'Fly' definitions:

Definition of 'fly'

From: WordNet
adjective
(British informal) not to be deceived or hoodwinked
noun
Two-winged insects characterized by active flight
noun
Flap consisting of a piece of canvas that can be drawn back to provide entrance to a tent [syn: tent-fly, rainfly, fly sheet, fly, tent flap]
noun
An opening in a garment that is closed by a zipper or by buttons concealed under a fold of cloth [syn: fly, fly front]
noun
(baseball) a hit that flies up in the air [syn: fly, fly ball]
noun
Fisherman's lure consisting of a fishhook decorated to look like an insect
verb
Travel through the air; be airborne; "Man cannot fly" [syn: fly, wing]
verb
Move quickly or suddenly; "He flew about the place"
verb
Operate an airplane; "The pilot flew to Cuba" [syn: fly, aviate, pilot]
verb
Transport by aeroplane; "We fly flowers from the Caribbean to North America"
verb
Cause to fly or float; "fly a kite"
verb
Be dispersed or disseminated; "Rumors and accusations are flying"
verb
Change quickly from one emotional state to another; "fly into a rage"
verb
Pass away rapidly; "Time flies like an arrow"; "Time fleeing beneath him" [syn: fly, fell, vanish]
verb
Travel in an airplane; "she is flying to Cincinnati tonight"; "Are we driving or flying?"
verb
Display in the air or cause to float; "fly a kite"; "All nations fly their flags in front of the U.N."
verb
Run away quickly; "He threw down his gun and fled" [syn: flee, fly, take flight]
verb
Travel over (an area of land or sea) in an aircraft; "Lindbergh was the first to fly the Atlantic"
verb
Hit a fly
verb
Decrease rapidly and disappear; "the money vanished in las Vegas"; "all my stock assets have vaporized" [syn: vanish, fly, vaporize]

Definition of 'Fly'

From: GCIDE
  • Fly \Fly\, v. t.
  • 1. To cause to fly or to float in the air, as a bird, a kite, a flag, etc. [1913 Webster]
  • The brave black flag I fly. --W. S. Gilbert. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. To fly or flee from; to shun; to avoid. [1913 Webster]
  • Sleep flies the wretch. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
  • To fly the favors of so good a king. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. To hunt with a hawk. [Obs.] --Bacon. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. To manage (an aircraft) in flight; as, to fly an a["e]roplane. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
  • To fly a kite (Com.), to raise money on commercial notes. [Cant or Slang] [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Fly'

From: GCIDE
  • Fly \Fly\ (fl[imac]), v. i. [imp. Flew (fl[=u]); p. p. Flown (fl[=o]n); p. pr. & vb. n. Flying.] [OE. fleen, fleen, fleyen, flegen, AS. fle['o]gan; akin to D. vliegen, OHG. fliogan, G. fliegen, Icel. flj[=u]ga, Sw. flyga, Dan. flyve, Goth. us-flaugjan to cause to fly away, blow about, and perh. to L. pluma feather, E. plume. [root]84. Cf. Fledge, Flight, Flock of animals.]
  • 1. To move in or pass through the air with wings, as a bird.
  • 2. To move through the air or before the wind; esp., to pass or be driven rapidly through the air by any impulse. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. To float, wave, or rise in the air, as sparks or a flag. [1913 Webster]
  • Man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward. --Job v. 7. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. To move or pass swiftly; to hasten away; to circulate rapidly; as, a ship flies on the deep; a top flies around; rumor flies. [1913 Webster]
  • Fly, envious Time, till thou run out thy race. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
  • The dark waves murmured as the ships flew on. --Bryant. [1913 Webster]
  • 5. To run from danger; to attempt to escape; to flee; as, an enemy or a coward flies. See Note under Flee. [1913 Webster]
  • Fly, ere evil intercept thy flight. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
  • Whither shall I fly to escape their hands ? --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • 6. To move suddenly, or with violence; to do an act suddenly or swiftly; -- usually with a qualifying word; as, a door flies open; a bomb flies apart. [1913 Webster]
  • To fly about (Naut.), to change frequently in a short time; -- said of the wind.
  • To fly around, to move about in haste. [Colloq.]
  • To fly at, to spring toward; to rush on; to attack suddenly.
  • To fly in the face of, to insult; to assail; to set at defiance; to oppose with violence; to act in direct opposition to; to resist.
  • To fly off, to separate, or become detached suddenly; to revolt.
  • To fly on, to attack.
  • To fly open, to open suddenly, or with violence.
  • To fly out. (a) To rush out. (b) To burst into a passion; to break out into license.
  • To let fly. (a) To throw or drive with violence; to discharge. "A man lets fly his arrow without taking any aim." --Addison. (b) (Naut.) To let go suddenly and entirely; as, to let fly the sheets. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Fly'

From: GCIDE
  • Fly \Fly\, n.; pl. Flies (fl[imac]z). [OE. flie, flege, AS. fl[=y]ge, fle['o]ge, fr. fle['o]gan to fly; akin to D. vlieg, OHG. flioga, G. fliege, Icel. & Sw. fluga, Dan. flue. [root]
  • 84. See Fly, v. i.]
  • 1. (Zool.) (a) Any winged insect; esp., one with transparent wings; as, the Spanish fly; firefly; gall fly; dragon fly. (b) Any dipterous insect; as, the house fly; flesh fly; black fly. See Diptera, and Illust. in Append. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. A hook dressed in imitation of a fly, -- used for fishing. "The fur-wrought fly." --Gay. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. A familiar spirit; a witch's attendant. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
  • A trifling fly, none of your great familiars. --B. Jonson. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. A parasite. [Obs.] --Massinger. [1913 Webster]
  • 5. A kind of light carriage for rapid transit, plying for hire and usually drawn by one horse. [Eng.] [1913 Webster]
  • 6. The length of an extended flag from its staff; sometimes, the length from the "union" to the extreme end. [1913 Webster]
  • 7. The part of a vane pointing the direction from which the wind blows. [1913 Webster]
  • 8. (Naut.) That part of a compass on which the points are marked; the compass card. --Totten. [1913 Webster]
  • 9. (Mech.) (a) 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. (b) 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 Fly wheel (below). [1913 Webster]
  • 10. (Knitting Machine) The piece hinged to the needle, which holds the engaged loop in position while the needle is penetrating another loop; a latch. --Knight. [1913 Webster]
  • 11. The pair of arms revolving around the bobbin, in a spinning wheel or spinning frame, to twist the yarn. [1913 Webster]
  • 12. (Weaving) A shuttle driven through the shed by a blow or jerk. --Knight. [1913 Webster]
  • 13. (a) Formerly, the person who took the printed sheets from the press. (b) A vibrating frame with fingers, attached to a power to a power printing press for doing the same work. [1913 Webster]
  • 14. The outer canvas of a tent with double top, usually drawn over the ridgepole, but so extended as to touch the roof of the tent at no other place. [1913 Webster]
  • 15. One of the upper screens of a stage in a theater. [1913 Webster]
  • 16. The fore flap of a bootee; also, a lap on trousers, overcoats, etc., to conceal a row of buttons. [1913 Webster]
  • 17. (Baseball) A batted ball that flies to a considerable distance, usually high in the air; also, the flight of a ball so struck; as, it was caught on the fly. Also called fly ball. "a fly deep into right field" [1913 Webster +PJC]
  • 18. (Cotton Manuf.) Waste cotton. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
  • Black fly, Cheese fly, Dragon fly, etc. See under Black, Cheese, etc. -- Fly agaric (Bot.), a mushroom (Agaricus muscarius), having a narcotic juice which, in sufficient quantities, is poisonous. -- Fly block (Naut.), a pulley whose position shifts to suit the working of the tackle with which it is connected; -- used in the hoisting tackle of yards. -- Fly board (Printing Press), the board on which printed sheets are deposited by the fly. -- Fly book, a case in the form of a book for anglers' flies. --Kingsley.Fly cap, a cap with wings, formerly worn by women. -- Fly drill, a drill having a reciprocating motion controlled by a fly wheel, the driving power being applied by the hand through a cord winding in reverse directions upon the spindle as it rotates backward and forward. --Knight.Fly fishing, the act or art of angling with a bait of natural or artificial flies; fishing using a fly[2] as bait. --Walton. -- -- Fly fisherman, one who fishes using natural or artificial flies[2] as bait, especially one who fishes exclusively in that manner. -- Fly flap, an implement for killing flies. -- Fly governor, a governor for regulating the speed of an engine, etc., by the resistance of vanes revolving in the air. -- Fly honeysuckle (Bot.), a plant of the honeysuckle genus (Lonicera), having a bushy stem and the flowers in pairs, as L. ciliata and {L. Xylosteum}. -- Fly hook, a fishhook supplied with an artificial fly. -- Fly leaf, an unprinted leaf at the beginning or end of a book, circular, programme, etc. -- Fly maggot, a maggot bred from the egg of a fly. --Ray.
  • Fly net, a screen to exclude insects.
  • Fly nut (Mach.), a nut with wings; a thumb nut; a finger nut.
  • Fly orchis (Bot.), a plant (Ophrys muscifera), whose flowers resemble flies.
  • Fly paper, poisoned or sticky paper for killing flies that feed upon or are entangled by it.
  • Fly powder, an arsenical powder used to poison flies.
  • Fly press, a screw press for punching, embossing, etc., operated by hand and having a heavy fly.
  • Fly rail, a bracket which turns out to support the hinged leaf of a table.
  • Fly rod, a light fishing rod used in angling with a fly.
  • Fly sheet, a small loose advertising sheet; a handbill.
  • Fly snapper (Zool.), an American bird ({Phainopepla nitens}), allied to the chatterers and shrikes. The male is glossy blue-black; the female brownish gray.
  • Fly wheel (Mach.), a heavy wheel attached to machinery to equalize the movement (opposing any sudden acceleration by its inertia and any retardation by its momentum), and to accumulate or give out energy for a variable or intermitting resistance. See Fly, n., 9.
  • On the fly (Baseball), still in the air; -- said of a batted ball caught before touching the ground.. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Fly'

From: GCIDE
  • Fly \Fly\, a. Knowing; wide awake; fully understanding another's meaning. [Slang] --Dickens. [1913 Webster] Fly amanita

Definition of 'Fly'

From: Easton
  • Fly Heb. zebub, (Eccl. 10:1; Isa. 7:18). This fly was so grievous a pest that the Phoenicians invoked against it the aid of their god Baal-zebub (q.v.). The prophet Isaiah (7:18) alludes to some poisonous fly which was believed to be found on the confines of Egypt, and which would be called by the Lord. Poisonous flies exist in many parts of Africa, for instance, the different kinds of tsetse.
  • Heb. 'arob, the name given to the insects sent as a plague on the land of Egypt (Ex. 8:21-31; Ps. 78:45; 105:31). The LXX. render this by a word which means the "dog-fly," the cynomuia. The Jewish commentators regarded the Hebrew word here as connected with the word _'arab_, which means "mingled;" and they accordingly supposed the plague to consist of a mixed multitude of animals, beasts, reptiles, and insects. But there is no doubt that "the _'arab_" denotes a single definite species. Some interpreters regard it as the Blatta orientalis, the cockroach, a species of beetle. These insects "inflict very painful bites with their jaws; gnaw and destroy clothes, household furniture, leather, and articles of every kind, and either consume or render unavailable all eatables."

Synonyms of 'fly'

From: Moby Thesaurus

Words containing 'Fly'