flying

FLY-ing/ˈflaɪ.ɪŋ/

9 meanings of flying

1
verb
Present participle of fly.
Storm clouds gathered while the planes were flying overhead.
She spent the whole afternoon flying her kite in the park.
Note
The -ing form does two jobs. With be it makes the progressive (the planes were flying), and as a gerund it acts as a noun (flying a kite takes patience). It carries every sense of fly, transitive as well as intransitive, so a pilot can be flying passengers, and in archaic or poetic use a fugitive is flying from danger. The same spelling has also settled into the adjective.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
Fly can mean flee or escape in archaic or poetic use. en.wiktionary.org
2
airborneadjective
Moving through the air, or having the ability to do so.
The museum displayed models of flying reptiles from the dinosaur era.
Engineers studied how flying beetles steer with their wings in midair.
Similarwinged, airborne
Oppositeflightless
Note
It reaches beyond wings to anything moving through the air, such as flying glass from an explosion, and it names creatures in compounds like flying fox.
3
noununcountable
The action of moving through the air, especially of traveling in or piloting an aircraft.
Modern flying relies on careful coordination between pilots and ground control.
She took up flying in her forties and now spends most weekends piloting a small plane along the coast.
UsageUsually no article: afraid of flying, take up flying; one trip by air is a flight.
Note
John Skelton's Ware the Hauke, from the early sixteenth century, has a hawk "with flyenge wery", worn out from it.
4
adjective
Able to move rapidly from place to place; highly mobile.
The army deployed a flying column to strike behind enemy lines.
The rebels relied on flying columns of mounted fighters that struck one village and were gone before government troops could arrive.
UsageMostly in set phrases: a flying column of soldiers, a flying squad of police.
Similarmobile, roving
Oppositestationary, static

flying is a form of fly

fly, verb: To travel through the air, another gas, or a vacuum, without touching a grounded surface. Full entry

Forms: flyflies he/she/itflying -ing formflew past tenseflown past participle
Spelling: fly → flying: add -ing

Practice

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Origins

Meanings 1–2, 4–5

This comes from Middle English fleynge and Old English flēogende, from Proto-Germanic *fleugandz, the present participle of Proto-Germanic *fleuganą ('to fly'), essentially 'fly' plus '-ing'. It is related to Dutch vliegend, German fliegend, and Swedish flygande, all meaning 'flying'.

Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

Flying descends from Middle English fleynge and Old English flēogende. en.wiktionary.org
The Proto-Germanic present participle is *fleugandz, from which Old English flēogende descends. en.wiktionary.org
Proto-Germanic *fleuganą means 'to fly'. en.wiktionary.org
Flying is equivalent to fly plus -ing. en.wiktionary.org
Dutch vliegend, German fliegend, and Swedish flygande are cognates meaning 'flying'. en.wiktionary.org

Meaning 3

This comes from Middle English flyinge, equivalent to 'fly' plus '-ing'. It is related to Danish flyvning and Swedish flygning, both meaning 'flying'.