different between hobnob vs flitter

English

Etymology

From hob and nob, hob or nob (“a phrase spoken when making a toast, possibly meaning ‘give and take’; to take turns toasting or buying rounds of drinks”) (archaic), from dialectal hab nab (“to have or have not, in the sense of an invitation to have a drink”), from Old English habban (“to have, possess”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *keh?p- (“to grab, seize”)) + nabban (“to not have”) (from ne (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ne (“not”)) + habban).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?h?bn?b/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?h?b?n?b/
• Hyphenation: hob?nob

Noun

hobnob (plural hobnobs)

1. (obsolete) A toast made while touching glasses together.
2. A drinking together.
3. An informal chat.

Translations

Verb

hobnob (third-person singular simple present hobnobs, present participle hobnobbing, simple past and past participle hobnobbed)

1. (intransitive) To drink together.
2. (intransitive, often derogatory) To associate with in a friendly manner, often with those of a higher class or status.
3. (intransitive, obsolete, rare) To have or have not; to give or take.
4. (intransitive, obsolete) To toast one another by touching glasses. [from early 19th c.]

Alternative forms

• hob-and-nob (archaic)
• hob-nob

Synonyms

• fraternize
• rub elbows with, rub shoulders with

Derived terms

• hobnobber
• hobnobbing (noun)
• hobnobby

Translations

Adjective

hobnob (not comparable)

1. On friendly terms; in friendly association.

Adverb

hobnob (not comparable)

1. (obsolete) At random; at a venture; hit and miss.

References

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English flytteren, frequentative form of flitten, flytten, flütten, possibly from Old Norse flytja (“to carry about, convey”), equivalent to flit + -er (“frequentative suffix”).

Verb

flitter (third-person singular simple present flitters, present participle flittering, simple past and past participle flittered)

1. To scatter in pieces.
2. To move about rapidly and nimbly.
3. To move quickly from one condition or location to another.
   • 2003, Rudy Gray, D'n'd, iUniverse, page 41,

     How she remembered the gray-feathered titmouse flittering about as she stared unbelievingly at the grave of her sister and clung to Reese, then five years old.

   • 2006, Katherine Macinnis, Kelsar, Virtualbookworm.com Publishing, page 60,

     There were two bugs flittering on either side of her.

   • 2014, Daniel Freeman, The Conquest, College Essays That Made a Difference, 6th Edition, Penguin Random House, page 129,

     The back of the group flittered in and out of my view, pulling me forward with only dim hopes of success.

4. To flutter or quiver.

Derived terms

• flittermouse
• flittery

Etymology 2

From flit +? -er.

Noun

flitter (plural flitters)

1. A rag; a tatter; a small piece or fragment.
2. Any of various hesperiid butterflies of the genus Hyarotis.
3. (science fiction) A small aircraft or spacecraft.

References

• (aircraft): Jeff Prucher, editor (2007) , “flitter”, in Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction, Oxford, Oxfordshire; New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, ?ISBN, page 66
• (aircraft): Jesse Sheidlower, editor (2001–2021) , “flitter n.”, in Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction.

German

Verb

flitter

1. inflection of flittern:
   1. first-person singular present
   2. singular imperative

Westrobothnian

Noun

flitter

1. Laughter, ridicule.

Related terms

• flatter
• flattär
• flittär