flit, flutter, fleet, dart
(verb) move along rapidly and lightly; skim or dart; “The hummingbird flitted among the branches”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
flitting
present participle of flit
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, 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
5 May 2024
(noun) the social control of offenders through a system of imprisonment and rehabilitation and probation and parole
The word “coffee” entered the English language in 1582 via the Dutch “koffie,” borrowed from the Ottoman Turkish “kahve,” borrowed in turn from the Arabic “qahwah.” The Arabic word qahwah was traditionally held to refer to a type of wine.
