flinch1 (flinch)

i. [Prob. a nasalized form (perhaps influenced by blench1 ) of ME. flecchen: see fletch1.] 1. To give way to fear or to a flinder mou set (flinʼdėr-mous), n.; (flin'der-mous), n.; pl.. pl. flinder mice (-mis). [ Thenne cam the flyndermows and the wezel. Caxton , Reynard the Fox (1481) (ed. Arber), p. 112. One face was attyred of the newe fashion of womens attyre, the other face like the olde arraye of women, and had wynges like a backe or flyndermowse . MS . Harl ., 486, f. 77. ( Hall i well .) Flinders bar (flin'dėrz bär). [So called from its inventor: see Flindersia .] Naut . , an appliance for correcting a part of the local deviation of the compa -needle on shipboard, consisting of a soft iron cylinder, generally two or three inches in diameter, placed vertically in front or in the rear of the compa binnacle at such a distance as may be required. Besides helping to correct the semicircular deviation, it tends to le en the heeling-error. Flindersia (flin-der'si-ä), n. [NL., so called after Captain M. Flinders , R. N. (died 1814), who, accompanied by the botanist Robert Brown, explored the coast of Australia in the beginning of the 19th century.] A genus of tall timber trees of Australia, of the natural order Melia ceæ , and allied to the mahogany. The wood of F. Greaves i i is very hard and durable, and is used in house building. F. australis , the ash or beech of Queensland, is largely used for staves. F. Oxleyana is known as white teak or yellow- wood , and furnishes a yellow dye. All have a woody capsule covered with sharp-pointed tubercles, which is used by the natives as a rasp in preparing roots, etc., for food. fling (fling), v .; pret. and pp. flung , ppr. fling- Aing ing . [ flyngen , flengen (with strong pret. flang , flong ), tr. fling, usually y intr. hasten, fly, rush, also strike (at), flengja , whip, ride furiously, = Sw. flänga , romp, ride furiously, a derived sense of OSw. flenga , strike, Sw. dial. flänga , strike, hack, strip bark from trees, Norw. flengja , slash, gash, cut, esp. with violence, = Dan. flænge , slash, gash; hence the noun, Sw. fläng , agitation, violent exercise, = Norw. fleng = Dan. flænge , a slash, gash; cf. the adverbial phrase, Sw. i fläng = Norw. i fleng = Dan. i flæng , at random, in disc rim i fling nately.] I. trans. 1. To throw, cast, or hurl; especially, to throw with force, violence, or swiftne , with ardor, vehemence, disdain, impatience, or indifference: as, the waves flung the ship upon the rocks; his antagonist Aung him to the ground; to fling a sarcasm at an opponent; they flung themselves suddenly upon the enemy; to fling a penny to a beggar. He... raft him al his song And eke his spec he, and out at dore him flong [var, slong, i. e., slung ). Chaucer, Manciple's Tale (ed. Tyrwhitt), 1. 17254. Who loves the king, and will embrace his pardon, Fling up his cap, and say - God save his majesty' Shak., 2 Hen. VI., iv. 8. Another time my horse Calamity flung me over his head into a neighboring parish, as if I had been a shuttlecock. Sydney Smith , in Lady Holland, vii. Once more, on gay St. Crispin's day, Fling out your blazoned banner! Whittier, The Shoemakers. The bell Flung out its sound o'er night or day. William Morris , Earthly Paradise, III. 187. 2. To throw aside or off, as a burden. You likewise will do well, Ladies, in entering here, to cast and fling The tricks which make us toys of men. Tennyson, Prince , ii. To fling off. (a) To baffle in the chase; defeat of prey. (b) To get rid of. You flung me off , before the court disgrac'd me, When in the pride I appear'd of all my beauty. Fletcher (and another ), False One, iv. 2. To fling one's self out or about, to flounce out or about; dash out, as in anger or rage. To filing out, to utter or speak violently or reckle ly: as, to fting out hard words against another. To fiing the head, to throw up the head with a violent, contemptuous, or angry motion. II. in trans. 1. To act by throwing in some particular way; discharge a mi ile, or something analogous to a mi ile. Thou sitt'st upon this ball Of earth, secure, while death, that flings at all, Stands arm'd to strike thee down. Quarles, Emblems, i. 7. I and my Cloe take a nobler Aim: At human Hearts we fling , nor ever mi the Game. Prior, Cloe Hunting. 21. To aim a blow, as with a weapon; let fly. He... flang at hym fuersly with a fyne swerde. Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), L. 5253. IMG:content-1498.png:[blocks in formation] Being fastned to proud Coursers collers, That fight and fling , it [willo-wort] will abate their cholSylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, i. 3. This is but to fling and struggle under the inevitable net of God, that now begins to inviron you round. Milton , On Def. of Humb. Remonst. The beasts began to kick and fling . S. Butler, Hudibras, II. ii. 833. 6. To utter harsh or abusive language; upbraid; sneer: as, she began to flout and fling. fling (fling), n. [ wild dash into pleasure, adventure, or excitement of any kind; enjoyment of pleasure to the full extent of one's opportunities. Give me my fling , and let me say my say. Tennyson, Aylmer's Field. He has seen the world and had his fling at Paris, T. Winthrop , Cecil Dreeme, i. I tell you, don't think of marrying-why should you marry? but just have your fling and get a little fun while you can. Mrs. Oliphant , Poor Gentleman, xliv. 3. A lively Scotch country-dance; a reel or hornpipe, especially of the kind called the High land fling , usually danced by one person. Save for the crooked stick and the gray goose wing. Fuller , Worthies, Berks hire. Liquor of flints, a solution of flint or silica in potash.- To fix one's flint. See fix . - To skin a flint, to act with extreme closene or meanne in regard to money mat- ters. II. a. 1. Made or composed of flint.-2. Hard and firm, as if made of flint: as, flint corn or flint wheat. - Flint implements, in archæol ., implements used by man before the use of metals, so called because, although occasionally found of granite, jade, ser- pentine, jasper, basalt, and other hard stones, those first studied, as well as the most numerous examples, are formed of flint. They consist of arrow-heads, ax-heads or celts, lance-heads, knives, wedges, etc. Flint implements have been found in many regions of the globe; often, as in the Somme valley in France, in apparently upheaved beds of drift, and in connection with the remains of extinct species of the elephant, rhinoceros, and other mammals, whence man's existence on the globe at a geological period anterior to the present has been inferred. Flint imple- ments are still used by some savage tribes. flint a mentos a (flint a-men-to'sä), n. A name given in Australia to the tree Flindersia Greaves i i. fling-dustt (fling'dust), n. [ fling , v., + obj. dust.] One who kicks up the dust; a street-ened; cruel. Davies. walker: a term of contempt applied to a woman of low character. Beau . and Fl . flinger (fling'er), n. 1. One who flings; a thrower, jeerer, etc. And as a Curre, that cannot hurt the flinger , Flies at the stone and biteth that for anger, Goliah bites the ground. 2. A flail; properly, the lower part of a flail. [Scotch.] The thresher's weary fling in -tree The lee-lang day had tired me. flint-gla (flint'glas), n. A variety of gla in which the silica is combined with oxid of lead in greater or le quantity. The larger the amount of lead the higher the specific gravity and the refractive power, and the greater the brilliancy of the product. Flint-gla is often called crystal gla , or simply crystal, while some limit the name flint - gla to the va- riety specially made for optical purposes. Besides the oxid of lead, potash is an e ential ingredient of flint-gla or crystal. Analyses of different kinds of crystal show the presence of from 28 to 37 per cent. of oxid of lead, 14 to 17 of potash, and 52 to 59 of silica. The flint-gla of ted to be of unrivalled excellence, contains about 43 per cent. of oxid of lead and 12 of potash. The brilliancy of alonema mirabilis , found at Yenoshima, on the coast of Japan. Also called sponge - gla . flint stone (flint's ton), n. A hard silicious stone; flint. Like wood he sprang the castell about, On the rock o' the black flint stane . especially for the most showy and expensive table-ware. The characteristic luster and sparkle due to the high re- fractive power of the material is brought out by cutting and polishing, exactly as is done in the case of gems. Owing, however, to its softne , crystal gla is easily scratched by carele handling and dulled by wear. The name flint - gla originated in the fact that the silica first used in England for the manufacture of this article was derived from flints. An e ential requisite for good flint- gla is purity of the materials employed, and the forms of the furnace and of the melting-pots are peculiar. Great technical skill is required for the production of the best kind of gla for optical purposes. See gla , stra , and lens . flint-heartt (flint'härt), a . Same as flint - hearted . tery distinguished by the use of ground flints Under the conduct of Great Soliman, Have I ben chief commander of an host, And put the flint - heart Persians to the sword. mixed with the clay. (b) Pottery having a slip into which ground flints enter for a consider a- ble part of its volume. The mountain-ash of Shak., Venus and Adonis, 1. 95. flintine (flin ́ti-nes), n . The quality of being flinty; hardne ; cruelty. The more I admire your flintine : What cause have I given you, illustrious madam, To play this strange part with me? IMG:content-1499.png:[blocks in formation] IMG:content-1500.png:[blocks in formation] knapper . flint-knapper (flint'nap"ėr), п. A workman who breaks or chips flints to desired forms. During a recent journey through Epirus I was so fortu- nate as to observe in a street of Janina an old Albanian flint - knapper practising his truly elegant art. A. J. Evans , Jour. Anthrop. Inst., XVI. 65. flint-knapping (flint'nap"ing), n. and a. I. n. The act or method of breaking or chipping flints to desired forms. In modern practice the lumps or nodules of flint are broken into pieces of mod- erate size by means of light blows with a square hammer, and these pieces are then split and shaped by scaling or flaking them off by means of blows of nicely adjusted force and direction with a pointed hammer. II. a . Pertaining to the art of flaking and shaping flints. IMG:content-1501.png:[blocks in formation] Gratitude Through flinty Tartar's bosom would peep forth, And answer thanks. Shak ., All's Well, iv. 4. How shall I move W. Browne, Britannia's Pastorals, ii. 3. Hugh Conway , A Family Affair, p. 87. The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia: Dictionary flip1 (flip), a . [E. dial.; flipl , r. Cf. flippant.] Nimble; flippant. Hall i well . [Prov. Eng.] flip2 (flip), n. [Of dial. origin; prob. flip1 , v., but the connection is not clear.] A mixture of which ale, beer, or cider is the chief ingre- dient, sweetened, spiced, made sometimes with eggs (see egg - flip ), and drunk hot. It is consid- ered e ential to heat the compound by means of hot irons plunged into the liquor, which gives a burnt taste. See flip -dog. He caus'd the flip in mugs gae roun' And wine in cans sae gay. Sir Patrick Spens (Child's Ballads, III. 340). If you spent the evening in a tavern (says John Adams), you found the house full of people drinking drams of slip , [and] toddy, and carousing and swearing. Nineteenth Century, XXIII. 97. Hurried and Aippant fantasies are substituted for exact and philosophical reasoning. Story , Speech at Cambridge, Aug. 31, 1826. I will not echo the rather flippant observation of Mrs. Elisabeth Montagu, in her E ay on Shakespeare,... to the effect that the primary glory of French dramatists in their own eyes seems to be their triumph over the diff i- culties of rhyming. A. W. Ward , Eng. Dram. Lit., I. 110, flippantly (flip'ant-li), ade . In a flippant man- ner; glibly; with pert volubility. With those great sugar-nippers they nipp'd off his flippers, As the Clerk very flippantly termed his fists. flippantne (flip'ant-nes), n. Flippancy. flipper flipper (flip'er), (flip'er), n . n . [[ flip1 flip1 . + -er1. (f. flapper .] 1. A limb used to swim with. (a) The fin of a fish. (b) Any limb of a sea-turtle. (c) The leg, especially the fore leg, of a seal or walrus. (d) The fore fin of a cetacean or a sirenian, as a whale, a porpoise, or a manatee. (c) The wing of a penguin. 2. The hand: as, give us your flipper . [Slang.] - 3. Part of a scene, hinged and painted on both sides, used in trick changes. [Theatrical cant.]-4. A flapjack; a kind of griddle-cake.- Square-flipper, the bearded seal, Erignathus barbatus . flipe (flip), n. [Formerly also Aype ; prob. of Scand, origin; ef. Dan. flip , flap, a shirt-collar, pant .] A pert or lively person. corner of a handkerchief, etc.; Icel. flip i , a horse's lip, = Sw. dial. flip , the lip.] 1. A fold; a lap. [Scotch.] -2. The brim of a hat. [Prov. Eng. and Scotch.] Good blew bonnets on their head; Which on the one side had a flipe , Adorned with a tobacco pipe. 3. A flake of snow. [Prov. Eng.] flipe (flip), v . t .; pret. and pp. fliped , ppr. flip- ing. [Formerly also flype ; flipe , n.] 1. To fold back; turn up or down, as a sleeve, or a stocking in pulling it off, by turning it inside out. [Prov. Eng. and Scotch.] flipflap (flip flap), n. [A varied reduplication of flap . Cf. flip1.] 1. A continual light flap- ping; the repeated stroke or noise made by the alternating movements of something broad, flat, and limber.-2. A somersault. (Slang.) -3t. A flighty person. Daries. The light airy flipflap , she kills him with her motions. Vanbrugh, False Friend, i. 1. 4. A neuropterous grub, the dobson or hell- grammite. [Virginia, U. S.] flipflap (flip flap), adv . [ flipflap , n.] With a flapping noise. Johnson. Chapman , All Fools, v. 1. It be cometh good men, in such cases, to be... flip- pant and free in their speech. Barrow, Sermon on Gunpowder Treason. How now, my wanton flippitt ? Where are thy ging of sweetnes? this is mettle To coyne young Cupids in. they might accidentally strike their sharp Fins into the hands of those that caught them. Dampier , Voyages, I. 148. Pacing the room bare-footed, with the tails of his night- shirt flirting as he turned. R. L. Stevens on, Treasure of Franc hard. 2. To play at courtship; practise coquettish diversions; engage in amatory pastime; in gen- eral, to make insincere advances of any kind. Indeed there may be sometimes some small Aurts of a Westerly Wind on these Coasts, but neither constant, cer- tain, nor lasting. Dampier , Voyages, II. iii. 15. When, with many a flirt and flutter, In there stepped a stately raven. flird2 (flerd), v. i. [Sc.: see flirt , and cf. flird1 .] 1. To gibe; jeer. Sum sings, Sum dances. Sum tell story is... Sum flyrds . Sum fenyeis; and sum flatters. Must these smiling roses entertain The blows of scorn, and flirts of base disdain? Quarles, Emblems, iv. 9. 3. One who flirts; one who plays at courtship; one who coquets for pastime or adventure: said of either sex, but most commonly of a woman. Ye belles, and ye flirts , and ye pert little things, Who trip in this frolicsome round. W. Whitehead, Song for Ranelagh. Several young flirts about town had a design to cast us out of the fashionable world. Add is on, Guardian. Thackeray, Vanity Fair, XXV. flirdie, flirdy (fler'di), a . [ flird2 + -ie, -y1.] Giddy; unsettled: often applied to a skittish horse. Jamie son. [Scotch.] flirdoch (fler'doch), n. [ flird2 .] A little flirt. Jamie son. [Scotch.] filire (flir), v. and n. variant of fleer1 . flirk (flerk), v . t . [Formerly also flerk ; a var. of 4t. A shrewish woman. flirt .] To throw or to suddenly; jerk; flirt. [Now only prov. Eng.] fiirk (flerk), n . [Formerly also flerk ; flirk , 7.] A sudden throw or to ; a jerk; a flirt. [Now only prov. Eng.] With sudden flerk the fatal hemp lets go The humming Flint. flirt (flert), г. [Formerly also written flurt; of dial. origin, being a ociated in sense with several other words which have the same initial but different final elements, namely, flirk , flisk , flick1 , throw, jerk, etc., fleer1 , flire , gibe, flite , scold, etc. Cf. flird2 , perhaps in part the orig. form of which flirk and flirt are variations; cf. also jerk , jert , yerk , etc., throw: all these words being more or le dial., and regarded as vaguely imitative or suggestive of the act they signify, and in so far prob. variations of one or two orig. forms.] I. trans . 1. To throw with a quick to or jerk; fling suddenly or smartly, and carele - ly or without aim; to off or about. The great event is the catastrophe of Sir John Bland, who has flirted away his whole fortune at hazard. A good, honest, painful man many times hath a shrew to his wife,. a proud peevish flirt . Burton, Anat. of Mel. [ flirt + -ation .] flirtation (fler-ta's hon), n . 1. A flirting; a quick sprightly motion. [Rare.] -2. Playing at courtship; amorous trifling or adventure. Barham, In golds by Legends, II. 33. Or if, perhaps, it was only a pa ing folly, a foolish little flirtation , nothing serious at all? Mrs. Oliphant , Poor Gentleman, xxxvii. =Syn. 2. Flirtation, Coquetry. Coquetry may be general: as, she was full of coquetry . Flirtation is special. Co- quetry is the result of the love of admiration; flirtation is more often for the testing or the exhibition of power, and is generally venturesome or challenging. flirtatious (fler-tā'shus), a . [ make waving motions with. 2. To handle with short, quick movements; -ous.] Given to flirtation. [Colloq.] To ki your hand or flirt your fan. Lord Dorset, Song, To all you Ladies now on Land. The flirted fan, the bridle, and the to . Cowper , Hope, 1. 344. ledge or consideration; talkative and forward; 3. To gibe, jeer, or scoff at; flout. impertinent; disrespectfully smart in speech or conduct. She was so flippant in her answers to all the honest fel- lows that came near her, and so very vain of her beauty, that she has valued herself upon her charms till they have ceased. Steele , Spectator, No. 118. To be flippant about troubles is as intolerable as if one were to be frivolous about aldermen. P. Robinson, Under the Sun, p. 287. 3. Of a light and trifling quality; shallow; pert; disrespectful. Have no regard to Sybil's dre , have none To her pert language, to her flippant tone. Crabbe, Works, IV. 142. That had the patience to become a fool, A flurted fool, and on a sudden break, As if he would shew a wonder to the world, Both in bravery and fortune too? 41. To snap the fingers at derisively.-5. Το scold; chide. [Prov. Eng.] II. in trans. 1. To move nimbly; run or dart about; flutter restle ly; act with levity or gid- dine . on them to take the Hook out of their Mouths, for other- wise, in flurting about, as all Fish will when first taken, The naughty and flirtatious New York girl, Lilian. The American, VII. 154. flirtatiousne (flèr-ta's hus-nes), n . A dispo- sition or tendency to flirtation; the habit of flirt- ing. [Colloq.] A North Carolina girl of ingenuous Airt at i ous ne , Atlantic Monthly , LVIII. 432. flirter (fler'tér), n. One who flirts; a flirt. flirt-gillt, flirt-gilliant (flert'jil, -jili-an), n. [ flirt , n., + gills , gillian .] A pert, forward girl; a light, wanton woman. IMG:content-1503.png:[blocks in formation] flisk (flisk), v . [E. dial. and Sc., perhaps a var. of frisk . In sense of flick1 , perhaps a var. of flirk or flick1 .] I. in trans. 1. To fly about nim- bly; skip; caper. Were fannes, and flappes of feathers fond, To flit away the flisking flies. The farmer vext packs up his beds and chairs, And all his household stuff, You're flitting !" Tennyson, 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 acro the moon. The clouds that flit , or slowly float away. Cowper , Retirement, 1. 192. Underneath the barren bush Flits by the sea-blue bird of March. Many a change o'er the King's face did flit Of kingly rage and hatred and despair, As on the slayer's face he still did stare. William Morris, Earthly Paradise, I. 350. Now and then a sheeted figure flitted past us and van- ished through an inky archway. T. B. Aldrich, Ponkapog to Pesth, p. 226. flisk (flisk), n . [Sc.; He cut the cord Which fastened by the foot the flitting bird. Ray , Scottish Proverbs (2d ed., 1678), p. 363. [A perversion of fleet4 , in imita- flit2+ (flit), a. [Sc., also flisk tion of flit .] Nimble; swift. fliskmahoy (flisk ma-hoi), n. mahaigo , a giddy, ostentatious person, as adj. light, trivial, giddy; appar. a capricious exten- sion of flisk , taken as equiv. to flirt .] Agiddy, frisking girl. But never ane will be so daft As tent auld Johnie's flisky dame. Then tho clerk flyttis tho boke agayne to the south auter noke. Lay Folks Ma Book , B. 578. Fele times have ich fonded to flitte it fro thougt. William of Palerne (E. E. T. S.), l. 623. Wi' tentie care I'll flit thy tether To some hain'd [saved] rig. And in his hand two dartes, exceeding flit And deadly sharp, he 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. 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. flitch (flich), n. [ flicche , flic he , flucche, I. in trans. 1. To flutter. Hogg . [Scotch.] also without a ibilation flykke , flyk (> E. dial. flick2 , fleck3 ) = MLG. vlicke , LG. flikke (> OF. flique, flicque, flic he, flische, F. flèche ), 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 fleck1 .] 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 gro er bacon, or salt haberdine, 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. If we be flitters and not dwellers, as was Lot a flitter from Segor, we shall remove to our lo . J. Bradford, Letters (Parker Soc., 1853), II. 109. flitter chack (flit'er-chak), n. The ring-ouzel, Turdus torquatus . J. W. H. Trail. [Orkney islands.] Congreve , tr. of Juvenal's Satires, xi. flitter mou set (flit'èr-mous), n.; pl. flittermice While he from out the chimney took A flitch of bacon off the hook. 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, Dict., IV. 959. 21. To turn; move; set in motion. Nature myhty enclyneth and flitteth the governementz of thinges. Chaucer , Boëthius, iii. meter 2. 3. To remove or dispo e . [Now only Scotch.] So sore it sticked whan I was hit That by no craft I might it flit . IMG:content-1504.png:[blocks in formation] 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. Flitch of Dunmow, a flitch of bacon formerly present- 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 present a- 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. To folwen after the flicche [var. flucchen ] fecche the i it Piers Plowman (B), ix. 169. flitch-beam (flichʼbēm), n. two or more flitches or planks fastened to- gether. flitch int, n. [Dim. of flitch , n.] Same as flitch , 1. Fower flitch ins of bacon in the chimney. flite (flit), v . i.; pret. and pp. flited , ppr. fliting . [Also flyte , improp. flight ; fliten (pret. flote , pp. fliten ), flit an (pret. flat , pl. flit on , pp. fliten ), strive, contend, dispute, = MLG. vliten = OHG. flizan, MHG. vlizen , be eager, apply oneself, G. beflei en = 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 felt he that formest hadde spoke. William of Palerne (E. E. T. S.), L. 2545. O Bell, why dost thou flyte and scorne? Take thy Old Cloak about thee (Percy's Reliques, p. 119). IMG:content-1505.png:[blocks in formation] flittern (flit'èrn), 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 le valuable than flittern bark as a tanning agent. flitt in e (flit'i-nes), n. The state or quality of being flitty; flightine ; capriciousne ; levity. [Archaic.] flitting The schip-men, sone in the morning, Tursyt on twa hors thare flytting. Wyntown, viii. 38. (Jamie son.) A moonlight flitting, a secret removal from a place, as to avoid paying one's debts. [Colloq.] "Depend upon it," and he winked confidentially, "he will smell a rat, and make a moonlight flitting of it, and we shall never hear of him any more." Mrs. Craik , Mistre and Maid, xvii. flit tingly (flit'ing-li), adv . In a flitting manner. flitty (flit'i), (flit'i), a . a . [ A [ flit +-y1.] Unstable; fluttering. [Archaic.] Busying their brains in the mysterious toys Of flittie motion. Dr. H. More, Psych a than asia, I. i. 11. flix1 (fliks), n. [Of obscure dial. origin. There is nothing to connect this, as has been suggested, with fax , AS. feax , which means only the hair of the (human) head (see fax ), or with flax , AS. fleax , which does not mean either hair or fur.] 1. Down; fur; especially, the fur of a hare. With his loll'd tongue he faintly licks his prey; His warm breath blows her fliz up as she flies. Dryden. 2. Fluffine ; wavine , as of hair or fur. [Rare.] But she had her great gold hair, Hair, such a wonder of flix and flo , Freshne and fragrance floods of it, too! Browning , Gold Hair: a Legend of Pornic. flix2+ (fliks), n. [Early mod. E., flix , var. of flux , q. v.] A flux. And loo! a womman that suffride the fliz or rennyge of blood twelve yeer, cam to behynde. Wyclif , Mat. ix. 20. What with the burning fever, and the flize , Of sixtie men there scant returned sixe. Sir J. Haring ton , tr. of Ariosto, xxxiii. 13. flixweed (fliks'wēd), n. A species of cre , the Sisymbrium Sophia , formerly used in dysentery. See fluxweed .