skitter
/ˈskɪtɚ/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.03 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To move hurriedly or as by bouncing or twitching; to scamper, to scurry; to scuttle.
Intransitive verb
verb
To move or pass (something) over a surface quickly so that it touches only at intervals; to skip, to skite.
Transitive verb
noun
Example Sentences
- "I opened the cabinet and a number of cockroaches went skittering off into the darkness."
- "Some kinds of ducks in lighting strike the water with their tails first, and skitter along the surface for a few feet before settling down."
- "Both "Dark Snow" and "Aurelia" [by AFI] feature subtle washes of brittle piano à la Decemberunderground, while "She Speaks The Language" boasts a skittering electronic underbelly, and eerie synths are suspended like low clouds in "Above The Bridge.""
- ""Skittering," continued the Professor, "is practiced with a strong line about the length of the rod, to which is affixed a small trolling-spoon, a minnow, or a piece of pork-rind cut in the rude semblance of a small fish. The boat is poled along, as in ‘bobbing,’ but farther out in the stream, when the angler, standing in the bow, ‘skitters’ or skips the spoon or bait over the surface just at the edge of the weeds."
- "A skitter of activity. A skitter of gooseflesh."
- "I had seen an aerial helix of raptors, hawks and harriers riding a thermal, and below them a skitter of ringed plover and other waders, together with more kingfishers than I had ever seen before."
Etymology
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈskɪtɚ/
- British English: /ˈskɪtə(ɹ)/