skitter

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Pronunciation

• (RP) IPA: /ˈskɪtə(ɹ)/
• (GA) IPA: /ˈskɪtɚ/

Verb

skitter (skitters, present participle skittering; past and past participle skittered)

1. (intransitive) To move#Verb|move hurriedly or as by bouncing or twitching; to scamper, to scurry.

   I opened the cabinet and a number of cockroaches went skittering off into the darkness.

   • 1882, Theodore Roosevelt, “Waterfowl”, in Hunting Trips of a Ranchman; Hunting Trips on the Prairie and in the Mountains, New York, N.Y.; London: The Co-operative Publication Society, OCLC 864725939; republished as Hunting Trips of a Ranchman: Sketches of Sport on the Northern Cattle Plains, Medora edition, New York, N.Y.; London: G. P. Putnam's Sons, The Knickerbocker Press, 1885, OCLC 15363308, page 56 ↗:

     Some kinds of ducks in lighting strike the water with their tails first, and skitter along the surface for a few feet before settling down.

2. (intransitive) To make a scratch#Verb|scratching or scuttle#Verb 2|scuttling noise#Noun|noise while, or as if, skittering.
3. (transitive) To move or pass#Verb|pass (something) over a surface#Noun|surface quickly so that it touch#Verb|touches only at intervals; to skip#Verb|skip, to skite#Verb|skite.

Synonyms

• (to move hurriedly) scamper, scurry
• (to move over a surface quickly) skip, skite

Translations

• French: s'enfuir (of insects, etc.)
• German: huschen
• Russian: мчаться
• Spanish: apresurar

Noun

skitter (plural skitters)

1. (also figuratively) A skittering movement.

   A skitter of activity.
   A skitter of gooseflesh.

Verb

skitter (skitters, present participle skittering; past and past participle skittered)

1. (transitive, Northern England, Scotland) To cause to have diarrhea.
2. (intransitive, Northern England, Scotland) To suffer from a bout of diarrhea; to produce#Verb|produce thin#Adjective|thin excrement.

Noun

skitter (plural skitters)

1. (Scotland, Northern England, uncountable) Often skitters: the condition#Noun|condition of suffering from diarrhea; thin#Adjective|thin excrement.

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