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flit
6 dictionary results for: flit
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
flit       [flit] Pronunciation Key verb, flit·ted, flit·ting, noun
–verb (used without object)
1.to move lightly and swiftly; fly, dart, or skim along: bees flitting from flower to flower.
2.to flutter, as a bird.
3.to pass quickly, as time: hours flitting by.
4.Chiefly Scot. and North England.
a.to depart or die.
b.to change one's residence.
–verb (used with object)
5.Chiefly Scot. to remove; transfer; oust or dispossess.
–noun
6.a light, swift movement; flutter.
7.Scot. and North England. a change of residence; instance of moving to a new address.
8.Slang: Disparaging and Offensive. a male homosexual.

[Origin: 1150–1200; ME flitten < ON flytja to carry, convey, Sw flytta. See fleet2]

flit·ting·ly, adverb

1. See fly1.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
flit       (flĭt)  Pronunciation Key 
intr.v.   flit·ted, flit·ting, flits
  1. To move about rapidly and nimbly.
  2. To move quickly from one condition or location to another.

n.  
  1. A fluttering or darting movement.
  2. Informal An empty-headed, silly, often erratic person.


[Middle English flitten, from Old Norse flytja, to carry about, convey; see pleu- in Indo-European roots.]

flit'ter n.
Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
flit 
c.1200, flutten "convey, move, take," perhaps from O.N. flytja "cause to fit," from P.Gmc. *flotojan (see float). First record of flitter, with frequentative suffix, is from 1542. Flitter-mouse (1547) is occasionally used in Eng., in imitation of Ger. fledermaus "bat," from O.H.G. fledaron "to flutter."
"Theire desire ... is to goe to theire newe masters eyther on a Tewsday, or on a Thursday; for ... they say Munday flitte, Neaver sitte." [1641]

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
flit

noun
1. a sudden quick movement 
2. a secret move (to avoid paying debts); "they did a moonlight flit" 

verb
1. move along rapidly and lightly; skim or dart; "The hummingbird flitted among the branches" 

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Flit

Flit\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Flitted; p. pr. & vb. n. Flitting.] [OE. flitten, flutten, to carry away; cf. Icel. flytja, Sw. flytta, Dan. flytte. [root]84. Cf. Fleet, v. i.]

1. To move with celerity through the air; to fly away with a rapid motion; to dart along; to fleet; as, a bird flits away; a cloud flits along.

A shadow flits before me. --Tennyson.

2. To flutter; to rove on the wing. --Dryden.

3. To pass rapidly, as a light substance, from one place to another; to remove; to migrate.

It became a received opinion, that the souls of men, departing this life, did flit out of one body into some other. --Hooker.

4. To remove from one place or habitation to another. [Scot. & Prov. Eng.] --Wright. Jamieson.

5. To be unstable; to be easily or often moved.

And the free soul to flitting air resigned. --Dryden.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Flit

Flit\, a. Nimble; quick; swift. [Obs.] See Fleet.

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