take a flutter

Verb

take a flutter (third-person singular simple present takes a flutter, present participle taking a flutter, simple past took a flutter, past participle taken a flutter)

1. To flutter for a short period of time.
   • Jenny's pulse took a flutter at the word 'newspaper' now knowing that she was guilty.2016 -, Laurie Pegrum, Looking at Clouds, page 218
   • “Now, that's a good question, and I'm glad to answer it,” Potter said. “The fact is that it occurred to me there might be a pigeon somewhere round here that was thinking of taking a flutter.2017, Richard Mason -, The Fever Tree
2. (Canada, UK) To place a small bet.
   • Hughes takes a flutter on the nearest six, nickel bets on thirty-one to thirty-six.2010, Steven Manners, Valley of Fire
   • Although they aspired, like all natural-born gamblers, to taking a flutter and beating that system (they all loved the idea of tips, of course), they were sufficiently cynical to know it's a mug's game and that it was largely bound to fail.2012, David Stevenson, FT Guide to Exchange Traded Funds and Index Funds
3. (Canada, UK) To support a risky option.
   • You'd hardly believe how difficult it was to interest the public and make them take a flutter on the old boy.1919, P.G. Wodehouse, My Man Jeeves
   • In the next general election in 2007 the Liberals hung on to only a couple of these ridings: most of their voters took a flutter with the ADQ.2012, Peter F. Trent, Merger Delusion