flurry
Americannoun
-
flurries
plural
-
a light, brief shower of snow.
-
sudden commotion, excitement, or confusion; nervous hurry.
There was a flurry of activity before the guests arrived.
-
Stock Exchange.
-
a brief rise or fall in prices.
-
a brief, unusually heavy period of trading.
-
-
a sudden gust of wind.
verb (used with object)
-
flurries,
present (3rd person singular)
-
flurried,
past participle, past
-
flurrying
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
flurries,
present (3rd person singular)
-
flurried,
past participle, past
-
flurrying
present participle
-
(of snow) to fall or be blown in a flurry.
-
to move in an excited or agitated manner.
noun
-
a sudden commotion or burst of activity
-
a light gust of wind or rain or fall of snow
-
stock exchange a sudden brief increase in trading or fluctuation in stock prices
-
the death spasms of a harpooned whale
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
flurrysimple
-
flurriessimple
-
have flurriedperfect
-
has flurriedperfect
-
am flurryingprogressive
-
are flurryingprogressive
-
is flurryingprogressive
-
have been flurryingperfect progressive
-
has been flurryingperfect progressive
Past
-
flurriedsimple
-
had flurriedperfect
-
was flurryingprogressive
-
were flurryingprogressive
-
had been flurryingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of flurry
Explanation
A light blowing swirl of snow that's just barely falling is a flurry. There might be a brief flurry or two at the beginning of the winter, with no real heavy snow until January. You can describe a snow flurry, or a similarly swirling flurry of leaves or papers. When people act this way, rushing and fussing around, that's another kind of flurry. There might, for example, be a flurry of activity in the morning at your house as everyone hurries to get ready for the day. This sense of flurry is actually about a hundred years older than the snow meaning, which was first used in mid-1800's American English.
Vocabulary lists containing flurry
Raining Cats and Dogs
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Hands
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Doncic capped the half with a flurry on both ends.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 25, 2026
He added that Pyongyang's recent flurry of statements only suggested that the South's ongoing efforts to clear landmines inside the DMZ were "proving effective".
From Barron's ● Oct. 22, 2026
Meanwhile, a growing number of more speculative products have helped to inspire a flurry of new ETF launches.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 10, 2026
There initially was a flurry of interest, and they accepted an offer, before the buyer backed out.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
The terrified chicken took to ungainly flight in a flurry of golden feathers.
From "Fablehaven" by Brandon Mull
In the flurries of media interviews that come with life as an astronaut, he acknowledged the deep responsibility he felt toward the next generations of Black astronauts he hoped to inspire.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 30, 2026
In Tokyo, the flowers reached full bloom during the weekend, entering a brief period of stunning beauty, before the petals will fall like flurries of snow.
From Barron's ● Mar. 30, 2026
Fast-moving hail showers are possible almost anywhere and brief flurries of wet snow are not out of the question, even in the south.
From BBC ● Mar. 9, 2026
While Friday was originally set as the opening date of the Heavenly and Northstar ski resorts in the Lake Tahoe area, officials said mild weather and stubbornly insufficient flurries have delayed those plans.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 22, 2025
The clouds in the sky separate and release a scatter of flurries.
From "Like Vanessa" by Tami Charles
Boston flurried at the end of the half to take a 68-56 lead into halftime.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 8, 2022
Sircar called out as doctors and nurses flurried around a 48-year-old man who had been rushed in and intubated in the emergency room.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2021
City Council staffers flurried to do the same for their bosses.
From Slate ● Sep. 21, 2017
In the midst of his flurried activity, I often feared I was underfoot: a hindrance who needed instruction, rather than a helping hand.
From New York Times ● Sep. 20, 2016
The black wings flurried and black dragon-blood dropped in thick drops into the sea.
From "A Wizard of Earthsea" by Ursula K. Le Guin
As Antoshak recalls, it was flurrying — the first snow of the season.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 7, 2022
Long lines of blue-clad fans stood queued up for beers despite an overcast sky and flakes of snow flurrying to the ground.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 20, 2018
It is a gem of a work, opening with a fantasia of flurrying 16th notes that echo snowfall.
From New York Times ● Sep. 15, 2017
That evening, the Humphreys drove through flurrying snow to his headquarters in Minneapolis.
From Time Magazine Archive
What if you’re both wrong? she said, her hands flurrying.
From "Pet" by Akwaeke Emezi
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
