Flippantly Flip"pant·ly adverb In a flippant manner.

Flippantness Flip"pant·ness noun State or quality of being flippant.

Flipper Flip"per noun [ Confer Flip , Flippant .] 1. (Zoology) A broad flat limb used for swimming, as those of seals, sea turtles, whales, etc.

2. (Nautical) The hand. [ Slang]

Flirt Flirt transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Flirted ; present participle & verbal noun Flirting .] [ Confer Anglo-Saxon fleard trifle, folly, fleardian to trifle.] 1. To throw with a jerk or quick effort; to fling suddenly; as, they flirt water in each other's faces; he flirted a glove, or a handkerchief.

2. To toss or throw about; to move playfully to and fro; as, to flirt a fan.

3. To jeer at; to treat with contempt; to mock. [ Obsolete]

I am ashamed; I am scorned; I am flirted .

Beau. & Fl.

Flirt Flirt intransitive verb 1. To run and dart about; to act with giddiness, or from a desire to attract notice; especially, to play the coquette; to play at courtship; to coquet; as, they flirt with the young men.

2. To utter contemptuous language, with an air of disdain; to jeer or gibe. [ Obsolete] Beau. & Fl.

Flirt Flirt noun 1. A sudden jerk; a quick throw or cast; a darting motion; hence, a jeer.

Several little flirts and vibrations.

Addison.

With many a flirt and flutter.

E. A. Poe.

2. [ Confer LG. flirtje , German flirtchen . See Flirt , transitive verb ] One who flirts; esp., a woman who acts with giddiness, or plays at courtship; a coquette; a pert girl.

Several young flirts about town had a design to cast us out of the fashionable world.

Addison.

Flirt Flirt adjective Pert; wanton. [ Obsolete]

Flirt-gill Flirt"-gill` noun A woman of light behavior; a gill-flirt. [ Obsolete] Shak.

You heard him take me up like a flirt- gill .

Beau. & Fl.

Flirtation Flir·ta"tion noun 1. Playing at courtship; coquetry.

The flirtations and jealousies of our ball rooms.

Macaulay.

Flirtigig Flirt"i·gig noun A wanton, pert girl. [ Obsolete]

Flirtingly Flirt"ing·ly adverb In a flirting manner.

Flisk Flisk intransitive verb To frisk; to skip; to caper. [ Obsolete Scot.] "The flisking flies." Gosson.

Flisk Flisk noun A caper; a spring; a whim. [ Scot.]

Flit Flit intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Flitted ; present participle & verbal noun Flitting .] [ Middle English flitten , flutten , to carry away; confer Icelandic flytja , Swedish flytta , Danish flytte . √84. Confer Fleet , intransitive verb ] 1. To move with celerity through the air; to fly away with a rapid motion; to dart along; to fleet; as, a bird flits away; a cloud flits along.

A shadow flits before me.

Tennyson.

2. To flutter; to rove on the wing. Dryden.

3. To pass rapidly, as a light substance, from one place to another; to remove; to migrate.

It became a received opinion, that the souls of men, departing this life, did flit out of one body into some other.

Hooker.

4. To remove from one place or habitation to another. [ Scot. & Prov. Eng.] Wright. Jamieson.

5. To be unstable; to be easily or often moved.

And the free soul to flitting air resigned.

Dryden.

Flit Flit adjective Nimble; quick; swift. [ Obsolete] See Fleet .

Flitch Flitch noun ; plural Flitches . [ Middle English flicche , flikke , Anglo-Saxon flicce , akin to Icelandic flikki ; confer Icelandic flīk flap, tatter; perhaps akin to English fleck . Confer Flick , noun ] 1. The side of a hog salted and cured; a side of bacon. Swift.

2. One of several planks, smaller timbers, or iron plates, which are secured together, side by side, to make a large girder or built beam.

3. The outside piece of a sawed log; a slab. [ Eng.]

Flitch Flitch transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Flitched ; present participle & verbal noun Flitching .] [ See Flitch , noun ] To cut into, or off in, flitches or strips; as, to flitch logs; to flitch bacon.

Flite Flite intransitive verb [ Anglo-Saxon flītan to strive, contend, quarrel; akin to German fleiss industry.] To scold; to quarrel. [ Prov. Eng.] Grose.

Flite, Flyte Flite, Flyte noun [ Anglo-Saxon flīt . See Flite .] Strife; dispute; abusive or upbraiding talk, as in fliting; wrangling. [ Obsolete or Scot. & Prov. Eng.]

The bird of Pallas has also a good " flyte " on the moral side . . . in his suggestion that the principal effect of the nightingale's song is to make women false to their husbands.

Saintsbury.

Flitter Flit"ter intransitive verb To flutter. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Flitter Flit"ter transitive verb To flutter; to move quickly; as, to flitter the cards. [ R.] Lowell.

Flitter Flit"ter noun [ Confer German flitter spangle, tinsel, flittern to make a tremulous motion, to glitter. Confer Flitter , intransitive verb ] A rag; a tatter; a small piece or fragment.

Flittermouse Flit"ter·mouse` noun [ Flitter , v.i. + mouse ; confer German fledermaus , Old High German fledarmūs . Confer Flickermouse , Flindermouse .] (Zoology) A bat; -- called also flickermouse , flindermouse , and flintymouse .

Flittern Flit"tern adjective A term applied to the bark obtained from young oak trees. McElrath.

Flittiness Flit"ti·ness noun [ From Flitty .] Unsteadiness; levity; lightness. [ Obsolete] Bp. Hopkins.

Flitting Flit"ting noun 1. A flying with lightness and celerity; a fluttering.

2. A removal from one habitation to another. [ Scot. & Prov. Eng.]

A neighbor had lent his cart for the flitting , and it was now standing loaded at the door, ready to move away.

Jeffrey.

Flitting, Flytting Flitt"ing, Flytt"ing noun Contention; strife; scolding; specif., a kind of metrical contest between two persons, popular in Scotland in the 16th century. [ Obsolete or Scot.]

These " flytings " consisted of alternate torrents of sheer Billingsgate poured upon each other by the combatants.

Saintsbury.

Flittingly Flit"ting·ly adverb In a flitting manner.

Flitty Flit"ty adjective [ From Flit .] Unstable; fluttering. [ Obsolete] Dr. H. More.

Flix Flix noun [ Confer Flax .] Down; fur. [ Obsolete or Eng.] J. Dyer.

Flix Flix noun The flux; dysentery. [ Obsolete] Udall.

Flix weed (Botany) , the Sisymbrium Sophia , a kind of hedge mustard, formerly used as a remedy for dysentery.

Flo Flo (flō) noun ; plural Flon (flōn). [ Anglo-Saxon flā , flān .] An arrow. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Float Float (flōt) noun [ Middle English flote ship, boat, fleet, Anglo-Saxon flota ship, from fleótan to float; akin to Dutch vloot fleet, German floss raft, Icelandic floti float, raft, fleet, Swedish flotta . √ 84. See Fleet , intransitive verb , and confer Flotilla , Flotsam , Plover .] 1. Anything which floats or rests on the surface of a fluid, as to sustain weight, or to indicate the height of the surface, or mark the place of, something. Specifically: (a) A mass of timber or boards fastened together, and conveyed down a stream by the current; a raft. (b) The hollow, metallic ball of a self-acting faucet, which floats upon the water in a cistern or boiler. (c) The cork or quill used in angling, to support the bait line, and indicate the bite of a fish. (d) Anything used to buoy up whatever is liable to sink; an inflated bag or pillow used by persons learning to swim; a life preserver.

This reform bill . . . had been used as a float by the conservative ministry.

J. P. Peters.

2. A float board. See Float board (below).

3. (Tempering) A contrivance for affording a copious stream of water to the heated surface of an object of large bulk, as an anvil or die. Knight.

4. The act of flowing; flux; flow. [ Obsolete] Bacon.

5. A quantity of earth, eighteen feet square and one foot deep. [ Obsolete] Mortimer.

6. (Plastering) The trowel or tool with which the floated coat of plastering is leveled and smoothed.

7. A polishing block used in marble working; a runner. Knight.

8. A single-cut file for smoothing; a tool used by shoemakers for rasping off pegs inside a shoe.

9. A coal cart. [ Eng.] Simmonds.

10. The sea; a wave. See Flote , noun

Float board , one of the boards fixed radially to the rim of an undershot water wheel or of a steamer's paddle wheel; -- a vane. -- Float case (Nautical) , a caisson used for lifting a ship. -- Float copper or gold (Mining) , fine particles of metallic copper or of gold suspended in water, and thus liable to be lost. -- Float ore , water-worn particles of ore; fragments of vein material found on the surface, away from the vein outcrop. Raymond. -- Float stone (Architecture) , a siliceous stone used to rub stonework or brickwork to a smooth surface. -- Float valve , a valve or cock acted upon by a float. See Float , 1 (b) .

Float Float intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Floated ; present participle & verbal noun Floating .] [ Middle English flotien , flotten , Anglo-Saxon flotian to float, swim, from fleótan . See Float , noun ] 1. To rest on the surface of any fluid; to swim; to be buoyed up.

The ark no more now floats , but seems on ground.

Milton.

Three blustering nights, borne by the southern blast,
I floated .

Dryden.

2. To move quietly or gently on the water, as a raft; to drift along; to move or glide without effort or impulse on the surface of a fluid, or through the air.

They stretch their broad plumes and float upon the wind.

Pope.

There seems a floating whisper on the hills.

Byron.

Float Float transitive verb 1. To cause to float; to cause to rest or move on the surface of a fluid; as, the tide floated the ship into the harbor.

Had floated that bell on the Inchcape rock.

Southey.

2. To flood; to overflow; to cover with water.

Proud Pactolus floats the fruitful lands.

Dryden.

3. (Plastering) To pass over and level the surface of with a float while the plastering is kept wet.

4. To support and sustain the credit of, as a commercial scheme or a joint-stock company, so as to enable it to go into, or continue in, operation.

Floatable Float"a·ble adjective That may be floated.

Floatage Float"age noun Same as Flotage .

Floatation Float·a"tion noun See Flotation .

Floater Float"er noun 1. One who floats or swims.

2. A float for indicating the height of a liquid surface.

Floater Float"er (Politics) (a) A voter who shifts from party to party, esp. one whose vote is purchasable. [ U. S.] (b) A person, as a delegate to a convention or a member of a legislature, who represents an irregular constituency, as one formed by a union of the voters of two counties neither of which has a number sufficient to be allowed a (or an extra) representative of its own. [ U. S.] (c) A person who votes illegally in various polling places or election districts, either under false registration made by himself or under the name of some properly registered person who has not already voted. [ U. S.]

Floating Float"ing adjective 1. Buoyed upon or in a fluid; a, the floating timbers of a wreck; floating motes in the air.

2. Free or lose from the usual attachment; as, the floating ribs in man and some other animals.

3. Not funded; not fixed, invested, or determined; as, floating capital; a floating debt.

Trade was at an end. Floating capital had been withdrawn in great masses from the island.

Macaulay.

Floating anchor (Nautical) , a drag or sea anchor; drag sail. -- Floating battery (Mil.) , a battery erected on rafts or the hulls of ships, chiefly for the defense of a coast or the bombardment of a place. -- Floating bridge . (a) A bridge consisting of rafts or timber, with a floor of plank, supported wholly by the water; a bateau bridge. See Bateau . (b) (Mil.) A kind of double bridge, the upper one projecting beyond the lower one, and capable of being moved forward by pulleys; -- used for carrying troops over narrow moats in attacking the outworks of a fort. (c) A kind of ferryboat which is guided and impelled by means of chains which are anchored on each side of a stream, and pass over wheels on the vessel, the wheels being driven by stream power. (d) The landing platform of a ferry dock. -- Floating cartilage (Medicine) , a cartilage which moves freely in the cavity of a joint, and often interferes with the functions of the latter. -- Floating dam . (a) An anchored dam. (b) A caisson used as a gate for a dry dock. -- Floating derrick , a derrick on a float for river and harbor use, in raising vessels, moving stone for harbor improvements, etc. -- Floating dock . (Nautical) See under Dock . -- Floating harbor , a breakwater of cages or booms, anchored and fastened together, and used as a protection to ships riding at anchor to leeward. Knight. -- Floating heart (Botany) , a small aquatic plant ( Limnanthemum lacunosum ) whose heart-shaped leaves float on the water of American ponds. -- Floating island , a dish for dessert, consisting of custard with floating masses of whipped cream or white of eggs. -- Floating kidney . (Medicine) See Wandering kidney , under Wandering . -- Floating light , a light shown at the masthead of a vessel moored over sunken rocks, shoals, etc., to warn mariners of danger; a light-ship; also, a light erected on a buoy or floating stage. -- Floating liver . (Medicine) See Wandering liver , under Wandering . -- Floating pier , a landing stage or pier which rises and falls with the tide. -- Floating ribs (Anat.) , the lower or posterior ribs which are not connected with the others in front; in man they are the last two pairs. -- Floating screed (Plastering) , a strip of plastering first laid on, to serve as a guide for the thickness of the coat. -- Floating threads (Weaving) , threads which span several other threads without being interwoven with them, in a woven fabric.

Floating Float"ing noun 1. (Weaving) Floating threads. See Floating threads , above.

2. The second coat of three-coat plastering. Knight.

Floating Float"ing noun The process of rendering oysters and scallops plump by placing them in fresh or brackish water; -- called also fattening , plumping , and laying out .

Floating charge, lien Floating charge, lien etc. (Law) A charge, lien, etc., that successively attaches to such assets as a person may have from time to time, leaving him more or less free to dispose of or encumber them as if no such charge or lien existed.

Floatingly Float"ing·ly adverb In a floating manner.

Floaty Float"y adjective Swimming on the surface; buoyant; light. Sir W. Raleigh.

Flobert Flo"bert noun (Gun.) A small cartridge designed for target shooting; -- sometimes called ball cap .

Flobert rifle , a rifle adapted to the use of floberts.

Floccillation Floc`cil·la"tion noun [ Latin floccus a flock of wool. Confer Flock of wool.] (Medicine) A delirious picking of bedclothes by a sick person, as if to pick off flocks of wool; carphology; -- an alarming symptom in acute diseases. Dunglison.

Floccose Floc·cose" adjective [ Latin floccosus . Confer 2d Flock , noun ] 1. Spotted with small tufts like wool. Wright.

2. (Botany) Having tufts of soft hairs, which are often deciduous.

Floccular Floc"cu·lar adjective (Anat.) Of or pertaining to the flocculus.

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