flirtingly 
flirtingly (fler'ting-li), tide. In a flirting man- 
ner. 
flisht (flish), a. See fledye. 
flisk (flisk), v. [E. dial, and Sc.. perhaps a var. 
of frisk. In sense of. flick 1 , perhaps a var. of 
jWrft or /Kojfcl.] I. iiitnum. 1. To fly about nim- 
bly; skip; caper. 
Were fannes, ;unl llapprs ni feathers fond, 
'I'u Hit nv\;iv the //'Wr///-/ Hies. 
(,'. ."//, ri<>a*ant QuippeS (1596). 
2. To fret at the yoke or the collar. 
Thuu never braiml^'t and feteh't, and fltskt't. 
/It'rnx, Ankl Farmers Salutation to ilia Auld Mare. 
II. trans. 1. To flick, as with a whip. 2. 
To render restless; fret. [Prov. Eng. and 
Scotch.] 
Fashions fools are easiest flisket. 
Scotch proverb. 
flisk (flisk), i>. [Sc. ; < flisk, v.~\ 1. A sudden 
spring or turn; a caper; a whim. 
I never knew much of that sort of fine ladies; . . . but 
there is something in Miss Ashton's change . . . too snd- 
den, and too serious, for a mere flisk of her own. 
Scott, Bride of Lammermoor, xxviii. 
2. A bundle of white rods to brush away cob- 
webs and dust; a whisk. [Prov. Eng.] 3. 
A comb with large teeth. 
fliskmahoy (flisk'ma-hoi), n. [Sc., also JKsk- 
niahaigo, a giddy, ostentatious person, as adj. 
light, trivial, giddy; appar. a capricious exten- 
sion of flisk, taken as equiv. to flirt.'] A giddy, 
frisking girl. 
That silly Jliskmahoy, Jenny Kintherout, has ta'en the 
exies. Scott, Antiquary, xxxv. 
fllsky (flis'ki), a. [Sc.; < flisk + -i/ 1 .] Unset- 
tled; fidgety; whimsical. 
363. 
But never ane will be so daft 
Aa tent auld Johnie's flisky dame. 
Hogg, Mountain Bard, 
p. 195. 
ftissa (flis'a), n. [Native name.] A sword with 
a straight blade used by the Kabyles of Algeria. 
The edge is usually curved slightly, as in the 
yataghan, while the back is straight. 
flissat (flis'at), . Same as flissa. 
flit 1 (flit), v. ; pret. and pp. flitted, ppr. flitting. 
[< ME. flitten, flytten, flatten, tr. remove (a 
thing) from one place to another, intr. remove, 
move, migrate, depart, < Icel. flytja, tr. remove, 
carry, export or import, refl. flytjask, remove, 
migrate, = Sw. flytta = Dan. flytte, tr. remove, 
transfer, convey, intr. remove, depart. Prob. 
not connected with Icel. fljota, AS. fleotan, E. 
fleetl, float, and therefore not connected with 
E. fleefl- in its later sense (ME. and mod. E.) 
of 'hasten'; Tout flee ft in this sense and fleet^, 
a., and prob. flitter 2 and flutter, have affected 
the modern use offlifl, which did not orig. im- 
ply swiftness or lightness of motion.] I. trans. 
1. To remove (a thing) from one place to an- 
other; transport; shift. [Now only Scotch.] 
Then tho clerk flyttis tho boke agayne to the south auter 
noke. Lay Folks Mass Book, B. 578. 
Fele times have ich fonded toflitte it fro thougt. 
William of Palerne (E. E. T. S.), 1. 628. 
Wi' tentie care I'll flit thy tether 
To some hain'd [saved] rig. 
Burns, Auld Farmer's Salutation to his Anld Mare. 
2f. To turn; move ; set in motion. 
Nature myhty euclyneth and Jlitteth the governementz 
of thinges. Chaucer, Boethius, iii. meter '2. 
3. To remove or dispossess. [Now only Scotch.] 
So sore it sticked whan I was hit 
That by no craft I might it flit. 
' Rom. of the Rote. 
Scho may not flit nor remove the tenentis. 
Balfour, Practicks (1558), p. 106. 
II. intrans. 1. To move along, about, or 
away; remove from a place or from point to 
point; go off or about: generally with an im- 
plication of suddenness, swiftness, or brevity 
of movement. 
O thatt otherr dass 
Toe Jesu Crist to jlittenn 
Inntill the land of Oalile. 
Onmilmn, 1. 12764. 
Him selfe forced to flee to the mountaines, where he 
lined three months vnknowne amongst the heardmen, 
Jlitting vp and downe with ten or twelue followers. 
Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 886. 
My brither has brought a bonnie young page, 
His like I ne'er did see ; 
But the red flits fast frae his cheek, 
And the tear stands in his ee. 
Lady Margaret (Child's Ballads, III. 392). 
2. To remove from one habitation to another. 
[Prov. Eng. and Scotch.] 
Upon the last of January he flitted out of old Aberdeen 
with his haill family and furniture. 
Spaldiruj, Hist. Troubles in Scotland, I. 104. 
143 
2273 
The farmer vcxt packs up bis beds and chairs, 
And all his household stuff, . . . 
Sets out, and meets a friend who hails him, " What ! 
You're flitting .'" y, /ii/.i/. Walking to the. Mail. 
3. To move lightly and swiftly: fly, dart, skim, 
or scud along : as, a bird flits from tree to tree ; 
a cloud flits across the moon. 
The clouds thatyW, or slowly float away. 
Camper, Retirement, 1. 192. 
Underneath the barren bush 
Flits by the sea-blue bird of March. 
Tennyson, In Memoriam. xei. 
Many a change o'er the King's face <\\<\ flit 
Of kingly rage and hatred and despair, 
Aa on the slayer's face he still did stare. 
William Morris, Earthly Paradise, I. 850. 
Now and then a sheeted figure flitted past us and van- 
ished through an inky archway. 
T. B. Aldrich, Ponkapog to Pesth, p. 226. 
4f. [Cf . flitter?.] To flutter, as a bird. 
He cut the cord 
Which fastened by the foot the flitting bird. 
Dryden, Mneid, v. 
flit 1 (flit), n. [< flifl, .] A flitting; removal. 
[Scotch.] 
Better rew sit [a staying] nor rew flit [a moving], 
Ray, Scottish Proverbs (2d ed., 1678), p. 
flit 2 t (flit), a. [A perversion of fleet*, in imita- 
tion of flit 1 .] Nimble; swift. 
And in his hand two dartes, exceeding flit 
And deadly sharp, lie held. 
Spenser, F. Q., II. iv. 38. 
For the flitt barke, obaying to her mind, 
Forth launched quickly as she did desire. 
Spenser, F. Q., II. vi. 20. 
flitch (flich), n. [< ME. flicckc, fliche, flucche, 
also without assibilation flykke, flyk (> E. dial. 
flick*, flectf) = MLG. vlicke, LG. flikke (> OF. 
flique, flicque, fliche, flische, F. fleche), < AS. 
flicce = Icel. flikki, a flitch of bacon; cf. Icel. 
flik, a flap, tatter, = Sw. flik, a lappet, lobe, 
= Dan. flig, lap, corner, lappet ; cf . Dan. flik, 
flikke, a patch ; perhaps ult. akin to flakel, a 
slice, etc. ; but some of the meanings touch 
those of the words mentioned under fleck 1 .] 
1. The side of an animal (now only of a hog) 
salted and cured : chiefly used in the phrase a 
flitch of bacon. 
And warn him not to cast his wanton eyne 
On grosser bacon, or salt haberdiue, 
Or dried flitches of some smoked beeve, 
Hang'd on a wrythen wythe since Martin's eve. 
Bp. Hall, Satires, iv. 4. 
Twas thought a sumptuous Treat, 
On Birth- Days Festivals, or Days of State, 
A salt, dry flitch of Bacon to prepare. 
Congreve, tr. of Juvenal's Satires, xi. 
While he from out the chimney took 
A flitch of bacon off the hook. 
Sivift, Baucis and Philemon. 
2. A steak from the side of a halibut, smoked 
or ready for smoking. 3. In carp., a plank or 
slab; especially, one of several planks fastened 
side by side to form a compound beam. 
Only the flitches taken from the outside part [of the 
teak] are available for use. Laslett, Timber, p. 118. 
These [saw] frames are constructed to take two deals or 
flitches instead of one. Ure, Diet., IV. 959. 
Flitch of Dunmow, a flitch of bacon formerly present- 
ed by the lord of the manor of Little Duumow, in Essex, 
England, to any married couple who could prove (origi- 
nally at the priory) that they had lived for a year after 
marriage in perfect harmony, and had never regretted 
their union. The giving of the flitch was fixed in 1244 as 
a condition of the tenure, but the first recorded instance 
of its award was in 1445 ; several other regular presenta- 
tions are mentioned, the last in the latter part of the 
eighteenth century. The practice was revived in 1855 at 
Great Dunmow as a matter of curiosity, and the flitch has 
since been awarded on several occasions. 
And though the! don hem to Donmowe but if thedeuel help 
To folwen after the flicche [var. flucchen] fecche thei it 
neuere. Piers Plan-man (B), ix. 169. 
flitch-beam (flich'bem), n. A beam made of 
two or more flitches or planks fastened to- 
gether. 
flitchint, n. [Dim. ot flitch, n.] S&measflitch,l. 
Fower flitchins of bacon in the chimney. 
MS. Inventory of Goods, 1658. 
flite (flit), f . i. ; pret. and p-p.flited, ppr. fliting. 
[Also flyte, improp. flight; < ME. fliten (pret. 
flote, -pp. fliten), < A.S. flitan (prei. flat, pi. niton, 
pp. fliten), strive, contend, dispute, = MLG. 
vliten = OHG. flizan, MHG. vlisen, be eager, 
apply oneself, G. befleissen = Sw. beflita = Dan. 
beflitte, apply to, study, endeavor. See the 
noun.] To scold ; quarrel ; brawl. [Old Eng. 
and Scotch.] 
A-nother werkman that was ther be-side 
Gan flite with that felthe that formest hadde spoke. 
William of Palerne (E. E. T. S.), 1. 2545. 
Bell, why dost thou flyte and scorne? 
Take thy Old Cloak about thee (Percy's Reliques, p. 119). 
flitting 
Dinna }iefli/tiy on the wee thing. 
A". Mtirlrotl, The Starling, ii. 
flite (flit), n. [Also flyte; < ME. flit, flyt, strife, 
contention, < AS. flit, strife, = OFries. flit = 
MLG. vlit, LG. flit = D. vlijt, diligence, assi- 
duity (> Sw. flit, Dan. flitl, diligence), = OHG. 
fliz, strife, contention, diligence, MHG. vliz, 
Gr.fleiss, diligence, assiduity; from the verb.] 
The act of scolding or berating; a noisy quar- 
rel; an angry dispute. [Scotch.] 
I think maybe a flyte wi' the auld housekeeper at Monk- 
barns, or Miss Grizel, wad do me some glide. 
Scott, Antiquary, xxxix. 
fliter (fli'ter), n. One who flites or scolds. [Old 
Eng. and Scotch.] 
The Lord was not a flyler, a chyder, an upbraider, a cryer, 
etc. Rollocke, On the Passion, p. 500. 
flitter*t (flit'er), v. i. [< ME. flytteren, scatter 
in pieces.] To scatter in pieces. 
Itflytteryd al abrade. 
Morte d' Arthur, i. 137. (Halliwell.) 
flitter 1 (flit'er), n. [< ./litter*, r.] 1. A small 
piece of anything, especially cloth ; a shred ; 
a tatter; a rag: generally in the plural: as, a 
garment torn all to flitters. [Colloq.] 2. A 
minute square of thin metal, used in decora- 
tion; collectively, a quantity of such squares. 
Strong and brilliant colors are freely used, together with 
gilt flitter, in the representation of flowering plants, foun- 
tains, and other devices [for window-shades]. 
Beck's Jour. Dec. Art, Supp., II. 40. 
flitter 2 (flit'er), v. i. [Appar. an attenuated form 
of flutter, q. v. Cf. flatter 3 , flittermouse, etc.] 
1. intrans. 1. To flutter. Hogg. [Scotch.] 
Vnder such props, false Fortune builds her bowre, 
On sudden change, her flittering frames be set, 
Where is no way, for to escape the net. 
Mir. for Mags., p. 502. 
Are the stiff-wigged living figures, that still flitter and 
chatter about that area, less Gothic in appearance? 
Lamb, Old Benchers. 
2. To hang or droop. Halliwell. [Prov. Eng.] 
II. trans. To flutter ; move rapidly backward 
and forward. 
As a skilful juggler flitters the cards before you. 
Lowell, Fireside Travels, p. 233. 
flitter 3 (flit'er), n. [<flifl- + -cr*.] One who 
flits. 
If we be flitters and not dwellers, as was Lot a flitter 
from Segor, . . . we shall remove to our loss. 
J. Bradford, Letters (Parker Soc., 1853), II. 109. 
flitterchack (flit'er-chak), . The ring-ouzel, 
Turdus torquatus. J. W. H. Trail. [Orkney 
islands.] 
flittermouset (flit'er-mous), n. ; pi. flittermice 
(-mis). [< flitter 2 + mouse (ef. equiv. flinder- 
mouse and flickermouse), after OD. vleddermuys, 
vledernmys, vlermuys, D. vledermuis = MLG. vled- 
dermus = OHG. fledarmus, MHG. vledermaus, 
G. fledermaus = Sw. fla'dermus, a bat, < OD. 
vledderen, vlederen, D. fladderen, hover, = OHG. 
fledaron, MHG. vledern, vladern, G. fladdern, 
accom. flatten = Sw. fladdra, flutter, + OD. 
muys, D. muis = OHG. mus, G. maus = Sw. mus 
= E. mouse : see flit 2 , flutter, flatter'^, and mouse. 
The older E. name is reremouse, < AS. hrercmus; 
fentisScand. : see rcremo<seand 6at 2 .] A bat; 
a reremouse ; a flindermouse. 
My fine flitter-mouse, 
My bird o' the night ! 
B. Joiuon, Alchemist, v. 2. 
flittern (flit'ern), a. [Origin obscure.] In tan- 
ning, applied to the bark of young oak-trees, as 
distinguished from that of old trees, which is 
called timber-bark, and is less valuable than 
flittern bark as a tanning agent. 
flittineSS (flit'i-nes), n. The state or quality of 
being flitty ; flightiness ; capriciousness ; levity. 
[Archaic.] 
Had we but the same delight in heavenly objects, did we 
but receive the truth in the love of it, and mingle it with 
faith in the hearing, this would fix that volatileness and 
flittinesse of our memories, and make every truth as in- 
delible as it is necessary. Bp. Hopkins, The Lord's Prayer. 
flitting (flit'ing), n. [Verbal n. of flift,v.] 1. 
A flitting or rapid movement; a flying with 
lightness and darting motions ; a fluttering. 
Presently came the faint sound of a door opening, and 
a flitting of other feet light, short steps that scarcely 
seemed to touch the ground. 
Mrs. Oliphant, Poor Gentleman, xvi. 
2. A removal from one habitation to another. 
[North. Eng. and Scotch.] 
A neighbour had lent his cart for the flitting, and it was 
now standing loaded at the door, ready to move away. 
J. Wilson, Margaret Lindsay. 
Two flittings are as bad as a fire. North. Eng. proverb. 
3. Household effects in the course of removal 
from one place to another. [Scotch.] 
