flit

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Related to flitted: fitted sheet

flit

(flĭt)

intr.v. flit·ted, flit·ting, flits

1. To move about rapidly and nimbly.

2. To move quickly from one condition or location to another.

1. A fluttering or darting movement.

2. Informal An empty-headed, silly, often erratic person.

[Middle English flitten, from Old Norse flytja, to carry about, convey; see pleu- in Indo-European roots.]

flit′ter n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

flit

(flɪt)

vb (intr) , flits, flitting or flitted

1. to move along rapidly and lightly; skim or dart

2. to fly rapidly and lightly; flutter

3. to pass quickly; fleet: a memory flitted into his mind.

4. dialect Scot and Northern English to move house

5. informal Brit to depart hurriedly and stealthily in order to avoid obligations

6. an informal word for elope

7. the act or an instance of flitting

8. slang chiefly US a male homosexual

9. informal Brit a hurried and stealthy departure in order to avoid obligations (esp in the phrase do a flit)

10. See moonlight flit

[C12: from Old Norse flytja to carry]

ˈflitter n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

flit

(flɪt)

v. flit•ted, flit•ting,
n. v.i.

1. to fly or move swiftly, lightly, or irregularly from one place or thing to another.

2. to flutter, as a bird.

3. to pass quickly: A smile flitted across his face.

4. a light, swift movement; flutter.

5. Slang: Disparaging and Offensive. (a contemptuous term used to refer to a male homosexual.)

6. Brit. Informal. a hasty and stealthy departure.

[1150–1200; Middle English < Old Norse flytja to carry, convey. See fleet²]

flit′ting•ly, adv.

usage: Definition 8 is a slur and must be avoided. It is used with disparaging intent and is perceived as insulting.

Flit

of dancers: a company of male dancers—Lipton, 1970.

flit

Past participle: flitted
Gerund: flitting

Imperative
flit
flit

Present
I flit
you flit
he/she/it flits
we flit
you flit
they flit

Preterite
I flitted
you flitted
he/she/it flitted
we flitted
you flitted
they flitted

Present Continuous
I am flitting
you are flitting
he/she/it is flitting
we are flitting
you are flitting
they are flitting

Present Perfect
I have flitted
you have flitted
he/she/it has flitted
we have flitted
you have flitted
they have flitted

Past Continuous
I was flitting
you were flitting
he/she/it was flitting
we were flitting
you were flitting
they were flitting

Past Perfect
I had flitted
you had flitted
he/she/it had flitted
we had flitted
you had flitted
they had flitted

Future
I will flit
you will flit
he/she/it will flit
we will flit
you will flit
they will flit

Future Perfect
I will have flitted
you will have flitted
he/she/it will have flitted
we will have flitted
you will have flitted
they will have flitted

Future Continuous
I will be flitting
you will be flitting
he/she/it will be flitting
we will be flitting
you will be flitting
they will be flitting

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been flitting
you have been flitting
he/she/it has been flitting
we have been flitting
you have been flitting
they have been flitting

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been flitting
you will have been flitting
he/she/it will have been flitting
we will have been flitting
you will have been flitting
they will have been flitting

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been flitting
you had been flitting
he/she/it had been flitting
we had been flitting
you had been flitting
they had been flitting

Conditional
I would flit
you would flit
he/she/it would flit
we would flit
you would flit
they would flit

Past Conditional
I would have flitted
you would have flitted
he/she/it would have flitted
we would have flitted
you would have flitted
they would have flitted

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun	1.	flit - a sudden quick movement dart movement, motility, motion, move - a change of position that does not entail a change of location; "the reflex motion of his eyebrows revealed his surprise"; "movement is a sign of life"; "an impatient move of his hand"; "gastrointestinal motility"
	2.	flit - a secret move (to avoid paying debts); "they did a moonlight flit" move, relocation - the act of changing your residence or place of business; "they say that three moves equal one fire" 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
Verb	1.	flit - move along rapidly and lightly; skim or dart; "The hummingbird flitted among the branches" dart, fleet, flutter butterfly - flutter like a butterfly hurry, travel rapidly, zip, speed - move very fast; "The runner zipped past us at breakneck speed"

flit

verb fly, dash, dart, skim, pass, speed, wing, flash, fleet, whisk, flutter the bird that flits from tree to tree

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

flit

verb

1. To move swiftly:

bolt, bucket, bustle, dart, dash, festinate, flash, fleet, fly, haste, hasten, hurry, hustle, pelt, race, rocket, run, rush, sail, scoot, scour, shoot, speed, sprint, tear, trot, whirl, whisk, whiz, wing, zip, zoom.

Informal: hotfoot, rip.

Slang: barrel, highball.

Chiefly British: nip.

Idioms: get a move on, get cracking, go like lightning, go like the wind, hotfoot it, make haste, make time, make tracks, run like the wind, shake a leg, step on it.

2. To move quickly, lightly, and irregularly like a bird in flight:

flicker, flitter, flutter, hover.

3. To move through the air with or as if with wings:

flap, flitter, flutter, fly, sail, wing.

Translations

Spanish / Español

Select a language:

flit

[flɪt]

A. VI [bat, butterfly] → revolotear
to flit in/out [person] → entrar/salir precipitadamente
she flits from one job to another → salta de un trabajo a otro

B. N to do a (moonlight) flit (Brit) → marcharse de una casa a la francesa

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

flit

(flit) – past tense, past participle ˈflitted – verb

to move quickly and lightly from place to place. Butterflies flitted around in the garden.revolotear, mover

ˈflitting noun

revoloteo

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

There was, to my mind, something eerie and ghost-like in the endless procession of faces which flitted across these narrow bars of light,--sad faces and glad, haggard and merry.

View in context

It was the mysterious, evil forest, a charnel house of silence, wherein naught moved save strange tiny birds--the strangeness of them making the mystery more profound, for they flitted on noiseless wings, emitting neither song nor chirp, and they were mottled with morbid colours, having all the seeming of orchids, flying blossoms of sickness and decay.

View in context

By the time the soldiers had dragged the wattle fence to its place the campfires were blazing on all sides ready for cooking, the wood crackled, the snow was melting, and black shadows of soldiers flitted to and fro all over the occupied space where the snow had been trodden down.

View in context

When I had prayed sufficiently to the dead, I cut the throats of the two sheep and let the blood run into the trench, whereon the ghosts came trooping up from Erebus--brides, {89} young bachelors, old men worn out with toil, maids who had been crossed in love, and brave men who had been killed in battle, with their armour still smirched with blood; they came from every quarter and flitted round the trench with a strange kind of screaming sound that made me turn pale with fear.

View in context

The lights were out in the hall, and a small yellow flame flitted about down there.

View in context

And always two long black shadows flitted before us or followed after, dark spots on the ruddy grass.