What is "flirt"

Flirt \Flirt\, n.

1. A sudden jerk; a quick throw or cast; a darting motion; hence, a jeer.

   Several little flirts and vibrations.
   --Addison.

   With many a flirt and flutter.
   --E. A. Poe.

2. [Cf. LG. flirtje, G. flirtchen. See Flirt, v. t.] One who flirts; esp., a woman who acts with giddiness, or plays at courtship; a coquette; a pert girl.

   Several young flirts about town had a design to cast us out of the fashionable world.
   --Addison.

Flirt \Flirt\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Flirted; p. pr. & vb. n. Flirting.] [Cf. AS. fleard trifle, folly, fleardian to trifle.]

1. To throw with a jerk or quick effort; to fling suddenly; as, they flirt water in each other's faces; he flirted a glove, or a handkerchief.

2. To toss or throw about; to move playfully to and fro; as, to flirt a fan.

3. To jeer at; to treat with contempt; to mock. [Obs.]

   I am ashamed; I am scorned; I am flirted.
   --Beau. & Fl.

Flirt \Flirt\, a. Pert; wanton. [Obs.]

Flirt \Flirt\, v. i.

1. To run and dart about; to act with giddiness, or from a desire to attract notice; especially, to play the coquette; to play at courtship; to coquet; as, they flirt with the young men.

2. To utter contemptuous language, with an air of disdain; to jeer or gibe. [Obs.]
   --Beau. & Fl.

1550s, "to turn up one's nose, sneer at;" later "to rap or flick, as with the fingers" (1560s); "throw with a sudden movement," also "move in short, quick flights" (1580s). Perhaps imitative (compare flip (v.), also East Frisian flirt "a flick or light blow," flirtje "a giddy girl," which also might have fed into the English word), but perhaps rather from or influenced by flit (v.). Related: Flirted; flirting.\n

\nThe main modern verbal sense of "play at courtship" (1777) probably developed from the noun (see flirt (n.)) but also could have grown naturally from the 16c. meaning "to flit inconstantly from object to object." To flirt a fan (1660s) was to snap it open or closed with a brisk jerk and was long considered part of the coquette's arsenal, which might have contributed to the sense shift. Or the word could have been influenced from French, where Old French fleureter meant "talk sweet nonsense," also "to touch a thing in passing," diminutive of fleur "flower" (n.) and metaphoric of bees skimming from flower to flower. French flirter "to flirt" is a 19c. borrowing from English.

1540s, "joke, jest, stroke of wit, contemptuous remark," from flirt (v.). By 1560s as "a pert young hussey" [Johnson], and Shakespeare has flirt-gill (i.e. Jill) "a woman of light or loose behavior" (Fletcher formalizes it as flirt-gillian), while flirtgig was a 17c. Yorkshire dialect word for "a giddy, flighty girl." One of the many fl- words suggesting loose, flapping motion and connecting the notions of flightiness and licentiousness. Compare English dialect and Scottish flisk "to fly about nimbly, skip, caper" (1590s); source of Scott's fliskmahoy "girl giddy and full of herself." The meaning "person who plays at courtship" is from 1732 (as the name of female characters in plays at least since 1689 (Aphra Behn's "The Widow Ranter")). Also in early use sometimes "person one flirts with," though by 1862 this was being called a flirtee.

1. pert; wanton n. 1 A sudden jerk; a quick throw or cast; a darting motion 2 One who flirts 3 An act of flirting. v

2. 1 (context transitive English) To throw (something) with a jerk or sudden movement; to fling. (from 16th

3. ) 2 (context intransitive English) To jeer (term at English); to mock. (16th-18th c.) 3 (context intransitive English) To dart about; to move with quick, jerky motions. (from 16th c.) 4 (context transitive English) To blurt out. (from 17th c.) 5 (senseid en to play at courtship)(context intransitive English) To play at courtship; to talk with teasing affection, to insinuate sexual attraction in a playful (especially conversational) way. (from 18th c.) 6 (context intransitive English) To experiment, or tentatively engage, ''with''; to become involved in passing ''with''.

1. n. a seductive woman who uses her sex appeal to exploit men [syn: coquette, vamp, vamper, minx, tease, prickteaser]

2. playful behavior intended to arouse sexual interest [syn: flirting, flirtation, coquetry, dalliance, toying]

3. v. talk or behave amorously, without serious intentions; "The guys always try to chat up the new secretaries"; "My husband never flirts with other women" [syn: chat up, dally, butterfly, coquet, coquette, romance, philander, mash]

4. behave carelessly or indifferently; "Play about with a young girl's affection" [syn: dally, toy, play]

Flirt is a 1995 drama film written and directed by Hal Hartley.

Flirting is a playful, romantic or sexual overture by one person to another.

Flirt or Flirting may also refer to:

• Flirt (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee of the Kasakela chimpanzee community
• Flirt (novel), a 2010 book in the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series
• Flirt FM, a radio station in Ireland
• Flirt!, a branded college mixer at some British universities

Flirt is a 2010 New York Times bestselling erotic thriller by novelist Laurell K. Hamilton. The novella was published on February 2, 2010 by Berkley Hardcover and is the eighteenth book in the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series. The afterword of Flirt contains several pages of discussion about Hamilton's inspiration for the novella as well as a comic by Jennie Breeden.

Flirt is a 1983 Italian-French drama film directed by Roberto Russo. It was entered into the 34th Berlin International Film Festival where Monica Vitti won the Silver Bear for an outstanding single achievement.

Flirt is the ninth album released by R&B singer Evelyn "Champagne" King on the EMI-Manhattan label in 1988. It was produced by Leon Sylvers III, Teneen Ali, Ron "Have Mercy" Kersey, Alex Brown, Wah Wah Watson, Evan Rogers, and Carl Sturken.