flirt

adj

Etymology: 1553, from the merger of Early Modern English flirt (“to flick”), flurt (“to mock, jibe, scorn”), and flirt, flurt (“a giddy girl”). Of obscure origin and relation. Apparently related to similar words in Germanic, all of apparently onomatopoeic origin, compare Low German flirt (“a flick of the fingers, a light blow”), Low German flirtje (“a giddy girl”), Low German flirtje (“a flirt”), German Flittchen (“a flirt; tart; hussy”), Norwegian flira (“to giggle, titter”). Compare also Early Modern English jillflirt, gillian flirt, and flirt-gill (“a flirt”), and Scots flird (“a trifling", also, "to jibe, jeer at, talk idly, flirt, flaunt”), which is perhaps from Middle English flerd (“mockery, fraud, deception”), from Old English fleard (“nonsense, vanity, folly, deception”); potentially related to Icelandic flærð (“trickiness, deceit”), Swedish flärd (“vanity, frivolity, flamboyance”), Dutch flard (“tatter, shred”). See flird.

1. Flirtatious.

   “He had “large dark blue eyes, wide open, very coquet, very flirt in the way he looked at you.””

   “Now Maggie knew that he was flirt and for the most part it didn't bother her when he flirted with other girls because she knew that at the end of the day she was the one that he would end up kissing.”

name

1. A subvariant of the Omicron variant, scientifically known as KP.2 and KP.1.1.

noun

Etymology: 1553, from the merger of Early Modern English flirt (“to flick”), flurt (“to mock, jibe, scorn”), and flirt, flurt (“a giddy girl”). Of obscure origin and relation. Apparently related to similar words in Germanic, all of apparently onomatopoeic origin, compare Low German flirt (“a flick of the fingers, a light blow”), Low German flirtje (“a giddy girl”), Low German flirtje (“a flirt”), German Flittchen (“a flirt; tart; hussy”), Norwegian flira (“to giggle, titter”). Compare also Early Modern English jillflirt, gillian flirt, and flirt-gill (“a flirt”), and Scots flird (“a trifling", also, "to jibe, jeer at, talk idly, flirt, flaunt”), which is perhaps from Middle English flerd (“mockery, fraud, deception”), from Old English fleard (“nonsense, vanity, folly, deception”); potentially related to Icelandic flærð (“trickiness, deceit”), Swedish flärd (“vanity, frivolity, flamboyance”), Dutch flard (“tatter, shred”). See flird.

1. A sudden jerk; a quick throw or cast; a darting motion

   “several little flirts and vibrations”

   “with many a flirt and flutter”

2. Someone who flirts a lot or enjoys flirting; a flirtatious person.

   “'Oooh, don't.' Lilly staggered behind the counter. 'Hangover from hell. We had a good time, I think. He's such a flirt though. He really fancied Midnight. Was sooo gutted that she was actually a straight man. Think it almost turned him celibate.'”

   “Several young flirts about town had a design to cast us out of the fashionable world.”

3. An act of flirting.
4. A tentative or brief, passing engagement with something.

   “However, after a brief flirt with socialist realism , this method was abandoned and strict controls were removed after 1948. By the early 1950s, writers had earned the right to use any method and to experiment.”

   “Manufacturers are being stung into action on both sides of the Atlantic as climbers consult their lawyers after a flirt with gravity. Of course responsible manufacturers already exercise great care with all aspects of safety and testing.”

5. A brief shower (of rain or snow).

   “In the course of the month, there were three flirts of snow, […]”

   “[page 59:] A flirt of snow; after which, mild and pleasant weather, (with occasional showers) continued through the remainder of the month. [page 220:] The medium temperature of this month was 45, and it produced much mild and pleasant weather, interspersed with some rainy days, and a few flirts of snow, and frosty nights.”

6. Russula vesca, an edible woodland mushroom.

verb

Etymology: 1553, from the merger of Early Modern English flirt (“to flick”), flurt (“to mock, jibe, scorn”), and flirt, flurt (“a giddy girl”). Of obscure origin and relation. Apparently related to similar words in Germanic, all of apparently onomatopoeic origin, compare Low German flirt (“a flick of the fingers, a light blow”), Low German flirtje (“a giddy girl”), Low German flirtje (“a flirt”), German Flittchen (“a flirt; tart; hussy”), Norwegian flira (“to giggle, titter”). Compare also Early Modern English jillflirt, gillian flirt, and flirt-gill (“a flirt”), and Scots flird (“a trifling", also, "to jibe, jeer at, talk idly, flirt, flaunt”), which is perhaps from Middle English flerd (“mockery, fraud, deception”), from Old English fleard (“nonsense, vanity, folly, deception”); potentially related to Icelandic flærð (“trickiness, deceit”), Swedish flärd (“vanity, frivolity, flamboyance”), Dutch flard (“tatter, shred”). See flird.

1. To throw (something) with a jerk or sudden movement; to fling.

   “They flirt water in each other's faces.”

   “to flirt a glove, or a handkerchief”

2. To jeer at; to mock.

   “I am ashamed; I am scorned; I am flirted.”

   “Asinius Pollio[…], having written many invectives against Plancus, staid untill he were dead to publish them. It was rather to flurt at a blind man, and raile in a dead mans eare, and to offend a senselesse man, than incurre the danger of his revenge.”

3. To dart about; to move with quick, jerky motions.

   “Her skirt flirted around her knees like a flower petal.”

4. To blurt out.

   “Chatterer flirted his tale in the saucy way he has, and his eyes twinkled.”

5. To play at courtship; to talk with teasing affection, to insinuate sexual attraction in a playful (especially conversational) way.

   “Of course, the young people flirted, for that diversion is apparently irradicable even in the "best society".”

   “Dr Hutchinson, who told jurors that he had been married for 37 years and that his son was a policeman, said he enjoyed flirting with the woman, was flattered by her attention and was anticipating patting her bottom again - but had no intention of seducing her.”

6. To experiment, or tentatively engage, with; to become involved in passing with.

   “I've thrown away my reputation, self-respect, money, health and happiness through the use of drugs and alcohol; I can teach her how fragile a reputation is, how a fool and their money are soon parted, and how dangerous it is to flirt with drugs.”

   “The various episodes of thinkers flirting with the idea of an infinite universe, starting with early Greek speculations and running through Cusa in the Renaissance, came to fruition as a central element in the Scientific Revolution.”