To skitter means to move with quick, light, irregular steps or hops, often in a nervous or startled way. A mouse might skitter across the kitchen floor when you turn on the lights. Dried leaves skitter across the pavement on a windy autumn day, scraping and tumbling in unpredictable directions.

The word captures both the movement and the sound: that light, scratchy, pattering noise of something small moving fast. A crab skitters sideways across the sand. A pebble skitters across ice when you toss it. Water bugs skitter across the surface of a pond without breaking through.

Skitter suggests lightness and quickness, but also a lack of control or steadiness. It's different from running, which is purposeful and direct. When something skitters, it moves in a jittery, unpredictable way, often because it's trying to escape or because it's being blown or pushed along. You might feel your heart skitter when you're nervous or startled, beating fast and irregularly for a moment before settling down.