Emily Dickinson Lexicon

FLEX'ING, ppr.

Bending.

FLEX'ION, n. [L. flexio.]

1. The act of bending.
2. A bending; a part bent; a fold. Bacon.
3. A turn; a cast; as, a flexion of the eye. [See Inflection.] Bacon.

FLEX'OR, n.

In anatomy, a muscle whose office is to bend the part to which it belongs, in opposition to the extensors.

FLEX'U-OUS, a. [L. flexuosus.]

1. Winding; having turns or windings; as, a flexuous rivulet.
2. Bending; winding; wavering; not steady; as, a flexuous flame. Bacon.
3. In botany, bending or bent; changing its direction in a curve, from joint to joint; from bed to bud, or from flower to flower. Martyn.

FLEX'URE, n. [L. flexura.]

1. A winding or bending; the form of bending; as, the flexure of a joint.
2. The act of bending. Shak.
3. The part bent; a joint. Sandys.
4. The bending of the body; obsequious or servile cringe. Shak.

FLICK'ER, v.i. [Sax. fliccerian; Scot. flecker, to quiver; D. flikkeren, to twinkle; probably a diminutive from the root of fly.]

1. To flutter; to flap the wings without flying; to strike rapidly with the wings. And flickering on her nest made short essays to sing. Dryden.
2. To fluctuate. Burton.

FLICK'ER-ING, n.

A fluttering; short irregular movements.

FLICK'ER-ING, ppr.

1. Fluttering; flapping the wings without flight.
2. adj. With amorous motions of the eye. The fair Lavinia – looks a little flickering after Turnus. Dryden.

FLICK'ER-ING-LY, adv.

In a flickering manner.

FLICK'ER-MOUSE, n.

The bat. B. Jonson.

FLI'ER, n. [See Fly. It ought to be flyer.]

1. One that flies or flees.
2. A runaway; a fugitive. Shak.
3. A part of a machine which, by moving rapidly, equalize and regulates the motion of the whole; as, the flier of a jack.

FLIGHT, n. [flīte; Sax. fliht; G. flug, flucht; D. vlugt; Dan. flugt; Sw. flycht. See Fly.]

1. The act of fleeing; the act of running away, to escape danger or expected evil; hasty departure. Pray ye that your flight be not in winter. Matth. xxiv. To put to flight, to turn to flight, is to compel to run away, to force to escape.
2. The act of flying; a passing through the air by the help of wings; volation; as, the flight of birds and insects.
3. The manner of flying. Every fowl has its particular flight; the flight of the eagle is high; the flight of the swallow is rapid, with sudden turns.
4. Removal from place to place by flying.
5. A flock of birds flying in company; as, a flight of pigeons or wild geese.
6. A number of beings flying or moving through the air together; as, a flight of angels. Milton.
7. A number of things passing through the air together; a volley; as, a flight of arrows.
8. A periodical flying of birds in flocks; as, the spring flight or autumnal flight of ducks or pigeons.
9. In England, the birds produced in the same season.
10. The space passed by flying.
11. A mounting; a soaring; lofty elevation and excursion; as, a flight of imagination or fancy; a flight of ambition.
12. Excursion; wandering; extravagant sally; as, a flight of folly. Tillotson
13. The power of flying. Shak.
14. In certain lead works, a substance that flies off in smoke. Encyc. Flight of stairs, the series of stairs from the floor, or from one platform to another.

FLIGHT'I-LY, adv.

In a wild or imaginative manner.

FLIGHT-I-NESS, n.

The state of being flighty; wildness; slight delirium.

FLIGHT-SHOT, n.

The distance which an arrow flies.

FLIGHT-Y, a.

1. Fleeting; swift. The flighty purpose never is o'ertook. Shak.
2. Wild; indulging the sallies of imagination.
3. Disordered in mind; somewhat delirious.

FLIM'FLAM, n. [Ice. flim.]

A freak; a trick. Beaum.

FLIM'SI-LY, adv.

In a flimsy manner.

FLIM'SI-NESS, n.

State or quality of being flimsy; thin, weak texture; weakness; want of substance or solidity.

FLIM'SY, a. [s as z. W. llymsi, having a fickle motion; llymu, to make sharp, quick, pungent. Owen. But Lluyd renders llymsi, vain, weak. The word is retained by the common people in New England in limsy, weak, limber, easily bending. See Class Lm, No. 2, 5, 6.]

1. Weak; feeble; slight; vain; without strength or solid substance; as, a flimsy pretext; a flimsy excuse; flimsy objections.
2. Without strength or force; spiritless. Proud of a vast extent of flimsy lines. Pope
3. Thin; of loose texture; as, flimsy cloth or stuff. [Little used.]

FLINCH, v.i. [I have not found this word in any other language; but the sense of it occurs in blench, and not improbably it is from the same root, with a different prefix.]

1. To shrink; to withdraw from any suffering or undertaking, from pain or danger; to fail of proceeding, or of performing any thing. Never flinch from duty. One of the parties flinched from the combat. A child, by a constant course of kindness, may be accustomed to hear very rough usage without flinching or complaining. Locke.
2. To fail. Shak.

FLINCH'ER, n.

One who flinches or fails.

FLINCH'ING, ppr.

Failing to undertake, perform or proceed; shrinking; withdrawing.

FLINCH'ING-LY, adv.

In a flinching manner.

FLIN'DER, n. [D. flenter, a splinter, a tatter.]

A small piece or splinter; a fragment. New England. [This seems to be splinter, without the prefix.]