Meaning

6 senses
  1. To move about rapidly and nimbly.

    the low buzz of insects flitting over the flowers

    порха́тьporxátʹ

    move along rapidly and lightly; skim or dart

  2. To move quickly from one location to another.

    gaukeln

    носи́тьсяnosítʹsja

  3. To unpredictably change state for short periods of time.

    My blender flits because the power cord is damaged.

    барахли́тьbaraxlítʹ

  4. (UK, dialectal)To move house (sometimes a sudden move to avoid debts).

  5. To move a tethered animal to a new grazing location.

  6. To be unstable; to be easily or often moved.

Examples

13 sentences
  1. Bees flitted from flower to flower.

  2. A shadow of sorrow flitted across her face.

    deEin Schatten der Trauer huschte über ihr Gesicht. — MUIRIEL

  3. A few belated snowflakes flitted past my window.

    ruМимо моего окна пропорхали несколько запоздалых снежинок. — Wezel

    deEin paar verspätete Schneeflocken huschten an meinem Fenster vorbei. — raggione

  4. Clusters of bees flitted to and from the hive.

    ruГруппы пчёл сновали к улью и от него. — Ooneykcall

    CC BY 2.0 FR · Tatoeba · swolesuki · C2Open on TatoebaReport a problem
  5. She flitted about the party affecting a really annoying English accent.

    CC BY 2.0 FR · Tatoeba · darinmex · C2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

Translations

5 languages
Русский
By meaning 3
to move about rapidly and nimbly:
to move quickly from one location to another:
to unpredictably change state for short periods:
Deutsch
By meaning 1
to move quickly from one location to another:

Origin

From Middle English flitten, flytten, from Old Norse flytja (“to move”), from Proto-German

From Middle English flitten, flytten, from Old Norse flytja (“to move”), from Proto-Germanic *flutjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *plewd- (“to flow; run”).

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

flits, flitting, flitted, flitted
Base formflit · to flit
3rd person singularflits
Present participleflitting
Past simpleflitted
Past participleflitted

regular · Lesson

Present simpleLesson

I, you, we, theyflit
he, she, itflits

Past simpleLesson

all personsflitted

Present perfectLesson

I, you, we, theyhave flitted
he, she, ithas flitted

Future simple (will)Lesson

all personswill flit

Synonyms

3 synonyms
Close in meaning

Word family

6 related words

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
flit — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto