flinder
See also: flinders
English edit
Pronunciation edit
Etymology 1 edit
From Middle English flendris, of North Germanic origin, from or related to Norwegian flindra, from Proto-Germanic *flintaz, from Proto-Indo-European *splind- (“to split, cleave”).
Alternative forms edit
- flender (Scotland)
Noun edit
flinder (plural flinders)
- A small piece or fragment; a thin slice; splinter
- 1876, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter XXXV, in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Hartford, Conn.: The American Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 273:
- “It’s to swear to stand by one another, and never tell the gang’s secrets, even if you’re chopped all to flinders, and kill anybody and all his family that hurts one of the gang.”
Etymology 2 edit
From Middle English flindre. Compare Dutch vlinder.
Noun edit
flinder (plural flinders)
Verb edit
flinder (third-person singular simple present flinders, present participle flindering, simple past and past participle flindered)
- (intransitive) To flirt; run about in a fluttering manner
Further reading edit
- Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “flinder”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.