skittern.1
/ˈskɪtə/, U.S. /ˈskɪdər/, Scottish English /ˈskɪtər/ Chiefly Scottish and dialect.
1. Diarrhoea; looseness or laxity of the bowels. Now frequently in plural. (Also colloquial.)
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the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > excretory disorders > [noun] > diarrhoea
diarrhoea1398
squirtc1460
hurl?a1513
gurry?1523
lasking1527
laxity1528
lax?1529
lask1542
skittera1585
looseness1586
scouring1597
laxativeness1610
laxness1634
squitter1664
lurry1689
thorough-go-nimble1694
wherry-go-nimble1766
the trots1808
cholerine1832
squit1841
choleriform1884
tummy1888
gippy tummy1915
shit1928
Rhea sisters1935
belly wuk1943
tomtit1944
run1946
Montezuma's revenge1955
Aztec hop1962
turista1970
a1585 Ld. Polwart Flyting with Montgomerie 244 To heale thee of thy skitter.
1939 J. Steinbeck Grapes of Wrath xxii. 431 They et green grapes. They all five got the howlin' skitters. Run out ever' ten minutes.
1940 M. Marples Public School Slang 159 Skitters, squitters, diarrhœa.
1948 E. Partridge et al. Dict. Forces' Slang 180 Squitters, skitters, a symptom of dysentery and other stomach troubles.
2. Thin excrement. Also in combinations.
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the world > life > the body > organs of excretion > excretions > faeces > [noun] > of specific type > thin
squirt1580
squittering1611
skitter1692
1692 ‘J. Curate’ Sc. Presbyterian Eloquence iii. 101 A Cake unturn'd, that is, it's stonehard on one side, and skitter-raw on the other.
1721 J. Kelly Compl. Coll. Scotish Prov. 16 A Spoonful of Skitter will spill [= spoil] a Potful of Skink.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
skittern.2
A light scampering or skipping movement or the sound caused by this.
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the world > movement > progressive motion > specific manner of progressive motion > [noun] > lightly along or near a surface
graze1692
sweep1820
skima1851
skiffing1866
skitter1905
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > repeated sound or succession of sounds > [noun] > sound of footsteps > scampering
brattlea1758
skitter1905
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > upward movement > leaping, springing, or jumping > [noun] > leaping lightly or skipping > a skip
scope13..
skipc1440
skitter1905
the world > movement > progressive motion > walking > [noun] > manner of walking > light
trip-and-go1532
trip1585
tripping1594
trippingness1827
patting1860
skitter1959
1905 Scribner's Mag. July 1 The slim shell trailed with dying headway to the skitter of the resting oars.
1959 ‘E. Allen’ Man who chose Death xiii. 130 A quick skitter of footsteps like mice in the rafters.
1961 S. Bunce No Sainted City xxiii. 170 A confusion of sounds. A skitter of light footfalls.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online June 2019).
skitterv.1
Scottish and dialect.
intransitive. To void thin excrement.
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the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > excretory disorders > have excretory disorder [verb (intransitive)] > diarrhoea
skittera1400
squirt1530
scutter1565
squatter1598
squitter1611
shoota1642
skit1805
run1849
a1400 Langtoft's Chron. (Rolls) 2 252 Skiterende Scottes, Telle i for sottes, And wrecches unwar.
a1585 A. Montgomerie Flyting with Polwart 499 It skittered and skarted; they skirled ilk ane.
1683 G. Meriton York-shire Dialogue in Pure Nat. Dial. 5 Thur Yowes are Clow-clagg'd, they skitter sayr.
Derivatives
ˈskittering n.1 and adj.1 (also in extended use).
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the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > excretory disorders > [adjective] > diarrhoea > voiding
skitteringa1400
squattering1598
a1400 [see main sense].
c1610 J. Melville Mem. Own Life (1683) 14 Seeing there was but a Skittering Lass between him and the Crown.
1682 A. Martindale in J. Houghton Coll. Lett. Improvem. Husb. No. 11 Some, when the strength of Marle is worn out by long Tillage, strengthen it with a new Supply, but then they ordinarily set it thin (which they call skittering).
1721 J. Kelly Compl. Coll. Scotish Prov. 20 A skittering Cow in the Loan would ay have many Marrows.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online June 2021).
skitterv.2
1.
a. intransitive. To move or run rapidly; to hurry about; to scamper off. Frequently with adverbs.
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the world > movement > rate of motion > swiftness > going swiftly on foot > go swiftly on foot [verb (intransitive)] > scurry or scamper
scuttlea1450
scuddle1577
curry1608
scamper1691
brattle1725
scurry1810
chevya1825
skitter1845
skelter1852
hurry and scurry1857
skeeter1964
1845 S. Judd Margaret i. xvii. 175 On they went, skittering, bowling, sluice-like, wave-like.
1875 Toxie, a Tale I. vi. 100 Neither did he and I skitter at sixty miles an hour.
1882 R. D. Blackmore Christowell lii Up on the first horse we could lay hold of, and skittered on the heels of the rest of them.
1903 R. Kipling in Windsor Mag. Sept. 363/2 She skittered about in the bracken, being a 'citable child.
1922 H. Quick Vandemark's Folly viii. 143 I remembered..how she had skithered back to the carriage.
1929 S. Leacock Iron Man v. 205 When we drive the ball..skithers off sideways.
1935 M. G. Eberhart Cases of Susan Dare 64 The monkey darted out from under the sofa and was suddenly skittering across the room again.
1946 C. McCullers Member of Wedding iii. 178 Frances watched the Portuguese who..played a mock piano on the counter to the music-box tune. He swayed as he played and his fingers skittered up and down the counter.
1949 B. Marshall To Every Man a Penny xlix. 151 The limousines, the taxicabs, the lorries and the buses roared round the church, skittering away to Neuilly, Auteuil and Montmartre.
1968 B. Hines Kestrel for Knave 57 The boys began to swallow their Adam's apples, their eyes skittering about in still heads.
1976 Church Times 26 Nov. (Bk. Suppl.) p. iv/2 He skittered through a fantastic mass of scientific evidence for the scarcely believable and downright unbelievable.
1977 Meanjin 36 i. 68 I skither down barefeet first.
1977 Listener 17 Feb. 215/3 Not only is the tenor-saxophonist playing his usualy devious game but..Basie is joining in... Both men skittering around the melody line in high good humour.
1977 New Yorker 24 Oct. 33/1 I found, skittering in nervous computer printout across the bottom of my bill, the words ‘Thank you very much for your prompt payment’.
b. To skip or skim along a surface, with occasional rapid contact. Also with other adverbs and adverbial phrases. Originally dialect.
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the world > movement > progressive motion > specific manner of progressive motion > move progressively in specific manner [verb (intransitive)] > lightly over a surface
skim1591
graze1632
skiff1725
mirla1838
skitter1847
the world > movement > progressive motion > specific manner of progressive motion > move or cause to move progressively in specific manner [verb (transitive)] > move lightly over or along
scum1513
shave1513
sweep1538
raze1555
grazea1616
frizzle1634
brush1647
brush1674
to brush (a thing) over1700
skim1796
skiff1807
scuff1818
skitter1885
swab1892
1847 J. O. Halliwell Dict. Archaic & Provinc. Words II. (at cited word) A countryman who was leading me up a steep hill, when we came to a place which was inaccessible, said ‘We had better skitter under here, and it won't be so steep.’ (Kent).
1885 T. Roosevelt Hunting Trips 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.
1904 Eng. Dial. Dict. V. 483/1 Leeak at mah scoperil, hoo it skithers across teeable.
1931 W. Faulkner Sanctuary xxv. 298 A second man flew out and skittered along the floor on his back.
1951 J. C. Fennessy Sonnet in Bottle ii. i. 40 The little whitish-silver flying fish skittering over the ship's bow wave.
1956 C. Evans Kanchenjunga xii. 121 Fragments of snow kept skittering down the slope and bombarding the tent.
1969 New Yorker 12 Apr. 127/1 The astronauts will start back to the LM—first tossing the universal handling tool..across the black mare, where it may skitter to rest inside a small crater.
1970 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 28 Sept. 21/7 His long blast was deflected by defenseman Jim McKenny's glove and skittered past a surprised Bruce Gamble in goal who was moving the opposite way to cover.
1978 M. Puzo Fools Die ii. 15 He was tired of the glittering red dice skittering across green felt.
2.
a. transitive. U.S. In angling, to draw (a spoon-bait or hook) with a jerking or skipping motion over the surface of the water. Also absol.
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the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > type or method of fishing > [verb (transitive)] > hook fish > draw hook over surface
skitter1883
1883 Cent. Mag. July 383/2 The angler, standing in the bow, ‘skitters’ or skips the spoon or bait over the surface just at the edge of the weeds.
1897 Outing 30 221 In skittering with a spoon, some of the fly-fisher's skill..comes into play.
b. In various senses, with reference to the impartation of a rapid or sliding motion (see quots.).
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1902 R. Kipling Just So Stories 61 Let's say things to the bunnies, and watch 'em skitter their tails!
1907 Harper's Mag. Feb. 460 The younger boy skittered rocks at a chicken-hawk.
1919 J. Masefield Reynard the Fox 112 The great hooves skittered The Blood Brook's shallows to sheets that glittered.
1968 A. Diment Bang Bang Birds ii. 22 She produced a 6 × 4 glossy..and skittered it across the desk to me.
1972 M. J. Bosse Incident at Naha i. 54 Edgar Gear blinked and skittered his hand through his hair.
Derivatives
ˈskittered adj.
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the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fishing-tackle > means of attracting fish > [adjective] > baited > type of bait
killing1681
skittereda1888
a1888 in Goode Amer. Fishes 37 When taken with a skittered minnow or bright fly on a light rod.
ˈskittering n.2 and adj.2
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the world > movement > rate of motion > swiftness > going swiftly on foot > [adjective] > scurrying or scampering
scampering1859
scurrying1862
skittering1883
scuttling1895
the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > type or method of fishing > [noun] > angling > using other methods
drabble1799
sinking and drawing1838
spinning1855
skittering1883
1883 Cent. Mag. July 383/2 Skittering..is practised with a strong line..to which is affixed a small trolling-spoon.
1893 ‘M. Gray’ Last Sentence ii. viii The skittering feet and minute shriek of mice.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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