FLIT (flitted, flitting)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: flitted    , flitting   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does flit mean? 

• FLIT (noun)
  The noun FLIT has 2 senses:

1. a sudden quick movement

2. a secret move (to avoid paying debts)

  Familiarity information: FLIT used as a noun is rare.

• FLIT (verb)
  The verb FLIT has 1 sense:

1. move along rapidly and lightly; skim or dart

  Familiarity information: FLIT used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FLIT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A sudden quick movement

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

dart; flit

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

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

Derivation:

flit (move along rapidly and lightly; skim or dart)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A secret move (to avoid paying debts)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

they did a moonlight flit

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

move; relocation (the act of changing your residence or place of business)

Domain region:

Britain; Great Britain; U.K.; UK; United Kingdom; United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (a monarchy in northwestern Europe occupying most of the British Isles; divided into England and Scotland and Wales and Northern Ireland; 'Great Britain' is often used loosely to refer to the United Kingdom)

• FLIT (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they flit    ... he / she / it flits   
Past simple: flitted   
Past participle: flitted   
-ing form: flitting   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Move along rapidly and lightly; skim or dart

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

dart; fleet; flit; flutter

Context example:

The hummingbird flitted among the branches

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

hurry; speed; travel rapidly; zip (move very fast)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "flit"):

butterfly (flutter like a butterfly)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

flit (a sudden quick movement)

 Context examples 

He remarked the pregnant silence of the forest. The bird life had flitted. The squirrels were in hiding.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

From trunk to trunk the creature flitted like a deer, running manlike on two legs, but unlike any man that I had ever seen, stooping almost double as it ran.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

At the utterance of Miss Temple's name, a soft smile flitted over her grave face.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

He rushed fiercely forward, and the inquirer flitted away into the darkness.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The spirits of the departed seemed to flit around and to cast a shadow, which was felt but not seen, around the head of the mourner.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

We were not far from Blackfriars Bridge, when he turned his head and pointed to a solitary female figure flitting along the opposite side of the street.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Between me and the moonlight flitted a great bat, coming and going in great whirling circles.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Nine-and-seventy Alleyne counted of these dark figures flitting across the line of the moonlight.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I gathered from the smile which flitted over Sheridan’s expressive face that this was exactly what Pitt did do.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The tears were running down his puffed and discoloured cheeks, and his face was drawn with pain. A savage expression flitted across it.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)