skitter

verb

skit·​ter ˈski-tər 

skittered; skittering; skitters

intransitive verb

1

a

: to glide or skip lightly or quickly

b

: to move in or as in a jittery or jerky way

leaves skittering over the sidewalk

2

: to twitch the hook of a fishing line through or along the surface of water

transitive verb

: to cause to skitter

Examples of skitter in a Sentence

Dry leaves skittered over the sidewalk.

Mice skittered across the floor.

Recent Examples on the Web

Rain and Navarro rush in to save them, just in time to notice that a lot of skittering creatures are running, jumping, and trying to knock up their new visitors. —David Fear, Rolling Stone, 14 Aug. 2024

Soon, those facehuggers are skittering all over the dimly lit corridors, jumping on people's faces, and impregnating them with other little aliens eager to burst out of chests. —Jordan Hoffman, EW.com, 14 Aug. 2024

The own-goals will continue to skitter into the net as the media conglomerates scramble to bring their streaming losses under control. —Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 21 June 2024

The past year has been tough for the Bay Area, as thousands of layoffs skittered across the region. —Ryan MacAsero, The Mercury News, 11 June 2024

Word History

Etymology

probably frequentative of English dialect (Scots and northern) skite to move quickly, probably from Old Norse skyt-, stem of skjōta to shoot

First Known Use

1845, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1a

Kids Definition

skitter

verb

skit·​ter ˈskit-ər 

: to glide or skip lightly or quickly : skim along a surface