Flit v. i. [imp. & p. p. Flitted p. pr. & vb. n. Flitting ]
1. To move with celerity through the air; to fly away with a rapid motion; to dart along; to fleet; as, a bird flits away; a cloud flits along.
A shadow flits before me. --Tennyson.
2. To flutter; to rove on the wing.
3. To pass rapidly, as a light substance, from one place to another; to remove; to migrate.
It became a received opinion, that the souls of men, departing this life, did flit out of one body into some other. --Hooker.
4. To remove from one place or habitation to another. [Scot. & Prov. Eng.]
5. To be unstable; to be easily or often moved.
And the free soul to flitting air resigned. --Dryden.
Flit·ting n.
1. A flying with lightness and celerity; a fluttering.
2. A removal from one habitation to another. [Scot. & Prov. Eng.]
A neighbor had lent his cart for the flitting, and it was now standing loaded at the door, ready to move away. --Jeffrey.
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Flitt·ing, Flytt·ing n. Contention; strife; scolding; specif., a kind of metrical contest between two persons, popular in Scotland in the 16th century. [Obs. or Scot.]
These =\“flytings” consisted of alternate torrents of sheer Billingsgate poured upon each other by the combatants.\= --Saintsbury.
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flit
n 1: a sudden quick movement [syn: dart]
2: a secret move (to avoid paying debts); "they did a moonlight
flit"
v : move along rapidly and lightly; skim or dart [syn: flutter,
fleet, dart]
[also: flitting, flitted]