flit

[flit]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR flit ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object), flit·ted, flit·ting.

to move lightly and swiftly; fly, dart, or skim along: bees flitting from flower to flower.

to flutter, as a bird.

to pass quickly, as time: hours flitting by.

Chiefly Scot. and North England.

to depart or die.
to change one's residence.

verb (used with object), flit·ted, flit·ting.

Chiefly Scot. to remove; transfer; oust or dispossess.

noun

a light, swift movement; flutter.

Scot. and North England. a change of residence; instance of moving to a new address.

Slang: Extremely Disparaging and Offensive. a contemptuous term used to refer to a male homosexual.

Origin of flit

1150–1200; Middle English flitten < Old Norse flytja to carry, convey, Swedish flytta. See fleet²

Related formsflit·ting·ly, adverb

Synonyms for flit

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR flit ON THESAURUS.COM

1. See fly¹.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for flit

hover, flicker, whiz, zip, dart, fly, rush, flash, run, whisk, float, sail, sweep, scud, skim, dance, pass, fleet, hurry, speed

Examples from the Web for flit

Contemporary Examples of flit

This time we are back in 1941 and flit from Berlin (“the capital of a banana republic that had run out of bananas”) to Prague.
Must Read Fiction: ‘Prague Fatale,’ ‘Derby Day’ and More
Malcolm Forbes, Hillary Kelly, Mythili Rao
May 9, 2012

Historical Examples of flit

How they flit about, imps of evil as they are, and sound their horn of defiance in our ear!
Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 454
Various
She and her mother had to flit so often—suddenly, noiselessly.
Ten American Girls From History
Kate Dickinson Sweetser
With yours so nearly ready to flit, no change in size is indicated now.
The Galaxy Primes
Edward Elmer Smith
It was so still that the flit of a wing was almost startling.
Little Brothers of the Air
Olive Thorne Miller
Silent, inscrutable, they flit through the American scene, alien to the last.
A Wayfarer in China
Elizabeth Kendall

British Dictionary definitions for flit

flit

verb flits, flitting or flitted (intr)

to move along rapidly and lightly; skim or dart

to fly rapidly and lightly; flutter

to pass quickly; fleeta memory flitted into his mind

Scot and Northern English dialect to move house

British informal to depart hurriedly and stealthily in order to avoid obligations

an informal word for elope

noun

the act or an instance of flitting

slang, mainly US a male homosexual

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

See moonlight flit

Derived Formsflitter, noun

Word Origin for flit

C12: from Old Norse flytja to carry

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

Word Origin and History for flit

c.1200, flutten "convey, move, take, carry away, go away," perhaps from Old Norse flytja "to remove, bring."

Theire desire ... is to goe to theire newe masters eyther on a Tewsday, or on a Thursday; for ... they say Munday flitte, Neaver sitte. [Henry Best, farming & account book, 1641]

Related: Flitted; flitting. As a noun, from 1835.