fly has definitions from the fields of baseball,zoology,clothing,transportation
1
[ verb ] travel through the air; be airborne

Synonyms

wing

Examples

"Man cannot fly"

Used in print

(Peter Field, Rattlesnake Ridge....)

He clambered out of the dwindling wash , the loose dirt flying behind him , and flashed a look about .

(Donald J. Plantz, Sweeney Squadron....)

Every plane that could fly was sent into the air .

As if drawn by a wire the enemy flew into them .

The Jap 's propeller flew off in pieces .

2
[ verb ] move quickly or suddenly

Examples

"He flew about the place"

Used in print

(Louis Zara, Dark Rider....)

Aggie might fly into a closet , shut the door and bury her head in the clothes ; he dared to wait for the lightning .

(Hampton Stone, The Man Who Looked Death...)

He flew about the place making these adjustments and it was obvious that what he was doing was the fruit of long experience .

Related terms

move

3
[ noun ] (zoology) two-winged insects characterized by active flight

Used in print

(B. J. D. Meeuse, The Story of Pollination....)

The blooms of Ribes and of the willow and sloe are the places where large_numbers of our early insects will assemble : honeybees , bumblebees , and other wild bees , and also various kinds of flies .

(Leon Uris, Mila 8....)

Flies swarmed around the bowl of lentils in which he mopped thick black_bread .

(Octavia Waldo, A Cup of the Sun....)

Yet if he were not there , they would have missed him , as they would have missed the sounds of bees buzzing against the screen_door in early June ; or the smell of thick tomato_paste - the ripe smell that was both sweet and sour - rising_up from aluminum trays wrapped in fly dotted cheesecloth .

(S. J. Perelman, The Rising Gorge. New York:...)

What you were looking_for ( unless you make a hobby of collecting old tennis_rackets and fly screens ) eludes me , but to judge from phonograph_records scattered about a fumed_oak Victrola , you danced two tangos and a paso_doble , which must have been fairly enervating in that milieu .

4
[ verb ] (transportation) fly a plane

Synonyms

pilot aviate

Used in print

(Ann Hebson, The Lattimer Legend....)

In_spite of the fact that the state_legislature voted us neutral , John_Hunt_Morgan is openly flying the Confederate_flag over his woolen factory '' !

5
[ verb ] (transportation) transport by aeroplane

Examples

"We fly flowers from the Caribbean to North America"

Used in print

(National Review...)

`` On trial in Jakarta for having flown for the Indonesian anti-Communist insurgents , U._S. pilot Alan_Lawrence_Pope boldly told the court that in supporting the freedom fighters , he was actually defending the sovereignty and independence of Indonesia .

(Richard Sanders Allen, "When Fogg Flew the Mail"...)

When Governor_Al_Smith offered New_York National_Guard planes to fly the mail in and out of the state , it seemed a likely temporary solution , easing Burlington 's bottleneck and that at Montpelier too .

Plane radios were not_yet available , and once in_the_air , Fogg flew his ship by compass , a good memory for landmarks as seen from above , and a capacity for dead_reckoning and quick computation .

Related terms

transport airlift flight

6
[ verb ] cause to fly or float

Examples

: "fly a kite"

Used in print

(Donald J. Plantz, Sweeney Squadron....)

Anything the enemy flew or floated was his target .

Related terms

kite float

7
[ verb ] change quickly from one emotional state to another

Examples

: "fly into a rage"

Used in print

(Ann Ritner, Seize a Nettle....)

She stopped flying into rages and started digesting her food ; she developed a peaches and cream complexion and a sunny disposition , and she asked for nothing more of life than that she be kept dry and comfortable and fed huge amounts of food at stated intervals and be carried to where she could watch activity going_on around her .

Related terms

change

8
[ verb ] be dispersed or disseminated

Examples

"Rumors and accusations are flying"

Related terms

travel

9
[ verb ] pass away rapidly

Synonyms

vanish fell

Examples

"Time flies like an arrow" "Time fleeing beneath him"

Related terms

elapse vanish

10
[ noun ] (baseball) a hit that flies high in the air

Synonyms

fly_ball

Used in print

(Rocky Mountains News, [Denver, Colorado],...)

The Bears added their last run in the sixth on Alusik 's double and outfield flies by Porter and Wert .

11
[ verb ] (transportation) travel in an airplane

Examples

"she is flying to Cincinnati tonight" "Are we driving or flying?"

Used in print

(Peter J. White, "Report on Laos"...)

We flew in rickety planes so overloaded that we wondered why they did n't crash .

12
[ noun ] (clothing) an opening in a garment that is closed by a zipper or buttons concealed by a fold of cloth

Synonyms

fly_front

Used in print

(Robert Penn Warren, Wilderness....)

He recognized her because she was the one who , in a winter twilight , on the edge of camp , had once stopped him and reached down her hand to touch his fly .

Related terms

opening garment

13
[ noun ] flap consisting of a piece of canvas that can be drawn back to provide entrance to a tent

Used in print

(Robert Penn Warren, Wilderness....)

When he had stored his stock in the great oak chest , locked the two big hasps and secured the additional chain , tied the fly of the tent , and picked_up the cash box , he moved_up the darkening street .

Related terms

flap fly_tent

14
[ verb ] display in the air or cause to float

Examples

: "fly a kite" "All nations fly their flags in front of the U.N."

Related terms

show

15
[ verb ] to run away

Synonyms

flee take_flight

Examples

: "He threw down his gun and fled."

16
[ noun ] Last name, frequency rank in the U.S. is 12222
17
[ adjective ] (British informal) not to be deceived or hoodwinked

Related terms

UK colloquialism alert

18
[ verb ] (baseball) hit a fly, in baseball

Related terms

hit baseball

19
[ verb ] (transportation) travel over (an area of land or sea) in an aircraft

Examples

"Lindbergh was the first to fly the Atlantic"

Related terms

travel flight

20
[ verb ] decrease rapidly and disappear

Synonyms

vaporize vanish

Examples

"the money vanished in las Vegas" "all my stock assets have vaporized"

Related terms

decrease

21
[ noun ] fisherman's lure consisting of a fishhook decorated to look like an insect
*