flicker (n.2)youdaoicibaDictYouDict[flicker 词源字典]
type of North American woodpecker, 1808, American English, said to be echoic of bird's note, or from black spots on plumage of the underparts that seem to flicker as it flits from tree to tree.[flicker etymology, flicker origin, 英语词源]
flier (n.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
see flyer.
flight (n.1)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
"act of flying," Old English flyht "a flying, act or power of flying," from Proto-Germanic *flukhtiz (cognates: Dutch vlucht "flight of birds," Old Norse flugr, Old High German flug, German Flug "flight"), from Proto-Germanic *flug-ti-, from PIE *pluk-, from root *pleu- "to flow" (see fly (v.1)).

Spelling altered late 14c. from Middle English fliht (see fight (v.)). Sense of "swift motion" is from mid-13c.. Meaning "an instance of flight" is 1785, originally of ballooning. Sense of "a number of things passing through the air together" is from mid-13c. Meaning "series of stairs between landings" is from 1703. Figuratively, "an excursion" of fancy, imagination, etc., from 1660s. Flight-path is from 1908; flight-test (v.) from 1919; flight-simulator from 1947 (originally in rocketry); flight-attendant from 1946.
flight (n.2)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
"act of fleeing," c. 1200, flihht, not found in Old English, but presumed to have existed and cognate with Old Saxon fluht, Old Frisian flecht "act of fleeing," Dutch vlucht, Old High German fluht, German Flucht, Old Norse flotti, Gothic þlauhs, from Proto-Germanic *flug-ti- (see flight (n.1)). To put (someone or something) to flight "rout, defeat" is from late 14c., the earlier verb form do o' flight (early 13c.).
flightless (adj.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
"incapable of flying," 1846, from flight (n.1) + -less. Related: Flightlessly; flightlessness.
flighty (adj.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
1550s, "swift," from flight (n.1) + -y (2). Sense of "fickle or frivolous" is from 1768, perhaps from notion of "given to 'flights' of imagination." Related: Flightiness.
flim-flam (n.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
also flimflam, 1530s, a contemptuous echoic construction, perhaps connected to some unrecorded dialectal word from Scandinavian (compare Old Norse flim "a lampoon"). From 1650s as a verb. Related: Flim-flammer.
flimsy (adj.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
1702, of unknown origin, perhaps a metathesis of film (n.) "gauzy covering" + -y (2). Figuratively (of arguments, etc.) from 1750s. Related: Flimsily; flimsiness.
flinch (v.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
1570s, apparently a nasalized form of obsolete Middle English flecche "to bend, flinch," which probably is from Old French flechir "to bend" (Modern French fléchir), also flechier "to bend, turn aside, flinch," which probably are from Frankish *hlankjan or some other Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *hlinc- (cognates: Middle High German linken, German lenken "to bend, turn, lead"), from PIE root *kleng- "to bend, turn" (see link (n.)). There were nasalized form of the word in Old French as well (flenchir "to bend; give ground, retreat"). Related: Flinched; flinching. As a noun, "the action of flinching," from 1817.
flinders (n.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
"pieces, fragments, splinters," mid-15c., Scottish flendris, probably related to Norwegian flindra "chip, splinter," or Dutch flenter "fragment;" ultimately from the same PIE root that produced flint.
fling (v.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
c. 1300, "to dash, run, rush," probably from or related to Old Norse flengja "to flog," which is of uncertain origin, perhaps from Proto-Germanic *flang- (cognates: Old Swedish flenga "strike," Danish flænge "slash, gash"), from a nasalized variant of PIE *plak- (2) "to strike" (see plague (n.)). Meaning "to throw, cast, hurl" is from mid-14c. An obsolete word for "streetwalker, harlot" was fling-stink (1670s). Related: Flung; flinging, but in Middle English with past tense flang, past participle flungen.
fling (n.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
early 14c., "attempt, attack," (in phrase make a fling), from fling (v.). Hence have a fling at, etc. "make a try." From 1560s as "a wild dash, an excited kicking up." Sense of "period of indulgence on the eve of responsibilities" first attested 1827. Meaning "vigorous dance" (associated with the Scottish Highlands) is from 1804.
flint (n.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
Old English flint "flint; a type of rock noted for hardness and for giving off sparks when struck," common Germanic (cognates Middle Dutch vlint, Old High German flins, Danish flint), from PIE *splind- "to split, cleave," from root *(s)plei- "to splice, split" (cognates: Greek plinthos "brick, tile," Old Irish slind "brick"), perhaps a variant of *spel- (1) "to split, break off." Transferred senses (hardness, etc.) were in Old English.
flint-lock (n.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
also flintlock, 1680s as a type of gunlock in which fire is produced by a flint striking the hammer, from flint + lock (n.1).
flintstone (n.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
"hard silicious stone, flint," early 14c., from flint + stone (n.).
flinty (adj.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
1530s, "hard-hearted;" 1540s, "hard, impenetrable as flint," from flint + -y (2). Literal sense of "resembling flint" is from 1640s. Related: Flintily; flintiness.
flip (v.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
1590s "to fillip, to toss with the thumb," imitative, or perhaps a thinned form of flap, or else a contraction of fillip (q.v.), which also is held to be imitative. Meaning "toss as though with the thumb" is from 1610s. Meaning "to flip a coin" (to decide something) is by 1879. Sense of "get excited" is first recorded 1950; flip (one's) lid "lose one's head, go wild" is from 1949, American English; variant flip (one's) wig attested by 1952, but the image turns up earlier in popular record reviews ["Talking Boogie. Not quite as wig-flipping as reverse side--but a wig-flipper" Billboard, Sept. 17, 1949]. Related: Flipped. Flipping (adj.) as euphemism for fucking is British slang first recorded 1911 in D.H. Lawrence. Flip side (of a gramophone record) is by 1949.
flip (n.2)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
sailors' hot drink usually containing beer, brandy and sugar, 1690s, from flip (v.); so called from notion of it being "whipped up" or beaten.
flip (adj.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
"talkative and disrespectfully smart," see flippant.
flip (n.1)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
1690s, "a flick, a snap;" see flip (v.). In reference to an overturning of the body, probably short for flip-flap (see flip-flop) "somersault in which the performer throws himself over on hands and feet alternately," 1670s, originally a move in (male) dancing.