小词详解 | flit

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小词详解 | flit
flit 英 [flɪt] 美 [flɪt]

SAT TEM8 GRE

外刊例句

  • That arrangement suited many workers, who preferred the stability of permanent employment to the alternative of flitting between short-term contracts, which they would also find difficult to organise.
    这种安排对许多工人来说很合适,他们更喜欢长期就业的稳定性,而不是辗转在短期合同之间。工人要把各种短期工作安排好也并非易事。
    ——《经济学人》
  • Patients might flit their eyes back and forth, following a therapist's finger or stare at bursts of light on alternating sides of a screen.
    患者可能会跟着治疗师的手指来回摆动眼睛,或者盯着屏幕两侧交替的闪光。
    ——《纽约时报》

基本释义

[verb] move swiftly and lightly
[动词] 迅速轻快地移动

深入解读

Flit 是一个与小站(微信公众号:田间小站)推送过的 Flirt 十分形近的单词,可以一并联想记忆。

该词常用搭配 flit from A to B 或 flit between A and B 表示“掠过、飞过、闪过”或“轻快地从一处到另一处”,强调迅速轻快地移动,既包括在两地间来回穿梭且不作长时间停留,也可以指鸟、蝙蝠等飞来飞去,很快从一个地方飞到另一个地方,以及引申指表情、念头等在脸上或脑海里一闪而过,比如:

  • 岁月飞逝。
    Time flitted by.
  • 他频繁跳槽。
    He flits from one job to another.
  • 他脸上掠过一丝惊慌。
    A look of panic flitted across his face.

在苏格兰方言中, flit 还被用来表示“迁移、迁居、搬家”,比如:

  • 我父母每次迁居,我都得换学校。
    I had to change schools every time my parents flitted.

而在英式口语中, flit 则可用作名词表示为躲债而暗中“迁移、迁居、搬家”,比如小站曾在 熟词僻义 | moonlight 是瞒着老板偷偷做什么? 中提到过的:

  • 晚上/半夜潜逃
    do a moonlight/midnight flit

名著用例

In these lengthened vigils, his brain often reeled, and visions seemed to flit before him; perhaps seen doubtfully, and by a faint light of their own, in the remote dimness of the chamber, or more vividly and close beside him, within the looking-glass.
在长夜不眠的祈祷之中,他的头脑时常晕眩,似乎有许多幻象在他眼前飞舞;这些幻象有时在内室的昏暗中自身发着微光,看着似有似无,有时则出现在镜子之中,近在咫尺,显得更清晰些。

出自美国浪漫主义作家纳撒尼尔·霍桑(Nathaniel Hawthorne)于1850年出版的长篇小说《红字》(The Scarlet Letter: A Romance)。

同近义词

  • flitter: move quickly in an apparently random or purposeless manner
  • flicker: make small, quick movements; flutter rapidly
  • flutter: (of a bird or other winged creature) fly unsteadily or hover by flapping the wings quickly and lightly