flut·ter

[fluht-er]
verb (used without object)
1.
to wave, flap, or toss about: Banners fluttered in the breeze.
2.
to flap the wings rapidly; fly with flapping movements.
3.
to move in quick, irregular motions; vibrate.
4.
to beat rapidly, as the heart.
5.
to be tremulous or agitated.
6.
to go with irregular motions or aimless course: to flutter back and forth.
verb (used with object)
7.
to cause to flutter; vibrate; agitate.
8.
to throw into nervous or tremulous excitement; cause mental agitation; confuse.
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noun
9.
a fluttering movement: He made little nervous flutters with his hands.
10.
a state of nervous excitement or mental agitation: a flutter of anticipation.
11.
flutter kick.
12.
Audio. a variation in pitch resulting from rapid fluctuations in the speed of a recording. Compare wow2 ( def 1 ).
13.
Chiefly British. a small wager or speculative investment.
Origin:
before 1000; Middle English floteren, Old English floterian, frequentative of flotian to float

Related forms
flut·ter·er, noun
flut·ter·ing·ly, adverb
un·flut·tered, adjective
un·flut·ter·ing, adjective

Synonyms
2. See fly1. 10. flurry, twitter, stir, dither.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
flutter (ˈflʌtə) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—vb
1.  to wave or cause to wave rapidly; flap
2.  (intr) (of birds, butterflies, etc) to flap the wings
3.  (intr) to move, esp downwards, with an irregular motion
4.  (intr) pathol (of the auricles of the heart) to beat abnormally rapidly, esp in a regular rhythm
5.  to be or make nervous or restless
6.  (intr) to move about restlessly
7.  swimming to cause (the legs) to move up and down in a flutter kick or (of the legs) to move in this way
8.  informal (Brit) (tr) to wager or gamble (a small amount of money)
 
—n
9.  a quick flapping or vibrating motion
10.  a state of nervous excitement or confusion
11.  excited interest; sensation; stir
12.  informal (Brit) a modest bet or wager
13.  pathol an abnormally rapid beating of the auricles of the heart (200 to 400 beats per minute), esp in a regular rhythm, sometimes resulting in heart block
14.  electronics a slow variation in pitch in a sound-reproducing system, similar to wow but occurring at higher frequencies
15.  a potentially dangerous oscillation of an aircraft, or part of an aircraft, caused by the interaction of aerodynamic forces, structural elastic reactions, and inertia
16.  swimming See flutter kick
17.  music Also called: flutter tonguing a method of sounding a wind instrument, esp the flute, with a rolling movement of the tongue
 
[Old English floterian to float to and fro; related to German flattern; see float]
 
'flutterer
 
—n
 
'flutteringly
 
—adv

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

flutter
O.E. floterian "float to and fro, be tossed by waves," freq. of fleotan "to fleet" (see fleet (n.)). Related: Fluttered; fluttering.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

flutter flut·ter (flŭt'ər)
n.
Abnormally rapid pulsation, especially of the atria or ventricles of the heart.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia

flutter

in sound reproduction, waver in a reproduced tone or group of tones that is caused by irregularities in turntable or tape drive speed during recording, duplication, or reproduction. Low-frequency irregularities (as one per revolution of a turntable, referred to as "once arounds") cause wow and are recognized aurally as fluctuations in pitch. Irregularities that occur at higher frequencies are called flutter and cause a roughening of the tone: a piano sounds like a harp, and voices waver with small, rapid variations above and below proper pitch. Included among the causes of flutter and wow in disks are high spots in drive rollers and an off-centre hole in the disk. In tape and film reproducers, characteristic causes include nonuniform tension in take-up and payoff reels and mechanical distortion of the tape. Low-frequency background noise, either recorded on disk or tape from the recording mechanism or added to the reproduced tone from the reproducing mechanism, is known as rumble and is usually the result of vibration of the drive mechanism

Learn more about flutter with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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Example sentences
Witness the text messages of freedom literally flutter free from insurgent cell
  phones.
When a pitcher throws a knuckleball, the ball has no rotation and appears to
  flutter.
As unbidden thoughts flutter to mind, they let them go.
Her delicate hands flutter above the fish, swooping and cutting with elegant
  precision.
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