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Skitter - 5 dictionary results

skit⋅ter

[skit-er]
–verb (used without object)
1. to go, run, or glide lightly or rapidly.
2. to skim along a surface.
3. Angling. to draw a lure or a baited hook over the water with a skipping motion.
–verb (used with object)
4. to cause to skitter.

Origin:
1835–45; skit, var. of skite 1 + -er 6
skit·ter   (skĭt'ər)   
v.   skit·tered, skit·ter·ing, skit·ters

v.   intr.
  1. To move rapidly along a surface, usually with frequent light contacts or changes of direction; skip or glide quickly: lizards that skitter away when approached.
  2. To fish by drawing a lure or baited hook over the surface of the water with a skipping movement.
v.   tr.
To cause to skitter.

[Probably frequentative of dialectal skite, to run rapidly, perhaps of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse skjōta, to shoot; see shoot.]

Skitter

Skit"ter\, v. t. [Cf. Skit, v. t.] To move or pass (something) over a surface quickly so that it touches only at intervals; to skip.

The angler, standing in the bow, 'skitters' or skips the spoon over the surface. --James A. Henshall.

Skitter

Skit"ter\, v. i. To pass or glide lightly or with quick touches at intervals; to skip; to skim.

Some kinds of ducks in lighting strike the water with their tails first, and skitter along the surface for a feet before settling down. --T. Roosevelt.

skitter 
"to run rapidly," 1845, frequentative of skite "to dart, run quickly" (1721), perhaps from a Scand. source (cf. Icelandic skjota "to shoot," or Norw. dialectal skutla "glide rapidly"); related to source of skit (q.v.).
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