▪ I. flurry, n.
(ˈflʌrɪ)
[? onomatopœic, suggested by flaw, hurry etc.; cf. also flurr v.]
1. a. A sudden agitation of the air, a gust or squall.
| 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 128 marg., Flurries from the Hills carry Men and Oxen down the Precipice. 1726–7 Swift Gulliver i. i. 22 The boat was overset by a sudden flurry from the north. 1831 Scott Jrnl. 18 Nov., Wind..dies away in the morning, and blows in flurries rather contrary. 1890 Pall Mall G. 3 Dec. 1/3 You may watch ‘catspaws’ and ‘flurries’ on their rapid way. |
| fig. 1820 J. Q. Adams Mem. 2 June (1875) V. 137 His flurries of temper pass off as quickly as they rise. |
b. Chiefly U.S. A sharp and sudden shower; a sudden rush (of birds).
| 1828 in Webster. 1836 W. Irving Astoria III. 91 Occasional flurries of snow. 1868 Lowell First Snowfall 15 The sudden flurries of snow-birds, Like brown leaves whirling by. 1892 Stevenson Across the Plains 223 Spat upon by flurries of rain. |
2. a. A sudden commotion or excitement; perturbation, nervous agitation, flutter, hurry.
| 1710 Palmer Proverbs 82 A man is never more expos'd to temptation than in the flurry of his passions. 1768–74 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1852) II. 485 If we exert our endeavours, not in a fright and a flurry, but with a calm, steady determination, we [etc.]. 1836 W. Irving Life & Lett. (1866) III. 94, I cannot tell you how happy I was to..leave behind me the hurry and worry and flurry of the city. 1882 Mrs. Raven's Tempt. II. 190 ‘That's sure to be the upshot of flurries and hurries and frights.’ |
| transf. 1878 Browning Poets Croisic cxxxviii, Flurry of ruffles, flounce of wig-ties. |
b. The death-throes of a dying whale.
| 1823 J. F. Cooper Pilot xvii, He's going into his flurry. 1882 Illustr. Sport. & Dram. News 18 Mar. 7/3 Unless you should be struck by the tail of a frantic cetacean during the ‘flurry’ or slaughter. |
c. A sudden burst of activity (in the stock-market).
| 1876 Fur, Fin & Feather Sept. 129 The prospect of a flurry in stocks..is sure to strip the island of visitors. 1889 Kansas Times & Star 2 Nov., The big flurry in the stock market yesterday should cause no particular alarm. 1907 E. S. Field Six-Cylinder Courtship 80 A column..sandwiched in between The Latest Armenian Atrocities and the Unprecedented Flurry in Chewing Gum. 1971 Daily Tel. 25 Aug. 14 A flurry of speculative activity saw BSA 3 up at 26p. |
3. Comb. as flurry-scurry.
| 1888 Pall Mall G. 28 May 1/2 So utterly and hopelessly incomprehensible does your recent flurry-scurry appear to the enlightened foreigner. |
▪ II. flurry, v.
(ˈflʌrɪ)
[f. prec. n.]
1. trans. To bewilder or confuse as by haste or noise; to agitate, ‘put out’.
| a 1757 E. Moore Envy & Fort. 71 ‘Well may you wonder To see me thus flurry'd.’ 1771 F. Burney Diary July, This flurried me violently, insomuch that my memory failed me. 1832 H. Martineau Hill & Valley i. 11 How you flurry yourself for nothing. 1886 G. R. Sims Ring o' Bells xvi. 283 He..flurried the other performers, and seemed only in a hurry to..quit the stage. |
2. intr. To flutter down in sudden or gusty showers. Also transf. and fig.
| 1883 H. H. Kane in Harper's Mag. Nov. 947/2 The music seemed..to flurry, like snow-flakes, from the ceiling. 1884 Roe Nat. Ser. Story vii, The petals of the cherry were flurrying down like snow in every passing breeze. 1917 W. Owen Let. 13 Dec. (1967) 515, I was flurrying round like any Mrs. Smith de Smith when ‘Company’ is expected. 1920 D. Lindsay Voy. Arcturus xii. 145 The freezing wind, flurrying across the desert, drove the fine particles of sand painfully against their faces. |
Hence ˈflurried ppl. a.; ˈflurriedly adv., in a flurried manner.
| 1775 F. Burney Diary May, She was so much flurried, that [etc.]. 1800 E. Hervey Mourtray Fam. III. 235 To calm her flurried spirits. 1834 Blackw. Mag. XXXV. 137 Running flurriedly out. 1844 Alb. Smith Adv. Mr. Ledbury xxiv. (1886) 75 Titus immediately returned the salute with flurried courtesy. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 208 What are you saying? he asked flurriedly. |