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

Arthropleura lived between 290 million and 346 million years ago, skittering around the Earth’s tropical equator alongside other massive arthropods like the two-foot-long scorpion Pulmonoscorpius. —Olatunji Osho-Williams, Smithsonian Magazine, 22 Oct. 2024

Any horror novel worth its salt should make the heart race and the spine tingle, as if a great, hairy spider was skittering along each vertebrae. —Jordan Kopy, People.com, 18 Oct. 2024

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

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