flutter the dovecote

English

Etymology

Possibly from Coriolanus (written c. 1608–1609; published 1623) by the English playwright William Shakespeare (1564–1616), Act V, scene vi (spelling modernized): “[L]ike an eagle in a dovecote, I / Fluttered your Volcians in Corioles.”[1][2]

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌflʌtə ðə ˈdʌvkɒt/
(General American) IPA^(key): /ˌflʌtɚ ðə ˈdʌvkɑt/, [-ɾɚ-]
Hyphenation: flut‧ter the dove‧cote

Verb

flutter the dovecote (third-person singular simple present flutters the dovecote, present participle fluttering the dovecote, simple past and past participle fluttered the dovecote)

(idiomatic) To create a disturbance, usually within a group of people who are generally placid and unexcited.

Alternative forms

flutter the dovecot
flutter the dovecotes

Derived terms

flutter in the dovecote (probably)

Translations

to create a disturbance, usually within a group of people who are generally placid and unexcited

References

William Shakespeare (written c. 1608–1609), “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, page 30: “[L]ike an Eagle in a Doue-coat, I / Flatter’d^{[sic – meaning Flutter’d]} your Volcians in Corioles.”
Compare “to flutter the dovecotes” under “flutter, v.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, June 2022; “flutter the dovecotes, phrase”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

[1] William Shakespeare (written c. 1608–1609), “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, page 30: “[L]ike an Eagle in a Doue-coat, I / Flatter’d^{[sic – meaning Flutter’d]} your Volcians in Corioles.”

[2] Compare “to flutter the dovecotes” under “flutter, v.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, June 2022; “flutter the dovecotes, phrase”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.