Emily Dickinson Lexicon

FLUT'TER, v.i. [Sax. floteran; D. flodderen; G. flattern. Qu. Fr. flotter, to waver, from flot, a wave. It is possible that the word is contracted.]

1. To move or flap the wings rapidly, without flying, or with short flights; to hover. As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings – Deut. xxxii.
2. To move about briskly, irregularly or with great bustle and show, without consequence. No rag, no scrap of all the beau or wit, / That once so fluttered, and that once so writ. Pope.
3. To move with quick vibrations or undulations; as, a fluttering fan; a fluttering sail. Pope.
4. To be in agitation; to move irregularly; to fluctuate; to be in uncertainty. How long we fluttered on the wings of doubtful success. Howel. His thoughts are very fluttering and wandering. Watts.