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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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of skitter
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
Inch-long cricket frogs also seem to skitter over the surface of water with physics-defying grace.
—Rohini Subrahmanyam, Scientific American, 30 Jan. 2025
The slow-rolling single with skittering drum machine beats mashed against both mens’ drawling vocals is of a piece with Jelly’s frequent lyrical focus on mental health and his battles with substance use.
—Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 24 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for skitter
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
Inch-long cricket frogs also seem to skitter over the surface of water with physics-defying grace.
—Rohini Subrahmanyam, Scientific American, 30 Jan. 2025
The slow-rolling single with skittering drum machine beats mashed against both mens’ drawling vocals is of a piece with Jelly’s frequent lyrical focus on mental health and his battles with substance use.
—Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 24 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for skitter
Recent Examples of Synonyms for skitter
Verb
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Along the Murrumbidgee River near Canberra, Australia, lizards were scurrying under the rocks looking for lunch.—
Cecilia Rodriguez,
Forbes.com,
10 June 2025
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As the players waited to take the ice at their former Miami Arena home, a rat scurried among them until star Scott Mellanby sent it flying with a fatal slap shot.—
Kari Barnett,
Sun Sentinel,
3 June 2025
Verb
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The suspicious man turned around and ran around the plane before darting to an exit door on the opposite side of the aircraft.—
Greg Wehner,
FOXNews.com,
31 May 2025
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Eventually, Valerie started showing up, grabbing food before darting back out again.—
Kat Lonsdorf,
NPR,
30 May 2025
Verb
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As the track blasted, Parker occasionally clapped along and danced in place.—
David Browne,
Rolling Stone,
9 June 2025
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Our man is an accountant skipping out on a day of work who winds up in a busy square and, inexplicably, begins to dance to the beat of a drumming busker.—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
6 June 2025
Verb
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Meanwhile, Van and Tai have abandoned both of their jobs and are sort of just flitting through life.—
Erin Qualey,
Vulture,
7 Mar. 2025
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Those skills apparently translate fairly easily into urban environments, where Cooper’s hawks flit amid trees and concrete landscapes, stalking city pigeons and doves.—
Katherine J. Wu,
The Atlantic,
23 May 2025
Verb
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On a 13-foot-tall wall almost 40 feet across, a kaleidoscope of metal butterflies are now in flight, fluttering around a centerpiece painting on aluminum metal.—
Karen Billing,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
3 June 2025
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On an interior mural, a lac bird flutters its wings.—
Jenna Thompson,
Kansas City Star,
23 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Skitter.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/skitter. Accessed 18 Jun. 2025.
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