as in darting
to make an irregular series of quick, sudden movements
the horse's tail flicked in restless irritation
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of flicking
Freddie Freeman won an eight-pitch tussle with Gausman by flicking a two-out double into the right-field corner.
—
Andy McCullough, New York Times, 26 Oct. 2025
While a wagging dog’s tail might indicate excitement or friendliness, a flicking cat’s tail can signal irritation.
—Lucy Notarantonio, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 Oct. 2025
Only the paintings bore witness to her intense, solitary writing sessions, conducted in the studio by night, Stein flicking the pages of her notebooks with hardly a pause, until dawn birdsong disturbed her concentration.
—Francesca Wade, Air Mail, 4 Oct. 2025
For the Taliban, the episode possibly carries the lesson that attempting to turn back time on a population that’s grown up with the internet is much harder than just flicking a switch.
—Hilary Whiteman, CNN Money, 3 Oct. 2025
Any dairy farmer can tell you that biting flies are a pestilent scourge for cattle herds, which is why one so often sees cows throwing their heads, stamping their feet, flicking their tails, and twitching their skin—desperately trying to shake off the nasty creatures.
—ArsTechnica, 18 Sep. 2025
Andy McCullough, New York Times, 26 Oct. 2025
While a wagging dog’s tail might indicate excitement or friendliness, a flicking cat’s tail can signal irritation.
—Lucy Notarantonio, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 Oct. 2025
Only the paintings bore witness to her intense, solitary writing sessions, conducted in the studio by night, Stein flicking the pages of her notebooks with hardly a pause, until dawn birdsong disturbed her concentration.
—Francesca Wade, Air Mail, 4 Oct. 2025
For the Taliban, the episode possibly carries the lesson that attempting to turn back time on a population that’s grown up with the internet is much harder than just flicking a switch.
—Hilary Whiteman, CNN Money, 3 Oct. 2025
Any dairy farmer can tell you that biting flies are a pestilent scourge for cattle herds, which is why one so often sees cows throwing their heads, stamping their feet, flicking their tails, and twitching their skin—desperately trying to shake off the nasty creatures.
—ArsTechnica, 18 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for flicking
Verb
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But such is the lightning pace of Mbappe that he might be best placed dropping deeper during build-up before darting in-behind.—
Anantaajith Raghuraman,
New York Times,
25 Oct. 2025
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The pursuit lasted about 13 minutes over 4 miles, with the driver weaving through lanes, darting in and out of oncoming traffic, and reaching nearly 100 mph, according to police.—
Noe Padilla,
IndyStar,
24 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Pulse is a ghost story, featuring two interwoven storylines about young Tokyoites who begin to see and hear strange apparitions flitting across their computer screens.—
Katie Rife,
Entertainment Weekly,
29 Oct. 2025
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The spaces are smaller, with lower benches, and the older players, flitting between dressing rooms for U14s and U12s, have had to take their belongings home each day rather than leave them in lockers due to the carousel of teams moving in and out.—
Laurie Whitwell,
New York Times,
7 Oct. 2025
Verb
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No one enjoys finding moths fluttering around the flour or tiny caterpillars crawling in the cereal.—
Lauren Wicks,
Southern Living,
28 Oct. 2025
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The Bolas spider creates a silk lasso to catch fluttering moths.—
Kate Siber,
Outside,
21 Oct. 2025
Verb
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There will be live entertainment and, we are assured, even dancing, if the spicy margaritas hit just right.—
Connie Ogle,
Miami Herald,
31 Oct. 2025
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Hemsworth gets one big monologue, describing a nightmare in which Ciri is happily dancing with Death, and does a fine job with it.—
Scott Meslow,
Vulture,
30 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Flicking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/flicking. Accessed 5 Nov. 2025.
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