flighted

1. 1
   adjective

   Capable of flight; able to take off and move through the air.

   Bats are the only flighted mammals capable of true powered flight.

   The young condors became flighted and soared above the canyon walls.

   Similarflying, volant

   Oppositeflightless

   Note

   A word at home in comparative anatomy. Luis Chiappe and Lawrence Witmer's Mesozoic Birds (2002) sets flighted birds against flightless ones when comparing their wing bones. Its opposites are flightless and nonflying. Volant is the more learned synonym, and nonvolant is its matching opposite. Unlike flying, which can describe what a bird is doing at the moment, flighted names a capacity the animal has.

2. 2
   adjective

   Having developed flight feathers, as a bird does upon reaching maturity.

   The eaglets were fully flighted by late summer and began leaving the nest.

   Keepers wait until a chick is flighted before moving it to the outdoor aviary.

   Similarfledged

   Note

   Here the word marks a stage of growth rather than an ability. A chick becomes flighted when its flight feathers come in, and the word is built simply from flight plus -ed. Its opposite is unflighted. Keep it apart from the "capable of flight" meaning: a bird can carry a full set of flight feathers and still be grounded if those feathers have been clipped.

3. 3
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of flight.

   The spinner flighted the delivery high to deceive the batter.

   The fletcher flighted the arrows with stiff goose quills.

   Note

   The verb behind this form is a sports word. A bowler who flights the ball gives it more air and spin than usual, and more broadly, any ball thrown or kicked with extra loft is flighted. The verb is regular and takes an object (flighted the ball), so it also forms passives. It shares its spelling with the feather-bearing adjective, but its sense comes from loft rather than plumage.

4. 4
   adjective

   Having a specified number or kind of flights, as in a staircase or a screw thread.

   The old tower stairs were flighted in two runs that met at a landing.

   Engineers chose a finely flighted screw to advance the part smoothly.

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