flittermouse

== English == === Alternative forms === flear-mouse, flettermouse, flitter-mouse, fluttermouse, flickermouse === Etymology === From flitter +‎ mouse (compare flickermouse, flindermouse), after Middle Dutch fleddermuys, vledermuys, vlermuys (Modern Dutch vleermuis), from vledderen, vlederen (“to flutter, float, hover”) + muys (“mouse”). Cognate with West Frisian flearmûs (“bat”), Middle Low German vledermūs (“bat”), German Fledermaus (“bat”), Swedish fladdermus (“bat”) and flädermus (“bat”). More at flitter, flutter, flatter, mouse. === Pronunciation === === Noun === flittermouse (plural flittermice) (now chiefly dialectal) A bat (a flying mammal). 1894, Philip Stewart Robinson, Birds of the Wave and Woodland, Electronic Edition, unnumbered page, The bats wheel overhead, their soft wings crumpling as they turn their somersaults, but never a voice in the air, save sharp needle-points of sound, as flittermouse calls to flittermouse. ==== Translations ====