Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A brief, light snowfall.
  • noun A sudden gust of wind.
  • noun A stirring mass, as of leaves or dust; a shower.
  • noun A sudden burst or commotion; a stir.
  • noun A short period of active trading, as on a stock exchange.
  • intransitive verb To agitate, stir, or confuse.
  • intransitive verb To move or come down in a flurry.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The scum that forms on top of a dye-vat, as an indigo-blue vat.
  • In heraldry, same as fleury.
  • noun A state of perturbed action or feeling; a violent agitation, physical or mental; a disordered or excited movement; flutter; commotion: as, to be in a continual flurry; to raise a flurry in an assembly.
  • noun Specifically, of a whale, the death-agony; the spasmodic action of the animal while expiring.
  • noun A sudden brief movement of air; an irregular blast or gust: as, a flurry of wind.
  • noun A fluttering assemblage of things, as snow-flakes, carried by or passing through the air.
  • noun In calico-printing, a state of frothiness developed by some colors in the process of printing, due in some to quick printing and in others to slow printing. It is obviated by the use of glycerin, oil, turpentine, or alcohol.
  • To produce agitation of feeling in; confuse by excitement or alarm.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To put in a state of agitation; to excite or alarm.
  • noun A sudden and brief blast or gust; a light, temporary breeze.
  • noun A light shower or snowfall accompanied with wind.
  • noun Violent agitation; commotion; bustle; hurry.
  • noun The violent spasms of a dying whale.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A brief snowfall.
  • noun A shower of dust, leaves etc. brought on by a sudden gust of wind.
  • noun Any sudden activity; a stir.
  • noun A snack consisting of soft ice cream studded small pieces of fruit, cookie, etc.
  • verb transitive To agitate, bewilder, disconcert.
  • verb intransitive To move or fall in a flurry.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a light brief snowfall and gust of wind (or something resembling that)
  • noun a rapid active commotion
  • verb cause to feel embarrassment
  • verb move in an agitated or confused manner

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Perhaps from flurr, to scatter.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Perhaps an American English blend of flutter and hurry. Alternatively, perhaps from an obsolete term flurr ("scatter").

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Examples

  • De plus, I am learning that dotting the i's and crossing the t's of rigidity (there's that word again) only ever ends in flurry: Dame Chaos will invite herself to lafête so one might as well join in and get used to whim!

    Recette / Recipe 2010

  • Sometimes it is characterized by a flurry of lawsuits to meet filing deadlines that started ticking from the day of the shootings.

    Jeff Kass: Columbine Anniversary: The Victims' Families Jeff Kass 2011

  • Emerging in the flurry is scientist Helen Benson (Jennifer Connelly) who is called to the Central Park site to assist with the alien the army meets after it emerges from the sphere.

    Gort Still | SciFi, Fantasy & Horror Collectibles 2009

  • De plus, I am learning that dotting the i's and crossing the t's of rigidity (there's that word again) only ever ends in flurry: Dame Chaos will invite herself to lafête so one might as well join in and get used to whim!

    French Word-A-Day: 2010

  • Sometimes it is characterized by a flurry of lawsuits to meet filing deadlines that started ticking from the day of the shootings.

    Jeff Kass: Columbine Anniversary: The Victims' Families Jeff Kass 2011

  • Emerging in the flurry is scientist Helen Benson (Jennifer Connelly) who is called to the Central Park site to assist with the alien the army meets after it emerges from the sphere.

    Gort Stood | SciFi, Fantasy & Horror Collectibles 2009

  • De plus, I am learning that dotting the i's and crossing the t's of rigidity (there's that word again) only ever ends in flurry: Dame Chaos will invite herself to lafête so one might as well join in and get used to whim!

    Harvest 2010

  • De plus, I am learning that dotting the i's and crossing the t's of rigidity (there's that word again) only ever ends in flurry: Dame Chaos will invite herself to lafête so one might as well join in and get used to whim!

    affolement - French Word-A-Day 2010

  • "There is a lot of data out today which might produce the odd short term flurry, but there will be nothing drastic as traders wait to act on Friday's payroll numbers," said David Jones, chief market strategist at IG Index in London.

    U.S. Stocks Poised to Bounce Steve Goldstein 2010

  • There are times when all of these moments seem like just yesterday, and all of the intervening days and moments have sped by in flurry of sunburns, visa applications, bus journeys, road trips, languages studied and occasional monotony.

    ¡Que Viva Sucre! « Wanderings 2008

Comments

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  • [[ "There was a flurry of hugs and introductions . "(Tammie Temple ) Guideposts:true stories of hope and inspiration . Author of article: Tammie Temple . January 2010 . Page 39

    September 30, 2010

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    February 4, 2017