Word.ws English Dictionary

flyting

flyting noun: contention, noisy argument.

Noun

flyting (plural flytings)

  1. Contention, noisy argument.
  2. Scolding, rebuke.
  3. A poetic contest of insults or invective.
    • These "flytings" consisted of alternate torrents of sheer Billingsgate poured upon each other by the combatants.1898, George Saintsbury, A Short History of English Literature
    • Rival poets in Scotland exchanged flytings that were packed with riddling conceits.2007, Marina Warner, “Doubly Damned”, in London Review of Books, 29:3, p. 26

Forms of flyting

pluralflytings

Origin of flyting

From Middle English fliting, flytyng, equivalent to flyte + -ing.

Questions about flyting

What does flyting mean?
Flyting means contention, noisy argument.
What part of speech is flyting?
Flyting is a noun.
What is the plural of flyting?
The plural of flyting is flytings.

Words near flyting in the dictionary

  1. flythroughs
  2. flytier
  3. flytiers
  4. flytime
  5. flytimes
  6. flyting
  7. flytings
  8. flytip
  9. flytipped
  10. flytipper
  11. flytippers

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: flyting (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.

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