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skitter

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skit⋅ter

  [skit-er]
Use skitter in a Sentence
–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
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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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.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

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.).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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