flurry
Appearance
See also: Flurry
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Perhaps an American English blend of flutter and hurry. Alternatively, perhaps from an obsolete term flurr (“scatter”).
Pronunciation
[edit]- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈflʌɹi/ (accents with the "Foot-strut" split)
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈflʊɹi/ (accents without the "Foot-strut" split)
- (US) IPA(key): /ˈflʌɹi/ (accents without the "Hurry-furry" merger)
Audio (New England): (file)
- (US) IPA(key): /ˈflɝ.i/ (accents with the "Hurry-furry" merger)
Audio (California): (file)
- (General Australian) IPA(key): /ˈflaɹi/
- Rhymes: -ʌɹi
Noun
[edit]flurry (plural flurries)
- A light, brief snowfall.
- A sudden and brief blast or gust; a light, temporary breeze.
- a flurry of wind
- 1945 May and June, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, page 152:
- When the right-away was given, Driver Gibson would give a sonorous blast on Cardean's deep-toned hooter, and amid a flurry of swirling steam the train would move majestically out, with nearly half the city of Carlisle—or so it would appear—as onlookers on the platform.
- A shower of dust, leaves etc. brought on by a sudden gust of wind.
- (figurative) Any sudden activity; a stir.
- 1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:
- "I missed the beast in my flurry, but he dropped you all right and was off like a streak."
- 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 10, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
- With a little manœuvring they contrived to meet on the doorstep which was […] in a boiling stream of passers-by, hurrying business people speeding past in a flurry of fumes and dust in the bright haze.
- 1998, Gillian Catriona Ramchand, Deconstructing the Lexicon, in Miriam Butt and Wilhelm Geuder, eds. “The Projection of Arguments”
- These [argument structure] modifications are important because they have provoked a flurry of investigation into argument structure operations of merger, demotion etc.
- 1998, Jonathan Langley, Collins Bedtime Treasury of Nursery Rhymes and Tales, Pigs to Market, page 53:
- Higglety, pigglety, pop!
The dog has eaten the mop;
The pig's in a hurry,
The cat's in a flurry,
Higglety, pigglety, pop!
- 2011 January 8, Chris Bevan, “Arsenal 1 - 1 Leeds”, in BBC[1]:
- The Championship highflyers almost got their reward for a resilient performance on their first visit to the Emirates, surviving a flurry of first-half Arsenal chances before hitting back with a classic sucker punch.
- The day before the wedding was a flurry of preparations.
- A snack consisting of soft ice cream mixed with small pieces of fruit, cookie crumbs, etc.
- 1988 October, K. Wayne Wride, “Fruit Treats”, in Vegetarian Times, number 134, page 27:
- Does your "Forbidden Foods" list include banana splits, ice cream sundaes, slurpies, popsicles, frozen yogurts, milk shakes, and ice cream flurries? These foods taste great but have a reputation for being bad for your health.
- 2002, Tampa Bay Magazine (volume 17, number 3, May-June 2002, page 235)
- They will make your tongue smile with their homemade ice cream, which was voted "Best Taste in the USA Today." Enjoy exciting toppings to personalize your treat or a yummy sundae, flurry, smoothie, banana split or shake...
- The violent spasms of a dying whale.
- 1851, Herman Melville, chapter 84, in Moby Dick, Pitchpoling:
- Again and again to such gamesome talk, the dexterous dart is repeated, the spear returning to its master like a greyhound held in skilful leash. The agonized whale goes into his flurry; the tow-line is slackened, and the pitchpoler dropping astern, folds his hands, and mutely watches the monster die.
- An occurrence of something (countable instances) in large numbers, happening suddenly or in a short period of time.
Translations
[edit]brief snowfall
|
sudden and brief blast or gust; a light, temporary breeze
shower of dust, leaves, …
sudden activity
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Verb
[edit]flurry (third-person singular simple present flurries, present participle flurrying, simple past and past participle flurried)
- (transitive) To agitate, bewilder, fluster.
- 1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 1, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC:
- And so venturing not to say another word, poor Jemima trotted off, exceedingly flurried and nervous.
- 1897, Henry James, What Maisie Knew:
- She was flurried by the term with which he had qualified her gentle friend, but she took the occasion for one to which she must in every manner lend herself.
- (intransitive) To move or fall in a flurry.
Derived terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]agitate
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move in a flurry
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Categories:
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/ʌɹi
- Rhymes:English/ʌɹi/2 syllables
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English intransitive verbs
- en:Death
- en:Snacks
- en:Snow
- en:Wind