flinder

See also: flinders

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /flɪndə/

Etymology 1

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

• flender (Scotland)

Noun

flinder (plural flinders)

1. 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

From Middle English flindre. Compare Dutch vlinder.

Noun

flinder (plural flinders)

1. (obsolete or dialect) A butterfly.

Verb

flinder (third-person singular simple present flinders, present participle flindering, simple past and past participle flindered)

1. (intransitive) To flirt; run about in a fluttering manner

Further reading

• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “flinder”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Anagrams

• frindle