fluttered

Fluttered is the past tense of flutter, meaning to move with rapid, light, irregular motions. It can describe the quick flapping of wings, the tremulous movement of fabric in a breeze, or a quivering of muscles, eyelids, or nerves.

In nature, birds, insects, and small mammals may flutter as they take flight or escape a threat; leaves, grasses, and flags flutter in wind. In human behavior, a person’s heart can flutter, or eyelashes can flutter when surprised or delighted. In literature, fluttering often conveys fragility, speed, or wavering emotion.

Etymology: The verb flutter is native to English; earliest forms appear in Middle English with similar sensory meanings. The exact origin is not certain, but it has long been used to describe light, rapid motion.

In technical contexts, flutter describes aeroelastic instability, a self-excited oscillation of a structure caused by the interaction of aerodynamic forces and structural elasticity; past tense usage would describe a moment when the wing or blade fluttered during testing or operation.

See also: flutter, fluttering.