ˈfly-by-night
[f. the vbl. phrase.]
1. One who flies by night; one addicted to nocturnal excursions (see also quot. 1796. Also slang, one who defrauds his landlord or creditors by decamping in the night.
| 1796 Grose Dict. Vulg. Tongue (ed. 3) s.v., You old fly-by-night; an ancient term of reproach to an old woman, signifying that she was a witch. 1822 T. L. Peacock Maid Marian iii. 191 Would you have her married to a wild fly-by-night that accident made an earl and nature a deer-stealer? 1823 ‘Jon Bee’ Slang, Fly-by-night, runaways who leave empty houses. 1894 Daily News 23 Oct. 4/7 The majority of the race [of moths] are fly-by-nights. 1903 G. S. Wasson Cap'n Simeon's Store 72 Blowed ef 't wa'n't downright horrid the works them two ole fly-by-nights was into them days! 1925 A. Huxley Those Barren Leaves ii. v. 151 When the next full moon invites New bugaboos and fly-by-nights. |
| attrib. 1810 W. Combe Devil upon Two Sticks (1817) VI. 73 ‘The Fly by Night Club’, whose symbol is an owl. 1914 J. London Let. 25 June (1966) 425, I have no patience with fly-by-night philosophers such as Bergson. 1938 ‘N. Shute’ Ruined City (ed. 2) i. 5 We've come to you rather than to one of them fly-by-night financial houses because we're prudent business folk. 1958 E. Dundy Dud Avocado i. vi. 96 This is no fly-by-night proposition. 1971 Guardian 12 July 7/3 It is not all heart in the mini-cab world. Far too many are fly-by-night hustlers. |
2. a. = fly n.2 3 b.
b. Naut. (See
quot.)
| 1818 Sporting Mag. II. 6 A species of carriage, which in Gloucestershire, goes by the name of ‘Fly-by-Night’. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Fly-by-night, a sort of square-sail, like a studding-sail, used in sloops when running before the wind. |