flittermouse

American  

[flit-er-mous] / ˈflɪt ərˌmaʊs /

noun

plural

flittermice

1. bat.

---

flittermouse British  

/ ˈflɪtəˌmaʊs /

noun

1. a dialect name for bat 2

---

Etymology

Origin of flittermouse

1540–50; flitter ¹ + mouse; calque of German Fledermaus

Example Sentences

From out the wood I watched them shine,—   The windows of the haunted house, Now ruddy as enchanted wine,   Now dark as flittermouse.

From Collected Poems 1901-1918 in Two Volumes Volume II. by De la Mare, Walter

After that he greased it with the fat of a bat or flittermouse, to see if it was not written with the sperm of a whale, which some call ambergris.

From Gargantua and Pantagruel, Illustrated, Book 2 by Motteux, Peter Anthony

"But me no buts! or depart as recreant, not by the door like a man, but up the chimney like a flittermouse."

From Westward Ho!, or, the voyages and adventures of Sir Amyas Leigh, Knight, of Burrough, in the county of Devon, in the reign of her most glorious majesty Queen Elizabeth by Kingsley, Charles

In the light of futurity's favours Fair gratitude burgeons amain, And the flittermouse Love never wavers In truth to the Psyche of gain.

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 99, July 26, 1890 by Various

Over all the jackdaws chime and chatter, for it is their home now, and they share it with the owl and the flittermouse.

From A West Country Pilgrimage by Phillpots, Eden