chitter
/ˈt͡ʃɪtɚ/UK/ˈtʃɪtə/
chitter verb: to make a series of high-pitched sounds; to twitter, chirp or chatter. Also the alternative form of chitterling.
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.
- To shiver or chatter with cold.
- Whare wilt thou cower thy chittering wing, / An' close thy e'e?1786, Robert Burns, A Winter Night
Also used as
chitter is also the alternative form of chitterling.
Forms of chitter
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | chitters |
| present participle | chittering |
| past participle | chittered |
| past | chittered |
| Noun | |
| plural | chitters |
Origin of chitter
From Middle English chiteren, chitren, cheteren. Ultimately onomatopoeic; compare didder and teeter as well as German zittern.
Words formed from chitter
Words that rhyme with chitter
18 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about chitter
- What does chitter mean?
- Chitter means to make a series of high-pitched sounds; to twitter, chirp or chatter.
- What part of speech is chitter?
- Chitter is a verb.
- How do you pronounce chitter?
- Chitter is pronounced /ˈtʃɪtə/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of chitter?
- The past tense of chitter is chittered.
Words near chitter in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: chitter (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “chitter.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/chitter. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.