fluttering
noun
flut·ter·ing
ˈflə-tər-iŋ 
plural flutterings
: a quick wavering or flapping movement or sensation
felt a fluttering in his stomach
That's about as small as the perturbation of air produced by the fluttering of a butterfly's wings …—
Gary Taubes
Gary TaubesExamples of fluttering in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
There’s danger, there’s intimacy, there’s magic, there’s heart fluttering.
—Eric Vilas-Boas, Vulture, 10 Mar. 2024
When Francis reveals the depth of his devotion to Dale’s music, the saxophonist shakes the younger man’s hand with a fluttering of fingers that has the power of an embrace.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 15 Feb. 2024
The researchers found that females more frequently performed the fluttering, after which the male would usually enter the box first—regardless of which bird was first to arrive at the site.
—Will Sullivan, Smithsonian Magazine, 26 Mar. 2024
The Quickening is an apt title, calling to mind both the Great Acceleration (the dramatic surge since the mid-twentieth century in human impacts on earth systems) and the moment in pregnancy when a fetus’s fluttering can first be felt in the womb.
—Emily Raboteau, The New York Review of Books, 1 Nov. 2020
See all Example Sentences for fluttering 
Eric Vilas-Boas, Vulture, 10 Mar. 2024
When Francis reveals the depth of his devotion to Dale’s music, the saxophonist shakes the younger man’s hand with a fluttering of fingers that has the power of an embrace.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 15 Feb. 2024
The researchers found that females more frequently performed the fluttering, after which the male would usually enter the box first—regardless of which bird was first to arrive at the site.
—Will Sullivan, Smithsonian Magazine, 26 Mar. 2024
The Quickening is an apt title, calling to mind both the Great Acceleration (the dramatic surge since the mid-twentieth century in human impacts on earth systems) and the moment in pregnancy when a fetus’s fluttering can first be felt in the womb.
—Emily Raboteau, The New York Review of Books, 1 Nov. 2020
See all Example Sentences for fluttering
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'fluttering.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Fluttering.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fluttering. Accessed 27 Jul. 2024.
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