flurry

English

Etymology

Probably onomatopoeic.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈflʌɹi/, SAMPA: /flVri/

  Audio (US)

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• Rhymes: -ʌri

Noun

flurry (plural flurries)

1. A brief snowfall.
2. A shower of dust, leaves etc. brought on by a sudden gust of wind.
3. Any sudden activity; a stir.

   The day before the wedding was a flurry of preparations.

   • 1998, Gillian Catriona Ramchand, Deconstructing the Lexicon, in Miriam Butt and Wilhelm Geuder, eds. “The Projection of Arguments”

     These [argument structure] modifications are important because they have provoked a flurry of investigation into argument structure operations of merger, demotion etc.

   • 2011 January 8, Chris Bevan, “Arsenal 1 - 1 Leeds”, BBC:

     The Championship highflyers almost got their reward for a resilient performance on their first visit to the Emirates, surviving a flurry of first-half Arsenal chances before hitting back with a classic sucker punch.

4. A snack consisting of soft ice cream studded small pieces of fruit, cookie, etc.
   • 1988, K. Wayne Wride, Fruit Treats (in Vegetarian Times number 134, October 1988, page 27)

     Does your "Forbidden Foods" list include banana splits, ice cream sundaes, slurpies, popsicles, frozen yogurts, milk shakes, and ice cream flurries? These foods taste great but have a reputation for being bad for your health.

   • 2002, Tampa Bay Magazine (volume 17, number 3, May-June 2002, page 235)

     They will make your tongue smile with their homemade ice cream, which was voted "Best Taste in the USA Today." Enjoy exciting toppings to personalize your treat or a yummy sundae, flurry, smoothie, banana split or shake...

Translations

brief snowfall

Albanian: please add this translation if you can Bulgarian: please add this translation if you can Czech: please add this translation if you can Danish: please add this translation if you can Dutch: sneeuwbui (nl) f. Finnish: tuisku (fi) German: please add this translation if you can Hungarian: please add this translation if you can Icelandic: please add this translation if you can

Italian: tormenta (it) Polish: please add this translation if you can Portuguese: please add this translation if you can Romanian: please add this translation if you can Russian: снегопад (ru) (snegopád) m. Slovak: please add this translation if you can Spanish: ráfaga (es) f. Swedish: please add this translation if you can Turkish: please add this translation if you can

shower of dust, leaves, …

Dutch: wervelen (nl) n., werveling (nl) f. Finnish: pyörre (fi)

Italian: folata (it) f.

sudden activity

Dutch: werveling (nl) f., opwelling (nl) f. Finnish: mylläkkä (fi), hullunmylly (fi) Italian: agitazione (it) f.

Romanian: freamăt (ro) Spanish: frenesí (es) m.

Verb

flurry (third-person singular simple present flurries, present participle flurrying, simple past and past participle flurried)

1. (transitive) To agitate, bewilder, disconcert.
   • 1897, Henry James, What Maisie Knew:

     She was flurried by the term with which he had qualified her gentle friend, but she took the occasion for one to which she must in every manner lend herself.

2. (intransitive) To move or fall in a flurry.

Translations

agitate

Dutch: oproeren (nl), bewegen (nl), wervelen (nl)

Italian: innervosire (it)

move in a flurry

Dutch: wervelen (nl)