produce thin excrement. Northern-England, Scotland, intransitive
"As a symptomatic phenomenon, Diarrhœa is skittering, i.e., the discharges are composed of water, intermingled with particles of imperfectly digested food; from two to six or eight discharges may thus take place, and it is an invariable precursor of constipation."
Show 4 more definitions
- 6 cause to skip over a surface wordnet
- 7 To move or pass (something) over a surface quickly so that it touches only at intervals; to skip, to skite. transitive
""Skittering," continued the Professor, "is practiced with a strong line about the length of the rod, to which is affixed a small trolling-spoon, a minnow, or a piece of pork-rind cut in the rude semblance of a small fish. The boat is poled along, as in ‘bobbing,’ but farther out in the stream, when the angler, standing in the bow, ‘skitters’ or skips the spoon or bait over the surface just at the edge of the weeds."
- 8 glide easily along a surface wordnet
- 9 to move about or proceed hurriedly wordnet
Example
"I opened the cabinet and a number of cockroaches went skittering off into the darkness."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "skitter"?
Common synonyms include: burst, crab, dart, dash, flits, flitted.
How do you use "skitter" in a sentence?
I opened the cabinet and a number of cockroaches went skittering off into the darkness.
How do you pronounce "skitter"?
Pronounced /ˈskɪtɚ/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
Possibly a frequentative of skite (“to move lightly and hurriedly; to move suddenly, particularly in an oblique direction”) (Scotland, Northern England). The noun is derived from the verb.
Etymology 2
From skite (“to defecate”) + -er (frequentative suffix). The noun is derived from the verb.