flittermouse

[ flit-er-mous ]

noun

, plural flit·ter·mice [flit, -er-mahys].

1. bat ²( def 1 ).

flittermouse

/ ˈflɪtəˌmaʊs /

noun

1. a dialect name for bat 2

Word History and Origins

Origin of flittermouse¹

1540–50; flitter ¹ + mouse; calque of German Fledermaus

Word History and Origins

Origin of flittermouse¹

C16: translation of German Fledermaus ; see flitter , mouse

Example Sentences

A flittermouse, we learned, is a bat.

From The New Yorker

Over all the jackdaws chime and chatter, for it is their home now, and they share it with the owl and the flittermouse.

From Project Gutenberg

"He may have thought", reflects Miller, that "I was some more than unusually flittermouse publicist come to ingratiate myself, who needed to be made aware that a clan was a serious business."

From The Guardian

The flittermouse is perhaps at his best when being darkly comic at his own expense.

From The Guardian

However, in some parts of the country the bat is still called by its old English name, "the flittermouse," that is, the mouse that flitters, or flutters about.

From Project Gutenberg