English Explanatory Dictionary

fly

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. Any insect of the order Diptera; characterized by having two wings (except for some wingless species), also called true flies.
  2. Especially, any of the insects of the family Muscidae, such as the common housefly (other families of Diptera include mosquitoes and midges).
  3. Those or any similar but not closely related insect, such as a dragonfly, butterfly, or gallfly.
  4. A lightweight fishing lure resembling an insect.
  5. A chest exercise performed by moving extended arms from the sides to in front of the chest. (also flye)
  6. The butterfly stroke (plural is normally flys).
  7. A witch's familiar.
  8. A parasite.
  9. A simple dance in which the hands are shaken in the air, popular in the 1960s.
  10. A butterfly (combination of four options).
verb
  1. To travel through the air, another gas, or a vacuum, without being in contact with a grounded surface.
  2. To flee, to escape (from).
  3. To cause to fly (travel or float in the air): to transport via air or the like.
  4. To travel or proceed very fast; to hasten.
  5. To move suddenly, or with violence; to do an act suddenly or swiftly.
  6. To proceed with great success.
  7. To be accepted, come about or work out.
  8. To display (a flag) on a flagpole.
  9. To hunt with a hawk.
  10. To be in the winged adult stage.
noun
  1. The action of flying; flight.
  2. An act of flying.
  3. A fly ball.
  4. Ellipsis of fly route.
  5. A piece of canvas that covers the opening at the front of a tent.
  6. The sloping or roof part of the canvas of a tent.
  7. A strip of material (sometimes hiding zippers or buttons) at the front of a pair of trousers, pants, underpants, bootees, etc.
  8. The moving portion of an extendable ladder.
  9. The free edge of a flag.
  10. The horizontal length of a flag.
  11. An exercise that involves wide opening and closing of the arms perpendicular to the shoulders.
  12. The part of a weather vane pointing the direction from which the wind blows.
verb
  1. To hit a fly ball; to hit a fly ball that is caught for an out. Compare ground (verb) and line (verb).
adj
  1. Quick-witted, alert, mentally sharp.
  2. Clandestine, surreptitious
  3. Well dressed, smart in appearance; in style, cool.
  4. Beautiful; displaying physical beauty.
noun
  1. A wing.
noun
  1. Alternative form of vly (“swamp (in New York)”).
name
  1. A river in Papua New Guinea
name
  1. A surname.

Pronunciation

/ˈflaɪ̯/ [ˈflaɪ̯] en-us-fly.ogg /ˈflɑɪ̯/ [ˈflɑ̟ɪ̯] /ˈflɒɪ̯/ [ˈflɒ̈ɪ̯] /ˈflaː/ [ˈflaː]

Word forms

fly flies flying flew flown no-table-tags glossary fliest flyest flewest flieth flyeth flys flied flier flyer

Etymology

From Middle English flye, flie, from Old English flȳġe, flēoge (“a fly”), from Proto-West Germanic *fleugā, from Proto-Germanic *fleugǭ (“a fly”), from Proto-Indo-European *plewk- (“to fly”). Cognate with Scots flee, Saterland Frisian Fljooge, Dutch vlieg, German Low German Fleeg, German Fliege, Danish flue, Norwegian Bokmål flue, Norwegian Nynorsk fluge, Swedish fluga, Icelandic fluga.

Synonyms

flee abscond flit zoom flutter soar hover wing skim glide ascend rise float aviate escape dart hurry

Antonyms

walk remain stay

Related words

fly agaric flight

Derived words

a closed mouth catches no flies adder fly alderfly alkali fly and no flies antifly apple fly assassin fly awl-fly banana fly bar fly bat fly bee fly beetfly Bill Gates' flower fly black fly blind-fly blister fly blow fly blue fly bobfly bot fly bottlefly break a fly on a wheel break a fly on the wheel break a fly upon a wheel break a fly upon the wheel breezefly brine fly Brues' soldier fly bull-fly burrel fly bush fly cabbage fly canker fly carrot fly carrot rust fly catchfly cheese fly cluster fly coffin fly corn fly crane fly dance fly dayfly dead fly biscuit deer fly deerfly deer fly fever die like flies dobsonfly dogfly dolphin fly drink with the flies dry fly dungfly eggfly eye fly face fly fairyfly
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