[syn: scurry, scamper, skitter, scuttle]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Scamper \Scam"per\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Scampered; p. pr. &
vb. n. Scampering.] [OF. escamper to escape, to save one's
self; L. ex from + campus the field (sc. of battle). See
Camp, and cf. Decamp, Scamp, n., Shamble, v. t.]
To run with speed; to run or move in a quick, hurried manner;
to hasten away. --Macaulay.
[1913 Webster]
The lady, however, . . . could not help scampering
about the room after a mouse. --S. Sharpe.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Scamper \Scam"per\, n.
A scampering; a hasty flight.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
scamper
n 1: rushing about hastily in an undignified way [syn:
scamper, scramble, scurry]
v 1: to move about or proceed hurriedly; "so terrified by the
extraordinary ebbing of the sea that they scurried to
higher ground" [syn: scurry, scamper, skitter,
scuttle]