chitter

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈtʃɪtə/
(ga) IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃɪtɚ/
Rhymes: -ɪtə(ɹ)

Etymology 1

From Middle English chiteren, chitren, cheteren. Ultimately onomatopoeic; compare didder and teeter as well as German zittern.

Verb

chitter (third-person singular simple present chitters, present participle chittering, simple past and past participle chittered)

To make a series of high-pitched sounds; to twitter, chirp or chatter.
It was a beautifully sunny day and beetles could be heard chittering loudly in the rose garden by the side of the path made out of antique bricks.
(obsolete, Scotland) To shiver or chatter with cold.
- 1786, Robert Burns, A Winter Night:
  Whare wilt thou cower thy chittering wing, / An' close thy e'e?

Derived terms

chitter-chatter

Etymology 2

Noun

chitter (plural chitters)

(dialect) Alternative form of chitterling.

References

“chitter” in Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary: Based on Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, 8th edition, Springfield, Mass.: G[eorge] & C[harles] Merriam, 1973 (1974 printing), →OCLC.