• (America) IPA: /ˈflʌtɚ/, [ˈflʌɾɚ]
• (RP) IPA: /ˈflʌtə/

flutter (flutters, present participle fluttering; past and past participle fluttered)

1. (intransitive) To flap or wave quickly but irregularly.

   flags fluttering in the wind

   • 1907, Robert William Chambers, “Under the Ashes”, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, OCLC 24962326 ↗, page 112 ↗:

     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 again to find Miss Erroll in furs and ball-gown kneeling on the hearth and heaping kindling on the coals, [...]

2. (intransitive) Of a winged#Adjective|winged animal: to flap#Verb|flap the wing#Noun|wings without fly#Verb|flying; to fly with a light#Adjective|light flapping of the wings.
   • 1900 May 17, L[yman] Frank Baum, “The Council with the Munchkins”, in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Chicago, Ill.; New York, N.Y.: Geo[rge] M. Hill Co., OCLC 297099816 ↗, page 20 ↗:

     Banks of gorgeous flowers were on every hand, and birds with rare and brilliant plumage sang and fluttered in the trees and bushes.

3. (transitive) To cause something to flap.

   A bird flutters its wings.

4. (transitive) To drive#Verb|drive into disorder#Noun|disorder; to throw#Verb|throw into confusion.
   • c. 1608–1609, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act V, scene vi], page 30 ↗:

     If you haue writ your Annales true, 'tis there, / That like an Eagle in a Doue-cote, I / Flutter'd your Volcians in Corioles.

   • 1869 May, Anthony Trollope, “The Honourable Mr. Glacock”, in He Knew He Was Right, volume I, London: Strahan and Company, publishers, […], OCLC 1118026626 ↗, page 104 ↗:

     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 an appeal in language less courteous than that of agreement

5. (intransitive) To be in a state of agitation or uncertainty.
6. (intransitive, obsolete) To be frivolous.

• French: voleter, voltiger, faséyer
• German: flattern
• Italian: garrire, sventolare, svolazzare, ondeggiare
• Portuguese: tremular, drapejar
• Russian: развева́ться
• Spanish: ondear

• German: wedeln
• Italian: sbattere le ali
• Portuguese: esvoaçar
• Russian: бить крыло

flutter

1. The act of fluttering; quick and irregular motion.

   the flutter of a fan

   • the chirp and flutter of some single bird

2. A state of agitation.

   • 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 consider with relief the fact of nobody's knowing.

3. An abnormal rapid pulsation of the heart.
4. (British) A small bet or risky investment.
   • , 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 […]

5. A hasty game of cards or similar.
6. (audio, electronics) The rapid variation of signal parameters, such as amplitude, phase, and frequency.

• Portuguese: tremulação
• Russian: трепет