skitter

== English == === Pronunciation === (UK) IPA(key): /ˈskɪtə(ɹ)/ (General American) IPA(key): /ˈskɪtɚ/, [ˈskɪɾɚ] Rhymes: -ɪtə(ɹ) Hyphenation: skit‧ter Homophone: skidder (in some dialects) === Etymology 1 === Possibly a frequentative of skite (“to move lightly and hurriedly; to move suddenly, particularly in an oblique direction”) (Scotland, Northern England). The noun is derived from the verb. ==== Verb ==== skitter (third-person singular simple present skitters, present participle skittering, simple past and past participle skittered) (intransitive) To move hurriedly or as by bouncing or twitching; to scamper, to scurry; to scuttle. 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; 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, 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. (intransitive) To make a scratching or scuttling noise while, or as if, skittering. (transitive) To move or pass (something) over a surface quickly so that it touches only at intervals; to skip, to skite. ===== Synonyms ===== (to move hurriedly): scamper, scurry (to move over a surface quickly): skip, skite ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Translations ===== ==== Noun ==== skitter (plural skitters) (also figuratively) A skittering movement. === Etymology 2 === From skite (“to defecate”) +‎ -er (frequentative suffix). The noun is derived from the verb. ==== Verb ==== skitter (third-person singular simple present skitters, present participle skittering, simple past and past participle skittered) (transitive, Northern England, Scotland) To cause to have diarrhea. (intransitive, Northern England, Scotland) To suffer from a bout of diarrhea; to produce thin excrement. ==== Noun ==== skitter (plural skitters) (Scotland, Northern England, uncountable) Often skitters: the condition of suffering from diarrhea; thin excrement.