as in to scurry
to move quickly and lightly along a surface
Dry leaves skittered over the sidewalk. Mice skittered across the floor.
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Recent Examples of skitter
And the indium atoms that do get in tend to skitter around on the surface, finally clumping together in a way that hampers light emission.
—
IEEE Spectrum, 26 Feb. 2010
There’s nothing animatronic about the crabs skittering in the turquoise surf on the southeastern tip of Eleuthera in the Bahamas.
—Mark Gauert, Sun Sentinel, 20 Jan. 2025
In an early scene, he is set upon by a shrieking, skittering swarm of creepers—imagine giant, whitish pill bugs with huge mandibles—and expects to be devoured (and resurrected) within seconds.
—Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 28 Feb. 2025
For a new study in the Journal of Experimental Biology, Weiss and her co-authors recorded skittering cricket frogs from above and below the surface at 500 frames per second and then played the videos back much more slowly.
—Rohini Subrahmanyam, Scientific American, 30 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for skitter
IEEE Spectrum, 26 Feb. 2010
There’s nothing animatronic about the crabs skittering in the turquoise surf on the southeastern tip of Eleuthera in the Bahamas.
—Mark Gauert, Sun Sentinel, 20 Jan. 2025
In an early scene, he is set upon by a shrieking, skittering swarm of creepers—imagine giant, whitish pill bugs with huge mandibles—and expects to be devoured (and resurrected) within seconds.
—Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 28 Feb. 2025
For a new study in the Journal of Experimental Biology, Weiss and her co-authors recorded skittering cricket frogs from above and below the surface at 500 frames per second and then played the videos back much more slowly.
—Rohini Subrahmanyam, Scientific American, 30 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for skitter
Recent Examples of Synonyms for skitter
Verb
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Three live roaches scurried in front counter cabinets with single service items are stored.—
David J. Neal
August 1,
Miami Herald,
1 Aug. 2025
-
For more than 70 years, thousands of common wall lizards, known as Lazarus lizards, have scurried across sidewalks and lurked in gardens in Cincinnati.—
Kaycee Sloan,
The Enquirer,
2 July 2025
Verb
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For millennia, these fish darted in droves through the delta’s murky water and effectively supported the watershed’s entire food web.—
Moira Donovan,
Smithsonian Magazine,
21 July 2025
-
The muscles around his eyes darted inward, and a frown overtook his face.—
Liz O'Connell,
MSNBC Newsweek,
14 July 2025
Verb
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Alcaraz hit a deep defensive shot and recovered quickly, dancing across the court with fleet little steps, and ran around his backhand to hit a forehand down the line.—
Louisa Thomas,
New Yorker,
14 July 2025
-
The reality star continued to post wedding highlights, including videos of himself and Blanco dancing together at their reception.—
Escher Walcott,
People.com,
14 July 2025
Verb
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The aim is to get him regular minutes rather than flit in and out of the team.—
David Ornstein,
New York Times,
22 July 2025
-
Conspiracy and misinformation flit around Eddington like horse flies.—
Madison Bloom,
Pitchfork,
17 July 2025
Verb
-
Their small pink petals flutter every time there’s a breeze.—
Stephanie Lam,
Mercury News,
2 July 2025
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The homeowner's Stars and Stripes, which was fluttering on the flagpole beside the entrance, was tangled.—
Ronnie Li,
USA Today,
5 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Skitter.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/skitter. Accessed 5 Aug. 2025.
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