verb / noun
scurry
SKER-ee/ˈskɜːri/
Quick movement with short, hurried steps.
Mice scurry across the kitchen floor when the lights come on.
Etymology
Scurry may come from hurry-scurry, a repetitive formation based on hurry, or it may be imitative. Its earliest recorded meaning already expressed hasty movement, rather than a different action that later became figurative.
In context
They have long claws on their front feet that allow them to scurry up a tree, or even the side of a building, quick as a flash.
More examples
- Late commuters scurry toward the train before its doors close.
- The crab scurried under a rock as we approached.
- We hear a scurry of tiny feet in the attic.
Forms
scurry · scurries · scurried · scurrying