flit

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To move quickly and lightly from one place to another.

   A butterfly flitted from flower to flower in the garden.

2. 2
   verb

   To pass briefly through the mind or across something.

   A worried thought flitted across her face.

From Middle English flitten, flytten, from Old Norse flytja (“to move”), from Proto-Germanic *flutjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *plewd- (“to flow; run”). Cognate Icelandic flytja, Swedish flytta, Danish flytte, Norwegian flytte, Faroese flyta. Compare also Saterland Frisian flitskje (“to rush; run quickly”).

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