fly

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   Any insect of the order Diptera

   Any insect of the order Diptera; characterized by having two wings (except for some wingless species), also called true flies.

2. 2

   Especially, any of the insects of the family Muscidae, such as the common housefly (other…

   Especially, any of the insects of the family Muscidae, such as the common housefly (other families of Diptera include mosquitoes and midges).

3. 3

   Those or any similar but not closely related insect, such as a dragonfly, butterfly, or…

   Those or any similar but not closely related insect, such as a dragonfly, butterfly, or gallfly.

4. ›+ 49 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      A lightweight fishing lure resembling an insect.

      • I went on trying for fish along the western bank down the river, but only small trout rose at my flies, and a score was the total catch.
   2. 5

      A chest exercise performed by moving extended arms from the sides to in front of the…

      A chest exercise performed by moving extended arms from the sides to in front of the chest. (also flye)

   3. 6

      The butterfly stroke (plural is normally flys).

   4. 7

      A witch's familiar.

      • a trifling fly, none of your great familiars
   5. 8

      A parasite.

      • The fly that plays too near the flame burns in it.
   6. 9

      A simple dance in which the hands are shaken in the air, popular in the 1960s.

   7. 10

      A butterfly (combination of four options).

   8. 11

      To travel through the air, another gas, or a vacuum, without being in contact with a…

      To travel through the air, another gas, or a vacuum, without being in contact with a grounded surface.

      • 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 Hong Kong.
   9. 12

      To flee, to escape (from).

      • Fly, my lord! The enemy are upon us!
      • to fly the favours of so good a king
   10. 13

       To cause to fly (travel or float in the air)

       To cause to fly (travel or float in the air): to transport via air or the like.

       • 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.
   11. 14

       To travel or proceed very fast

       To travel or proceed very fast; to hasten.

       • He flew down the hill on his bicycle.
       • It's five o'clock already. Doesn't time fly?
       • Fly, envious Time, till thou run out thy race.
   12. 15

       To move suddenly, or with violence

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

       • a door flies open
       • a bomb flies apart
   13. 16

       To proceed with great success.

       • His career is really flying at the moment.
       • One moment the company was flying high, the next it was on its knees.
   14. 17

       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?
   15. 18

       To display (a flag) on a flagpole.

   16. 19

       To hunt with a hawk.

       • We'll fly the partridge, or go rouse the deer.
   17. 20

       To be in the winged adult stage.

       • This species flies from late summer until frost.
   18. 21

       The action of flying

       The action of flying; flight.

   19. 22

       An act of flying.

       • There was a good wind, so I decided to give the kite a fly.
   20. 23

       A fly ball.

   21. 24

       Ellipsis of fly route.

   22. 25

       A piece of canvas that covers the opening at the front of a tent.

   23. 26

       The sloping or roof part of the canvas of a tent.

       • [T]he main part of the operation of pitching the tent, consisting of raising the flies, may be performed, and shelter afforded, without the walls, &c., being present.
       • The cavalcade drew up in line, / Pitch'd the marquee, and went to dine. / The bearers and the servants lie / Under the shelter of the fly.
       • After I had changed my riding-habit for my one other gown, I came out to join the general under the tent-fly.
   24. 27

       A strip of material (sometimes hiding zippers or buttons) at the front of a pair of…

       A strip of material (sometimes hiding zippers or buttons) at the front of a pair of trousers, pants, underpants, bootees, etc.

       • Ha-ha! Your fly's 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
   25. 28

       The moving portion of an extendable ladder.

   26. 29

       The free edge of a flag.

   27. 30

       The horizontal length of a flag.

   28. 31

       An exercise that involves wide opening and closing of the arms perpendicular to the…

       An exercise that involves wide opening and closing of the arms perpendicular to the shoulders.

   29. 32

       The part of a weather vane pointing the direction from which the wind blows.

   30. 33

       That part of a compass on which the points are marked

       That part of a compass on which the points are marked; the compass card.

       • to the fly of the compass, which before was made equal, I was still constrained to put some small piece of wire on the south part there
   31. 34

       Two or more vanes set on a revolving axis, to act as a fanner, or to equalize or impede…

       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.

   32. 35

       Ellipsis of flywheel.

   33. 36

       A type of small, light, fast horse-drawn carriage that can be hired for transportation…

       A type of small, light, fast horse-drawn carriage that can be hired for transportation (sometimes pluralised flys).

       • A fly carried him rapidly to Lady Clavering’s house from the station […]
       • 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.
       • 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.
   34. 37

       In a knitting machine, the piece hinged to the needle, which holds the engaged loop in…

       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.

   35. 38

       The pair of arms revolving around the bobbin, in a spinning wheel or spinning frame, to…

       The pair of arms revolving around the bobbin, in a spinning wheel or spinning frame, to twist the yarn.

   36. 39

       A shuttle driven through the shed by a blow or jerk.

   37. 40

       The person who took the printed sheets from the press.

   38. 41

       A vibrating frame with fingers, attached to a power printing press for doing the same…

       A vibrating frame with fingers, attached to a power printing press for doing the same work.

   39. 42

       One of the upper screens of a stage in a theatre.

   40. 43

       Waste cotton.

   41. 44

       To hit a fly ball

       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.
   42. 45

       Quick-witted, alert, mentally sharp.

   43. 46

       Clandestine, surreptitious

       • Some say God was an alien that tampered with our DNA, the 3 kings followed ufos & Mary had a fly shag 🤔🤫
   44. 47

       Well dressed, smart in appearance

       Well dressed, smart in appearance; in style, cool.

       • He's pretty fly.
       • 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.
       • Give it to me, baby! Uh huh, uh huh! And all the girlies say, I’m pretty fly for a white guy.
   45. 48

       Beautiful

       Beautiful; displaying physical beauty.

       • [Rahiem] My name brings peace and tranquility / So all the fly ladies' hearts can run free
       • 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
       • I rap for listeners, blunt heads, fly ladies and prisoners
   46. 49

       A wing.

       • The bullet barely grazed the wild fowl's fly.
   47. 50

       Alternative form of vly (“swamp (in New York)”).

       • June 8, 1708, John Cock and William Nottingham desire 100 acres each [...] Isaac Davis desied a conveyance for the "greenbush" fly or swamp that he hath drained near his land, in the Jaagh Creupel-bosh.
       • […] one certain Lot of the Long fly, or swamp situate lying and being [in] the Township of Flatlands […] recorded June 15, 1876, Liber 1244 of Conveyances, at page 494, Kings County. The "East Division" was the Long Vly, […]
       • […] to a white maple stake standing in a fly or swamp , thence N [...] to a Hemlock Stake, […]
   48. 51

       A river in Papua New Guinea

   49. 52

       A surname.

The neighborhood

• synonymflee
• synonymabscond
• synonymflit
• synonymmove quickly
• synonymzoom
• synonymrush
• antonymwalkantonym(s) of “travel through air”
• antonymremainantonym(s) of “flee”
• antonymstayantonym(s) of “flee”
• antonymmove slowlyantonym(s) of
• neighborbarfly
• neighborblackfly
• neighborblowfly
• neighborblue-banded eggfly
• neighborbotfly
• neighborbutterfly
• neighborcabbage root fly
• neighborcaddis fly
• neighborcranefly
• neighbordamselfly
• neighbordragonfly
• neighbordrain fly