flicker

any of several American woodpeckers of the genus Colaptes, having the underside of the wings and tail brightly marked with yellow or red and noted for taking insects from the ground as well as trees.

Origin:
1800–10, Americanism; said to be imitative of the bird's note

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World English Dictionary

flicker¹ (ˈflɪkə)

—vb
1.	(intr) to shine with an unsteady or intermittent light: a candle flickers
2.	(intr) to move quickly to and fro; quiver, flutter, or vibrate
3.	(tr) to cause to flicker

—n
4.	an unsteady or brief light or flame
5.	a swift quivering or fluttering movement
6.	a visual sensation, often seen in a television image, produced by periodic fluctuations in the brightness of light at a frequency below that covered by the persistence of vision
7.	(plural) the flicker a US word for flick

[Old English flicorian; related to Dutch flikkeren, Old Norse flökra to flutter]

'flickeringly¹

—*adv*

'flickery¹

—*adj*

flicker² (ˈflɪkə)

—n
	any North American woodpecker of the genus Colaptes, esp C. auratus (yellow-shafted flicker), which has a yellow undersurface to the wings and tail

[C19: perhaps imitative of the bird's call]

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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

flicker

O.E. flicorian "to flutter, flap quickly and lightly," originally of birds. Onomatopoeic of quick motion. Sense of "shine with a wavering light" is c.1600, but not common till 19c. Related: Flickered; flickering.

flicker

"woodpecker," 1808 Amer.Eng., possibly echoic of bird's note, or from white spots on plumage that seem to flicker as it flits from tree to tree.

Example sentences

If it's low to the horizon, turbulent air makes it flicker and change color.

But this brief flicker of unofficial light was soon officially extinguished,

and darkness was restored, thicker than ever.

Office fluorescent lights that constantly flicker can act as a stimulant that

saps energy.

It has also increased the market's sensitivity to upsets which during times of

plenty would barely cause the price to flicker.

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Matching Quote

". . . Look! this flesh how it crumbles to dust and is blown!
These bones, how they grind in the granite of frost and are nothing!
This skull, how it yawns for a flicker of time in the darkness,
Yet laughs not and sees not!"

-Conrad Aiken