# fly

Pronunciation: say "FLY" /flaɪ/

## Verb

1. To travel through the air, another gas, or a vacuum, without touching a grounded surface.
   - Simple: To move through the air without touching the ground.
   - _Migratory geese fly thousands of miles each year between their feeding grounds._
   - _The drone flew steadily over the flooded valley while the camera recorded._
3. To operate and steer an aircraft, drone, or spacecraft in flight.
   - Simple: To control a plane, drone, or spacecraft as it travels through the air or space.
   - _Only two astronauts on the crew are trained to fly the capsule by hand._
   - _He flew cargo jets for an overnight delivery company for twenty years._
4. To move or go very quickly or suddenly; to rush.
   - Simple: To move or go very fast or very suddenly.
   - _Commuters fly through the station to catch the last train home._
   - _The weeks flew by during summer break._
5. To transport someone or something through the air, as by aircraft.
   - Simple: To move people or things through the air, usually in a plane.
   - _Rescue teams fly injured climbers down from the mountain._
   - _The company flew its executives to the summit on a private jet._
6. To display a flag by raising it on a flagpole or mast.
   - Simple: To raise and show a flag on a pole.
   - _Government buildings fly the flag at half-mast after a tragedy._
   - _The sailors flew their country's colors from the mast._
11. To launch a kite or similar object and keep it aloft while steering it from the ground.
   - Simple: To make a kite or something like it go up and stay in the air, while you control it from the ground.
   - _It took my daughter three tries to fly her new kite without crashing it into a tree._
   - _Families flew huge dragon kites along the shore during the spring festival._
8. Of a plan, idea or project, to be accepted, work out or succeed. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To work well or be accepted, said of a plan or idea.
   - _The proposal might fly if the budget stays low._
   - _Their excuse never flew with the teacher._
13. To perform outstandingly or advance quickly and with success, said of a player, a team, a career, or a business. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To do very well or move ahead fast and with success, like a team or a business.
   - _Once the app hit the top of the download charts, the startup really began to fly._
   - _The striker has been flying since his transfer, scoring in nearly every match._
14. In baseball, to hit a fly ball, especially one caught in the air for an out.
   - Simple: In baseball, to hit the ball high into the air.
   - _With a runner on third and one out, he flied to deep right, and the runner tagged up and scored._
   - _Against a pitcher who works up in the zone, power hitters are more likely to fly out than ground out._
23. Of a flag, banner, or something similar: to be raised high, or to ripple and stream in the breeze with one end secured.
   - Simple: Of a flag or banner, to be high up or to wave in the wind while held at one end.
   - _Flags across the city will fly at half-staff until Friday._
   - _Colorful pennants flew from every mast in the harbor, snapping in the stiff wind._

## Noun

2. A small two-winged insect, such as the common housefly.
   - Simple: A small flying insect with two wings, like the ones that buzz around food.
   - _Entomologists distinguish a true fly by its single pair of working wings._
   - _Scientists have named well over a hundred thousand kinds of flies, from tiny fruit flies to large, biting horseflies._
7. A very light fishing lure made by tying feathers, fur or thread onto a hook, usually to look like an insect or other small prey, used especially in fly fishing.
   - Simple: A light fishing lure, often made of feathers on a hook, that looks like an insect or other small prey.
   - _The angler cast his fly upstream and let it drift over the trout._
   - _A well-tied fly can fool even a wary fish._
12. A strip of fabric at the front of pants, shorts, or underwear that conceals the zipper or buttons.
   - Simple: The flap of cloth at the front of pants that covers the zipper or buttons.
   - _She quietly told him his fly was down before he walked on stage._
   - _The tailor reinforced the fly with an extra row of stitches._
9. A baseball hit high into the air, especially one that can be caught for an out.
   - Simple: In baseball, a ball hit high into the air.
   - _The outfielder drifted back to catch the fly near the wall._
   - _A deep fly to right field let the runner tag up and score._
10. An instance or act of moving through the air.
   - Simple: A single trip or moment of moving through the air.
   - _The wind picked up after lunch, so we took the new kite out for a fly._
   - _Dad promised the boys they could give the kite a fly on the beach._
15. A sheet of fabric on a tent, either the flap over the entrance or a waterproof outer cover stretched over the roof.
   - Simple: A piece of cloth on a tent that covers the door or goes over the top to keep rain out.
   - _Rain pooled on the tent's fly during the night._
   - _He rolled back the fly to let in the cool morning air._
16. Any insect that resembles a true fly but is not closely related, such as a dragonfly, butterfly, or gallfly.
   - Simple: An insect that looks like a true fly but belongs to a different group, such as a dragonfly or butterfly.
   - _On warm summer nights, clouds of caddisflies gathered around the porch light, and bats darted in to feed on the flies._
   - _In older country speech, almost any winged insect, from a mayfly to a moth, could be called a fly._
18. The butterfly stroke, a swimming style in which both arms sweep forward together over the water.
   - Simple: A swimming stroke where both arms move forward over the water at the same time.
   - _Her best event is the 100-meter fly._
   - _Many swimmers find the fly the most exhausting stroke._
19. A strength exercise in which the arms, kept slightly bent at the elbow, sweep through a wide arc, usually from the sides to in front of the chest.
   - Simple: An exercise where you sweep slightly bent arms in a wide curve, usually from your sides to in front of you.
   - _The trainer recommended adding a fly to target the pectoral muscles._
   - _She performed each fly with controlled, extended arms._

## Adjective

17. Stylish, cool, or attractive in appearance. *(slang)*
   - Simple: Looking cool, stylish, or good-looking.
   - _She showed up to the party looking absolutely fly._
   - _His ride was the flyest car on the block._
21. Done secretly and meant to escape notice; clandestine. *(slang)*
   - Simple: Done in a secret, sneaky way.
   - _They slipped out during the wedding speeches for a fly pint at the bar next door._
   - _Grandpa wasn't supposed to have sugar, but he'd sneak a fly biscuit whenever Grandma left the kitchen._

## Verb

20. To flee or escape from something. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: To run away from danger.

## Adjective

22. Quick-witted, alert, and mentally sharp. *(dated)*
   - Simple: Smart and quick to notice things.
   - _She was far too fly to fall for such an obvious con._
   - _She was a fly one and spotted the con man's trick before he had even finished his pitch._

## Other meanings

- (verb) Of an insect, to be present in its winged adult stage during a given period.
- (noun) Short form of fly route: in American football, a pass pattern in which a receiver sprints straight downfield to get behind the defenders.
- (noun) The free edge of a flag, the part farthest from the flagpole.
- (noun) Short form of flywheel: a heavy rotating wheel that stores energy and keeps a machine running at a steady speed.
- (noun) The part of a weather vane that points toward the direction from which the wind blows.
- (noun) In options trading, a butterfly: a position built from four option contracts combined to profit within a narrow price range.
- (noun) A demon or spirit animal believed to serve a witch, imagined in the form of an insect.
- (noun) A person who lives off others, a hanger-on or sponger.
- (noun) A basic 1960s dance in which people wave and shake their hands above their heads.
- (verb) To go after game using a trained hawk or falcon.
- (noun) The full measurement of a flag from the pole side to the free edge.
- (noun) The disk inside a compass that is printed with the directions and turns to show north.
- (noun) A set of blades on a spinning shaft that uses air resistance to slow or steady a mechanism, as in the chiming part of a clock.
- (noun) A small, light, quick carriage pulled by a horse and available for hire.
- (noun) A small pivoting latch on a knitting-machine needle that keeps the current loop in place while the needle goes through another.
- (noun) On a spinning wheel or frame, the two arms that turn around the bobbin and twist the yarn.
- (noun) A weaving shuttle sent flying across the loom by a sharp strike, as in the flying shuttle.
- (noun) A printing-house worker whose job was removing freshly printed sheets as they came off.
- (noun) On a powered printing press, a shaking frame with fingers that takes off the printed sheets automatically.
- (noun) A panel or piece of scenery hung high up above a theater's stage.
- (noun) Loose cotton fibers left over as waste in a mill.
- (noun) A bird's or insect's wing.
- (noun) Another spelling of vly, a swamp or marsh, as used in New York place names.

## Origin

**Meanings 2, 7, 16, 18–19** — From Middle English flye, from Old English flȳġe, flēoge ("a fly"), going back to Proto-Germanic *fleugǭ and the Proto-Indo-European root *plewk- ("to fly"). It is related to Dutch vlieg, German Fliege, and Swedish fluga.
**Meanings 1, 3–6, 8, 11, 13, 20, 23** — Old English flēogan became Middle English flien. Behind it lies Proto-Germanic *fleuganą, which also gave Dutch vliegen and German fliegen, and before that the Proto-Indo-European root *plewk- ("to fly"), an extended form of *plew- ("flow").
**Meanings 9–10, 12, 15** — Proto-Germanic *flugiz gave Old English flyge, which became Middle English flye. Both of those words meant "flying, flight."
**Meanings 17, 21–22** — Of uncertain origin, but probably from the verb or noun "fly."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/fly (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).