atwitteradj.adv.
/əˈtwɪtə/, U.S. /əˈtwɪdər/ A. adj. In predicative use only.
1. Characterized by the twittering of birds; that twitters or chirrups.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > by noises > voice or sound made by animal > [adverb] > with chirping
atwitter1831
1831 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Feb. 318/2 Bush, tree, and tower are again all a-twitter with the survivors of some gentler clime!
1884 T. Woolner Silenus i. i. 12 Birds atwitter by the shallow pools Curtseyed and sipped.
1938 Montana Standard 30 Aug. 4/2 On the cool flanks of Montana's forested mountains, the birds are all atwitter.
2015 Sun Herald (Sydney) (Nexis) 17 May 12 Eikan-do is the most beguiling temple, with its wooden verandas, grey-clad monks and lovely maple trees atwitter with birds.
2. figurative. In a state of nervous excitement or agitation; in a twitter; aflutter. Frequently with with.
ΚΠ
1878 Frank Leslie's Lady's Mag. Jan. 47/1 The girls all a-twitter with the blissful excitement and the half-painful delight of that first wedding.
1909 R. D. Paine College Years 88 Hector's nerves were indeed atwitter.
1973 Daily Mail 17 Jan. 2/6 Washington cocktail parties are atwitter this week with the tale of the Howar Papers.
2008 Esquire Sept. 175/1 My Republican friend was all atwitter about the prospect of seeing combat in Iraq.
B. adv.
Into a state of nervous excitement or agitation.
ΚΠ
1906 St. Nicholas July 816/1 Sue had heard rumors of forbidden feasts, of fudge-making and chafing-dish messes that had set her all-a-twitter to display her skill.
1949 Long Beach (Calif.) Press-Tel. 25 July 8/2 All Britain was set atwitter recently by the resignation of Lord Milverton from the Labor party.
1970 Arlington Heights (Illinois) Herald 28 Sept. i. 8/2 Many hearts went atwitter last week when the Herald Day told..that residents..would receive higher monthly bills.
1997 Daily News (N.Y.) (Nexis) 16 Feb. 8 The concerns of his boss..were based ‘not solely on the prurient cases that send everybody atwitter’.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2019; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
<
adj.adv.1831