FLITTING

FLIT

flit, flutter, fleet, dart

(verb) move along rapidly and lightly; skim or dart; “The hummingbird flitted among the branches”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Verb

flitting

present participle of flit

Noun

flitting (plural flittings)

The motion of something that flits.

(Scotland, northern England) The act of moving from one residence to another; moving house.

Source: Wiktionary

Flit"ting, n.

1. A flying with lightness and celerity; a fluttering.

2. A removal from one habitation to another. [Scot. & Prov. Eng.] A neighbor had lent his cart for the flitting, and it was now standing loaded at the door, ready to move away. Jeffrey.

Flitt"ing, Flytt"ing, n.

Definition: Contention; strife; scolding; specif., a kind of metrical contest between two persons, popular in Scotland in the 16th century. [Obs. or Scot.]

These "flytings" consisted of alternate torrents of sheer Billingsgate poured upon each other by the combatants. Saintsbury.

FLIT

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

Flit, a.

Definition: Nimble; quick; swift. [Obs.] See Fleet.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

FLITTING

FLIT

Etymology

Verb

Noun

FLIT

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