flutter
/ˈflʌtɚ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.06 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
Of a winged animal: to flap the wings without flying; to fly with a light flapping of the wings.
Intransitive verb
verb
To undergo divergent oscillations (potentially to the point of causing structural failure) due to a positive feedback loop between elastic deformation and aerodynamic forces.
Intransitive verb
Example Sentences
- "flags fluttering in the wind"
- "Long after his cigar burnt bitter, he sat with eyes fixed on the blaze. When the flames at last began to flicker and subside, his lids fluttered, then drooped ; but he had lost all reckoning of time when he opened them again to find Miss Erroll in furs and ball-gown kneeling on the hearth and heaping kindling on the coals, [...]"
- "Banks of gorgeous flowers were on every hand, and birds with rare and brilliant plumage sang and fluttered in the trees and bushes."
- "A bird flutters its wings."
- "If you haue vvrit your Annales true, 'tis there, / That like an Eagle in a Doue-cote, I / Flatter'd^([sic – meaning Flutter'd]) your Volcians in Corioles."
- "There was a clearness of expression in this, and a downright surrender of himself, which so flattered her and so fluttered her that she was almost reduced to the giving of herself up because she could not reply to such an appeal in language less courteous than that of agreement"
Etymology
From Middle English floteren, from Old English floterian, flotorian (“to float about, flutter”), from Proto-Germanic *flutrōną, frequentative of Proto-Germanic *flutōną (“to float”), equivalent to float + -er (frequentative suffix). Cognate with West Frisian flodderje (“to flutter, beat”), Dutch flodderen (“to flutter, wave”), Low German fluttern, fluddern (“to flutter”), German flittern (“to sparkle, glitter”). More at float.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: floteren, floterian, *flutrōną, *flutōną
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈflʌtɚ/
- British English: /ˈflʌtə/
Usage
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
Frequently Paired Words
Synonyms
flap
fluttering
bat
batting
kick
flicker
tremulous iris
iridodonesis
fuss
flutter in the dovecote
quiver
rumble