flurry

[flur-ee, fluhr-ee]

noun, plural flur·ries.

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), flur·ried, flur·ry·ing.

to put (a person) into a flurry; confuse; fluster.

verb (used without object), flur·ried, flur·ry·ing.

(of snow) to fall or be blown in a flurry.

to move in an excited or agitated manner.

Origin of flurry

1680–90, Americanism; blend of flutter and hurry

Related formsflur·ried·ly, adverb

Synonyms for flurry

2. upset, pother, stir, to-do, fuss, fluster, ado.

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

Related Words for flurrying

whirl, turmoil, squall, outbreak, spurt, furor, whirlwind, agitation, flaw, flap, disturbance, ferment, ado, stir, pother, to-do, fuss, confusion, spell, bustle

Examples from the Web for flurrying

Historical Examples of flurrying

He was so cool and collected, no bustle or flurrying with him.
Sporting Society, Vol. II (of 2)
Various
His Vermont upbringing told him it would be flurrying within the hour.
Code Three
Rick Raphael
Suddenly there was a flash; a flurrying cloud of blue mud; and Grue was gone.
Police!!!
Robert W. Chambers
The keen, little old man was besting and flurrying him; he was no match for this irascible invalid.
The Scarlet Feather
Houghton Townley
I can understand a musician like that--a man who makes music move like thoughts, flurrying this way and blowing that.
The Precipice
Elia Wilkinson Peattie

British Dictionary definitions for flurrying

flurry

noun plural -ries

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 -ries, -rying or -ried

to confuse or bewilder or be confused or bewildered

Word Origin for flurry

C17: from obsolete flurr to scatter, perhaps formed on analogy with hurry

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 flurrying

flurry

1757 in the commotion sense, from flurry (n.); 1883 in the snow sense. Related: Flurried; flurries; flurrying.

flurry

"snow squall" 1828, American English, with earlier senses of "commotion," etc., dating to 1680s; perhaps imitative, or else from 17c. flurr "to scatter, fly with a whirring noise," perhaps from Middle English flouren "to sprinkle, as with flour" (late 14c.).