flicker

• POS: Noun, Verb (intransitive), Verb (transitive)
• HYPHEN: flick=er

CIDE DICTIONARY

flicker, v. i. [OE. flikeren, flekeren, to flutter, AS. flicerian, flicorian, cf. D. flikkeren to sparkle. Flacker.].

•  To flutter; to flap the wings without flying.  [1913 Webster]

  "And flickering on her nest made short essays to sing."  [1913 Webster]
•  To waver unsteadily, like a flame in a current of air, or when about to expire; as, the flickering light.  [1913 Webster]

  "The shadows flicker to fro."  [1913 Webster]

flicker, n. 

•  The act of wavering or of fluttering; fluctuation; sudden and brief increase of brightness; as, the last flicker of the dying flame.  [1913 Webster]
•  The golden-winged woodpecker (Colaptes aurutus); -- so called from its spring note. Called also yellow-hammer, high-holder, pigeon woodpecker, and yucca.  [1913 Webster]

  "The cackle of the flicker among the oaks."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

flicker, v. & n.
--v.intr.
1 (of light) shine unsteadily or fitfully.
2 (of a flame) burn unsteadily, alternately flaring and dying down.
3 a (of a flag, a reptile's tongue, an eyelid, etc.) move or wave to and fro; quiver; vibrate. b (of the wind) blow lightly and unsteadily.
4 (of hope etc.) increase and decrease unsteadily and intermittently.
--n. a flickering movement or light.

Idiom

flicker out die away after a final flicker.

flicker, n. any woodpecker of the genus Colaptes, native to N. America.

Etymology

imit. of its note

THESAURUS

flicker

3-D, Cinemascope, Cinerama, Technicolor, Western, animated cartoon, backfire, bake, balefire, be in heat, beacon, beacon fire, beat, beating, bicker, black-and-white film, blaze, blink, bloom, boil, bonfire, broil, burn, burning ghat, campfire, cartoon, cheerful fire, chiller, choke, cinema, color film, combust, combustion, conflagration, cook, corposant, coruscate, cozy fire, crackling fire, creepie, crematory, dance, dancing, death fire, dint, documentary, documentary film, educational film, feature, fen fire, film, fire, flame, flame up, flap, flare, flare up, flash, flashing point, flick, flickering, flickering flame, flickering light, flip, flit, flitter, flop, fluctuate, flush, flutter, fluttering, forest fire, fox fire, fry, funeral pyre, gasp, glance, glancing light, glare, gleam, glimmer, glimmering, glint, glitter, glow, go pitapat, gutter, hint, horror picture, horse opera, hover, ignis fatuus, ignition, incandesce, ingle, lambency, lambent flame, light show, marshfire, motion picture, motion-picture show, movie, moving picture, newsreel, nudie, open fire, oscillate, palpitate, palpitation, pant, parch, photodrama, photoplay, picture, picture show, pitapat, pitter-patter, play, play of light, pornographic film, prairie fire, preview, pulse, pyre, quaver, quiver, quivering, radiate heat, raging fire, roast, scald, scintilla, scorch, sea of flames, seethe, shake, sheet of fire, shimmer, shimmer with heat, short, signal beacon, silent, silent film, simmer, skin flick, slat, smolder, smother, smudge fire, sneak preview, spaghetti Western, spark, sparkle, splutter, sputter, steam, stew, stifle, suffocate, suggestion, sweat, swelter, swing, talkie, talking picture, three-alarm fire, thriller, throb, toast, trace, trailer, tremble, twinkle, twinkling, twitter, two-alarm fire, underground film, vestige, vibrate, watch fire, wave, waver, wildfire, witch fire

ROGET THESAURUS

flicker

Changeableness

VB fluctuate, vary, waver, flounder, flicker, flitter, flit, flutter, shift, shuffle, shake, totter, tremble, vacillate, wamble, turn and turn about, ring the changes, sway to and fro, shift to and fro, change and change about, waffle, blow with the wind (irresolute), oscillate, vibrate between, two extremes, oscillate between, two extremes, alternate, have as man phases as the moon.

Oscillation

VB oscillate, vibrate, librate, alternate, undulate, wave, rock, swing, pulsate, beat, wag, waggle, nod, bob, courtesy, curtsy, tick, play, wamble, wabble, dangle, swag, fluctuate, dance, curvet, reel, quake, quiver, quaver, shake, flicker, wriggle, roll, toss, pitch, flounder, stagger, totter, move up and down, bob up and down, pass and repass, ebb and flow, come and go, vacillate, teeter, brandish, shake, flourish.

Agitation

N agitation, stir, tremor, shake, ripple, jog, jolt, jar, jerk, shock, succussion, trepidation, quiver, quaver, dance, jactitation, quassation, shuffling, twitter, flicker, flutter, turbulence, perturbation, commotion, turmoil, disquiet, tumult, tumultuation, hubbub, rout, bustle, fuss, racket, subsultus, staggers, megrims, epilepsy, fits, carphology, chorea, floccillation, the jerks, St. Vitus's dance, tilmus, spasm, throe, throb, palpitation, convulsion, disturbance, chaos, restlessness, ferment, fermentation, ebullition, effervescence, hurly-burly, cahotage, tempest, storm, ground swell, heavy sea, whirlpool, vortex, whirlwind, shaking, agitated tremulous, desultory, subsultory, saltatoric, quasative, shambling, giddy-paced, saltatory, convulsive, unquiet, restless, all of a twitter, by fits and starts, subsultorily, per saltum, hop skip and jump, in convulsions, in fits, tempete dans un verre d'eau.

VB be agitated, shake, tremble, tremble like an aspen leaf, quiver, quaver, quake, shiver, twitter, twire, writhe, toss, shuffle, tumble, stagger, bob, reel, sway, wag, waggle, wriggle, wriggle like an eel, dance, stumble, shamble, flounder, totter, flounce, flop, curvet, prance, cavort, squirm, throb, pulsate, beat, palpitate, go pitapat, flutter, flitter, flicker, bicker, bustle, ferment, effervesce, foam, boil, boil over, bubble up, simmer, toss about, jump about, jump like a parched pea, shake like an aspen leaf, shake to its center, shake to its foundations, be the sport of the winds and waves, reel to and fro like a drunken man, move from post to pillar and from pillar to post, drive from post to pillar and from pillar to post, keep between hawk and buzzard, agitate, shake, convulse, toss, tumble, bandy, wield, brandish, flap, flourish, whisk, jerk, hitch, jolt, jog, joggle, jostle, buffet, hustle, disturb, stir, shake up, churn, jounce, wallop, whip, vellicate.

Light

VB shine, glow, glitter, glister, glisten, twinkle, gleam, flare, flare up, glare, beam, shimmer, glimmer, flicker, sparkle, scintillate, coruscate, flash, blaze, be bright, reflect light, daze, dazzle, bedazzle, radiate, shoot out beams, fulgurate, clear up, brighten, lighten, enlighten, levin, light, light up, irradiate, shine upon, give out a light, hang out a light, cast light upon, cast light in, throw light upon, throw light in, shed light upon, shed luster upon, illume, illumine, illuminate, relume, strike a light, kindle.

Dimness

VB be dim, grow dim, flicker, twinkle, glimmer, loom, lower, fade, pale, pale its ineffectual fire, render dim, dim, bedim, obscure, darken, tone down.