| fly | |
| 1. s. (rural, Scotland, Northern England) A wing. | |
| The bullet barely grazed the wild fowl's fly. | |
| 2. s. (zoology) Any insect of the order Diptera; characterized by having two wings (except for some wingless species), also called true flies. | |
| 3. s. (non-technical) Especially, any of the insects of the family Muscidae, such as the common housefly (other families of Diptera include mosquitoes and midges). | |
| 4. s. Any similar, but unrelated insect such as dragonfly or butterfly. | |
| 5. s. (fishing) A lightweight fishing lure resembling an insect. | |
| 6. s. (weightlifting) A chest exercise performed by moving extended arms from the sides to in front of the chest. (also flye) | |
| 7. s. (obsolete) A witch's familiar. | |
| 8. s. (obsolete) A parasite. | |
| 9. s. (swimming) The butterfly stroke (plural is normally flys) | |
| 10. s. A simple dance in which the hands are shaken in the air, popular in the 1960s. | |
| 11. v. (intransitive) 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 ele | |
| 12. v. (ambitransitive, archaic, poetic) To flee, to escape (from). | |
| Fly, my lord! The enemy are upon us! | |
| 13. v. (transitive, ergative) 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 | |
| 14. v. (intransitive, colloquial, of a proposal, project or idea) 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. v. (intransitive) To travel very fast, hasten. | |
| 16. v. To move suddenly, or with violence; to do an act suddenly or swiftly. | |
| a door flies open; a bomb flies apart | |
| 17. v. To hunt with a hawk. | |
| 18. v. To display a flag on a flagpole. | |
| 19. s. (obsolete) The action of flying; flight. | |
| 20. s. An act of flying. | |
| We had a quick half-hour fly back into the city. | |
| 21. s. (baseball) A fly ball. | |
| 22. s. (now historical) A type of small, fast carriage (sometimes pluralised flys). | |
| 23. s. A piece of canvas that covers the opening at the front of a tent. | |
| 24. s. A strip of material (sometimes hiding zippers or buttons) at the front of a pair of trousers, pants, underpants, bootees, etc. | |
| 25. s. The free edge of a flag. | |
| 26. s. The horizontal length of a flag. | |
| 27. s. (weightlifting) An exercise that involves wide opening and closing of the arms perpendicular to the shoulders. | |
| 28. s. The part of a vane pointing the direction from which the wind blows. | |
| 29. s. (nautical) That part of a compass on which the points are marked; the compass card. | |
| 30. s. 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. | |
| 31. s. 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 b | |
| 32. s. (historical) A light horse-drawn carriage that can be hired for transportation. | |
| 33. s. 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. | |
| 34. s. The pair of arms revolving around the bobbin, in a spinning wheel or spinning frame, to twist the yarn. | |
| 35. s. (weaving) A shuttle driven through the shed by a blow or jerk. | |
| 36. s. (printing, historical) The person who took the printed sheets from the press. | |
| 37. s. (printing, historical) A vibrating frame with fingers, attached to a power printing press for doing the same work. | |
| 38. s. One of the upper screens of a stage in a theatre. | |
| 39. s. (cotton manufacture) waste cotton | |
| 40. v. (intransitive, baseball) 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. | |
| 41. adj. (slang) Quick-witted, alert, mentally sharp. | |
| 42. adj. (slang) Well dressed, smart in appearance. | |
| He's pretty fly. | |
| 43. adj. (slang) Beautiful; displaying physical beauty. | |
| 44. adj. (slang) Sneaky | |
