skitter

[ skit-er ]
See synonyms for: skitterskitteredskittering on Thesaurus.com

verb (used without object)
  1. to go, run, or glide lightly or rapidly.

  2. to skim along a surface.

  1. Angling. to draw a lure or a baited hook over the water with a skipping motion.

verb (used with object)
  1. to cause to skitter.

Origin of skitter

1
1835–45; skit, variant of skite1 + -er6

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use skitter in a sentence

  • Skittering images of her zipped through his mind, only to be shoved aside.

    The Syndic | C.M. Kornbluth
  • He kept this up for a quarter of an hour, then made a rush up the pool, and a sidelong skittering leap on the surface.

    Days Off | Henry Van Dyke

British Dictionary definitions for skitter

skitter

/ (ˈskɪtə) /


verb
  1. (intr often foll by off) to move or run rapidly or lightly; scamper

  2. to skim or cause to skim lightly and rapidly, as across the surface of water

  1. (intr) angling to draw a bait lightly over the surface of water

Origin of skitter

1
C19: probably from dialect skite to dash about; related to Old Norse skjōta to shoot

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012