▪ I. flying, vbl. n.
(ˈflaɪɪŋ)
[f. fly v.1 + -ing1.]
1. a. The action of the vb. fly, in various senses.
| 1548 Hall Chron., Edw. IV, (an. 9) 209 b, The fame was spred of kynge Edwardes flyenge. c 1565 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (1728) 113 Great slaughter was made..in the flyings of the timber. 1605 Shakes. Lear ii. iv. 91 The images of reuolt and flying off. a 1679 T. Goodwin Obj. Justifying Faith ii. ii. Wks. 1697 IV. ii. 76 A flying to him that is gracious. 1703 Moxon Mech. Exerc. 147 The flying off, or else winding of these Steps will vary. 1801 Strutt Sports & Past. i. ii. 23 The training and flying of hawks became one of the essentials in the education of a young man of rank. |
b. The action of guiding or piloting an aircraft or spacecraft, or of travelling in one.
| 1834 Amer. Railroad Jrnl. III. 791/1 Such is my plan for flying. 1864 R. Chambers' Bk. Days II. 722/1 This extraordinary aërial locomotive is perhaps one of the most curious of these apparatuses for the purpose of flying. 1909 Flight 27 Feb. 113/1 In the present stage of flight the art of learning how is almost as great as that of the art of flying itself. Ibid. 23 Oct. 668/2 As a result of the good flying on Saturday afternoon, a large attendance was attracted to the racecourse on Monday after⁓noon. 1916 H. Barber Aeroplane Speaks 48 When..involuntary descents [were] often a part of 'cross-country flying. 1930 P. White How to fly Airplane xxiii. 306 Cross-country flying includes all flights over land..more than a mile or two away from the home field. 1947 D. J. Ingells They tamed Sky i. 2 This is push-button flying, automatic flight. 1960 C. H. Gibbs-Smith Aeroplane 1 Flying has never appeared to its devotees as a mere method of transportation. 1962 J. Glenn in Into Orbit 5 There is nothing spooky or supernatural about flying in space. 1967 Drive Spring 106 He loathes flying, endures sea travel, is happy in a car only when at the wheel. |
2. concr. in
pl. (see
quot. 1893).
| 1888 R. Beaumont Woollen & Worsted Cloth Manuf. 57 Otherwise they cast off a lot of loose fibres as ‘flyings’. 1893 Labour Commission Gloss., Flyings, short fibres thrown out from the wool on to the sides of the carding machine. |
3. attrib. as
flying boot,
flying circus (see
circus 2 d),
flying coat,
flying ground,
flying meeting,
flying school,
flying squadron,
flying suit,
flying time,
flying velocity,
flying week;
flying bedstead, an experimental aircraft, shaped like a bedstead, for testing methods of vertical take-off;
flying boat, (
a) an experimental flying machine built by J. P. Blanchard; (
b) a boat-shaped car on a merry-go-round; (
c) a form of seaplane having a boat-like fuselage;
flying bomb, a pilotless jet-propelled aeroplane with an explosive warhead, first used by the Germans against England in June 1944;
flying boxcar, a bomber or a large freight-carrying aircraft;
flying corps, a unit of aircraft for military or naval purposes; the Royal Flying Corps was the precursor of the Royal Air Force;
flying country,
county (
Hunting), one that affords opportunity for long unbroken runs;
flying deck = flight deck (a);
flying doctor, a doctor who habitually uses an aeroplane for visiting patients in areas remote from his headquarters; also
attrib., as
flying doctor service, etc.;
flying fence, one that must be taken at a flying leap;
flying field = airfield;
flying hour (see
quot. 1956);
flying machine, a machine or contrivance capable of being flown in the air;
usu. restricted to a heavier-than-air machine dependent on its motors for maintenance and progression in the air (see also
flying ppl. a. 4 b);
flying officer, a rank in the Royal Air Force;
flying saucer, the fanciful name given to various unidentified disc- or saucer-shaped objects reported as appearing in the sky;
flying speed, the speed of an aircraft at take-off or in normal level flight;
flying test bed,
bench, an aircraft fitted with apparatus for measuring its performance in the air;
flying time, (
a) the time when a hawk is in condition to be flown; (
b) the time during which an aircraft, etc., is in flight (see also
quot. 1956);
flying wing (see
quots.). (Some of these collocations could with equal or greater justification be listed under the
ppl. a.: for convenience they are all grouped here, since all of them fall within or appertain to the subject of aviation.
Cf. sense 1 b above.)
| 1955 Sci. News Let. 4 June 357/2 Rolls-Royce, in Britain, has designed a model dubbed the ‘*flying bed⁓stead’. It is thrust into the air vertically by two jet nozzles pointed downward in the front and rear. 1957 Times 29 Nov. 10/6 The ‘flying bedstead’ is..a tubular structure on which two 5,000 lb. thrust Rolls-Royce Nene turbo-jet engines are mounted. |
| 1784 Universal Mag. LXXV. 221/1 Mr. Blanchard..during the late war, formed a *flying boat, which he intended for carrying the dispatches from Brest to Paris, but as this did not answer his expectations, he was obliged to relinquish the idea of elevating himself above the clouds. 1854 A. C. Mowatt Autobiogr. Actress 108 In a single night, the booths, the fairy houses, the circus, flying boats, cars, horses disappear. 1903 O. Chanute Let. 13 Mar. in M. W. McFarland Wright Pap. (1953) I. 301 Today I spent with Wm. Kress who experimented with a flying boat last year. 1913 Aeroplane 24 Apr. 470/1 The death of Louis Gaudart showed what a deathtrap the ordinary type of flying-boat is. 1917 C. C. Turner Aircraft of To-day xix. 277 The twin-engined Curtiss flying-boat ‘America’. 1928 Manch. Guardian Weekly 31 Aug. 178/3 A flying-boat service between Sydney and Wellington. 1934 ‘R. Crompton’ William—the Gangster iii. 49 Riding upon merry-go-rounds, flying in flying-boats, sliding down helter-skelters. 1958 Times 18 July 6/5 Britain's only remaining air line using flying-boats, Aquila Air⁓ways, are to cease operations on October 1. 1971 Daily Tel. (Colour Suppl.) 16 July 5/3 One of the Sunderland flying boats between Cairo and India: a yacht of the sky, landing on the sea or inland lakes as it hopped from point to point. |
| 1944 Times 3 July 4/5 Strong measures to counter the *flying bombs have been continued throughout the week-end. Ibid. 5 July 4/5 The Prime Minister intended to make a statement on Thursday on the flying-bomb attack. 1946 Flying bomb [see buzz n.1 5]. |
| 1935 Times 9 Oct. 9/4 They are also showing *flying boots for women lined in sheepskin and covered in willow calf and crêpe rubber. 1944 G. Netherwood Desert Squadron vi. 49 An airman wearing a badge in the form of a silver flying boot..the insignia of the famous ‘Late Arrivals’ Club, a club formed from airmen who..after having been posted as missing, returned safely to their units. |
| 1932 Beaver Mar. 393 The new Junkers freight plane ‘JU-52’, ‘*flying box⁓car’. 1941 Amer. Speech XVI. 165/2 Flying boxcar, a bomber. 1958 Oxf. Mail 19 July 1/2 A fleet of ‘flying boxcars’ bringing jeeps, bazookas and..rifles. |
| 1931 Chambers's Jrnl. Sept. 545/1 Outside the squadron office was gathered a small group of pilots, in their sheepskin thigh-boots and heavy leather *flying-coats. |
| 1913 *Flying Corps [see flying officer]. 1914 Scotsman 15 Sept. 5/7 The success attained by the Royal Flying Corps. 1926 T. E. Lawrence Seven Pillars (1935) ii. xxi. 134 It was decided to lay out on the beach by the aerodrome a small position, capable of being held..by the..Flying Corps. |
| 1883 Standard 19 May 3/3 Viscount looked fitted for a *flying country. |
| 1856 G. J. Whyte-Melville Kate Cov. xii, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, and other so-called ‘*flying counties’. |
| 1931 Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. XXV. 373 The ‘Vindex’..was the first ship to be fitted with a forward hangar and *flying deck. 1954 P. K. Kemp Fleet Air Arm 86 The first carrier..was fitted with a flying deck forward. |
| 1926 Lancet 17 Apr. 824/1 (heading) *Flying Doctors. 1932 Ibid. 24 Dec. 1396/2 In May 1928 Dr. K. St. Vincent Welch, the first ‘flying doctor’, set up practice at Cloncurry in Queensland. 1944 F. Clune Red Heart 7 There are six Flying Doctor Bases in Arid Australia. 1966 Daily Tel. 27 Sept. 13/3 Dr. Anne Spoerry, of the East African Flying Doctor Service. 1971 Ibid. 19 Jan. 10/5 The Falkland Islands Government maintains a ‘flying doctor’ service. |
| 1883 E. Pennell-Elmhirst Cream Leicestersh. 110 Honest *flying fences, big enough to extend a good hunter. |
| 1927 J. M. Saunders Wings (1928) ii. 91 The giant searchlights from the tower played over the dark corners of the *flying field. 1958 P. Kemp No Colours or Crest ix. 183 A disused flying field pitted with craters. |
| 1909 Westm. Gaz. 23 Oct. 2/1 Those who, in spite of the half-gale which was blowing, went to the *flying-ground. 1918 F. H. Colvin Aircraft Mech. Handbk. xxii. 305 To keep all the available machines of one squadron in commission for 800 *flying hours. 1956 W. A. Heflin U.S.A.F. Dict. 214/1 Flying hour, an hour spent in flight (which includes takeoff and landing) by a person, aircraft, or piece of equipment. |
| 1736 Gentl. Mag. Oct. 617/1 One James Todd..at the Theatre in Covent-Garden, fell from the upper Stage, in a *flying Machine, the Wires breaking. 1769 Oxf. Mag. Sept. 108 (caption) A New Flying Machine upon Dr. Musgrave's Plan, that moves with y⊇ same Rapidity as Mr. Moore's Machine without Horses. 1797 Encycl. Brit. I. 198/2 In the year 1709..as we were informed by a letter published in France in 1784, a Portuguese projector, Friar Gusman, applied to the king for encouragement to his invention of a flying machine. 1808 G. Cayley Aeronaut. & Misc. Note-Bk. (1933) 3 Apr. 63 It obliges the centre of gravity of flying machines to be much forwarder of the centre of bulk than could be supposed a priori. 1834 Amer. Railroad Jrnl. III. 790/1 (caption) Travelling Balloon, or Flying Machine. 1865 Reader 1 Apr. 375/3 Until the time shall arrive when an aerostat or flying machine can be introduced with something like success. 1881 L. Wagner Pantomimes 57 The manipulation of flying machines, or other contrivances whereby [etc.]. 1895 Nature 1 Aug. 321/2 A large party of scientific men..to witness a trial of the celebrated flying machine. 1908 H. G. Wells War in Air viii. §2 It was not in their airships, but..in their flying-machines proper, that the strength of the Asiatics lay. 1909 Westm. Gaz. 11 Jan. 9/1 The regulation of flying-machine races. 1959 Times 2 Apr. 4/6 The challenge of the missile does not mean that the flying machine is outdated. On the contrary, there will always be great need for the work of the manned aircraft, which it alone can perform. 1970 Daily Tel. 30 Oct. 11/2, I was at school when I saw my first real flying machine. |
| 1909 Flight 20 Nov. 749/1 A *flying meeting to be held on the Napoule aerodrome. 1913 Aeroplane 17 Apr. 446 Royal Flying Corps, Military Wing.—To be *flying officers and to be seconded. |
| 1922 Man. Seamanship (H.M.S.O.) I. i. 11 Distinctive Lace worn by members of the Royal Air Force... Flying Officer, Observation Officer. |
| 1947 Times 8 July 4/4 During the past fortnight reports that dish-like objects, nicknamed ‘*flying saucers’, have been seen travelling through the air at great speed..have come from the United States and Canada. 1948 Jrnl. Brit. Interplanetary Soc. VII. 199, I haven't examined the details carefully, but the ‘flying saucers’ bear all the hall-marks of mass-suggestion. 1953 Leslie & Adamski Flying Saucers have Landed i. i. 13 Ever since the cliché ‘flying saucer’ was coined, the greatest and most exciting mystery of our age has been automatically reduced to the level of a music hall joke. 1965 New Society 9 Sept. 14/2 When Kenneth Arnold saw something from his airplane near Mount Rainier in June 1947, he gave them the happy name of flying saucers. |
| 1894 Proc. Internat. Conf. Aerial Navig. 1893 307 Just as the rider and swimmer go to a school for their instruction, so we must go to a *flying school for ours. 1920 Act 10 & 11 Geo. V c. 80 §7 (I), Any aerodrome, flying school, or landing ground. |
| 1917 ‘Contact’ Airman's Outings 39 The throttle was again opened full out as the bus raced into the wind until *flying speed had been attained, when it skimmed gently from the ground. |
| 1785 H. Walpole Let. 24 June (1905) XIII. 278 France has conceived hopes of annihilating our Pyrenees by these *flying squadrons [sc. balloons]. 1917 ‘Contact’ Airman's Outings p. xii, A record for the casualties of any one flying squadron during any three months since the war began. |
| 1935 D. Pilley Climbing Days iii. 52 My brother John, looking magnificent in a Teddy Bear Jaeger *flying-suit. 1936 Discovery Sept. 285/1 Upper atmosphere flights employing..special flying suits have actually been made. |
| 1947 Shell Aviation News cxii. 11/1 This year the development of turbine installations in *flying test beds has been taken a step further. 1949 Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. LIII. 135/1 Neither the turbo-propeller nor the turbo-reaction engine had actually flown so far. A flying test bench was being prepared, which would take either engine. This test bench was a four-engined machine which had been fitted with a nacelle above the fuselage. 1966 Times 10 Sept. 1/5 A Vulcan V-bomber, modified to act as a ‘flying test bed’ for the Anglo-French Concord's..engine, made a maiden flight yesterday. |
| 1615 Latham Falconry (1633) 40 You cease and leaue off from all those..obseruations of the *flying time. 1946 Mod. Lang. Notes Nov. 442 Travel time, flying time, running time. 1956 W. A. Heflin U.S.A.F. Dict. 214/2 Flying time, the elapsed time spent in flight or in associated actions by aircraft..or by persons. |
| 1918 E. S. Farrow Dict. Mil. Terms, *Flying velocity, the speed requisite to raise an aëroplane from the ground. |
| 1909 Flight 20 Nov. 749/2 The *flying week to be held there by the Aero Club of France. |
| 1937 Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. XLI. 162 The final logical result..is..the *flying wing with the engines, passengers or military load housed inside... There are still certain difficulties which will prevent us from achieving..a mere flying wing. 1948 Science News VII (caption to pl. 44) The Flying Wing... An aircraft without fuselage or tailplane. |
3. Delete
suit and add:
flying fortress, an informal name for the Boeing B-17, an American long-range heavy bomber aeroplane developed in the late 1930s.
| 1937 N.Y. Times 16 Oct. 3/8 The world's largest military airplane had its first test flight today... The newest ‘*flying fortress’ built by the Boeing Aircraft Company, lifted into the air after running less than half the length of Boeing Field. 1938 Pop. Mechanics LXX. 330/2 Uncle Sam wants to put you on his pay roll while..you..become a pilot for one of his great ‘Flying Fortresses’. 1985 Yeager & Janos Yeager (1986) 66 He saw two Flying Fortresses directly ahead... He almost landed right on them. |
flying suit, a suit designed to be worn by an aircraft pilot or crew member when flying; also
transf. as a fashionable garment,
esp. a women's one-piece trouser suit or jump suit (earlier and later examples).
| 1927 C. A. Lindbergh We viii. 135, I put the flashlight in a pocket of my *flying suit. 1930 Packing Predicaments (Austin Reed) 23 Flying suit, or leather golf coat over thick sweater. 1984 Financial Times 30 June 16/4 Sales of women's ‘flying-suits’ and children's wear..have been disappointing. |
▪ II. flying, ppl. a. (
ˈflaɪɪŋ)
[f. fly v.1 + -ing2.] That flies, in senses of the
vb. (See note at
flying vbl. n. 3.)
1. a. That moves through the air with wings. Sometimes with modifying word prefixed, as
high-flying.
| c 1000 ælfric Gram. ix. (Z.) 44 Uolucer, fleoᵹende. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. liv. (1495) 171 The popyniay and the pellycan amonge fleeng fowles fede theimself with the fote. a 1577 Gascoigne Dan Barth. xviii, The highest flying hauke will stoupe at laste. 1611 Bible Isa. xiv. 29 His fruite shall be a fierie flying serpent. 1667 Milton P.L. ii. 643 So seem'd Farr off the flying Fiend. 1732 Pope Ep. Cobham 96 In Man, the judgment shoots at flying game, A bird of passage! 1886 A. Winchell Walks Geol. Field 10 A menagerie of curious beasts, and crawling and creeping and flying things. |
b. In names of insects, as
flying-buck-beetle,
flying-glow-worm. Also of fish, reptiles, quadrupeds, etc., which by means of special appendages are able to make movements resembling flight; as
flying-frog,
flying-gecko,
flying-gurnard,
flying-herring,
flying-lemur,
flying-lizard,
flying-marmot,
flying-phalanger,
flying-squid. Also
flying coachman, the regent honey-eater,
Zanthomiza phrygia;
flying-dog, a kind of vampire-bat;
flying hart,
stag = Fr. cerf-volant, a stag-beetle;
flying mouse, the smallest gliding marsupial,
Acrobates pygmæus, of the family Phalangeridæ. Also flying-fish, -fox, -squirrel.
| 1626 Bacon Sylva §712 Lucciole..may be the Flying⁓Glo-worm. 1676 Phil. Trans. XI. 652 A kind of large flying Beetle..with a huge pair of horns..Our people in Virginia..calling it a Flying Hart. 1688 Clayton ibid. XVIII. 126 Another little green Frog, that will leap prodigiously, which they therefore call the Flying Frog. 1711 Ibid. XXVII. 350 Another strange one, which they call Ololo, and comes next to our Corvus [read Cervus] volans, or Flying Buckbeetle. 1765 H. Timberlake Mem. 46 Of insects, the flying stag is almost the only one worthy of notice. 1796 Stedman Surinam II. xxii. 142 The vampire..of Guiana..is also called the flying-dog of New Spain. 1840 F. D. Bennett Whaling Voy. I. 269 The flying-squid rose from the sea in large flocks. 1854 Owen in Circ. Sc. (1865) II. 62/2 The flying lizard (Draco volans). 1879 Encycl. Brit. IX. 352 The other (Exocœtus) has been called Flying Herring. 1883 Flower ibid. XV. 401 Galeopithecus volans..The Flying Lemur of Linnæus. 1884 Longm. Mag. Mar. 523 Flying gurnards. 1918 J. A. Leach Austral. Bird Bk. (ed. 4) 170 Regent Honey-eater (Warty-faced), [or] Turkey-Bird (Mock Regent), [or] Flying Coachman..one of the most beautiful of birds. 1934 Bulletin (Sydney) 16 May 20/4 The..flying-mouse is common in the wide belt of scrub which stretches across S.A. and Western Vic. |
c. fig. † flying pension (see
quot.).
| c 1770 H. Walpole Mem. Geo. III (1845) I. xxiv. 337 In the meantime Sandwich obtained what was called a flying pension, that is, it was to commence if he lost his place. |
d. flying horse,
flying mare, a certain throw in wrestling.
| 1713 T. Parkyns Inn-Play (1714) 41 Flying Horse. [Described at length.] 1754 Foote Knights i. Wks. 1799 I. 67 We don't wrestle after your fashion..we all go upon close hugs or the flying mare. 1823 in ‘Jon Bee’ Slang. |
2. a. That passes (
usually, that passes quickly) through the air.
| 1535 Coverdale Job xiii. 25 Wilt thou be so cruell and extreme unto a flyenge leaf. 1563 W. Fulke Meteors (1640) 7 b, A flying, shuting, or falling star. 1632 Lithgow Trav. ii. 61 A backe-sounding eccho of fiery flying shots. 1656 Cowley in Roxb. Ball. VII. 449 Martha took the flying Ball. 1789 Trans. Soc. Encourag. Arts VII. 54 A very flat, loose, flying, sandy coast. 1811 W. J. Hooker Iceland (1813) II. 187 The flying sands from the eastern country. |
† b. Old Chem. = volatile.
Obs.| 1471 Ripley Compl. Alch. vi. in Ashm. (1652) 161 Spyrits whych fleyng are. |
3. a. Floating loosely, fluttering, waving. Hence in wider sense, Attached so as to have freedom of movement, hanging loose.
flying jib, ‘a light sail set before the jib, on the
flying jib-boom’; also
flying-boom,
flying-iron;
flying deck, ‘a deck supported at the side by railings, stanchions, or the like’ (Webster 1934);
flying-kites, see
kite n. 5;
flying ring, each of a number of rings suspended in pairs or rows by swinging ropes used in acrobatics and gymnastics;
flying trapeze,
= trapeze 1.
| 1607 Markham Caval. ii. 54 This flying Trench is to be made in all proportion like a plain full english Snaffle. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. i. 347 To spread the flying Canvass for the Fleet. 1794 Rigging & Seamanship I. 239 They carry..a flying topsail. 1832 Marryat N. Forster xli, Their flying jib-booms were..pointed over the taffrails of their predecessors. 1849 Curzon Visits Monast. 4 A red cap, a jacket with flying sleeves. 1859 Gullick & Timbs Paint. 201 To give lightness to ‘flying drapery’. 1864 P. Paterson Glimpses Real Life xiii. 130 If the bounding youth be swinging to and fro on the flying trapeze. 1883 Man. Seamanship for Boys 24 The given diameter of a flying-boom is at the boom-iron. Ibid. 23 The extreme end [of the jib-boom] is eight-square and an iron hoop driven on to receive the flying iron. 1896 Daily News 17 Dec. 6/1 The boats are relegated to a flying deck overhead. 1901 Ibid. 20 Feb. 6/7 Flying-ring performers, a troupe consisting of two men and a girl. 1919 C. Mackenzie Sylvia & Michael iii. 77 A fellow with a moustache like a flying trapeze. 1934 W. Saroyan (title) The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze & Other Stories. 1953 Britannica Bk. Year 639/2 Flying boom, a system used to refuel aircraft in flight. 1965 E. Bruton Wicked Saint iii. 35 Heidi's mother continued in a ground job with the circus..but for ever hankered after the flying trapeze. |
b. In
fig. phrase,
(to come off, out of it) with flying colours: with outward signs of success and victory.
Cf. colour n. 7 d, and
come v. 61
f.| 1706–7 Farquhar Beaux' Strat. i. i, We came off with flying colours. 1887 Jessop Arcady ii. 63 The tenant farmers..do they come out of it with any flying colours? |
† c. under or with a flying seal (
= F.
sous cachet volant): said of a letter with a seal attached but not closed, so that it may be read by a person who is requested to forward it to its destination.
| 1638 W. Perkins in Lismore Papers Ser. ii. (1888) IV. 15 He..prayeth y{supt} your lordship would be pleased to send y{supt} your order vp to him, with a flyinge seale. 1811 Wellington in Gurw. Desp. VII. 540, I enclose the letter which I have written to the Prince Regent under a flying seal. |
4. a. That passes or travels swiftly, that passes by rapidly or rushes along; rapid.
flying leap: a running jump.
flying handicap,
flying mile: one in which the starting-post is passed at full speed.
flying jump,
= flying leap.
flying start: in a race, (
a) a start in which the competitors pass the starting-point at full speed; (
b) a start by one competitor prior to the starting signal being given; (
c)
transf. and
fig.| 1658 tr. Bergerac's Satyr. Char. ix. 30 He got to the flying River side. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 316 O'er th' Elean Plains, thy well-breath'd Horse Impels the flying Carr. 1701 Rowe Amb. Step-Moth. iv. i. 1794 Each minute of the flying Hours is precious. 1704 Pope Windsor For. 158 Earth rolls back beneath the flying steed. 1807 Crabbe Par. Reg. iii. (1810) 31 Of men And manners treating with a flying pen. 1851 Fraser's Mag. XLIII. 658/2 A flying start being the rule. 1871 L. Stephen Playgr. Eur. viii. (1894) 187 A large crevasse..forcing us to take a flying leap. a 1893 Westm. Gaz. 13 Oct. 5/3 Windle has done the ‘flying’ mile in 1 min. 56 4–5 secs. 1893 Kipling Many Invent. 35 You know how you take a flying jump on to a fellow's head at school, when he snores in the dormitory. 1894 Daily News 21 May 7/1 The Flying Handicap I shall leave to Moonflower. 1899 Harmsworth Mag. July 531/2 The cycle is next best with a flying start record of 1 m. 352/5 sec. 1921 E. H. D. Sewell Rugby Football 61 The easiest way to make an opening is to steal a march on your opposing outside half by getting a flying start. 1924 G. Lambton Men & Horses 233 In the Knowsley Nursery, at Liverpool,..thanks to a flying start, she was only just caught close home. 1928 Daily Mail 7 Aug. 15/5 [He] set up a new record for the mile (flying start) with a speed of 40 miles per hour. 1933 L. A. G. Strong Sea Wall 245 How are the likes of you and me to get a good flying start with nothing to kick off from? 1958 Spectator 31 Jan. 137/2 It got him off to a flying start; in it were the seeds of his future Christian life. 1962 Listener 7 June 983/1 He climbed slowly in Elizabeth's reign, despite his flying start as the son of a Lord Keeper. |
b. esp. in
flying post, a post travelling by relays of horses, an express. Also (17–18th c.) in
flying coach (also
flying machine,
flying carriage, etc.), the ordinary designation for a swift stage coach;
flying packet, a packet sent by ‘flying post’ (all
obs.).
Flying Scotchman (
Flying Scotsman): see
Scotchman b.
| 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VI, (an. 38) 177 Richarde Duke of Yorke..by..flieng postes, was advertised of the great victorie. 1669 Wood Life (Oxf. Hist. Soc.) II. 153, 1669 Apr. 5—M(onday) flying coaches set up. 1685 Lond. Gaz. No. 2009/1 Last Night..a Flying Pacquet..brought us the.. News of the Death of our Late Gracious Soveraign. 1705 Hearne Collect. 29 Sept., On the 19th came by a Flying Post a Pacquet from Court. 1741 Richardson Pamela (1824) I. 222 She had set out in the flying-coach. 1764 Ipswich Jrnl. 18 Feb. 4/3 A new Flying Machine, to accommodate Passengers by..the nearest Way for London, will set out..on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. 1769 Public Advertiser 25 Sept. 4/2 One of the flying Machines from this City to London. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 378 At the close of the reign of Charles II, flying carriages ran thrice a week from London to all the chief towns. |
c. Passing, flitting; hasty, transient;
esp. of a trip or visit. Also, Rapidly constructed, temporary.
| 1763 Phil. Trans. LIII. 259 This indeed was a flying observation, or taken, as the French would say, en passant. 1797 R. M. Roche Childr. of Abbey II. iv. 52 Amanda supposed, as usual, she only came to pay a flying visit. 1806 T. Jefferson Writ. (1830) IV. 52 Mr. Beckley then supposed he should take a flying trip to London. 1825 H. Wilson Mem. II. 175 He paid me a flying visit. 1844 J. W. Croker in C. Papers 7 July, I shall probably pay a flying visit to town..before the session is over. 1857 C'tess Canning in Hare Two Noble Lives (1893) II. 332 The superintendent of telegraphs..goes to lay down a flying line to Lucknow if possible. 1878 R. B. Smith Carthage 286 A Carthaginian army..made flying expeditions to other parts. 1879 B. Taylor Stud. Germ. Lit. 168 It is impossible..now, to give even a flying explanation. |
d. Mil. and
Naval. (Sometimes with mixture of sense 5; all the expressions are from
Fr.) Said of a body of troops, or a squadron of ships, designed and organized for rapid movement, as in
flying † army,
flying brigade,
flying column,
† fleet,
flying hospital,
flying party,
flying squadron.
flying artillery: a corps trained to rapid evolutions.
flying camp: see
camp 2 b.
flying sap (see
quot. 1876). Also flying-bridge.
| 1665 Manley Grotius' Low C. Warres 391 With a flying Brigade marching out of Antwerp. 1667 Pepys Diary 28 Feb., We do intend to keep but a flying fleete this year. 1667 Lond. Gaz. No. 181/3 The Flying Army that has been so long designed, will be speedily formed. 1702 Rowe Tamerl. i. i. 116 He..like a Storm swept with his flying Squadrons all the Plain. 1710 Lond. Gaz. No. 4690/2 A flying Party will encamp in the Neighbourhood. 1809 Wellington in Gurw. Desp. V. 90 The stores belonging to the Flying Artillery. 1869 E. A. Parkes Pract. Hygiene (ed. 3) 624 The flying columns which go out from Aldershot. Ibid. 636 For moving columns..flying hospitals are organized. 1876 Voyle Mil. Dict., Flying sap, a sap formed by placing and filling several gabions at the same time..Also applied to the usual formation of the second parallel in the attack. |
| transf. 1872 Daily News 22 Aug., A ‘flying brigade’..has been formed to examine tickets at unexpected stations. |
e. (
a)
flying squadron:
transf. and
fig. applied to any body of persons organized for rapid movement or action.
| 1670 G. H. Hist. Cardinals ii. ii. 161 He manag'd himself so with his flying Squadron, that it gave no little disgust to the Crowns. 1875 Temple Bar June 197 A constant system of espionage carried on by the beautiful demoiselles of her Court, whom Brantôme has immortalised under the term of the Queen-Mother's ‘flying squadron’. 1901 Girls' Realm 930/2 Flying Squadron Race. |
(
b)
flying squad: a detachment of a police force organized for rapid movement. Also
= flying squadron transf. and
fig.| 1927 Daily Tel. 10 May 6 Fatally injured by being knocked down by a motor-van of the Flying Squad. 1929 J. B. Priestley Good Companions ii. iv. 347 What with photographs and finger-prints and telegraphs and wireless and flying squads!.. Not a dog's chance! 1938 Lancet 109/2 A ‘Flying Squad’ in London... Islington is shortly to have the first maternity emergency unit to be established in London. 1939 T. S. Eliot Old Possum's Pract. Cats 33 He's the bafflement of Scotland Yard, the Flying Squad's despair. 1961 Daily Tel. 1 Mar. 24/1 To speed justice, more frequent assizes, continuous quarter sessions and a ‘flying squad’ of judges to hear cases during the Long Vacation are recommended to-day. 1966 Guardian 13 Dec. 5/4 In 1920..he [sc. W. Hambrook] was put in charge of a team of three inspectors, four sergeants, and four detective constables, together with two drivers... Within a few days the team had been named the Flying Squad. |
f. flying flock,
flying (ewe) stock (see
quot. 1886);
opp. running stock (
running ppl. a. 17 d). Also
flying stock (in
Austral. and
N.Z.) (see
quots. 1891). So
flying herd (of cows).
| 1837 W. Youatt Sheep xv. 519 In a breeding stock this [examination of ewes and lambs] is absolutely necessary, but in a flying stock, or that in which the ewes and the lambs are usually sold before the termination of the year, this may be dispensed with. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm III. 1105 The ewes are sold in autumn to be fed on turnips, and the lambs are disposed of, after being weaned, to rearers of sheep who breed none. Such a one is called a flying-flock... Flying-stock require no drafting. 1886 C. Scott Sheep-farming 29 A flying ewe stock is one where the ewes are bought in annually, and sold out again after bringing a lamb. 1891 R. Wallace Rural Econ. Austral. & N.Z. xviii. 255 Walhallow Estate [Australia]..is largely used for fattening purposes, and a ‘flying’ stock is maintained in addition to the regular and permanent station flock. Ibid. 259 [On Edendale Estate, Southland, N.Z.] The sheep kept are largely a ‘flying’ or bought-in stock for fattening and marketing. 1950 J. G. Davis Dict. Dairying 437 Other herds are replenished by purchasing newly calved cows. These are called ‘flying herds’. |
g. Football. (
a)
flying man, in the Eton field game (see
quot. 1898); (
b)
flying half,
flying man, earlier terms for
fly-half (see
fly n.2 8).
| 1864 B. Hemyng Eton School Days xxiii. 255 He was a little too heavy for ‘flying man’. 1898 Encycl. Sport II. 143/1 In eleven a-side games the bully is formed of four players... Immediately behind is ‘flying man’, usually the most skilful forward on the side. 1906 Gallaher & Stead Compl. Rugby Footballer iv. 64 Two half backs, one being delegated to attention to the scrum, and the other being by way of a flying half. a 1914 J. E. Raphael Mod. Rugby Football (1918) 127 With the flying man standing as far back as the scrum half can throw the ball full pitch, it is extremely difficult to bottle him. |
h. flying shear, a device for shearing a long, continuous length of metal into short pieces without arresting its forward motion; so
flying-sheared adj.| 1902 Trans. Amer. Soc. Mech. Engin. XXIII. 468 The success or failure of the whole equipment was entirely dependent on something so little demonstrated..as the Flying Shear. 1958 Jrnl. Iron & Steel Inst. CLXXXVIII. 30/2 The flying shear limits the finishing speed and reduces output. Ibid., Flying-sheared sheets must be cooled quickly. |
i. flying spot: a small spot of light that is made to move rapidly over an object, the reflected or transmitted light from successive parts of it being converted by a photo-electric tube or cell into an electrical signal that can be made to reproduce an image of the object. Usu.
attrib., as
flying-spot scanner,
flying spot scanning.
| 1933 Television Oct. 342/1 The transmitter utilises the principle of indirect or ‘flying spot’ scanning by means of an aperture disc. 1960 How TV Works vi. 34/2 For many purposes..reproduction of higher quality is achieved by means of a ‘flying spot’ machine in which each frame of an ordinary positive film is rapidly scanned by a flying spot of light. 1965 Math. in Biol. & Med. (Med. Res. Council) iv. 192 The focus and intensity controls and high-voltage supplies are associated with the 1·5-mil-spot cathode ray tube that produces the short-persistence flying spot, with a sweep diameter of 10 cm. 1968 Brit. Med. Bull. XXIV. 191/2 They are scanned line by line (television-wise) by a ‘flying-spot scanner’. |
j. flying picket [
picket n.1 5], a group of striking workers who picket premises or organizations other than those at which they are employed,
esp. one which travels from another area to a striking site or sites in order to reinforce local pickets; a member of such a picket;
cf. secondary a. 3 q.
| 1974 Socialist Worker 9 Nov. 12/1, I first met the IS comrades in Swansea during the recent nurses' dispute. The nurses' *flying picket to the pits arose from the ideas and the hard work of the IS comrades. 1984 Times 16 Mar. 1/3, 138 pits are on strike or are ‘picketed out’ by flying pickets from..militant coalfields. |
5. That flies about.
a. Of a tale, rumour, etc.: Circulating without definite authority.
flying sheet: a leaflet printed for distribution broadcast.
| 1425 Paston Lett. No. 5 I. 20, I..never hadde tydinges of this matier, but by seyd lettres and other fleyng tales. 1582 N. Lichefield tr. Castanheda's Conq. E. Ind. lxxiii. 150 This was but a fleeing newes. 1630 Ld. Dungarvan in Lismore Papers Ser. ii. (1888) III. 157 There was a flying report heere that [etc.]. 1682 Bunyan Holy War 40, I hope they are but flying stories. 1769 Burke Late St. Nat. Wks. II. 10 The light squadrons of occasional pamphlets and flying sheets. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. 374 There had been flying rumours that a Lord Keeper..would soon be appointed. 1888 Bryce Amer. Commw. II. liii. 322 One must trust to a variety of flying and floating sources. |
† b. Of a person's mind: Volatile, unsettled.
| 1509 Barclay Shyp of Folys (1874) I. 177 Wytles men of fleynge mynde. |
† c. Of a hound: Apt to ‘fly about’; not steady.
| 1684 R. H. School Recreat. 13 Bring them abroad with the..best Hunting Hounds: (all babling and flying Curs being left at home). |
d. Of pains: Passing irregularly from one part of the body to another; migratory.
| 1805 W. Saunders Min. Waters 199 The internal use of Bath water in flying pains and weaknesses of the limbs. |
e. Itinerant.
flying stationer (slang): see
quot.| 1796 Grose Dict. Vulg. Tongue (ed. 3), Flying Stationers, ballad-singers and hawkers of penny histories. |
f. flying reed (Mining): see
quot.| 1798 J. Keir Min. Staffordsh. in S. Shaw Hist. Staff. Gen. Hist. 119 These two beds [of coal]..when thus separated acquire the name of the Flying Reed. 1839 Murchison Silur. Syst. i. xxxv. 470. |
6. = fleeing ppl. a.
| 1594 ? Greene Selimus Wks. 1881–3 XIV. 287 Ding downe the flying Persians with their swords. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. i. 416 To persecute from far the flying Doe. 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. III. 116 The massacre of many thousands of the flying Bastarnæ. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. 641 Flying foot soldiers..were constantly coming in. |
7. Building.
flying fa{cced}ade, a fa{cced}ade that rises above the level of the roof of a building;
flying shore, a horizontal shore used to provide temporary support between two walls.
| 1894 J. P. Allen Pract. Building Construct. xxii. 355 End houses which cannot be strutted from another building, are dealt with by means of flying shores. 1936 P. E. Thomas Mod. Building Pract. II. 167 A ‘flying shore’ is horizontal, and incapable of taking any vertical load, its function being to keep the wall plumb. 1961 S. Sitwell Golden Wall & Mirador viii. 161 Espesaña denotes a bell-wall or flying facade, rising above and often doubling or trebling the height of the building. 1962 A. E. Bridgwood Newnes Carpentry & Joining III. 5 The elevation of one of a series of flying shores offering support to the walls of four floors is shown. |
Add:
[4.] [a.] flying change (
Equestrianism): a change of leading hoof in mid-canter.
| 1946 M. C. Self Horseman's Encycl. 132 When a horse is asked to change from one lead to the other at a gallop without coming to a half halt or reducing his gait he is said to be doing a ‘flying change’. 1986 Horse Internat. May 57/3 Dressage judges can't say ‘go and do the flying change again, I think I gave the wrong mark the first time and would like to have another look’. |
▸
flying fuck n. coarse slang (a) go take a flying fuck and elaborated variants: (expressing contemptuous dismissal) ‘go away’, ‘go to hell’;
(b) not to give a flying fuck:
= not to give a fuck at
fuck n. Phrases 1.
| 1938 J. O'Hara Let. Nov. (1978) 140, I say go take a flying fuck at a galloping r—ster. 1951 J. Jones From Here to Eternity iv. xxxii. 470, I dont give a flying fuck what anybody says. 1988 J. Norst Colors i. 10 He said we can all take a flying fuck. 1989 R. Kenan Visitation of Spirits (1996) 110, I couldn't give a flying fuck about the still her husband Lucius had out in the woods behind the house. 2004 P. Cornwell Blow Fly xxi. 102 You know what she's doing these days, or don't you give a flying fuck? |
▸
flying bishop n. Anglican Church colloq. (originally in the
U.K.) a bishop who is authorized to minister to clergy and congregations outside his own diocese who share his views on a matter of major doctrinal or ethical significance (
esp. opposition to the ordination of women priests) and who on these grounds either do not recognize the authority of or do not wish to be ministered to by their diocesan bishop.
| 1993 Daily Mail 5 Jan. 18/2 The move would mean traditionalists and liberals in the same parish being supervised by different bishops—some answering to the *flying bishop and the rest to the official bishop in his diocesan palace. 2001 Times 8 June i. 9/7 The Church's 113 bishops are made up of 44 diocesan bishops, 36 area bishops, 30 suffragans and three ‘flying bishops’ who care for the opponents of women priests. 2002 Windsor (Ont.) Star (Nexis) 17 Aug. a17 Priests at eight Greater Vancouver parishes who fervently oppose same-sex blessings are..pressing to work under the authority of a so-called ‘flying bishop’. |