fly

• enPR: flī, IPA^(key): /flaɪ/

• Audio (US)

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• Rhymes: -aɪ

From Middle English flye, flie, from Old English flȳġe, flēoge (“a fly”), from Proto-Germanic *fleugǭ (“a fly”), from Proto-Indo-European *plewk- (“to fly”). Cognate with Scots flee, Saterland Frisian Fljooge, Dutch vlieg, German Low German Fleeg, German Fliege, Danish flue, Swedish fluga, Icelandic fluga.

A fly (insect)

fly (plural flies)

1. (zoology) Any insect of the order Diptera; characterized by having two wings (except for some wingless species), also called true flies.
   • 2012 January 1, Douglas Larson, “Runaway Devils Lake”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 1, page 46:

     Devils Lake is where I began my career as a limnologist in 1964, studying the lake’s neotenic salamanders and chironomids, or midge flies. […] The Devils Lake Basin is an endorheic, or closed, basin covering about 9,800 square kilometers in northeastern North Dakota.

2. (non-technical) Especially, any of the insects of the family Muscidae, such as the common housefly (other families of Diptera include mosquitoes and midges).
   • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 5, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:

     When you're well enough off so's you don't have to fret about anything but your heft or your diseases you begin to get queer, I suppose. And the queerer the cure for those ailings the bigger the attraction. A place like the Right Livers' Rest was bound to draw freaks, same as molasses draws flies.

3. Any similar, but unrelated insect such as dragonfly or butterfly.
4. (fishing) A lightweight fishing lure resembling an insect.
5. (weightlifting) A chest exercise performed by moving extended arms from the sides to in front of the chest. (also flye)
6. (obsolete) A witch's familiar.
   • (Can we date this quote?) Ben Jonson

     a trifling fly, none of your great familiars

7. (obsolete) A parasite.
   • 1636, “The Bashful Lover”, in Gifford, William, editor, The Plays of Philip Massinger‎, Act 1, Scene 1, published 1845, page 470:

     The fly that plays too near the flame burns in it.

8. (swimming) The butterfly stroke (plural is normally flys)
9. A simple dance in which the hands are shaken in the air, popular in the 1960s.

• no flies on
• wouldn't hurt a fly

• fly on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Muscidae on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

From Middle English flien, from Old English flēogan, from Proto-Germanic *fleuganą (compare Saterland Frisian fljooge, Dutch vliegen, Low German flegen, German fliegen, Danish flyve, Norwegian Nynorsk flyga), from Proto-Indo-European *plewk- (*plew-k-, “to fly”) (compare Lithuanian plaũkti ‘to swim’), enlargement of *plew- (“flow”). More at flee and flow.

fly (third-person singular simple present flies, present participle flying, simple past flew, past participle flown)

1. (intransitive) To travel through the air, another gas, or a vacuum, without being in contact with a grounded surface.
   • (Can we date this quote?), G. K. Chesterton

     Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly.

   • 2013 September 7, “On a bright new wing”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8852:

     Flying using only the power of the sun is an enticing prospect. But manned solar-powered aircraft are fragile and slow, […].

   Birds of passage fly to warmer regions as it gets colder in winter.   The Concorde flew from Paris to New York faster than any other passenger airplane.   It takes about eleven hours to fly from Frankfurt to Hongkong.   The little fairy flew home on the back of her friend, the giant eagle.

2. (transitive, intransitive, archaic, poetic) To flee, to escape (from).
   • (Can we date this quote?), John Dryden

     Sleep flies the wretch.

   • (Can we date this quote?) William Shakespeare

     to fly the favours of so good a king

   • (Can we date this quote?) William Shakespeare

     Whither shall I fly to escape their hands?

   • c. 1597, William Shakespeare, “The Merry VViues of VVindsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act IV, scene iv], page 56, column 1:

     [V]pon a ſodaine, / As Falſtaffe, ſhe, and I, are newly met, / Let them [children dressed like "urchins, ouphes and fairies"] from forth a ſaw-pit ruſh at once / With ſome diffuſed ſong: Vpon their ſight / We two, in great amazedneſſe will flye: […]

   • (Can we date this quote?), John Milton

     Fly, ere evil intercept thy flight.

   • (Can we date this quote?), J. R. R. Tolkien

     He staggered and fell, grasped vainly at the stone, and slid into the abyss. “Fly, you fools!” he cried, and was gone.

   Fly, my lord! The enemy are upon us!

3. (transitive, ergative) To cause to fly (travel or float in the air): to transport via air or the like.
   • (Can we date this quote?) W. S. Gilbert

     The brave black flag I fly.

   • 2013 September 7, “On a bright new wing”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8852:

     A solar-powered unmanned aerial system (a UAS, more commonly called a drone) could fly long, lonely missions that conventional aircraft would not be capable of.

   Charles Lindbergh flew his airplane The Spirit of St. Louis across the Atlantic ocean.   Why don’t you go outside and fly kites, kids? The wind is just perfect.   Birds fly their prey to their nest to feed it to their young.   Each day the post flies thousands of letters around the globe.

4. (intransitive, colloquial, of a proposal, project or idea) To be accepted, come about or work out.

   Let's see if that idea flies.   You know, I just don't think that's going to fly. Why don't you spend your time on something better?

5. (intransitive) To travel very fast, hasten.
   • (Can we date this quote?) John Milton

     Fly, envious Time, till thou run out thy race.

   • (Can we date this quote?) Bryant

     The dark waves murmured as the ships flew on.

   • 2011 September 18, Ben Dirs, “Rugby World Cup 2011: England 41-10 Georgia”, in BBC Sport:

     After yet another missed penalty by Kvirikashvili from bang in front of the posts, England scored again, centre Tuilagi flying into the line and touching down under the bar.

6. To move suddenly, or with violence; to do an act suddenly or swiftly.

   a door flies open;  a bomb flies apart

   • 1859, Charles Dickens, The Haunted House

     And in respect of the great necessity there is, my darling, for more employments being within the reach of Woman than our civilisation has as yet assigned to her, don’t fly at the unfortunate men, even those men who are at first sight in your way, as if they were the natural oppressors of your sex […]

7. (transitive, ergative) To display (a flag) on a flagpole.
8. To hunt with a hawk.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Francis Bacon to this entry?)

• (travel through air): soar, hover, wing, skim, glide, ascend, rise, float, aviate
• (flee): escape, flee, abscond; see also Thesaurus:flee
• (travel very fast): dart, flit; see also Thesaurus:move quickly
• (do an act suddenly): hurry, zoom; see also Thesaurus:rush

• (travel through air): walk
• (flee): remain, stay
• (travel very fast): see also Thesaurus:move slowly

• fly agaric
• flight

fly (plural flies)

1. (obsolete) The action of flying; flight.
2. An act of flying.

   We had a quick half-hour fly back into the city.

   There was a good wind, so I decided to give the kite a fly.

3. (baseball) A fly ball.
4. (now historical) A type of small, fast carriage (sometimes pluralised flys).
   • 1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula, Folio Society 2008, page 124:

     As we left the house in my fly, which had been waiting, Van Helsing said:— ‘Tonight I can sleep in peace [...].’

   • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 16, in The Mirror and the Lamp:

     “[…] She takes the whole thing with desperate seriousness. But the others are all easy and jovial—thinking about the good fare that is soon to be eaten, about the hired fly, about anything.”

   • 1924, Ford Madox Ford, Some Do Not…, Penguin 2012 (Parade's End), page 54:

     And, driving back in the fly, Macmaster said to himself that you couldn't call Mrs. Duchemin ordinary, at least.

5. A piece of canvas that covers the opening at the front of a tent.
6. (often plural) A strip of material (sometimes hiding zippers or buttons) at the front of a pair of trousers, pants, underpants, bootees, etc.

   Ha-ha! Your flies are undone!

   • February 2014 Y-Front Fly

     Y-Front is a registered trademark for a special front fly turned upside down to form a Y owned by Jockey® International. The first Y-Front® brief was created by Jockey® more than 70 years ago.

   • June 2014 The Hole In Men’s Underwear: Name And Purpose

     Briefs were given an opening in the front. The point of this opening (the ‘fly’) was to make it easier to pee with clothes on

7. The free edge of a flag.
8. The horizontal length of a flag.
9. (weightlifting) An exercise that involves wide opening and closing of the arms perpendicular to the shoulders.
10. The part of a vane pointing the direction from which the wind blows.
11. (nautical) That part of a compass on which the points are marked; the compass card.

    (Can we find and add a quotation of Totten to this entry?)

12. Two or more vanes set on a revolving axis, to act as a fanner, or to equalize or impede the motion of machinery by the resistance of the air, as in the striking part of a clock.
13. A heavy wheel, or cross arms with weights at the ends on a revolving axis, to regulate or equalize the motion of machinery by means of its inertia, where the power communicated, or the resistance to be overcome, is variable, as in the steam engine or the coining press. See flywheel.
14. (historical) A light horse-drawn carriage that can be hired for transportation.
    • 1859, Wilkie Collins, The Woman in White:

      Can I get a fly, or a carriage of any kind? Is it too late?

      I dismissed the fly a mile distant from the park, and getting my directions from the driver, proceeded by myself to the house.

    • 1861, Henry Mayhew and William Tuckniss, London Labour and the London Poor: A Cyclopœdia of the Condition and Earnings of Those that Will Work, Those that Cannot Work, and Those that Will Not Work, Volume 3, p. 359:

      A glass coach, it may be as well to observe, is a carriage and pair hired by the day, and a fly a one-horse carriage hired in a similar manner.

15. In a knitting machine, the piece hinged to the needle, which holds the engaged loop in position while the needle is penetrating another loop; a latch.

    (Can we find and add a quotation of Knight to this entry?)

16. The pair of arms revolving around the bobbin, in a spinning wheel or spinning frame, to twist the yarn.
17. (weaving) A shuttle driven through the shed by a blow or jerk.

    (Can we find and add a quotation of Knight to this entry?)

18. (printing, historical) The person who took the printed sheets from the press.
19. (printing, historical) A vibrating frame with fingers, attached to a power printing press for doing the same work.
20. One of the upper screens of a stage in a theatre.
21. (cotton manufacture) waste cotton

fly (third-person singular simple present flies, present participle flying, simple past and past participle flied)

1. (intransitive, baseball) To hit a fly ball; to hit a fly ball that is caught for an out. Compare ground (verb) and line (verb).

   Jones flied to right in his last at-bat.

Origin uncertain; probably from the verb or noun.

fly (comparative flier, superlative fliest)

1. (slang, dated) Quick-witted, alert, mentally sharp.
   • (Can we date this quote?), Charles Dickens, “Household Words”, in Arcadia‎, volume 7, page 381:

     be assured, O man of sin—pilferer of small wares and petty larcener—that there is an eye within keenly glancing from some loophole contrived between accordions and tin breastplates that watches your every movement, and is "fly,"— to use a term peculiarly comprehensible to dishonest minds—to the slightest gesture of illegal conveyancing.

2. (slang) Well dressed, smart in appearance; in style, cool.

   He's pretty fly.

   • 1888, Frederick Thickstun Clark, A Mexican Girl‎, page 270:

     when Ortega got fixed up in his fly duds like that, an ord'nary man's overcoat wouldn't make 'im a pair o' socks.

   • 2001 September 1, “Super Fly”, in Vibe‎, volume 9, number 9, page 252:

     Starring the light-skinned Ron O'Neal with his shoulder-length perm and fly threads, Super Fly exudes a sense of black pride as O'Neal bucks the dope game, dismisses his white girlfriend, and beats The Man at his own hustle.

   • 2012, Lindy West, ‎Dan Savage, ‎Christopher Frizzelle, How to Be a Person: The Stranger's Guide to College, Sex, Intoxicants, Tacos, and Life Itself‎:

     How NOT to Facebook / […] no naked pictures, no deep emotions (awkward), no tagging a bunch of people in a picture of some fly Nikes, no making dinner plans (just use a PHONE).

3. (slang) Beautiful; displaying physical beauty.
   • 1991, “Busy Doin Nuthin”, in I Need a Haircut, performed by Biz Markie:

     Word is bond she looked divine, she looked as fly as can be
     I thought she was different cause she was by herself
     She looked real wholesome, and in good physical health

4. (slang, chiefly Doric) Sneaky
   • 2013 November 12, Charley Buchan, Karen Barrett-Ayres, “A Fly Cup”, in Doric Voices‎, Robert Gordon University:

     Noo then, fa's for a fly cup?

Related to German Flügel (“a wing”), Dutch vleugel (“a wing”), Swedish flygel (“a wing”).

fly (plural flies)

1. (rural, Scotland, Northern England) A wing.

   The bullet barely grazed the wild fowl's fly.

• fly at OneLook Dictionary Search
• The Dictionary of the Scots Language

From Norwegian fly, an abbreviation of flyvemaskin (“airplane”).

fly n (singular definite flyet, plural indefinite fly)

1. airplane

• flyvemaskine c
• flyver c

From Old Norse flýja (“flee”).

fly (imperative fly, present flyr or flyer, past flyede, past participle flyet, present participle flyende)

1. flee
2. shun

From late Old Norse fligja, flygja, from Middle Low German vlīen, vlīgen (“stack, sort out”).

fly (imperative fly, present flyr or flyer, past flyede, past participle flyet, present participle flyende)

1. hand, give

• IPA^(key): /flyː/

Short form of flygemaskin

fly n (definite singular flyet, indefinite plural fly, definite plural flya or flyene)

1. plane, aeroplane (UK), airplane (US), aircraft

From Old Norse fljúga

• flyge

fly (imperative fly, present tense flyr, simple past fløy, past participle flydd or fløyet)

1. to fly

• glidefly

• “fly” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

• IPA^(key): /flyː/ (example of pronunciation)

Shortened form of flygemaskin (“flying machine”).

fly n (definite singular flyet, indefinite plural fly, definite plural flya)

1. plane, aeroplane (UK), airplane (US), aircraft

   Skunda deg, elles misser du flyet ditt!

   Hurry up, or you'll miss your plane!

fly (present tense flyr or flyg, past tense flaug, past participle floge, passive infinitive flygast, present participle flygande, imperative fly or flyg)

1. Alternative form of flyga

From Old Norse flýja.

fly (present tense flyr, past tense flydde, past participle flydd/flytt, passive infinitive flyast, present participle flyande, imperative fly)

1. escape; flee

• “fly” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

From Old Swedish flȳia, flȳa, from Old Norse flýja, from Proto-Germanic *fleuhaną.

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fly

1. to flee, to run away, to escape

   Fångarna försökte fly från fängelset.

   The prisoners tried to escape from jail.

   Med tårarna strömmande ned för sina kinder flydde hon undan de andra tjejernas glåpord.

   With tears streaming down her cheeks, she fled the taunting words of the other girls.

2. to pass, to go by (of time)
   • 1964, Gunnel Vallquist, title of the new Swedish translation of Proust's À la recherche du temps perdu

     På spaning efter den tid som flytt

     In Search of Lost Time

   • 1965, Sven-Ingvars, Börja om från början

     Varför ska man sörja tider som har flytt?

     Why should one feel sorry for times that have past?

• flykt
• flykting

fly

1. to send, to hand

   fly me sɑksa

   hand me the scissors