FLICKER

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does flicker mean? 

• FLICKER (noun)
  The noun FLICKER has 3 senses:

1. a momentary flash of light

2. North American woodpecker

3. the act of moving back and forth

  Familiarity information: FLICKER used as a noun is uncommon.

• FLICKER (verb)
  The verb FLICKER has 3 senses:

1. move back and forth very rapidly

2. shine unsteadily

3. flash intermittently

  Familiarity information: FLICKER used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FLICKER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A momentary flash of light

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

flicker; glint; spark

Hypernyms ("flicker" is a kind of...):

flash (a sudden intense burst of radiant energy)

Derivation:

flicker (flash intermittently)

flicker (shine unsteadily)

Sense 2

Meaning:

North American woodpecker

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("flicker" is a kind of...):

pecker; peckerwood; woodpecker (bird with strong claws and a stiff tail adapted for climbing and a hard chisel-like bill for boring into wood for insects)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "flicker"):

Colaptes auratus; yellow-shafted flicker; yellowhammer (large flicker of eastern North America with a red neck and yellow undersurface to wings and tail)

Colaptes chrysoides; gilded flicker (southwestern United States bird like the yellow-shafted flicker but lacking the red neck)

Colaptes caper collaris; red-shafted flicker (western United States bird with red undersurface to wings and tail)

Holonyms ("flicker" is a member of...):

Colaptes; genus Colaptes (a genus of Picidae)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The act of moving back and forth

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

flicker; flutter; waver

Hypernyms ("flicker" is a kind of...):

motility; motion; move; movement (a change of position that does not entail a change of location)

Derivation:

flicker (move back and forth very rapidly)

• FLICKER (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they flicker    ... he / she / it flickers   
Past simple: flickered   
Past participle: flickered   
-ing form: flickering   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Move back and forth very rapidly

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

flicker; flitter; flutter; quiver; waver

Context example:

the candle flickered

Hypernyms (to "flicker" is one way to...):

move back and forth (move in one direction and then into the opposite direction)

Sentence frame:

Something is ----ing PP

Derivation:

flicker (the act of moving back and forth)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Shine unsteadily

Classified under:

Verbs of raining, snowing, thawing, thundering

Synonyms:

flick; flicker

Context example:

The candle flickered

Hypernyms (to "flicker" is one way to...):

beam; shine (emit light; be bright, as of the sun or a light)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sentence examples:

Lights flicker on the horizon
The horizon is flickering with lights

Derivation:

flicker (a momentary flash of light)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Flash intermittently

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Synonyms:

flick; flicker

Context example:

The lights flicked on and off

Hypernyms (to "flicker" is one way to...):

blink; flash; twinkle; wink; winkle (gleam or glow intermittently)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

flicker (a momentary flash of light)

 Context examples 

See some light in the darkness, but it may possibly flicker out.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Before a big fire lay Captain Smollett; and in a far corner, only duskily flickered over by the blaze, I beheld great heaps of coin and quadrilaterals built of bars of gold.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

“His life flickered out in the storm,” I said.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Once there appeared a strange optical effect: when he stood between me and the flame he did not obstruct it, for I could see its ghostly flicker all the same.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

The sputtering wood fire threw out a circle of red flickering light which played over the little group of wayfarers, and showed up every line and shadow upon their faces.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A smile flickered over the dark face of the servant, but his features reset themselves instantly into their usual mask of respectful observance.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Geminga was finally identified in March 1991, when flickering X-rays picked up by Germany’s ROSAT mission revealed the source to be a pulsar spinning 4.2 times a second.

(NASA’s Fermi Mission Links Nearby Pulsar’s Gamma-ray ‘Halo’ to Antimatter Puzzle, NASA)

Then Lord John threw a bundle of twigs upon the fire, and their red glare lit up the intent faces of my companions and flickered over the great boughs above our heads.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Renewed hope followed renewed effort: it shone like the former for some weeks, then, like it, it faded, flickered: not a line, not a word reached me.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

She slept continuously, a tiny skeleton flung round with skin in which the flame flickered lower and lower and at last went out.

(White Fang, by Jack London)