aflutteradj.adv.
/əˈflʌtə/, U.S. /əˈflədər/ A. adj.
In predicative use: fluttering; tremulously excited, agitated.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > progressive motion > moving with current of air or water > motion in the air > [adjective] > fluttering
fluskering1660
fluttering1762
aflutter1826
1826 G. R. Gleig Country Curate in Blackwood's Mag. Feb. 145/2 All the unmarried women were a-flutter when I came among them.
1855 R. Browning De Gustibus i, in Men & Women II. 147 A cornfield-side a-flutter with poppies.
1896 H. M. Foot Cutting Capers 43 We passed the covert of the wood, The leaves aflutter on the trees.
1921 I. Gershwin We're Off to India in Compl. Lyrics (1993) 18/2 And with our hearts a-flutter, We'll invade Calcutta, And with greetings we will bomb Bombay.
1960 J. Barth Sot-weed Factor ii. i. 122 We're all of us a-flutter to read you, yet search as I may I can't find a poem of yours in print.
2010 S. R. Lawhead Skin Map viii. 90 They were all at once confronted by the majestic city walls and a view of the imposing brown stone castle, flags aflutter in the breeze.
B. adv.
In or into a flutter; so as to flutter or become agitated.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > irregular movement or agitation > [adverb] > fluttering or flickering
aflutter1886
the mind > emotion > excitement > nervous excitement > [adverb] > in state of nervous excitement
out1598
in a tweak1699
(all) in, all of a tremble1769
on or upon the tremble1800
on the tittup (also on tittups)1873
aflutter1886
1886 Amer. Tailor Dec. 101/1 Soon the chimes will ring..which break upon the slumbers of the wife, and set her heart aflutter with the thought that she may get something most desired.
1911 C. D. Snedeker Coward of Thermopylæ xxvii. 359 Near it was Apollo's hearth, where leaped his eternal fire,..setting the eagle-wings aflutter as with life.
1960 A. Colquhoun tr. G. di Lampedusa Leopard iv. 163 After this Angelica..murmured into his ear, ‘Uncle Mine!’; a highly successful line,..which, explicit and secret as it was, set the Prince's simple heart aflutter and yoked him to the lovely girl for ever.
2007 J. Zdenek Heart of Courage xv. 229 His outburst halted when the mages around him jumped to their feet and turned to the door, papers sent aflutter.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2012; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adj.adv.1826