▪ I. flitter, n.1
(ˈflɪtə(r))
[f. flit v. + -er1.]
One who or that which flits. a. One who changes his dwelling. b. A fleeting thing.
| 1554 Bradford in Coverdale Lett. Mart. (1564) 323 If we be flitters and not dwellers (as was Loth a flitter from Segor). 1623 tr. Favine's Theat. Hon. ii. xiii. 203 Such..were admonished to make themselues much fairer by the goods of the soule; because those of the body were but flitters [orig. ceux du Corps ne sont que passagers]. |
▪ II. flitter, n.2
(ˈflɪtə(r))
[f. flitter v.]
1. A flittering motion.
| 1892 Daily News 17 May 5/5 The flitter of crows. |
2. Comb., as flitter-winged a., having wings that flutter; also fig.
| 1820 Keats Lamia i. 394 The flitter-winged verse must tell, For truth's sake what woe afterwards befel. 1861 Lytton & Fane Tannhäuser 74 Wheel'd at will The flitter-winged bat round lonely towers. |
▪ III. flitter, n.3
(ˈflɪtə(r))
[a. Ger. flitter.]
‘A minute square of thin metal, used in decoration; collectively, a quantity of such squares’ (Cent. Dict.).
| 18.. Beck's Jrnl. Dec. Art Suppl. II. 40 (Cent. Dict.) Strong and brilliant colors are freely used, together with gilt flitter, in the representation of flowering plants, fountains, and other devices [for window-shades]. |
▪ IV. flitter, v.
(ˈflɪtə(r))
Also 5 fliter, (fleter), 5–6 flyt(t)er.
[f. flit v. + -er5.]
1. intr. Of birds, etc.: To flit about, to fly with low or short flights; to flutter. Also with by.
| 1563 B. Googe Eglogs (Arb.) 94 Euer when she rested had aboute she flyttered styll. 1600 F. Walker Sp. Mandeville 153 a, Their sight is so sharpe and pearcing, that flittering ouer the sea..they see the fish through the water. 1797 Monthly Mag. III. 230 To mark the quick bat flitter by. |
| transf. 1483 Liber Festivalis (Caxton) E j (Pentecost), In lykenesse of tonges brennyng not smertyng..lightenyng not fliteryng. 1544 T. Phaer Regim. Lyfe (1553) B j a, The peyne is flyttering from one place to an other, without heuynes. 1583 Golding Calvin on Deut. xli. 245 A thought commeth vpon a man..sleeping, and it flittereth before him. a 1593 H. Smith Serm., Christians Practice (1637) 252 Like unto a shittle, which flittereth from the hand of a childe. 1823 Lamb Elia (1860) 137 The stiff-wigged living figures that still flitter and chatter about that area. 1878 P. W. Wyatt Hardrada 7 Where..flitter the pale ghosts. |
† b. To move the wings ineffectually. In quot. transf.
| 1598 R. Barckley Felic. Man (1631) 209 Hee began to flitter with his hands, in steede of wings..& fell downe head-long to the ground. |
† 2. a. Of a person: To shift about in mind; to waver. b. Of a flower: To fade, wither. Obs.
| 1542 Recorde Gr. Artes B iiij, Many there be so vnconstant of mynde, that flytter and turne with euery winde. 1577 Harrison England iii. viii. (1878) ii. 53 The sunne..would cause them [floures] to welke or flitter. 1847 Halliwell, Flitter, to hang or droop. |
† 3. To fly all about; to fly to or into dust, pieces, etc. Of the sea: To break up in foam. Obs.
| 1548 Recorde Urin. Physick v. 18 Unequal [substance of urine] is..when it is thynner in one parte then in another, or flyttered out. 1557 K. Arthur (Copland) v. iv, Than the dragon..smote the bore al to powder both flesh and bones that it flyttered all abrode on the sea. 1583 Stanyhurst æneis i. (Arb.) 23 Cabbans, where seas doo flitter in arches. 1664 Cotton Scarronides 183 Bottle-Bear..bounces, foams, and froaths, and flitters. 1665 Hooke Microgr. 126 Others flitter'd as 'twere, or flown all to pieces. a 1677 Manton Serm. Ps. cxix. 80 A sooty matter, which flitters into dust as soon as touched. |
4. trans. To make to flit; to move rapidly backwards and forwards; to shuffle (cards). rare.
| 1864 Lowell Fireside Trav. 243 As a skilful juggler flitters the cards before you. 1893 Le Gallienne in Westm. Gaz. 16 Feb. 2/3 Many a silly thing That..perks his tiny tail..And flitters little wing. |
Hence † ˈflittered ppl. a., dispersed, scattered; ˈflittering ppl. a., flitting about, fluttering; trembling; † shifting, unstable, fleeting.
| 1549–62 Sternhold & H. Ps. cii. (1566) 250 The dayes wherin I passe my life are lyke the flittering shade. 1583 Stanyhurst Aeneis iii. (Arb.) 84 Neauer dooth she laboure to reuoke her flittered issue. a 1602 W. Perkins Cases Consc. (1619) 59 These beginnings of grace..must not be flittering and fleeting, but constant and setled. 1634 Milton Comus 214 Thou hovering [MS. flittering] angell girt with golden wings. 1650 Fuller Pisgah ii. xiii. 270 Which..lightly pressed..becomes flittering dust. 1786 Burns Again rejoicing Nature vi, When the lark..mounts and sings on flittering wings. 1867 A. Sartoris Week in Fr. Country-Ho. 29 The poor flittering little nun. |