any of several American woodpeckers of the genus Colaptes, having the underside of the wings and tail brightly marked with yellow or red and noted for taking insects from the ground as well as trees.
Origin of flicker
2
An Americanism dating back to 1800–10; said to be imitative of the bird's note
Consider the rural town of Anson, Texas, where locals long believed that if you drove out to the crossroads nearest the local cemetery and flashed your headlights, a mysterious flicker would bounce back at you.
Why do we see ghosts?|Jake Bittle|October 6, 2020|Popular Science
A pivotal moment comes when Amir admits he felt more than a flicker of pride when fanatics attacked the Twin Towers.
Religion, Race, and a Broadway Hit: The Making of ‘Disgraced’|Tim Teeman|November 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Sunday saw a feast of NBA action with the Chicago Bulls toppling the Heat and a flicker of Linsanity down in Houston.
State Rep Pat Garofalo Says NBA Players Are Criminals|Robert Silverman|March 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The flicker of candles and flashlights could be seen through some apartment windows.
In Stuyvesant Town, Evidence of Hurricane Sandy’s Wrath|Matthew DeLuca|October 30, 2012|DAILY BEAST
And suddenly, he was a stranger, a man who looked at me blankly from his hospital bed, no flicker of recognition.
When My Husband Lost His Memory, I Had to Win His Love Anew|Joan Bolzan|December 8, 2011|DAILY BEAST
I was beginning to perspire; for the first time, I felt a flicker of anxiety.
The dark flush showed how quickly his haughty spirit responded to the flicker of the lash.
The Inner Shrine|Basil King
It was but a flicker of truth—dashed out the next second by a blow of indignant will.
Husks|Marion Harland
“Oh,” said Mrs. Flicker to her husband, as she swallowed the six hundred-and-forty-eighth Ant since sunrise.
Dooryard Stories|Clara Dillingham Pierson
All their united efforts would not succeed in causing the light of a candle to flicker.
Myths of the Rhine|X. B. Saintine
And you put her in charge of an invalid without a flicker of doubt: because you trust women.
Magic|G.K. Chesterton
British Dictionary definitions for flicker (1 of 2)
flicker1
/ (ˈflɪkə) /
verb
(intr)to shine with an unsteady or intermittent lighta candle flickers
(intr)to move quickly to and fro; quiver, flutter, or vibrate
(tr)to cause to flicker
noun
an unsteady or brief light or flame
a swift quivering or fluttering movement
a visual sensation, often seen in a television image, produced by periodic fluctuations in the brightness of light at a frequency below that covered by the persistence of vision
the flicker(plural) a US word for flick 2 (def. 2)
Derived forms of flicker
flickeringly, adverbflickery, adjective
Word Origin for flicker
Old English flicorian; related to Dutch flikkeren, Old Norse flökra to flutter
British Dictionary definitions for flicker (2 of 2)
flicker2
/ (ˈflɪkə) /
noun
any North American woodpecker of the genus Colaptes, esp C. auratus (yellow-shafted flicker), which has a yellow undersurface to the wings and tail