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flurry

[flur-ee, fluhr-ee]
noun, plural flur·ries.
  1. a light, brief shower of snow.
  2. sudden commotion, excitement, or confusion; nervous hurry: There was a flurry of activity before the guests arrived.
  3. Stock Exchange.
    1. a brief rise or fall in prices.
    2. a brief, unusually heavy period of trading.
  4. a sudden gust of wind.
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verb (used with object), flur·ried, flur·ry·ing.
  1. to put (a person) into a flurry; confuse; fluster.
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verb (used without object), flur·ried, flur·ry·ing.
  1. (of snow) to fall or be blown in a flurry.
  2. to move in an excited or agitated manner.
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Origin of flurry

1680–90, Americanism; blend of flutter and hurry
Related formsflur·ried·ly, adverb

Synonyms

2. upset, pother, stir, to-do, fuss, fluster, ado.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

whirlturmoilsqualloutbreakspurtfurorwhirlwindagitationflawflapdisturbancefermentadostirpotherto-dofussconfusionspellbustle

Examples from the Web for flurrying

Historical Examples

  • 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
  1. a sudden commotion or burst of activity
  2. a light gust of wind or rain or fall of snow
  3. stock exchange a sudden brief increase in trading or fluctuation in stock prices
  4. the death spasms of a harpooned whale
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verb -ries, -rying or -ried
  1. to confuse or bewilder or be confused or bewildered
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Word Origin

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

v.

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

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flurry

n.

"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.).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper