flutter

The act of fluttering; quick and irregular motion.

Noun

  1. The act of fluttering; quick and irregular motion.
    • the flutter of a fan
    • the chirp and flutter of some single bird - c. 1838, Richard Monckton Milnes, The Forest:
  2. A state of agitation.
    • flutter of spirits - 1733, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Man. […], (please specify |epistle=I to IV), London: […] J[ohn] Wilford, […], →OCLC:
    • Their visitor was an issue - at least to the imagination, and they arrived finally, under provocation, at intensities of flutter in which they felt themselves so compromised by his hoverings that they could only...
  3. An abnormal rapid pulsation of the heart.
  4. An extremely dangerous divergent oscillation caused by a positive feedback loop between the elastic deformation of an object and the aerodynamic forces acting on it, potentially resulting in rapid structural failure.
    • The possibility was studied that there might be some unknown phenomenon at work that could cause a reduction in structural stiffness with age. Such a reduction in stiffness could result in a reduced flutter speed and...
  5. A small bet or risky investment.
    • "Oh, by the way, I heard of a rather good thing today, New Kleinfonteins; it's a gold mine in Rhodesia. If you'd like to have a flutter you might make a bit." - 1915, W. Somerset Maugham, chapter 93, in Of Human Bondage:
    • 30 July, 2009, Eurosport, Gray Matter: How will Schu do? So with his victory odds currently at 14/1 or 3/1 for the podium, he's still most certainly well worth a flutter […]
  6. A hasty game of cards or similar.
  7. The rapid variation of signal parameters, such as amplitude, phase, and frequency.

    Coordinate Terms: wow

Origin

From Middle English floteren, from Old English floterian, flotorian (“to float about, flutter”), from Proto-Germanic *flutrōną, frequentative of Proto-Germanic *flutōną (“to float”), equivalent to float + -er (frequentative suffix). Cognate with West Frisian flodderje (“to flutter, beat”), Dutch flodderen (“to flutter, wave”), Low German fluttern, fluddern (“to flutter”), German flittern (“to sparkle, glitter”). More at float.

Forms

flutters

Derived

flutterball flutterboard flutterby flutter in the dovecote flutter kick flutterless fluttersome flutter tongue flutter wheel fluttery synchronous diaphragmatic flutter take a flutter

Verb

  1. To flap or wave quickly but irregularly.
    • flags fluttering in the wind
    • Long after his cigar burnt bitter, he sat with eyes fixed on the blaze. When the flames at last began to flicker and subside, his lids fluttered, then drooped ; but he had lost all reckoning of time when he opened them...
  2. Of a winged animal: to flap the wings without flying; to fly with a light flapping of the wings.
    • Banks of gorgeous flowers were on every hand, and birds with rare and brilliant plumage sang and fluttered in the trees and bushes. - 1900 May 17, L[yman] Frank Baum, “The Council with the Munchkins”, in The Wonderful...
  3. To undergo divergent oscillations (potentially to the point of causing structural failure) due to a positive feedback loop between elastic deformation and aerodynamic forces.
  4. To cause something to flap.
    • A bird flutters its wings.
  5. To drive into disorder; to throw into confusion.
    • If you haue vvrit your Annales true, 'tis there, / That like an Eagle in a Doue-cote, I / Flatter'd^([sic – meaning Flutter'd]) your Volcians in Corioles. - c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy...
    • There was a clearness of expression in this, and a downright surrender of himself, which so flattered her and so fluttered her that she was almost reduced to the giving of herself up because she could not reply to such...
  6. To be in a state of agitation or uncertainty.
    • It was fluttering with nervousness like a human heart. He was all in a sweat with fear, and—do you know, I don't believe the rascal is a Robot at all any longer. - c. 1921 (date written), Karel Čapek, translated by Paul...
  7. To be frivolous.
  8. To subject to a lie detector test.
    • This was the first time that Nosenko had been subjected to a lie detector — or what the CIA called fluttering. The Soviet Union did not use such devices for interrogation. - 1978, Edward Jay Epstein, Legend: The Secret...
    • "Anyway, she cracked and we fluttered her and—" / "Fluttered her?" / "Sorry, gave her a polygraph, a lie detector test. And she passed, more or less, […] - 2002, Paul Eddy, Flint’s Law, page 90:

Forms

flutters fluttering fluttered

Derived

aflutter beflutter flutteration flutterer fluttering elm flutterment flutter the dovecot flutter-tongue forflutter unflutterable