▪ I. fly, n.1
(flaɪ)
Pl. flies (flaɪz). Forms: fléoᵹe (in comb. fléoᵹ-, fléoh-), fl{yacu}ᵹe, Northumb. fléᵹe, 2–4 fliȝe, south. vliȝe, 3 fleoȝe, flye, south. vlie, 3–4 fleȝe, south. vleȝe, fleih, south.. vleih, 3–7, 8 Sc. flie, 4– north. and Sc. flee, 4–5 flegh, (4 fleeȝe, fleh, flei(ghe, fley(e, flij), 5–7 flye, 7– fly.
[OE. fléoᵹe, fl{yacu}ᵹe, wk. fem. (Northumb. fléᵹe ? str. masc.) = MDu. vlieghe (mod.Du. vlieg, OHG. flioga, fliuga (MHG. vliege, mod.Ger. fliege):—OTeut. *fleugôn-, f. root of *fleugan to fly. From the weak grade of the same root comes the equivalent Scandinavian word, ON., Sw. fluga, Da. flue.
The plural form in -s appears in 13th c., but the original plural ending -n was not wholly obsolete in the 15th c.]
1. † a. Any winged insect; as the bee, gnat, locust, moth, etc. Obs. Cf. 2, 3, 4 below, and butterfly n.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. xxiii. 24 Latuas blindo ᵹie worðias ðone fleᵹe. 1340 Ayenb. 136 He is ase þe smale uleȝe þet makeþ þet hony. 1563 T. Hill Art. Garden. (1593) 36 Flies (with the long hinder legges). 1599 T. Moufet (title) Silkewormes and their flies. 1608 Topsell Serpents (1658) 653 The black Flies called Beetles. 1649 Jer. Taylor Gt. Exemp. i. viii. 113 Eating Flyes and wilde honey. 1694 Acc. Sev. Late Voy. ii. (1711) 207 Here are divers sorts of Flies, as Butter-flies, Butchers-flies, Horse-flies. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1796) VIII. 149 The cold weather frequently comes on before the worm is transformed into a fly. |
b. A dipterous or two-winged insect,
esp. of the family Muscidæ.
| c 1000 ælfric Exod. viii. 29 For ðe ic ᵹebidde and ðeos fleoᵹe færþ fram ðe. c 1200 Vices & Virtues (1888) 89 Al dai ðar cumeð to þohtes, al swo doð fliȝen to sare. c 1220 Bestiary 473 Til ðat ðer fleȝes faren and fallen ðer-inne. a 1300 Cursor M. 5990 (Cott.) To-morn þe fleies sal be you fra. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. xxiii. (1495) 130 Bees and flyes haue no voys, but make a voys in fleenge. 1477 Earl Rivers (Caxton) Dictes 72 The flye that setteth her vpon corrupt thinges. 1513 Douglas æneis xii. Prol. 172 To knit hyr nettis..Tharwith to caucht the myghe and littill fle. 1615 G. Sandys Trav. 203 The infinite swarmes of flies that do shine like glow-wormes. 1841–4 Emerson Ess., Prudence Wks. (Bohn) I. 94 Do what we can, summer will have its flies. |
c. fig.| a 1225 Ancr. R. 290 [Þes] dogge of helle..mid his blodie vlien of stinkinde þouhtes. c 1325 Coer de L. 2917 In whyt schetys they gunne hem wryen For the bytyng of his flyen. 1607 Dekker Hist. Sir T. Wyatt i. Wks. 1873 III. 84 The Fly is angrie, but hee wants a sting. |
d. A type of something insignificant.
| 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 428 Wat was þy strengþe worþ?..ywys noȝt worþ a flye. c 1386 Chaucer Reeve's T. 272 Aleyn answerde I count hym nat a flye. 1529 More Comf. agst. Trib. i. ii. Wks. 1123/1 Without which..all the spiritual coumfort that any man maye speake of can neuer auaile a flye. 1794 Burns ‘O Philly, happy be that day’ x, I care nae wealth a single flie. a 1830 Hazlitt Convers. Authors, He would not hurt a fly. |
e. Phr.:
fly in amber: see
amber 5.
a fly in the ointment [after
Eccl. x. 1]: some small or trifling circumstance which spoils the enjoyment of a thing, or detracts from its agreeableness.
fly on the (coach-)wheel (see
quot. 1870).
to send away with a fly in one's ear:
cf. flea 4.
to break, crush, a fly upon the wheel (
fig.): to spend a great deal of energy and labour upon something not worth it.
let that fly stick in (or to) the wall (
Sc.): say nothing more on that subject.
don't let flies stick to your heels: be quick.
(to) drink with the flies (
Austral. and
N.Z. colloq.): see
quot. 1943.
| 1606 Rel. Proc. agst. late Traitors Zz 4 b, The princes..sent away your second Mercury with a flie in his eare. 1695 Woodward Nat. Hist. Earth ii. (1723) 82 Flyes..that I have yet seen inclos'd in Amber. 1814 Scott Wav. lxxi, ‘O whist, Colonel, for the love o' God! let that flee stick i' the wa'.’ 1833 Lamb Elia 2nd Ser. (1840) 3 A Poor Relation—is the most irrelevant thing in nature,—..a lion in your path,—a frog in your chamber,—a fly in your ointment. 1836 Going to Service iv. 44 Don't let flies stick to your heels, and don't let ten minutes get the start of you. 1840 Lytton Money v. iii, I have the greatest respect..for the worthy and intelligent flies upon both sides the wheel. a 1859 De Quincey Incognito Wks. XI. 2 To apply any more elaborate criticism to them, would be ‘to break a fly upon the wheel’. 1870 Brewer Dict. Phrase & Fable, Fly on the coach wheel, one who fancies himself of mighty importance, but who is in reality of none at all. 1914 Scotsman 10 Sept. 9/1 The present situation is not without its ‘fly in the ointment’ for those motorists who have patriotically lent the assistance of their cars to the military authorities. 1928 Daily Express 11 May 10/7 The insurance of school fees has now become so general that it is as well to point out to parents that there is a rather large fly in the ointment. 1936 A. Huxley Olive Tree 5 There is only one fly in the ointment offered by commercial propagandists; they want your money. 1940 Bulletin (Sydney) 3 Jan. 35/3 He never needs to buy whisky, either, though a natural antipathy to drinking with the flies saves the officer's supply. 1943 Baker Dict. Austral. Slang (ed. 3) 28 Drink with the flies: a drink consumed without the company of others. Also, to drink alone. |
f. Proverbs.
| a 1420 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 110 A flye folowethe the hony. a 1529 Skelton Replyc. 752 The blynde eteth many a flye. 1546 J. Heywood Prov. (1867) 75 Hungry flies byte sore. |
g. there are no flies on: (
a) there is no lack of activity or astuteness in (a person); there is no fault to be found with, there are no blemishes in; (
b) there is nothing dishonest or ‘shady’ about (a transaction). So
to have no flies on, etc.
slang (
orig. Austral. or
U.S.).
The earliest examples indicate that the phrase was
prob. orig. applied to cattle that are so active that flies do not settle on them.
| 1848 H. W. Haygarth Recoll. Bush Life Austral. ix. 101 ‘It's lucky we got them,’ said Amos; ‘there were {oqq}no flies{cqq} about that black bull.’ Note. This expression is very common in Australia... Anything particularly good is said by the class of men we are here describing to have ‘no flies’ about it. 1868 J. Diprose St. Clement Danes 99 To this celebrated pugilist [sc. Deaf Burke] is attributed the old story of the ‘flies in the gin-and-water’, and hence the term ‘no flies’ became prevalent. [The story follows.] 1888 Missouri Republ. 24 Feb. (Farmer Amer.), Persons who are capable of descending to New York and Boston English are fully justified in saying that there are no flies on St. Louis or the St. Louis delegation either. 1888 Detroit Free Press 25 Aug. (Farmer & Henley), There ain't no flies on him, signifies, that he is not quiet long enough for moss to grow on his heels, that he is wide awake. 1893 Farmer & Henley Slang s.v. Flies, There are no flies on me, on him, etc.,..‘I am dealing honestly with you’; ‘he is genuine, and is not humbugging’. In America, the expression is used of (1) a man of quick parts..(2) a person of superior breeding or descent. 1897 R. M. Stuart Simpkinsville i. 18 They wasn't no flies on his shape, nor his rig, nor his manners neither. 1898 Strand Mag. May 516, I kin put you in the way of making your pile, I kin. This is a bona-fide offer. No flies on my business. 1900 G. Bonner Hard-Pan iii. 83 There are no flies on your little sister. 1928 Galsworthy Swan Song ii. vi. 156 There are no flies on your uncle. 1948 C. Day Lewis Otterbury Incident iv. 43 There are no flies on Rickie. I'm pretty sure he'd spotted how his own shoes got dirty. 1961 Observer 23 Apr. 18/2 There are no flies on Benaud. If England start bowling their overs slowly, no one will have to draw his attention to it. |
h. like flies: in large numbers or huge quantities.
| [1595 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI ii. vi. 8 The common people swarme like summer flies.] 1934 A. Hyder Black-Girl, White-Lady xxi. 309 ‘Yo' kills niggers?’ ‘Like flies,’ Charley assured her. 1958 R. Liddell Morea iii. ii. 245 Now, at the end of 1955, people were marrying like flies; it is unlucky to marry in a leap year. |
i. fly on the wall: (
a) an unperceived observer; one who is able to overhear discussions, etc., without being observed or involved; (
b)
Cinemat., a film-making technique in which events are presented realistically by observing rather than by directing the action;
freq. attrib.;
cf. cinéma-vérité.
| 1949 N. Mitford Love in Cold Climate i. vi. 61, I had been throwing an occasional glance in their direction, wondering what it could all be about and wishing I could be a fly on the wall to hear them. 1971 A. Sampson New Anat. Brit. xii. 239, I spent a week inside the department, overhearing committees and meetings as a fly on the wall. 1983 Listener 10 Feb. 8/3 The ‘fly-on-the-wall’ technique, so successful elsewhere, would not overcome this problem. 1985 M. R. D. Meek Split Second vi. 38 ‘What did you wheedle out of Maggie?’ ‘Well..she was no fly on the wall, but there have to be letters, documents, papers to be typed.’ 1986 City Limits 12 June 23 This is a film that has tried hard not to impinge its identity on its subject, using a fly on the wall approach. |
2. With defining word as
blow-,
flesh-,
horse-,
house-,
sheep-fly, etc.: see those words.
black fly,
U.S. (see
quot.).
Hessian fly (
Cecidomyia Destructor), an insect that infests wheat, said to have been introduced into America with the Hessian troops, during the War of Independence.
Spanish fly = cantharides.
tsetse-fly (
Glossina morsitans), an African fly which carries disease (
esp. sleeping sickness) and transmits it to humans and animals by biting.
| a 1605 Montgomerie Flyting w. Polwart 314 The feavers, the fearcie, with the speinȝie flees. 1661 Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min. Pref., The pilularie beetle and spanish flies. 1799 G. Washington Let. Writ. 1893 XIV. 196 Letter relative to the loss of his crop, by the Hessian fly. 1812 J. Smyth Pract. Customs (1821) 59 Cantharides, commonly called Spanish Flies. 1877 T. Baines Gold Regions S.E. Africa 109 A considerable portion of this step is infested with the Tsetse fly. 1889 Century Dict. s.v. Fly, Black Fly, any one of the species of the genus Simulium, some of which are extraordinarily abundant in the northern woods of America, and cause great suffering by their bites. |
3. a. In farmers' and gardeners' language, often used without defining prefix for the insect parasite chiefly injurious to the particular crop or animal indicated by the context; the hop-fly, potato-fly, turnip-fly, sheep-fly, etc. Chiefly
collect. in sing. as the name of the disease consisting in or caused by the ravages of these insects.
| a 1704 Locke Wks. (1714) III. 436 Before they come to think of the Fly in their Sheep, or the Tares in their Corn. 1707 Mortimer Husb. 122 To prevent the Fly [in turnips] some propose to sow Ashes with the Seed. 1799 Trans. Soc. Encourag. Arts XVII. 47 An easy and efficacious method of destroying the Fly on Hops. 1819 Rees Cycl., Fly..a disease incident to sheep, in consequence of their being stricken by a fly, which produces a sort of maggot, that eats into, and remains in the flesh. 1842 Johnson Farmer's Encycl., Fly in Turnips (Altica nemorum) the vulgar name of a species of flea-beetle, which attacks the turnip-crop in the cotyledon or seed leaf, as soon as it appears. 1846 J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4) II. 281 The marks left on the skin by the blows of the fly. 1888 Times 26 June 12/1 In some (hop) gardens a good deal of fly exists. |
b. ellipt. The tsetse fly.
S. Afr.| 1856 C. J. Andersson Lake Ngami 488 The natives, who are well acquainted with localities frequented by the fly. 1864 T. Baines Explor. S.W. Afr. [424] They have lost all their oxen by the fly. 1877 ― Gold Regions S.E. Afr. 57 Keeping a sharp look out upon our own and each others horses to see that no ‘fly’ settled on them. |
4. Angling.
a. An insect attached to a hook as a lure in the mode of angling called fly-fishing.
b. An artificial fly,
i.e. a fish-hook dressed with feathers, silk, etc., so as to imitate some insect.
Often
collect. in the phrase
to fish with fly.
| 1589 Pappe w. Hatchet 3, I doo but yet angle with a silken flye, to see whether Martins will nibble. 1653 Walton Angler iv. 93 Or with a Flie, either a natural or an artificial Flie. Ibid. iv. 111 Your gold, or what materials soever you make your Fly of. a 1740 Tickell Ep. to Lady bef. Marriage 39 Here let me..lure the trout with well-dissembled flies. 1881 C. Gibbon Heart's Problem x. 154 He..tossed it [fish] into his basket, and cast his fly again. |
| fig. 1624 Fletcher Rule a Wife i. i, Sit close Don Perez, or your Worship's caught. I fear a Flye. |
† 5. a. A familiar demon (from the notion that devils were accustomed to assume the form of flies).
b. transf., and with allusion to the insect's finding its way into the most private places: A spy (
cf. F.
mouche).
c. A parasite, flatterer (
cf. L.
musca).
Obs.| 1584 R. Scot Discov. Witchcr. iii. xv. 51 A flie, otherwise called a divell or familiar. 1610 B. Jonson Alch. i. ii, A riflng flye: none o' your great familiars. 1622 Bacon Hen. VII 241 There was this..Good in his employing of these Flies and Familiars; that..the..Suspition of them kept..many Conspiracies from beeing attempted. a 1643 W. Cartwright Ordinary ii. iv, He hath a Fly only to win good cloaths. 1649 Bp. Hall Cases Consc. 179 These mercenary Flies, whether of State, or of Religion, are justly hatefull. |
6. Printing.
a. A ‘printer's devil’ (
cf. 5 a).
b. The person who takes the sheets from the press, the ‘taker-off’; also, that part of a printing machine which usually performs that office now. (
Cf. flyer.)
| a. 1683 Moxon Printing 373 Devil..the Workmen do Jocosely call them Devils; and sometimes Spirits, and sometimes Flies. 1841 Savage Dict. Printing, s.v., These boys are not now called devils, as in the time of Moxon, but Flies, or Fly Boys. |
| b. 1732 in Hone Every-day Bk. (1825–7) II. 1240 The inferior order among us, called flies, employed in taking newspapers off the press. 1838 Timperley Printer's Man. 113 Fly, the person that takes off the sheet from the press in cases of expedition. 1871 Amer. Encycl. Printing, Fly, an invention for taking off or delivering the sheets from a power-press. |
† 7. a. A ‘patch’ for the face. [
tr. F.
mouche.]).
Obs.| 1658 White tr. A late Discourse 102 The patches and flies which she put upon her face. |
† b. Some kind of head-dress.
Cf. fly-cap (in 11 below).
Obs.| 1773 History of Lord Ainsworth I. 139 Her beautiful tresses were..fasten'd behind with a diamond comb; over which was plac'd a small French fly, ornamented with large sprigs set with brilliants. 1774 Westm. Mag. II. 259 Ladies..still wear their hair low before..Small flys, the wings very wide apart at the top, and very small and short lappets. |
† 8. With reference to a festival formerly observed by the Oxford cooks.
Obs. On Whit-Tuesday the cooks ‘marched in silken doublets on horseback to Bartholomews or Bullingdon Green
to fetch the fly’, and ‘on Michaelmas Day they rode thither again
to carry the fly away’. See Aubrey
Rem. Gentilisme (1881) 202 (written in 1686); Aubrey supposed the sense to be that of 5 a above.
| c 1602 in Narcissus (ed. M. L. Lee 1893) App. ii. 32 They [the cooks] have sett a little porch before so great an house, and have called their show the flye. 1654 Gayton Pleas. Notes iii. v. 99 The man that preaches the Cooks Sermon at Oxford, when that plump Society rides upon their Governours Horses to fetch in the Enemie, the Flie. 1661–6 Wood Antiq. Oxford (O.H.S.) II. 515 note, Many people resorted here [St. Bartholomew's Hospital]; as the cooks bringing in of the fly. |
9. slang. A policeman.
Cf. blue-bottle 2.
| 1857 R. L. Snowden Magistr. Assist. (ed. 3) 446 A policeman, a fly. |
10. attrib. and
Comb. a. simple attributive, as
fly-blight,
fly-bottle [
tr. G.
fliegenglas],
fly-kind,
fly-maggot,
fly-screen,
fly state,
fly-wing; (sense 2)
(tsetse-)fly-belt,
fly-country; (sense 4) as
fly-tackle; (sense 6 b) as
fly-pulley.
| 1894 Westm. Gaz. 17 Nov. 5/1 The Beira line had now completely spanned the ‘*fly’ belt. |
| 1887 Daily News 28 June 2/5 The plantations in these districts being most affected by the *‘fly blight’. |
| 1953 G. E. M. Anscombe tr. Wittgenstein's Philos. Investig. §309 What is your aim in philosophy?—To shew the fly the way out of the *fly-bottle. 1967 Philos. Q. XVII. 363, I would like an illustration of a flybottle, which people describe variously. 1969 Proc. Arist. Soc. Suppl. Vol. XLIII. 108 If the exit from the fly-bottle is an entry into too restrictive a cupboard, it seems necessary to find a way out of the cupboard as well. |
| 1864 T. Baines Explor. S.W. Afr. iv. 68 Treachery of guides purposely sent by the chiefs to lead him into the *fly country. |
| 1891 Pall Mall G. 8 Dec. 1/3 When the railway..has crossed the fly country. |
| 1691 Ray Creation 6 The *Fly-kind, if under that name we comprehend all other flying insects. |
| 1692 Ibid. ii. 123 The *fly maggots. |
| 1875 Southward Dict. Typogr. s.v. Setting the Fly, Let it run down the fly so that it is barely held by the *fly pulleys. |
| 1903 Work 1 Aug. 412/3 Inside this lining will be laid a thin coating of tinfoil, on which will be placed what will look like a strong netting or *fly-screen, except that the wires of which it is composed will be carefully joined and highly polished. 1952 ‘N. Shute’ Far Country 18 She went and rang the dinner bell outside the flyscreen door. 1971 Sunday Times (Johannesburg) (Business Sect.) 28 Mar. 5/2 Adjustable aluminium louvres..may also be fitted with flyscreens. |
| 1791 W. Bartram Carolina 83 When they appear in the *fly state. |
| 1834 Medwin Angler in Wales II. 113, I was half sorry that I had no *fly-tackle, and soon tired. |
| c 1460 Towneley Myst. 192 He settes not a *fle wyng bi Sir Cesar fulle even. |
b. objective (sense 1 b) as
fly-breeder,
fly-fancier,
fly-hunter,
fly-killer,
fly-scarer,
† fly-way-driver,
fly-whipper;
fly-catching vbl. n. and
ppl. adj.,
fly-hunting vbl. n.;
fly-proof adj.; (sense 4) as
fly-caster,
fly-maker,
fly-taker;
fly-dressing,
fly-making vbl. ns.;
fly-taking ppl. adj.| 1751 Smollett Per. Pic. (1779) IV. xciv. 144 ‘I never dispute..with the son of a cucumber,’ said the *fly-breeder. |
| 1897 Outing (U.S.) XXX. 221/2 It is not every *fly-caster who can properly manipulate a live or dead minnow, a crawfish, or a spoon. 1926 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 9 July 16/1 Earl C. McFarland..nationally known fly⁓caster and sportsman, died..today. |
| 1702 C. Mather Magn. Chr. iv. (1853) II. 105 A certain soaring and serious greatness of soul, which rendered *fly-catching too low a business for him. 1890 Webster, Fly-catching (Zoöl.), having the habit of catching insects on the wing. |
| 1886 J. H. Keene Fish. Tackle 202 There is no royal road to *fly-dressing however. |
| 1751 Smollett Per. Pic. (1779) IV. xciv. 145 The *fly-fancier..accused the mathematician. |
| 1895 C. C. Abbott Birds about us iv. 113 They are fly-catchers, not *fly-hunters. |
| 1838 Dickens Mem. Grimaldi ii, He had been *fly-hunting with his friend. |
| 1658 Rowland Moufet's Theat. Ins. 951 He was afterwards called by the name of Muscarius or *Fly-killer. |
| 1787 Best Angling (ed. 2) 77 Every man his own *fly-maker. |
| 1653 Walton Angler iv. 113 The Art of *flie-making. 1801–3 Daniel Rural Sports II. 296 Hackles are a very important article in Fly-making. |
| 1817 Niles' Reg. XII. 284/1, I found several of the other kinds of wheat..growing on some farms in the same field with the *fly-proof or Lawler wheat. 1944 Living off Land ii. 34 Keep the smokehouse fly-proof by covering the top. |
| 1638 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (ed. 2) 68 On the left hand, Rajea Bousing *fly-skarer. |
| 1889 Century Dict., *Fly-taker, in angling, any fish that will take the fly. |
| 1840 Tickell in Jrnl. Asiat. Soc. Bengal IX. 705 The little *fly-taking Cyprinus, miscalled ‘trout’ in Upper India. |
| 1658 Rowland Moufet's Theat. Ins. 951 Jupiter, called ἀποµύιος, or the *Fly-way-driver. |
| 1872 Baker Nile Tribut. viii. 134 The long tails of the giraffes are admirable *fly-whippers. |
c. instrumental, as
fly-angling,
† fly-biting vbl. ns.;
fly-bit,
fly-stuck,
fly-swarmed adjs.| 1653 Walton Angler iv. 110 These and the May-fly are the ground of all *fly-Angling. |
| 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 203 Their *fly-bit hides. |
| 1659 D. Pell Impr. Sea 417 It is comparatively but a..meer *fly-biting to what they undergo. |
| 1877 T. Baines Gold Regions S.E. Africa 151 A *fly-stuck ox. |
| 1879 E. Arnold Lt. Asia 69 The *fly-swarmed sweetmeat shops. |
11. a. Special comb.:
fly-bat, a species of fly found in Barbados;
fly-bird, a humming-bird (
cf. F.
oiseau-mouche);
fly-blister, a plaster made of
Cantharides;
fly-book, a case in the form of a book, in which anglers keep artificial flies;
fly-brush, a brush for driving away flies;
fly-cage, a contrivance for catching flies;
† fly-cap, a kind of head-dress (see
quot. 1762);
fly-case, the covering of an insect;
spec. the anterior wing of beetles, elytron;
fly-dope N. Amer., a liniment used as a protection against flies;
fly-duster = fly-brush;
fly-eater, an eater of flies,
spec. any of several small Australian fly-catchers of the genus
Gerygone;
fly-fan, a fly-flick, or a motor-driven fan for driving away flies;
fly-flick, an instrument for killing or driving away flies;
† fly-fringe (see
quot.);
fly-fungus, (
a) the fly-agaric,
Amanita muscaria; (
b) the house-fly fungus,
Entomophthora muscæ;
fly-hook, a hook baited with a fly;
fly-line, a line for fly-fishing;
fly-mould = fly-fungus (
b);
fly-paper, (
a) a sheet of paper prepared to catch or poison flies; (
b)
Flypaper Act (slang), the Prevention of Crimes Act, 1909; so
to be on the flypaper, to be subject to this Act, to be a criminal known to the police;
fly-powder, a powder used to kill flies;
fly-rod, a rod for fly-fishing;
fly-slicer,
slang (see
quot.);
fly-snapper,
U.S., a name of certain fly-catching birds: (
a) the genus
Myiagra; (
b)
Phainopepla nitens;
fly-speck,
-spot, (
a) a stain produced by the excrement of an insect; also
fig.; (
b) a plant disease,
esp. of apples and pears, caused by the fungus
Leptothyrium pomi; also
attrib.;
fly-specked,
-speckled a., marked with fly-specks;
fly-strike, a skin disease of sheep, caused by the maggots of blow-flies,
esp. those of the genera
Lucilia and
Calliphora; hence
fly-struck a.;
fly-swat,
-swatter = swatter;
fly-swish = fly-whisk;
fly-tier,
-tyer, a maker of artificial flies; so
fly-tying vbl. n.;
fly-time, the time when flies are to be met with or are troublesome;
fly-tip,
-top, a top-joint used for fly-fishing;
fly-water, (
a) an infusion or decoction of flies; (
b) (see
quot. 1855);
fly-weevil,
U.S., the common grain-moth (
Gelechia cerealella) (
Cent. Dict.);
fly-weight Boxing, a weight of 8 stone or less; a pugilist of such a weight; also
transf.;
fly-whisk, an instrument for driving away flies;
fly-wire, screening to exclude flies,
esp. fly-wire door. Also
fly-bane, -bitten, -blow, -blown, -catcher, -fish, etc.
| 1750 G. Hughes Barbadoes 211 The *Fly-bats come from their lurking holes. |
| 1782–3 W. F. Martyn Geog. Mag. II. 468 The *fly-bird is esteemed one of the most beautiful. 1842 Hood Elm Tree iii. xxiii, The Fly-bird flutters up and down, To catch its tiny prey. |
| 1869 ‘Mark Twain’ Innoc. Abr. xvii. 169 A Venus with a *fly-blister on her breast. |
| 1848 Kingsley Yeast xi, I put it in the squire's *fly-book. |
| 1841 G. Catlin Indians I. 113 The Indian's *fly brush was made of the buffalo tail. 1888 J. L. Allen in Century Mag. Apr. 946 The abandoned fly-brush lay full across his face. |
| 1838 Dickens O. Twist xxxvii, A paper *fly-cage dangled from the ceiling. |
| 1753 Gentl. Mag. XXIII. 123/2 The ladies.. should not sacrifice the vigor of health..to a *fly cap. 1762 Lond. Chronicle 16–18 Feb. 167/3 The Fly Cap..is fixed upon the forehead, forming the figure of an over-grown butterfly..with outstretched wings. 1826 Miss Mitford Village Ser. ii. (1863) 353 With powdered hair and fly-caps and lappets. |
| 1897 Outing (U.S.) XXX. 377/1 The *fly-dope, or preventive against the attacks of insects. 1903 S. E. White Forest ix. 106 Each and every man..heralds the particular merits of his own fly-dope. |
| 1860 Merc. Marine Mag. VII. 270 The kahili is made of black feathers, fastened on a pole, much resembling a *fly-duster. |
| 1895 W. O. Legge in Rep. Australasian Assoc. Adv. Sci. VI. 447 [The habits and habitats of the genus as] applied to Gerygone suggested the term *Fly-eater, as distinguished from Fly-catcher. 1906 Westm. Gaz. 30 May 12/1 Starlings [are] great fly-eaters. 1930 W. de la Mare Desert Islands 212 Owl, kingfisher, robin, fly-eater. 1958 P. C. Morrison Austral. Bird Bk. 143 Brown warbler, flyeater, G[erygone] richmondii. |
| 1891 A. H. Keane tr. Junker's Trav. Afr. II. viii. 276 His hand also grasped, not a warlike assegai, but a peaceful *fly-fan! a 1911 D. G. Phillips Susan Lenox (1917) I. xvii. 300 They went into a large restaurant with fly fans speeding. |
| 1914 D. Fraser Winning Prim. People iv. 45 He carried nothing in his hand but a *fly-flick. |
| 1860 Fairholt Costume, *Fly-fringe, a peculiar edging for ladies' sleeves and dresses; much worn in the early part of the reign of George III. |
| 1822 Mem. Wernerian Soc. Edinb. IV. 343 The plant commonly known by the name of the *fly-fungus (from its property of destroying flies when steeped in milk), has made some noise of late on the Continent. 1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 780/1 Amanita muscaria, the fly fungus, formerly known as Agaricus muscarius. 1912 L. O. Howard House Fly ii. 64 With the common house fly fungus (Empusa muscae) a slight change in the amount of atmospheric moisture is sufficient to bring about germination. 1952 C. J. Alexopoulos Introd. Mycol. vii. 177 The most familiar of the Entomophthorales is Entomophthora muscae, commonly called the fly fungus. |
| 1706 R. H[owlett] Angler's Sure Guide 88 A middle-siz'd *Flie-Hook. |
| Ibid. 97 The *Flie-Line should be made very taper. 1854 Badham Halieut. ii. 19 Neither fly-rods, fly-lines, reels..nor landing-net. |
| 1908 Westm. Gaz. 8 Aug. 16/3 Flies..may be seen..lying about in odd corners covered with a mouldy grey fur, which is called *fly-mould. |
| 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour I. 435 *Fly-papers came..into street-traffic..in the summer of 1848. 1910 F. Martyn Burglar in Baulk 8 On the flypaper, subject to the Crimes Prevention Act. 1933 C. E. Leach On Top of Underworld x. 139 Flypaper Act..Prevention of Crimes Act. 1936 J. Curtis Gilt Kid ii. 23 He gets nicked for suspect and being on the flypaper, he gets a stretch in the Ville. 1941 Coast to Coast 1941 76 A spiral fly paper hung from the ceiling. 1971 Islander (Victoria, B.C.) 22 Aug. 3/1 From the..ceiling hung a few well encrusted fly papers. |
| 1839 Ure Dict. Arts, *Fly powder, the black coloured powder obtained by the spontaneous oxidizement of metallic arsenic in the air. |
| 1684 R. H. School Recreat. 149 The Line..for the *Fly-Rod..must be stronger than the first. 1843 Atkinson in Zoologist I. 294, I tapped it with the end of my fly-rod. |
| 1785 Grose Dict. Vulg. Tongue, *Fly slicers, life guard men, from their sitting on horse⁓back, under an arch, where they are frequently observed to drive away flies with their swords. |
| 1895 C. C. Abbott Birds about us ii. 75 Well..did the *flysnapper only make believe to launch out after insects? |
| 1855 Ogilvie, *Fly-speck. 1865 Mrs. Stowe House & Home Papers 290, I would shut my eyes on fly-specks, and open them on the beauties of Nature. 1907 Westm. Gaz. 15 July 2/1 Even your Caesar Borgia is but a fly-speck in the infinite. 1909 R. A. Wason Happy Hawkins 113 Lookin' like a fly-speck on a new tablecloth. 1939 H. Wormald Dis. Fruits & Hops v. 103 Frequently associated with Sooty Blotch, but sometimes occurring alone, are groups of black, circular dots which from their size and appearance are known as Fly Specks. 1943 Baker Dict. Austral. Slang (ed. 3) 75 The speck, Tasmania. Also, ‘the Fly Speck’. 1952 E. Ramsden tr. Gram & Weber's Plant Dis. 126/2 The fly speck fungus produces groups of round black dots on apples and sometimes on pears and plums. 1961 Trans. Brit. Mycol. Soc. XLIV. 304 The Micropeltaceae or ‘fly⁓speck’ fungi are treated by Prof. Batista as one of the seven families of the Microthyriales. |
| 1872 ‘Mark Twain’ Roughing It 43 Only one cruet left..a stopperless, *fly-specked, broken-necked thing. 1883 Harper's Mag. Mar. 528/1 A fly-specked old engraving. |
| 1881 Miss Laffan in Macm. Mag. XLIV. 388 Pictures, yellowed by turf smoke and well *fly-speckled. |
| 1851 D. Jerrold St. Giles v. 47 There are a thousand cracks and flaws and *fly-spots upon everything about us. [1890 J. H. Steel Treat. Dis. Sheep x. 325 Even a dog is able to tell when sheep have been struck by the fly. 1937 A. Fraser Sheep Farming xv. 143 When the weather favours strike..the maggot fly may cause hundreds of pounds worth of damage.] |
| 1950 H. G. Belschner Sheep Managem. vi. 178 The treatment of *fly-strike in sheep should be undertaken as soon as possible. 1965 C. R. W. Spedding Sheep Prod. viii. 210 When the eggs hatch, the maggots burrow under the skin and this is described as ‘fly strike’. |
| 1922 C. R. Edmonds Dis. Anim. S. Afr. ii. 310 This trouble [sc. sheep blowfly] is usually designated as ‘fly-blown sheep’ or ‘*fly-struck sheep’. 1934 Bulletin (Sydney) 18 Apr. 28/1 A fresh paddock will work wonders even if the flock in it includes fly-struck sheep. 1950 H. G. Belschner Sheep Managem. vi. 178 The only equipment necessary to dress a fly-struck sheep is a pair of shears, a suitable dressing, and a small horsehair brush. |
| 1937 A. M. N. Lyons Tom, Dick & Harriet xxvi. 225 He carried a *fly⁓swat..and flourished this..in a menacing manner. |
| 1917 Blackw. Mag. May 753/1 Fly-papers and *fly-swatters proved illusive. 1937 Sunday Express 30 May 17/3 Then he took to ‘fly-swatters’ and things for protecting food from the fly menace. |
| 1922 Blackw. Mag. Apr. 462/1 An old *fly-swish made of palm-leaves. 1927 World Dominion Oct. 318 His inevitable fly-swish under his arm. 1947 J. Stevenson-Hamilton Wild Life S. Afr. iv. 42 The trunk is indeed everything to the elephant..Furnished with a good large bunch of long grass it makes a better fly⁓swish than do most animals' own tails. |
| 1881 Echo 11 Apr. 3/6 The..cleverest *fly-tier in England. |
| 1706 R. H[owlett] Angler's Sure Guide 86 This is their [Fishes'] constant Course all *Flie-time. 1757 Dyer Fleece i. 366 In teizing fly-time. |
| 1706 R. H[owlett] Angler's Sure Guide 79 The Stock [of the Rod] bored no wider than to carry a Ground-top therein, or a *Flie-top. |
| 1887 H. Cholmondeley-Pennell Mod. Impr. Fish. Tackle 23 This branch of *fly-tying. |
| 1815 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. I. 306, I should have recommended..*fly-water for disorders in the eyes. 1855 Ogilvie Suppl., Fly-water, a solution of arsenic, or decoction of quassia-bark, for killing flies. |
| 1789 L. Carter in Trans. Amer. Soc. I. 274 (title), Observations concerning the *Fly-weevil that destroys the Wheat. |
| 1911 Boxing 9 Sept. 454/3 Kleber reigns over the *fly-wt championship. 1913 J. G. B. Lynch Comp. Amat. Boxer 234 Championships. Standard Weights. Fly Weight, 8 stone and under. 1914 ― Promin. Pugilists 158 He [sc. Jimmy Wilde] is far below the fly-weight limit. 1944 Auden For Time Being (1945) 12 A fly-weight hermit in a dream Of gardens. 1955 Times 12 May 4/3 They fell behind again when Gnr. Lloyd was beaten in one round by the opposing flyweight. |
| 1841 Lane Arab. Nts. I. 132 A kind of *fly-whisk made of palm-leaves. 1930 E. Waugh Labels iii. 65 He lunged out with a spanner and rapped an old man on the knuckles who was trying to sell us a fly-whisk. 1953 Dylan Thomas Under Milk Wood (1954) 52 Mrs. Ogmore-Pritchard belches in a teeny hanky and chases the sunlight with a flywhisk. 1963 W. Soyinka Lion & Jewel 25 Fly⁓whisk and whisky. |
| 1952 ‘N. Shute’ Far Country v. 140 The house itself had deep verandas on two sides and *fly⁓wire doors. 1969 Southerly XXIX. 305, I..pushed open the fly-wire door then walked into the kitchen. |
b. In various plant-names, as
fly-agaric,
Agaricus muscarius = fly-bane 1 c;
fly-dod, ragwort (
Senecio Jacobæa);
fly-flower (see
quot. 1878);
fly-honeysuckle, (
a) a variety of honeysuckle (
Lonicera Xylosteum); (
b) a species of Halleria;
fly-orchid,
-orchis, a name for
Ophrys muscifera;
fly-poison,
fly-wort, (see
quots.).
| 1788 J. Bolton Hist. Fung. I. 27 *Fly Agaric... The root is large, and bulb-shaped. 1866 Treas. Bot., Fly-agaric. |
| 1826 Wilbraham Chesh. Gloss., *Fly-dod..is usually covered with a dusky yellow fly. |
| 1640 Parkinson Theat. Bot. 1351 Orchis Myodes minor, the lesser *Flye flower. 1878 Britten & Holland Plant-n., Fly Flowers, (1) All species of Orchis except O. mascula—Glou... (2) Prunella vulgaris—Glou. |
| 1819 Rees Cycl., *Fly-honeysuckle. 1861 Mrs. Lankester Wild Flowers 71 Lonicera Xylosteum, the Fly or Upright Honey-suckle. |
| 1578 Lyte Dodoens ii. lvi. 222 We may call it in English properly *flie Orchis, bycause al the kindes of Serapias Orchis, haue in all their floures the..likenesse of one kinde of flie or other. 1841 Maunder Sci. & Lit. Treas., Fly-orchis, in botany, the Orchis muscifera. |
| 1866 Treas. Bot., *Fly-poison, Amianthium muscætoxicum. |
| 1753 Chambers Cycl. Suppl. App., *Fly-wort, in botany, a name by which some call the lychnis of authors. 1866 Treas. Bot., Fly-wort, a name applied to those species of Catasetum formerly called Myanthus. |
▪ II. fly, n.2 (
flaɪ)
Pl.
flies; in sense 3 b usually
flys.
[f. fly v.1; many of the senses have no mutual connexion, being separate formations on the vb. OE. had flyᵹe str. masc., action of flying = OHG. flug (MHG. vluc, mod.Ger. flug), ON. flugr (mod.Icel. flug neut.):—OTeut. *flugi-z, f. weak grade of *fleugan to fly; but it is doubtful whether this survived the OE. period.] I. The action of flying.
1. a. † The action or manner of flying, flight (
obs.). In recent use, an act of flying.
| a 1000 Crist 645 (Gr.) Se fæla fuᵹel flyᵹes cunnode. a 1000 Satan 112 (Gr.) Ic sceal on flyᵹe..earda neosan. c 1425 Fest. Ch. xxx. in Leg. Rood (1871) 221 Þe Egle is frikest fowle in flye. c 1650 Earl Westmorland in Furniv. Percy Folio I. 300 On Bramaball more shee caused my flye. 1786 Nelson in Nicolas Disp. (1845) I. 178 Indignity offered under the fly of his Flag. 1828 Disraeli Infernal Marriage iii. iii. Novels (1881) 345 'Twas an easy fly; the chariot [a car borne by owls] soon descended upon the crest of a hill. 1887 Sporting Life 22 June 2/6 A two miles pigeon fly. |
b. A flying visit.
rare.
| 1833 Mrs. Carlyle Let. 28 July, We have had..no other visitors except..my mother..for a fly. |
c. slang. A trick, dodge.
| 1861 [F. W. Robinson] No Church I. ix. 192 Who's put you up to that fly? |
d. Phr.
to give (it) a fly, to make an attempt, to have a go. Also,
to have a fly at (1941 Baker,
Dict. Austral. Slang 29).
Austral.| 1919 Downing Digger Dial. 24 To give it a fly, to make an attempt. 1926 K. S. Prichard Working Bullocks xiv. 129 ‘They say you're going to race him at Blue Flowers, Red?’ ‘Might give him a fly,’ Red admitted. 1931 V. Palmer Separate Lives 114 Righto! I'm willing to give it a fly if that's settled. 1934 T. Wood Cobbers ii. 19 They come in for miles..to give it [sc. betting at trots] a fly. |
e. Football.
= fly-half.
| 1921 E. H. D. Sewell Rugby Football 195 L. A. Phillips was a combination half, who was really equally at home as scrum or fly. |
2. on the fly:
orig. on the wing, flying; hence, in motion, moving up and down.
a. gen. Also
slang = ‘on the spree’.
| 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour II. 51 Taking them on the fly; which means meeting the gentry on their walks, and beseeching or at times menacing them till something is given. 1855 [Burn] Autobiog. Beggar Boy 6 My father had been on the fly in that town for nine or ten days. 1868 Temple Bar Mag. XXIV. 538, I prigged an old woman's poke on the fly. 1892 Nation (N.Y.) 4 Aug. 91/3 To borrow the language of the sportsman, he may be said to have caught the Melanesian people ‘on the fly’. |
b. Baseball and (
U.S. only)
Cricket: The course of a ball that has been struck, until it touches the ground. Also in
Football and
Hockey.
foul fly (see
quot. 1874).
| 1856 Spirit of Times 8 Nov. 165/1 Several fine catches..made on the fly. 1868 [see catch n.1 1 c]. 1872 O. W. Holmes Poet Breakf.-t. v. (1885) 119 Catching a ball on the fly. 1874 Chadwick Base Ball Man. 41 Ketchum..was caught on the fly. Ibid. 58 Any high foul ball, held on the fly, is called a foul fly. 1882 Philad. Press 12 Aug. 8 That usually reliable fielder muffed the fly. 1887 Dr. Irvine in G. A. Hutchison Football iii. 91 If he throws forward, his opponent may make his mark, if he manages to catch the ball on the fly. 1960 T. McLean Kings of Rugby xiii. 173 One such run..led to Dawson putting a hefty boot to the ball on the fly. 1961 J. S. Salak Dict. Amer. Sports 226 Hitting on the fly (field hockey), hitting an oncoming ball without first stopping or fielding it. |
II. Something that flies, in various senses.
3. A quick-travelling carriage.
a. ‘A stage-coach, distinguished by this name, in order to impress a belief of its extraordinary quickness in travelling’ (J.).
Obs. exc. Hist.| 1708 in Mem. J. Hall 21 Fly, a Waggon, i.e. Country Cart. 1759 Gray Lett. Wks. 1884 III. 21 The parcel will come by one of the flies. 1774 Burke Corr. (1844) I. 449 A letter..sent on Tuesday night by the Grantham fly. 1816 Scott Antiq. i, The Queensferry Diligence or Hawes Fly. 1888 Burgon Lives 12 Gd. Men I. iv. 386 He had travelled up from Northamptonshire in a fly. |
b. The name of a light vehicle, introduced at Brighton in 1816, and originally drawn or pushed by men; but a horse being soon employed, the name was gradually extended to any one-horse covered carriage, as a cab or hansom, let out on hire. Perh. short for
fly-by-night,
q.v. Obs. exc. Hist. Local usage of the word varied; in some places
fly was confined to a ‘four-wheeler’; but it was generally applied to a vehicle hired from a livery-stable, and not plying for hire.
| 1818 C. Wright Brighton Ambulator 170 A nouvelle kind of four-wheel vehicles, drawn by a man and an assistant, are very accommodating to visitors..They are denominated Flys. 1828 Scott Jrnl. (1890) II. 185 We then took a fly, as they call the light carriages, and drove as far as the Devil's Ditch. 1830 T. Hook Maxwell II. ii. 53 One of the Brighton boatmen..bid him [a boy] go and get a fly..he heard an additional direction..not to bring a horse-fly. 1839 Mrs. Carlyle Lett. I. 114 A fly (a little chaise with one horse), furnished us from a livery-stable hard by. 1844 Disraeli Coningsby iv. ii, Get a fly at the station. 1881 M. E. Herbert Edith 118 Soon after breakfast a fly at the door, to catch the 10.50 train. |
4. Something attached by the edge.
Cf. flap n.4 a. A strip or lap on a garment, to contain or cover the button-holes; hence something used to cover or connect (see
quot. 1884).
spec. (
freq. pl.) the piece of cloth that hides the fastening at the front of a pair of trousers; also, the fastening itself.
| 1844 Regul. & Ord. Army 154 [Trousers] Open in front, with a Fly and Five Buttons. 1884 Knight Dict. Mech. IV. 351/1 Fly, the fore flap of a bootee. A strip of leather which overwraps the front vamp and receives the strings or other fastening. 1941 I. Baird He rides the Sky 234 A pair of tennis shorts with zipper fly. 1942 E. Paul Narrow St. i. 6 The professor..turned toward the pissoir, unbuttoning his fly en route. 1952 ‘Vigilans’ Chamber of Horrors 27 The words button one's fly are offensive only to the prurient. 1953 M. Dickens No More Meadows i. 49 Champ, your flies are undone again. That boy! He'll be arrested yet. 1959 R. Fuller Ruined Boys ii. viii. 128 ‘Your flies are undone,’ said Matley primly. |
b. In a tent: ‘The sloping or roof part of the canvas’ (Yule); also, the flap at the entrance, forming a door.
| 1810 Williamson E. India Vade M. II. 452 The main part of the operation of pitching the tent, consisting of raising the flies. 1840 E. E. Napier Scenes & Sports Foreign Lands II. iii. 55 The fly and white walls of our tent. (Note. The roof or top part of the tent). 1882 Century Mag. XXV. 195 Two or three Indians..peered through the fly, and then came in. |
c. Of a flag: (
a) The breadth from the staff to the end; (
b) the part farthest from the staff.
| 1841 R. H. Dana Seaman's Man. 105 Fly, that part of a flag which extends from the Union to the extreme end. 1864 Boutell Heraldry Hist. & Pop. xviii. 286 The Pennon was small in size, pointed or swallow-tailed at the Fly. |
d. Theat. in
pl. The space over the proscenium, including the upper mechanism and the galleries on each side from which it is worked.
| 1805 European Mag. XLVII. 447 A large portion of scenery from the top (called the flies) fell upon the stage. 1859 Smiles Self-Help v. (1860) 126 First working under the stage, then behind the flies, then upon the stage itself. 1887 Daily Tel. 27 May 3 Sparks fell from the flies upon the stage. |
5. In various technical uses.
a. Naut. A compass card: see
quot. 1610 and
card n.2 4. Hence, on a terrestrial globe: The set of rhumbs drawn from a selected point on the surface (?
obs.). Also, on a vane: see
quot. 1773.
| 1571 Digges Pantom. i. xxix. I ij b, It is also requisite, that within Theodelitus you haue a needle or fly so rectified, that [etc.]. 1610 W. Folkingham Art of Survey ii. vi. 56 The Flie is a Card diuided into eight, sixteene, thirty two equall parts in the Limbe with competent extention to shew the Meridian and Coastages of the Plot. 1690 Leybourn Curs. Math. 611 Upon the top of the Box wherein the Fly and Needle is fastned. 1773 Johnson (ed. 4), Fly 3, that part of a vane which points how the wind blows. 1789–96 J. Morse Am. Un. Geog. I. 49 Observe..what rhumb of the nearest fly runs mostly parallel to the edge of the quadrant. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Fly or Compass-Card. |
b. A speed-regulating device, usually consisting of vanes upon a rotating shaft, chiefly used in musical boxes and the striking parts of clock-machinery.
| 1599 T. M[oufet] Silkwormes 35 Thy Springs, thy Scrues, thy rowells, and thy flie. 1812–6 J. Smith Panorama Sc. & Art I. 380 This fly strikes the air with so large a surface, that the resistance it experiences prevents the train of wheels from going too fast. 1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 105 When the striking train is discharged it would run with increasing speed but for the fly. |
c. A fly wheel, a pair of weighted arms, or other device involving the same principle, used to regulate the speed of machinery.
| 1648 Wilkins Math. Magick i. xiii. 87 A single hair fastned unto the fly or ballance of the Jack. 1703 Moxon Mech. Exerc. 49 The Fly is made sometimes with two, sometimes with four Arms from the Center. 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 51 A fly is sometimes..employed as a collector of power. 1874 Knight Dict. Mech. I. 895/1 Fly 11, the swinging weighted arm of some kinds of presses. |
d. = fanner 2.
| 1807 Vancouver Agric. Devon (1813) 127 Few winnowing-machines, saving a common whisk or fly, are used in this county. 1836 Penny Cycl. V. 307 A winnowing machine with a fly and sieves is the only additional instrument. |
e. One of the cylinders of a carding machine.
| 1842 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 7) XXI. 932/1 The worker next the doffers is called the fly, from its great velocity. 1888 R. Beaumont Woollen Manuf. ii. 56 The doffer removes the fibres brought on to the surface of the swift by the fly. |
f. In
Machine-knitting,
Spinning,
Weaving (see
quots.). Also in
Hand-spinning: the spindle.
| 1851 L. D. B. Gordon Art Jrnl. Illust. Catal. 1**/2 Drawing out the fibre from the rock, and supplying it regularly to the fly, which is caused to turn rapidly and twist it into a thread or yarn. 1874 Knight Dict. Mech. I 895/1 Fly 3 (Knitting-machine), another name for the Latch. Ibid., Fly 4 (Spinning), the arms which revolve around the bobbin in a spinning-frame, to twist the roving or yarn which is wound on the bobbin. Ibid., Fly 6 (Weaving), a shuttle driven through the shed by a blow or jerk. |
g. In the pianoforte (see
quots.).
| 1876 Stainer & Barrett Dict. Mus. Terms, Fly, a hinged board which covers the keys of the pianoforte or organ when not in use. 1879 A. J. Hipkins in Grove Dict. Mus. I. 619/2 A screw perforating the jack, tongue, or fly as it is variously called, of the grasshopper [in a pianoforte]. |
h. In a screw-log (see
quot.).
| 1882 Capt. Moriarty in Encycl. Brit. XIV. 770/2 The ‘fly’ [of a screw-log] consists of a hollow copper cylinder about 9 or 10 inches long with four fins or blades placed at a given angle, causing it to rotate once in a certain distance. |
i. Metal-working. An apparatus worked by the horizontal swinging of a weighted lever, for cutting out with a die pieces of metal of a required shape from a bar or sheet.
| 1831 J. Holland Manuf. Metal I. 211 With a fly..nails of almost any size or shape might..be cut out of rolled metal. |
6. Waste cotton.
Cf. flue n.2,
fluff.
| 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 274/1 Fly or short staple cotton, which has gathered below the machine. 1893 Labour Commission Gloss., Fly, loose down. |
III. attrib. and
Comb. (In many of these the first element may be really the verb-stem.)
7. a. Simple attributive, as (sense 3 b)
fly-horse,
fly-proprietor, (sense 4 a)
fly-button,
fly-front, (sense 4 d)
fly-gallery, (sense 5 b)
fly-pinion, (sense 5 c)
fly-piston,
fly-screw.
| 1895 Montgomery Ward Catal. 86/1 Metal Snap *Fly Buttons. 1933 J. E. Liberty Pract. Tailoring vi. 87 The fly buttons..should be carefully marked first by laying the fly edge along the catch seam and marking over from the holes on to the button catch. 1961 A. Wilson Old Men at Zoo ii. 81 You've been state nursed from the cradle, without ever learning to do your own flybuttons up. |
| 1893 Times 8 July 12/2 This coat has a *fly front buttoning underneath. 1897 Sears, Roebuck Catal. 175/2 Men's fancy fly front corduroy vests will be all the style for the coming season. 1961 Sunday Express 12 Mar. 16/7 Simple trench coat..fly-front. |
| 1888 Kobbé in Scribner's Mag. IV. 437 The *fly-galleries on either side, from the lowest of which the drop-scenes and borders are worked. |
| 1891 C. T. C. James Rom. Rigmarole 134 That moribund *fly-horse. |
| 1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 106 [The] *Fly Pinion..[is] the pinion in a clock which carries the fly. |
| 1831 J. Holland Manuf. Metal I. 48 In which [cylinder] works a weighted, or what is called a *fly-piston. |
| 1845 P.O. Directory 6 Home Counties 631/1 Box John, *fly proprietor. |
| 1831 J. Holland Manuf. Metal II. 152 In the production of boxes for *fly-screws and others having several worms. |
b. objective, as (sense 3 b)
fly-driver, (sense 5 g)
fly-finisher;
fly-finishing vbl. n.| 1847 Alb. Smith Chr. Tadpole v. (1879) 59 Prejudices, which..had somewhat operated against the *fly-drivers on the part of the family coachmen. |
c. instrumental, as (sense 4 a)
fly-fronted adj.| 1901 in C. W. Cunnington Eng. Women's Clothing (1952) ii. 43 A *fly-fronted coat. 1929 Evening News 18 Nov. 6/5 Look at the above Overcoat, the Fly-fronted Chester, which is a specially dignified style, and is much worn by business and professional men. |
8. Special
Comb., as
fly ash, ash resulting from the burning of pulverized coal;
fly-ball (
Baseball), a ball that may be caught ‘on the fly’;
fly-bill, a handbill to be scattered broadcast, also
attrib.;
fly-block (
Naut.), ‘the block spliced into the topsail-tye’ (
Adm. Smyth);
fly boy U.S. slang, a member of the Air Force,
esp. a pilot;
fly-bridge = flying bridge;
fly camp, a temporary camp;
fly-catch (
Baseball), a catch ‘on the fly’;
fly-clock, a clock regulated by a fly, before the introduction of pendulums;
fly-coach = fly n.2 3 a;
fly-cruise, a holiday involving an air journey to the place where a sea-cruise begins; also
attrib.;
fly-cutter, a cutting tool driven at a high rate of speed;
fly-door (
Mining), a door opening either way;
fly-drill (see
quot.);
fly-frame, (
a)
Cotton-spinning = flyer frame; (
b) a machine used in the polishing and grinding of glass;
fly-governor (see
quot.)
= fly n.2 5 c;
fly-half Rugby Football, the half-back who stands off from the scrum-half;
= stand-off half;
fly-kick, a kick (
esp. in Rugby football) made while moving at rapid speed; so
fly-kick v. trans. and intr.;
fly-line, the line of flight taken by a bird in its regular migrations;
fly-nut, a screw nut having wings or projections which enable it to be tightened by hand;
fly-page, the side of a fly-leaf (see
fly-leaf);
fly-penning (see
quot.);
fly-piston (see
quot.);
fly-pole,
= giant-stride;
fly-post v. trans. and intr., to display (posters) rapidly in unauthorized places;
trans., to cover with bills so posted; so
fly-posting vbl. n.;
fly-press, a screw press worked by a fly (see 5 c);
fly-pulley, a pulley that may be shifted along the length of a shaft;
fly-punching press,
fly-rail (see
quots.);
fly-reed (
Weaving), the reed of a fly-shuttle loom;
fly-rope (see
quot.);
fly-sail (
Naut.), ?
= flying jib;
fly-shuttle (
Weaving) (see
quot. 1874);
fly-spring (see
quot.);
fly stitch (see
quots.);
fly-table, a table with flaps that may be let down;
fly-tail,
U.S., a small gill-net without sinkers formerly used for catching perch, etc. (
Cent. Dict.);
fly-tent, ? a tent having a fly (sense 4 b);
fly-tip,
fly-title,
fly-tool,
fly-up (
Naut.) (see
quots.);
fly-wagon = fly n.2 3 a.
| 1931 Electr. World 23 May 961/1 The solution of the *fly-ash problem lies in reducing the amount of ash that is discharged to the atmosphere to the point where it is no longer objectionable. 1937 Jrnl. Amer. Concrete Inst. VIII. 578 The residue from the burning of powdered coal is commonly designated as ‘fly ash’. 1956 Science News XL. 83 Fly-ash produced in boilers fired by pulverized fuel can be used in making building materials. 1967 New Scientist 15 June 650/1 Many schemes have been proposed for using up the millions of tons of ‘fly-ash’, a dust-like residue produced by coal-burning plant. |
| 1874 Chadwick Base Ball Man. 29 They should be..excellent judges of *fly-balls. |
| 1891 Daily News 28 Sept. 7/1 A *fly-bill poster. |
| 1841 R. H. Dana Seaman's Man. 46 Then..reeve the other end through the *fly-block for a fall. |
| 1946 Amer. Speech XXI. 248 Airforce flying personnel are sometimes labelled bird-men or *flyboys. 1948 Life 1 Nov. 87/2 The generals are no full-throttle ‘fly-boys’. 1954 Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §756/2 Cloud hopper, eagle, eagle chaser, fly-boy, manbird, sky chauffeur. |
| 1614 Sylvester Bethulia's Rescue iii. 110 Th' Engineer..Brings here his *Fly-Bridge, there his batt'ring Crow. |
| 1939 Amer. Speech XIV. 236, I heard the branch camps attached to one of our mountain divisions of the CCC referred to as *fly camps. 1959 Tararua (N.Z.) XIII. 49 Fly-camp for a small, subsidiary, temporary camp..suggests a camp with merely a fly as shelter. 1964 Imperial Oil Review (Toronto) Dec. 5/2 Outside on the river bank..Hughes moved one helicopter..off to the nearest fly camp, 35 miles southwest. |
| 1874 Chadwick Base Ball Man. 30 Chances for *fly-catches from short, high balls. |
| 1830 Herschel Stud. Nat. Phil. ii. vi. (1851) 178 By clocks he [Lord Bacon] could not have meant pendulum clocks, which were not then known..but *fly-clocks. |
| 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. i, The slow and safe motion of the ancient *Fly-coaches. |
| 1968 Times 14 Sept. 24/3 Sorting through the information I had gathered on ‘*fly-cruise’ holidays, I came upon what was for me a new aspect of the regulations. 1970 Daily Tel. 19 Sept. 11 Flying to join a ship for a couple of weeks' cruising holiday in the Mediterranean had gradually won popularity... This year several firms are offering Caribbean fly-cruises. 1971 Sunday Times 3 Jan. 72/1 The increasingly popular fly-cruise holidays. |
| 1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 105 Latterly *fly cutters are often made double. |
| 1851 Greenwell Coal-trade Terms Northumb. & Durh., *Fly doors or swing doors. |
| 1874 Knight Dict. Mech. I. 895 *Fly-drill, one having a reciprocating fly⁓wheel which gives it a steady momentum. |
| 1835 *Fly frame [see roving vbl. n.3 3 a]. 1890 W. J. Gordon Foundry 131 The huge sheets of glass are..ground with sand under a heavy iron ‘fly-frame’, said to have been invented by James Watt. 1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 344/2 Fly frames, a series of machines used to attenuate roving in preparation for the spinning frame. |
| 1874 Knight Dict. Mech. I. 895 *Fly-governor, one which regulates speed by the impact of vanes upon the air. |
| 1918 J. E. Raphael Mod. Rugby Footb. 127 It is the business of the three-quarters not to force the *fly half forward, but to stand back also. 1921 E. H. D. Sewell Rugby Football 60 He [sc. the scrum half] knows by the signal which way his fly-half is going to run. 1955 Times 1 Aug. 3/3 Scrum half Williams and Morgan at fly-half. |
| 1906 Gallaher & Stead Compl. Rugby Footballer 208 Ninety-nine successful *fly-kicks do not atone for one failure. 1921 E. H. D. Sewell Rugby Football 92 Whether by punt, drop, or ‘field’ or fly-kick does not matter. 1930 Daily Express 6 Nov. 17/7 Hunt suddenly turned defence into attack by fly-kicking. 1959 Observer 28 June 29/3 A pass which Dawson fly-kicked some 30 or 40 yards down the field. |
| 1884 H. Seebohm Brit. Birds II. 506 One of the *‘fly-lines’ of this species crosses the Bermuda Islands. |
| 1825 J. Nicholson Oper. Mech. 454 The small binding screw with a *fly-nut. 1896 Palmer Tyres 22 Fly nut for opening valve. 1953 Flood & West Dict. Sci. & Techn. Words (ed. 2) 138/2 Fly-nut, nut with wings so that it can be screwed on by hand. |
| 1892 J. Cave-Browne Hist. Boxley, A parish-register..often contains on its *fly-pages, chance notes and memoranda. |
| 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, *Fly-penning, a mode of manuring land practised in England and in the colonies by folding cattle or sheep in rotation over different parts of it. |
| 1884 J. J. Pope Number One iv. 101 A *‘fly-pole’ and a swing should be in every playground. |
| 1903 Daily Mail 25 Feb. 3/7 A young advance agent for a theatrical company who went out ‘*fly-posting’ in the dead of night and pasted bills on private property. 1906 Daily Chron. 21 July 6/6 A staff of men..to fly-post the constituency during the night with Tariff Reform literature. 1961 Times 21 June 13/6 The special triumph of what was known as ‘fly posting’ was to obliterate some rival announcement. 1970 Daily Tel. (Colour Suppl.) 11 Dec. 28/4 Intricate Art Nouveau offerings which he once used to help to fly-post stealthily all over London. |
| 1819 Rees Cycl., The coining press or *fly-press. 1874 Knight Dict. Mech. I. 896/2 Fly-press, a screw-press in which the power is derived from a weighted arm, swinging in a horizontal plane, as in embossing and die presses. |
| 1884 Health Exhib. Catal. p. lvii/1 Crank-shaft which carries *fly-pulley for transmitting the power by means of a strap. |
| 1874 Knight Dict. Mech. I. 896 *Fly-punching press, a press for cutting teeth on saws and for other purposes. |
| 1855 Ogilvie Suppl., *Fly-rail, that part of a table which turns out to support the leaf. |
| 1863 J. Watson Art Weaving 126 When Mr. Bullough introduced his Loom with the *Fly Reed. |
| 1892 Lockwood's Dict. Mech. Engin. App., *Fly Rope, a term often used to denote a rope of cotton or hemp used for telodynamic transmission of power. |
| 1819 J. H. Vaux Mem. I. 65 With only a storm jib, and *fly-sail set. |
| 1795 J. Aikin Manchester 300 With the use of the *fly shuttle. 1874 Knight Dict. Mech. I. 896 Fly-shuttle, a shuttle driven by a picker in contradistinction to one thrown by hand. |
| 1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 106 [The] *Fly Spring..causes the outer cover of a watch case to fly open. |
| 1934 M. Thomas Dict. Embroidery Stitches 101 *Fly stitch is..a kind of open detached chain stitch. 1960 G. Lewis Handbk. Crafts 32 Fly stitch or Y stitch... The needle comes up at the top of the left arm of the V part of the stitch. It is inserted at the top of the right arm of the V and comes out at the base of the V over the loop of the working thread. The tail of the Y can be as long or short as desired. |
| 1785 Cowper Let. to J. Newton 19 Mar., The *fly⁓table was too slight and too small. |
| 1816 Keatinge Trav. (1817) II. 8 Three *fly-tents, with mattresses laid on the ground, accommodate six Europeans. |
| 1874 Chadwick Base Ball Man. 58 *Fly Tip. This is a foul ball held by the catcher, sharp from the bat. |
| 1888 Jacobi Printer's Voc., *Fly-title, the half-title in front of the general title, or which divides sections of a work. |
| 1819 Rees Cycl., *Fly-tool is a very light narrow wooden spade shod with iron, which the navigators of a canal use for cutting or throwing out any soft clay..or the like. |
| 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., *Fly-up, a sudden deviation upwards from a sheer line. |
| 1827 Hood in Hone Every-day Bk. II. 1547 The ponderous *fly-waggon passed me. |
Add:
[III.] [8.] fly bridge, (
b) on a yacht, cabin cruiser, etc.: an open deck above the bridge,
usu. equipped with duplicate navigating controls;
freq. attrib.| 1962 Pop. Boating Sept. (Advt., verso title-page), Fiberglass flybridge in ocean swells..prevents swaying. 1974 Telegraph (Brisbane) 17 Sept. 47/1 The Baron..is the first flybridge boat to be released under 6m (20 ft.)... The deluxe is fitted with steering console both on the flybridge and in the cabin. 1985 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 9 Oct. e5/9 (Advt.), CHRIS Craft Commander 38{p}, flybridge sedan, well equipped. |
▪ III. fly, a. slang. (
flaɪ)
[prob. f. fly v.1, though the etymological notion is doubtful.] 1. Knowing, wide-awake, sharp.
fly to (anything): ‘up’ to, well acquainted with, clever at.
| 1811 Lexicon Balatronicum s.v. Fly..The rattling cove is fly; the coachman knows what we are about. 1825 C. M. Westmacott Eng. Spy II. 5 You are fly to cant. 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour II. 109 We're rather ‘fly to a dodge’. 1852 Dickens Bleak Ho. xvi, ‘I am fly’, says Jo. |
2. Of the fingers: Dexterous, nimble, skilful.
| 1834 H. Ainsworth Rookwood iii. v, No dummy hunter had forks so fly. 1839 Reynolds Pickw. abroad 224 We'll knap a fogle with fingers fly. |
3. Comb. as
fly cop slang (see
quots. 1859 and 1962);
U.S., a detective, a plain-clothes policeman;
fly-flat (see
quots.);
fly-pitch slang, a street pitch; hence
fly-pitcher, one who operates a fly-pitch, a street-trader.
| 1859 Matsell Vocabulum 34 *Fly-cop, sharp officer;..an officer that understands his business. 1872 Chicago Tribune 27 Dec. 8/3 Blacklegs, gamblers, ‘fly cops’, and sports. 1889 Barrère & Leland Dict. Slang I. 376/1 Fly-cop (thieves'), a sharp policeman. 1900 Fly cop [see chair n.1 1 d]. a 1906 ‘O. Henry’ Trimmed Lamp (1916) 227 It was purely the still panic produced by the sound of the ax of the fly cop, Conscience, hammering at the gambling-house doors of the Heart. 1929 Wodehouse Gentleman of Leisure xviii. 149 ‘A detective?’ ‘Dat's right. A fly cop.’ 1962 John o' London's 25 Jan. 82/2 A motorised police officer is.. a fly cop. |
| 1864 Revelations Lady Detective 126, I have an appointment with a *fly flat (i.e. a clever fool). 1889 Barrère & Leland Dict. Slang, Fly-flat (Turf), one who really knows little or nothing about racing, but fancies him⁓self thoroughly initiated in all its mysteries. 1907 Daily Chron. 1 Apr. 4/4 The criminal classes..always speak of fools who think they are wise as ‘fly-flats’. 1938 J. Cary Castle Corner x. 559 ‘I don't see why we should consider the speculators.’ ‘A lot of fly-flats who thought they could beat us at the game.’ |
| 1934 Evening News 9 July 11/2 There are the ‘*fly pitches’, spots..where the cheap-jacks take their stand... The most famous is at the foot of the Irving statue at the side of the National Portrait Gallery. Whenever you see a really big crowd collected at this spot you can be sure that one or other of the familiar *fly-pitchers of London is doing his stuff. It may be the coloured Prince of Tipsters, proving vehemently that he..holds the secret of making money out of racing. 1939 J. B. Priestley Let People Sing x. 256 ‘Bin workin' a fly pitch in the Sat'day gaff,’ said Micky Barnet. 1965 Sun 26 Oct. 7/6 Charlie Byass..is one of the two dozen or so licensed chestnut men in London. There are others, called ‘fly pitchers’, who sell without a licence. |
Sense 3 in
Dict. becomes 5. Add:
3. U.S. a. Stylish, sophisticated; fashionable.
b. Chiefly
Black English, attractive, good-looking; hence, excellent, fabulous (
cf. *
fly boy, *
-guy below; *
fly girl n.).
| 1879 Nat. Police Gazette (U.S.) 20 Sept. 15/2, I am speaking now of the young..men about town who think it is awfully ‘fly’ to know tow-headed actresses, and that to sip crab-apple champagne with the gaudy, vulgar thing in pink tights is just the nobbiest thing on earth. 1896 G. Ade Artie xviii. 169 They get in with a lot o' cheap skates and chase around at nights and think they're the real thing... They think they're fly, but they ain't. 1946 Mezzrow & Wolfe Really Blues ii. 23 Marcelle must have figured me for a fly cat too, and her curiousity was aroused. 1954 L. Armstrong Satchmo (1955) iii. 42 They were playing At the Animals' Ball... When the break came I made it a real good one and a fly one at that. 1970 Current Slang (Univ. S. Dakota) V. ii. 7 Fly, adj., well dressed. 1980 E. Morris et al. Superrappin' (song) in L. A. Stanley Rap: the Lyrics (1992) 145 M.C.s, disc jockeys to all the fly kids and the young ladies Introducin' the crew ya got to see to believe. 1991 Source Dec. 48/2 In the elite world of Hip-Hop money makers, boys believe there are two kinds of women. The first are the sistas who have a ‘man’ or are considered both fly and virtuous enough to be a brotha's ‘girl’. 1992 Vibe Fall (Preview Issue) 100/3 To work with him? That would be the most exciting thing to ever happen to me. That shit would be fly. |
4. U.S. Unrestrained or rebellious in one's behaviour:
spec. a. (
esp. of a woman) flirtatious or sexually promiscuous; wanton.
| 1880 C. L. Martin Sam Bass iv. 18 The woman who made the least secret about the color of her garters, and who was the ‘flyest of all the mob’, was the belle of the place. 1888 in Farmer & Henley Slang (1893) III. 42/1 I'm just gettin' sick'n tired o' the way't them fly dames go on, 'n the way't the fellahs hang round 'em 'n dance with 'em. 1931 F. Hurst Back Street i. 3 You're one of those cheating girls who act fly, but aren't. You'll lead a man on, but you won't go all the way. 1948 Z. N. Hurston Seraph on Suwanee xi. 113 That Corregio woman was ‘fly’ and doing her level best to bait Jim Meserve in. |
b. Wild, audacious, impertinent; brash.
| 1884 in Miller &Snell Why West was Wild (1963) 515 A pair of very ‘fly’ Chicago drummers came down last week bent on doing the ‘boys’ up and painting the town red... Denhollem's..safe was broken open during the night while these ‘fly ones’ were peacefully reposing in their beds. 1896 G. Ade Artie iv. 34 Artie stopped short, slowly rubbed his chin and looked at the intruder. ‘You won't think I'm too fly if I ask you a question, will you?’ 1919 F. Hurst Humoresque 135 You won't forget to nag me even then for duds to go automobiling with fly men that can't bring you no good. 1970 C. Major Dict. Afro-Amer. Slang 54 Fly, fast, and ecstatic; brash. 1992 Newsweek (Canad. ed.) 4 May 64/1 People make the circle when they think you have the flavor and you're gonna do something fly... But my life's not about bein' large, ya know? |
[5.] fly boy orig. and chiefly
U.S., (
a) a sharp or shrewd young man; (
b) (
esp. in
Black English) a stylish or sophisticated young man.
| 1888 in Random House Hist. Dict. Amer. Slang (1994) I. 791/1 Jim Blake lived in the country, and though a pretty fly boy among the rustics was not up in the ways of the outside world. 1896 G. Ade Artie vi. 57 Here comes a whole crowd o' people—a lot o' swell girls and their fly boys. The car was nearly full. 1950 A. Lomax Mr. Jelly Roll 182 Here were the fly boys of the burgeoning entertainment industry. 1980 L. Cody Dupe ii. 13 Bit of a fly-boy, anyway, I shouldn't wonder. 1993 Independent 18 Feb. 22/6 The rapper Butterfly..tries to push the hip vernacular to implosion-point, unleashing a stream of all-purpose, timeless hepcat babble that would be just as easily understood by Fifties beats as Nineties fly-boys. |
fly guy = *
fly boy above.
| 1906 in Random House Hist. Dict. Amer. Slang (1994) I. 792/1 They're fly guys there all right... But the flyer they are the easier it is to trim them. 1979 S. Robinson et al. Rapper's Delight (song) in L. A. Stanley Rap: the Lyrics (1992) 322 So I rocked some vicious rhymes like I never did before She said, ‘Damn, fly guy, I'm in love with you The Casanova legend must have been true.’ |
▪ IV. fly, v.1 (
flaɪ)
Pa. tense
flew (
fluː);
pa. pple. flown (
fləʊn). Forms:
inf. 1
fléoᵹ-an (
Mercian fléᵹ-an,
north. fléᵹa,
Kent.
fl{iacu}oᵹan), 2–3
fleo(n,
flon, (3
fleoin,
south. vleoin),
fli(en, 3
fleȝ(h)en,
Orm. fleȝhenn, 3–4
flei(e,
fliȝe(n,
flihen,
flyhen,
south. vliȝen,
vlien, 4–6
fley(e, (4
fleeȝ,
fleighe,
fleiȝ, 5
flegh), 3–5
fleen, 3–6
fle, (4
south. vle), 4–7
flie,
flye, (4
south. vlie,
vly, 5
flyyn), 4– (now only
Sc.)
flee, 5–
fly.
pa. tense α.
sing. 1
fléaᵹ,
fléah,
fléᵹ, 2–3
fleh, 3
fleah,
flæh, 3–4
flagh(e,
flaȝe, 4–6
flaw(e, 3–5
flegh(e,
fleȝ(e,
flei(g)h,
fleyghe,
fleiȝ,
fligh,
fly. β.
pl. 1
fluᵹon, 2–3
floȝe(n,
fluȝen, 3
fluwen, 3–4
flow(e)n. γ.
sing. 3–5
flough(e, 4–5
flou,
flow, 5
floȝe,
floy. δ.
sing. and pl. 5–6
flewe, (6
flue), 5–
flew.
pa. pple. 1
floᵹen, 3
floȝen, 4–6
flowe(n, (5
flone,
floon, 6
fleen,
flighen), 6–7
fline,
flyen,
flowne, (7–8
flew), 6–
flown. Also weak
pa. tense (rare and chiefly for rime): 4
flyghed, 5, 7
flyde, 7
flide,
flied,
flyed.
[A com. Teut. str. vb. OE. fléoᵹan, fl{iacu}oᵹan = OFris. fliaga, OS. *fliogan (MDu. vlieghen, Du. vliegen) = OHG. fliogan (MHG. vliegen, Ger. fliegen), ON. flj{uacu}ga (Sw. flyga, Da. flyve), Goth. *fliugan (inferred from (us)flaugjan to lead forth in flight):—OTeut. *fleugan (flaug, flugum, flogono-):—pre-Teut. *pleugh-, plough-, plugh-. Not etymologically cognate with flee v. The α. forms of
pa. tense normally represent, according to period and dialect, the
OE. fléaᵹ,
fléah, and the β. forms the
OE. pl. fluᵹon. The γ. forms are transferred to the
sing. from the
pl. and the
pa. pple. The origin of the δ. form
flew(e, which now alone survives, is more difficult to account for; possibly it arose from a confusion with
flow (
OE. pa. tense
fléow), with which this
vb. had in the 15th c. come to coincide in the
pa. pple;
cf. however the somewhat similar phenomenon in the
vb. slay,
pa. tense
slew, for which no parallel explanation can be given.
With regard to the confusion between the verbs
fly and
flee, see
flee.]
I. 1. a. intr. To move through the air with wings. Also with adverbs, as
about,
away,
forth,
off,
out, etc.
as the crow flies: see
crow n.1 3 c.
| Beowulf 2273 (Gr.) Nacod nið-draca, nihtes fleoᵹeð fyre befangen. a 1000 Judith 209 (Gr.) Ac him fleah on laste earn ætes ᵹeorn. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 129 Alle þe fuȝelas þe fluȝen bi þam lufte. c 1200 Ormin 5991 Forr ærn maȝȝ heȝhe fleȝhenn. c 1205 Lay. 3901 Her comen blake fleȝen and fluȝen in mone eȝene. 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 29 Beter hym hadde ybe Haue bi leued ther doune, than ylerned for to fle. a 1300 Cursor M. 13449 (Gött.) Nane þat mai fli sua hei [als þe arn]. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 305 Als fleihes doun þei fleih, ten þousand at ones. 1382 Wyclif Isa. vi. 6 Ther fleiȝ to me oon of the serafyn. c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems 186 From their lyme-twygges I will flee fer asyde. c 1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode ii. lii. (1869) 95, I fly aboue þe skyes heyere þan eyþer heroun or egret. c 1440 Gesta Rom. xix. 335 (Add. MS.) The bridde..flew [Camb. MS. fly] forthe. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xxii. 105 O gentle egill!.. That of all fowlis dois heest fle. 1533 Anne Boleyn's Coronat. in Furniv. Ballads from MSS. I. 380 She hathe fleen long, Vncertain where to light. a 1649 Drummond of Hawthornden Poems Wks. (1711) 13 The feathered troops that flee, and sweetly sing. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 159 ¶8, I wished for the Wings of an Eagle, that I might fly away to those happy seats. 1796 H. Hunter tr. St. Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) I. 580 On my approaching him, he [a butterfly] flew off. 1822 Shelley Calderon i. 46 Would that my feet were wings, So would I fly to Livia. |
b. fig.;
esp. of fame, a report, etc.
to fly high (or
fly a high pitch): to aim at or reach a high pitch of action, feeling, etc. (
cf. flight n. 3). Also
to fly low: to avoid notoriety.
to fly short of: to fail in mounting to the level of.
| c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 165 Alse þe fugeles..swo doð þis mannisse flieð fram iuele to werse. a 1225 Ancr. R. 152 Bi nihte beo fleoinde ant sechinde ouwer soule heouenliche uode. c 1384 Chaucer H. Fame iii. 1028 Wenged wondres faste fleen. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon i. 39 The renomme therof floughe vnto the duke. 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Luke iv. 55 The fame which had to fore..flighen abrode. 1571 Hanmer Chron. Irel. (1633) 125 The prosperous successes of Earle Richard, were no sooner effected, but fame flyed abroad. a 1592 H. Smith Serm. (1866) II. 14 Try every piece of gold, when many Flemish angels fly abroad. 1608 Topsell Serpents (1658) 706 A Dragon, whereof their flyeth this tale. 1611 Shakes. Cymb. iii. v. 61 Wing'd with feruour of her loue, she's flowne To her desir'd Posthumus. 1611 Bible Ps. xc. 10 Their strength..is soone cut off, and we flie away. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. i. x. 40 How short they flew of that spirit..their weaknesse sufficiently declared. 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. ix. vii. §9 Matters flying thus high, the Arch-Bishop..conceived it the safest way to [etc.]. 1705 Hickeringill Priest-cr. ii. iv. 41 They fly High in their high-flown Divinity. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 194 ¶2 When the Fame, says he, of this celebrated Beauty first flew Abroad. 1716 Bp. of Bristol Charge 19 Where a Mean is commendable, He must neither fly too High, nor creep too Low. 1827 Southey Penins. War II. 752 Those brethren whose piety flies the highest pitch. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. III. ii. iv. 117 As for the elder Egalité he flies low at this time. 1847 Tennyson Princ. v. 271 She flies too high. 1859 ― Elaine 1188 When did not rumours fly? |
c. quasi-trans. with cognate object.
| 1605 Shakes. Macb. iii. ii. 40 Ere the Bat hath flowne His Cloyster'd flight. 1609 A. Craig Poet. Recreat. 7 Want..makes my Muse so lowe a course to flee. |
d. In a few expressions, as
the bird is or has flown (chiefly
fig.),
to let (a bird) fly, the simple
vb. is used
= ‘fly away’.
| 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. xcv. 75 They..bonde it to the sparwes fete, and afterward lete hem flee. 1847 Tennyson Princess iv. 90 O tell her, Swallow, that thy brood is flown. 1855 ― Maud i. xxii. 2 The black bat, night, has flown. a 1881 Rossetti House of Life viii, Thank his wings to-day that he is flown. |
e. Of birds: To migrate or issue forth in a body.
Cf. flight n.1 1 e.
| 1766 Pennant Zool. (1768) II. 330 The wild birds fly (as the bird-catchers term it) during the month of October. |
f. Of fish: To spring from the water. Also in more literal sense said of flying-fish.
| 1579 T. Stevens Lett. from Goa in Hakluyt Voy. (1589) 160 There is another kind of fish as big almost as a herring, which hath wings and flieth. 1734 Mortimer in Phil. Trans. XXXVIII. 316 The Wings with which it flies in the Air are only a Pair of very large Finns. 1867 F. Francis Angling ix. (1880) 336 Seeing the small fry flying from the water as though a pike were after them. |
g. To travel by aircraft. Also
trans., to cover, traverse, or perform by aircraft (also said of the machine). Also,
to fly in, out, to arrive, depart, by air.
| [1826 W. Hone Every-Day Bk. I. 1462 He had purposed, by a pair of patent wings,..to fly from one of the Dover cliffs down into the town of Calais.] 1884 Illustr. London News 26 Jan. 91/3 Many successful and unsuccessful attempts have been made to fly the Channel. 1909 Flight 20 Feb. 100/2 To bring together other would-be aviators who, like himself, are primarily anxious to learn to fly. 1909 Punch 4 Aug. 73/1 On the spot where the first man to fly the Channel alighted from his aeroplane. 1909 Captain Nov. p. xii (Advt.), Model of the Machine which flew the Channel. 1911 Grahame-White & Harper Aeroplane 265 As their skill and confidence increased, they began to fly in breezes. 1916 H. Barber Aeroplane Speaks 44 If he were flying over the shortest route to his destination. Ibid. 45 The Pilot and Observer fly on and on. 1917 Brit. Dominions Year Bk. 242 We who still regard flying the Straits of Dover as something of a feat. 1931 Times 2 Mar., The Sahara route which is now being flown by the French. 1958 ‘N. Shute’ Rainbow & Rose i. 4 He was flying a courier service. 1966 Listener 21 July 103/3 An expert who had flown in from Venezuela to do the job. 1967 Daily Tel. 14 Mar. 20/7 An Indian, aged 100,..applied..for a ticket home to Delhi on the ‘Fly Now Pay Later’ plan. 1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 17 Feb. b5/5 The [a]erial surveys flown by Texas Gulf in 1960. 1970 Observer 20 Sept. 26/1 The pilot [is] determined to fly no more World War Two bombing missions. |
h. Of an aircraft or spacecraft: to travel through the air or through space.
| 1848 Chambers's Edin. Jrnl. 6 May 302/2 To construct a machine to fly by mechanical powers alone. 1902 Aeronaut. World (U.S.) I. 65/2 S. Byerley says he has been working on a novel flying machine, which, he is confident will fly when finished. 1959 Chambers's Encycl. I. 112/1 The faster a given aeroplane flies, the less is the power required to produced its lift. 1971 Daily Tel. (Colour Suppl.) 12 Nov. 8/1 Everything depends on three robot spacecraft..which have been flying towards Mars for the past 22 weeks. |
i. Of pigeons: to fly from (a certain place).
| 1898 Daily News 21 Nov. 7/1 There were also young birds that had, to use the technical term, ‘flown Berwick’. 1907 E. Chamberlain Homing Pigeon 178 The best birds in the Barrowford lofts have all flown Nantes as yearlings, and subsequently flown Nantes and Marennes again and again. |
2. trans. (
causatively). To set (birds) flying one against the other. Const.
with. Also with
away: To send flying away; to let fly.
| 1607 Heywood Woman killed w. Kindn. ii. Wks. (1874) II. 96 Meet me to morrow At Cheuy-chase, Ile flie my Hawke with yours. 1845 Carlyle Cromwell (1871) V. 58 (Sp. xiii) Ordered to fly-away their game-cocks. 1883 C. J. Wills Mod. Persia 94 The pigeons are flown twice a day. |
3. Hawking.
a. Of the hawk: To gain by flying a position of attack. Const.
at.
to fly on head,
to fly gross: see
quots.| 1674 N. Cox Gentl. Recreat. ii. (1677) 164 Fly on head is missing her Quarry and betaking her self to the next Check, as Crows [etc.]. Ibid. 203 It is less difficult to teach a Hawk to fly at Fowl than..to..love the Lure. 1677 Coles, Fly gross when hawks fly at great Birds, as Cranes. 1684 R. H. School Recreat. 78 Gerfaulcon Will fly at the Hern. Saker, at the Crane or Bittern. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) V. 131 They have been indeed taught to fly at game. 1826 J. S. Sebright Observ. Hawking (1828) 57, I will suppose that hawks are to fly three days in the week. |
| fig. 1830 Sir J. Barrington Pers. Sketches (ed. 2) II. 186 He had occasionally flown at higher game in the regions of poesy. 1847 Marryat Childr. N. Forest vii, Deerstalking is all very well, but I fly at higher game. |
b. causatively. Of the falconer: To cause (a hawk) to attack by flying. Also
absol. and
to fly with (a hawk). Const.
at.
| 1591 Florio Sec. Fruites 37, I loue to flie at the Partridge and at the Fesant. 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, ii. i. 1 For flying at the Brooke, I saw not better sport these seuen yeeres day. 1638 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (ed. 2) 233 Their best Falcons are out of Russia..they fly them at choise game. 1674 N. Cox Gentl. Recreat. (1677) 187 At first fly with her at young Pheasant or Partridge. Ibid. 213 They are flown at Field or Brook. a 1711 Ken Edmund Poet. Wks. 1721 II. 66 His Hawks he oft at Game Aerial flew. 1865 Kingsley Herew. xxi. He flew his hawks at a covey of partridges. 1879 Radcliffe in Encycl. Brit. IX. 9/1 Falcons or long-winged hawks are either ‘flown out of the hood’ i.e. unhooded and slipped when the quarry is in sight, or [etc.]. |
| fig. 1643 Digby Observ. Sir T. Browne's Relig. Med. 10 Much lesse can it be expected that an excellent Physitian..should..flye his thoughts at so towring a Game. |
c. To chase with a hawk. Also of the hawk: To attack by flying.
to fly the river: to chase water-fowl.
to fly to the mark: see
quot. 1891.
| c 1590 Greene Fr. Bacon xii, We'll fly the partridge, or go rouse the deer. a 1654 Selden Table-t. (Arb.) 80 A Hawk that flyes a covey of Partridges. 1674 N. Cox Gentl. Recreat. ii. (1677) 209 These Hawks do not fly the River. Ibid. 225 When she hath flown a Partridge to the Mark, she will not away until [etc.]. 1710 Apparition 30 So wary Hawks do fearful Pidgeons fly. 1879 Radcliffe in Encycl. Brit. IX. 9/2 Rooks are flown in the same manner as herons. 1891 Harting Biblioth. Accipitraria Gloss. 226 Mark, to fly at, v. generally said of a Goshawk, when, having ‘put in’ a covey of partridges, she takes stand, marking the spot where they disappeared from view until the falconer arrives to put them out to her. |
| fig. 1632 B. Jonson Magn. Lady Induct., Fly everything you see to the mark, and censure it freely. 1691 Dryden K. Arthur iii. ii, Oh, still thou think'st to fly a fool to mark. |
4. intr. a. To pass or rise quickly in or through the air. Also with
about,
away,
forth,
off,
out,
up, etc.
to fly compass: see
compass C. 3 b.
| a 1000 Elene 140 (Gr.) Daroð-æsc fluᵹon, hildenædran. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 85 Þet smal chef þet flid ford mid þe winde. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 45/377 Ore leuedi made þe soule a-non to þe bodi aȝen fleo. c 1340 Cursor M. 6381 (Fairf.) Hit [sc. the manna] flagh til ham als hit ware flour. 1551 T. Wilson Logike (1580) 43 Bullettes of Leade..flie not into the Aire by their owne power. 1601 Shakes. All's Well iii. ii. 113 You leaden messengers..Fly with false ayme. 1633 Shirley Yng. Admiral i. i, Arrows that fly compass Arrive with..happiness to the mark. 1665 Hooke Microgr. 203 The spirit of Wine would immediately fly away. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. ii. 464 Golden Stars flew up to Light the Skies. 1732 Berkeley Alciphr. vi. §14 That the volatile salt or spirit may fly off. 1779–81 Johnson Life Drake Wks. IV. 448 They..let the smoak fly out at the door. 1785 Burns To W. Simpson xiii, Blinding drifts wild-furious flee Dark'ning the day. 1807 Hutton Course Math. II. 264 Sound flies..at the rate of about 1142 feet in 1 second. 1819 Byron Juan ii. xi, The dashing spray Flies in one's face. 1820 Scoresby Acc. Arctic Reg. I. 106 Fragments of ice flying in all directions. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. xv. 100 Fleecy clouds flew over the heavens. |
b. To leap or spring lightly, or vault
over.
to fly the garter: see
fly-the-garter.
| 1719 De Foe Crusoe i. 273 Friday..flew over my outer Wall or Fence. 1791 G. Gambado Ann. Horsem. vi. (1809) 94 When your horse has flown over a gate or stile. 1837 Dickens Pickw. xxxviii, Who..will ever employ a professional man, when they see his boy..flying the garter in the horse-road? Mod. He flew over two backs at once. |
c. Of stairs: To descend or ascend without change of direction.
Cf. flight n.1 7.
| 1685 Temple Gardening Wks. 1731 I. 187 Many Steps flying on each Side of a Grotto. 1703 T. N. City & C. Purchaser 248 Straight Stairs..are such as always fly, and never Wind. 1703 Moxon Mech. Exerc. 145 The stairs sometimes wind, and sometimes fly off from that winding. |
5. trans. (
causatively).
a. To cause (a kite) to rise and maintain its position in the air. Also
colloq. or slang,
to fly a kite: to raise money by an accommodation bill; also, to try something out; to act in an exploratory manner; hence
to fly a bill;
colloq. (chiefly
U.S.),
go fly a kite = ‘go away’, ‘be off’.
| 1739 Chesterfield Lett. (1792) I. xxxi. 108 If you were to fly your kite. 1808 Sporting Mag. XXXII. 181 In Ireland flying the kite is used as a cant phrase for raising money on accommodation bills. 1833 Marryat P. Simple II. ii. 23 One of the amusements of the prisoners was flying kites. 1848 Punch 27 May 226/1 He never does ‘a little discounting’ nor lends his hand to ‘flying a kite’. 1860 Trollope Framley P. xxvii, Fly a bill, and let Tozer have it to get cash on it in the city! 1875 Tennyson Q. Mary i. v, O Madam, You fly your thoughts like kites. 1928 Sat. Even. Post 7 Jan. 21/2 Now would you like for mamma to go on reading to you about this Polark soldier and his girl friend, or would you like to go fly a kite. 1937 Partridge Dict. Slang 291/2 Fly a, the, kite,.. to test public opinion by tentative measures. 1942 ‘H. Pentecost’ I'll sing at your Funeral (1945) vii. 64 ‘He suggested,’ said Bradley, with a sigh, ‘that I go fly a kite!’ 1951 C. P. Snow Masters xv. 137 At the beginning Brown had, as he used to say, ‘flown a kite’ for compromise, now Chrystal joined him. 1961 Lebende Sprachen VI. 99/2 Go jump in the lake,..go fly a kite; DDT (drop dead twice). 1971 Nature 26 Feb. 584/1 The solution, the committee suggests—and it is plainly flying a kite and not laying down policy—may be a more selective way of choosing the departments to which studentships will be allocated. |
b. To convey through the air. Also, to conduct or pilot (an aircraft).
| 1864 Sala in Daily Tel. 23 Dec., The first wires were flown across by means of a kite. 1902 Young Engineer I. 265/1 He, in his indignation, undertook to fly his ‘Illustrissimo’, as he termed his balloon, with the whole of the Holy Office. 1911 Grahame-White & Harper Aeroplane 264 A machine that..will require no more skill and nerve to fly it than does the driving of a car. 1917 Brit. Dominions Year Bk. 243 It calls for considerable courage..to fly heavy sea⁓planes a hundred miles or so inland. 1920 Act 10 & 11 Geo. V c. 80 §10 (1), Where an aircraft is flown in such a manner as to be the cause of unnecessary danger. 1928 Manch. Guardian Weekly 21 Sept. 224/3 Señor Juan de la Cierva, the inventor,..flew one of these machines to Paris from Croydon on Tuesday. 1968 Miller & Sawers Techn. Devel. Mod. Aviation iv. 99 The prototype DC-1 was flown. |
c. slang. to fly the mags: see
quots. to fly a tile, to knock off a man's hat.
| 1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Dict., Fly the mags, to gamble, by tossing up halfpence. 1825 C. M. Westmacott Eng. Spy II. 158 Another point of amusement is flying a tile, or slating a man, as the phrases of the Stock Exchange describe it. 1838 H. Ainsworth Rookwood iii. xiii, ‘Fly the mags’,..replied Rust; ‘if heads, we scrag him.’ |
d. colloq. To send (a letter) hastily.
| 1846 Darwin in Life & Lett. (1887) I. 351 Immediately that I hear I will fly you a line. 1859 Ibid. (1887) II. 160. |
e. To convey by aircraft.
| 1928 Daily Express 18 May 2/6 More than {pstlg}26,000,000 worth of gold coin and bullion has been flown in and out ot Croydon during the past three years. 1930 C. R. Samson Fights & Flights 209 You will fly me to Calais, and I will repair 1241. 1958 ‘N. Shute’ Rainbow & Rose i. 17 You come to fly him out? 1971 Daily Tel. 9 Nov. 15/8 Cremation is taking place in Australia today. The ashes will be flown back to England. |
6. a. intr. Of something attached by one edge or end,
esp. of a flag, hair, a garment, etc.: To float loosely; to flutter, wave.
Cf. flying colours.
| 1659 D. Pell Impr. Sea 271 The Antient-staff, about which the ships-colours do fly. 1659 B. Harris Parival's Iron Age 309 To..march with drums beating and colours flying. 1725 Pope Odyss. xiii. 273 Around her shoulders flew the waving vest. 1782 Cowper Gilpin 101 The wind did blow, the cloak did fly. 1794 Rigging & Seamanship I. 214 Royals are set flying. 1797 Nelson 28 Nov. in Nicolas Disp. II. 455 A Captain was appointed to the Ship in which my Pendant flew. 1810 Scott Lady of L. ii. xxi, Loose on the breeze their tresses flew. 1880 Tennyson Def. Lucknow i, Banner of England..Flying at top of the roofs in the ghastly siege of Lucknow. |
b. trans. To set (a flag) flying; to carry at the mast-head; to hoist;
occas. with
out. Also, To set (a sail) loosely: see
quots.| 1655 M. Carter Hon. Rediv. (1660) 187 From which time ever since they flye that Crosse in their Banners. 1794 Rigging & Seamanship I. 166 Flying of Sails, setting them in a loose manner; as royal sails without lifts. 1863 Lond. Rev. 10 Jan. 37 To sink, burn, and destroy everything that flew the ensign of the so-called United States of America. 1885 Law Times 23 May 63/1 The steamship..flying signals of distress. 1887 Kinglake Crimea VIII. 300 She flew out the signal—‘Farewell!’ 1887 Besant World went i, If they do fly the black flag, it is only [etc.]. |
7. a. intr. To move or travel swiftly, pass rapidly, rush along. Also with
about,
along,
away,
back, etc. Of a fox: to break covert.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 21280 (Cott.) And [þe quil] fleis wit-vten blin. 1513 Douglas æneis iii. ii. 110 We..with swift cours flaw throw the salt see. 1563 W. Fulke Meteors (1640) 33 b, A whirlewind..breaking forth, flyeth round like a great cart-wheele. a 1575 Gascoigne Pr. Pleas. Kenilw. A vj, The fierie flames, which through the waues so flue. c 1611 Chapman Iliad xviii. 191 So fear'd The fair man'd horses that they flew back. a 1667 Jer. Taylor Contempl. State Man. i. v. (1699) 54 A corrupt Humour..which flies into the Heart. 1703 Rowe Ulyss. ii. i. 582 A Troop of Nymphs Flew lightly by us. 1756 C. Lucas Ess. Waters I. 187 The pains..wander, shoot, and fly about, sometimes with astonishing swiftness. 1782 Cowper Gilpin 234 Six Gentlemen upon the road, Thus seeing Gilpin fly. 1842 Tennyson Day-dream, Arrival iii, The colour flies into his cheeks. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 386 We fly from York..to London by the light of a single winter's day. 1860 Tyndall Glac. ii. i. 223 The velocity with which the earth flies through space. 1883 E. Pennell-Elmhirst Cream Leicestersh. 132 He had never seen hounds fly along as they did now. 1897 Encycl. Sport I. 546/1 They force the fox through the cover in such a determined fashion as will make him ‘fly or die’. 1902 Daily Chron. 14 Nov. 8/5 The pack had to wait some time before they could get their fox to fly. |
b. esp. of time. [With mixture of senses 1 and 11;
cf. fugit invida ætas.]
| 1597 Shakes. Lover's Compl. 60 That..had let go by The swiftest hours, observed as they flew. 1712 Pope Messiah 21 Swift fly the years, and rise th' expected morn! 1800–24 Campbell Poems, Song ii, Time..Flies like a courser nigh the goal. 1847 L. Hunt Jar Honey xii. (1848) 154 Time flies, and friends must part. |
† c. Of a stage-coach: To ‘run’.
Obs.| 1748 St. James's Even. Post No. 6039 Dover, and Deal Stage-Coaches, will continue Flying till the First Day of October. |
† d. quasi-trans. To run over hurriedly.
Obs.—1| 1589 Hay any Work 41 Your..purciuantes flye citie & countrie to seeke for Waldegraue. |
† e. fly (a)round (
U.S. colloq.): to bustle about, bestir oneself.
| 1831 S. Smith Life & Writings J. Downing 151, I flew round and washed my face and hands. 1833 J. Hall Legends of West 88 She flew around among the folks mighty peart. 1839 C. M. Kirkland New Home ii. 16 Come, gals! fly round, and let's git some supper. 1851 Hooper Night at Ugly Man's in Wdw. Rugby's Husb. 44 Old 'ooman, fly around, git somethin' for the Squire and Dick to eat. 1871 Mrs. Stowe Oldtown Fires. Stories 63 He flew round like a parched pea on a shovel. |
f. to fly the coop: to escape or elope; to leave suddenly;
to fly the track: to turn from the usual or expected course.
U.S. colloq.| 1847 Congress. Globe 4 Feb. 322/2, I had been accused of flying the track on the creed of the Democratic party. 1901 ‘B. Burgundy’ Toothsome Tales (1902) 68 Chester..used to..toast her until she was on the edge of hysterics, then he'd fly the coop in quest of a new cargo of thirst⁓erasers. 1906 ‘O. Henry’ Four Million (1916) 123 She'll never regret flyin' the coop with Chunk McGowan. 1909 ― Options (1916) 157 One of them..‘roller-coasters’ flew the track and killed a man. 1966 H. Kemelman Saturday the Rabbi went Hungry (1967) xxi. 206 This man..ran off, flew the coop, beat it. |
8. a. Of persons and animals: To move with a start or rush; to spring, start, hasten, rush.
to fly to arms: to take up arms on a sudden.
to fly in the face of: see
face n. 4 b.
| 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. ii. 17 The Sarazin..Snatcheth his sword, and fiercely to him flies. 1768 Sterne Sent. Journ. (1778) I. 118 The bidet flew from one side of the road to the other. 1782 Cowper Gilpin 163 The calender..flew to the gate. 1824 Scott Redgauntlet let. xi, The nag began to spring, and flee, and stend. 1826 Disraeli Viv. Grey ii. vi, In this dilemma he flew to his father. 1847 Mrs. A. Kerr Hist. Servia 185 In a violent commotion, they had flown to arms. 1854 A. Manning Old Chelsea Bun-ho. vii. (1855) 116 She flew up-stairs, without at all regarding the trouble. 1881 Gardiner & Mullinger Study Eng. Hist. i. ii. 37 Danes and English were especially ready to fly apart. |
b. to fly at, on, upon: to spring with violence upon, attack with fury, rush upon;
lit. and
fig. Also (
rarely)
transf. of inanimate objects.
| 1549 Coverdale etc. Erasm. Par. 1 John iii. 15 He hath not thrust his sword in him..he hath not flowen upon him. 1583 Rich Phylotus & Emelia (1835) 17 He seemed, as though he would haue fline vpon her in the streate. 1586 Warner Alb. Eng. i. vi, Whom Cerberus forsaking then at Hercules he flide. 1611 Bible 1 Sam. xv. 19 Wherefore then didst thou..flie vpon the spoile. 1692 South Serm., 1 John iii. 21 (1737) II. xii. 464 When an enraged conscience shall fly at him, and take him by the throat. 1748 Anson's Voy. iii. ix. 393 One of them flew on the fellow who had the sword. 1782 F. Burney Cecilia vi. xi, You..never fly at your servants. 1807–8 Syd. Smith Plymley's Lett. Wks. 1859 II. 160/1 If you have..worried a mastiff dog for years..he flies at you whenever he sees you. 1834 Darwin in Life & Lett. (1887) I. 250 My hammer has flown with redoubled force on the devoted blocks. c 1860 C. M. Yonge Strayed Falcon in Hist. Dramas No. 3 (Groombridge) 46 People came out of the dining-room, and Katie flew upon them. 1861 Dickens Gt. Expect. ix, My sister with an exclamation of impatience was going to fly at me. |
c. to fly in or
fly into (a passion, rapture, etc.): to pass suddenly into (such a state).
| 1683 W. Hacke Collect. Voy. i. (1699) 32 Which made the other fly into a Passion with him. 1797 Scott Let. to Mrs. Scott in Lockhart Life viii, Without flying into raptures..I may safely assure you, that [etc.]. 1819 Byron Juan i. liv, She flew in a rage. 1887 R. N. Carey Uncle Max xxii. 176, I only flew into a passion, and asked her how [etc.]. |
d. to fly off:
lit. to start away; ‘to revolt’ (J.);
fig. to take another course; to break away (from an agreement or engagement).
| 1667 Milton P.L. vi. 614 Strait they changd thir minds, Flew off and into strange vagaries fell. 1713 Addison Cato iv. 54 The traytor Syphax..Flew off at once with his Numidian Horse. 1785 F. Burney Diary 16 Dec., I was..ready to fly off if any one knocked at the street-door. 1816 Sporting Mag. XLVIII. 173 From this agreement he flew off. 1864 H. Ainsworth John Law iii. ii. Were I to ask for time, [Nicomède] would inevitably fly off, and the affair would come to an end. |
e. to fly out: (
a) to spring out, come out suddenly; to rush out; (
b) to ‘explode’ or burst out into extravagance in conduct, language, or temper. Const.
against,
at,
upon (an object);
into (action, language, feeling, etc.).
| (a) c 1400 Mandeville (1839) iv. 27 There fleigh out an Eddere right hidous to see. 1607 Shakes. Cor. i. x. 19 My valor..for him Shall flye out of it selfe. 1653 H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. xiv. 43 Eighty Mahometans came flying out from under their hatches. 1726 G. Shelvocke Voy. round World (1757) 163 Without flying out of the bounds they had prescribed to themselves. |
| (b) 1638 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (ed. 2) 84 Upon his..oath never more to fly out, is pardoned. 1649 Bp. Hall Cases Consc. 498 Impatient..of their conjugall disappointments, fly out into open contestations. 1667 Pepys Diary (1877) V. 394, I was troubled..to hear my Lord fly out against their great pretence of merit from the King. 1681 W. Robertson Phraseol. Gen. (1693) 616 To fly out or squander his estate. 1779 F. Burney Diary Nov., He constrained himself from flying out as long as he was able. 1865 Cornh. Mag. Oct. 390, I beg your pardon for flying out upon you so. 1868 G. Duff Pol. Surv. 130 Another friend..has flown out to me at the action of the Radicals. 1884 Church Bacon iii. 62 She thought of the possibility of his flying out unexpectedly..and attempting to serve her interests, not in her way, but in his own. |
9. a. Of things: To be forced or driven off suddenly or with a jerk; to start. Of a limb: To be parted suddenly from the body. Const.
from,
out of. Also
to send flying.
| c 1340 Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 459 Þat þe fyr of þe flynt flaȝe fro fole houes. 1375 Barbour Bruce iii. 115 He raucht till him sic a dynt, That arme and schuldyr flaw him fra. c 1440 Generydes 2670 Mi swerd out of myn hond fligh. 1533 Ld. Berners Huon xlvi. 153 His hede flewe fro hys sholders. 1593 Shakes. Lucr. 177 From the could stone sparkes of fire doe flie. 1659 D. Pell Impr. Sea 427 Then flyes in his face all his whoring, swearing, lying. 1683 Waller Invas. Turks 23 He Bassas' heads, to save his own, made fly. 1796 H. Glasse Cookery xxi. 321 Let it stand an hour before you open it, lest it fly in your face. 1847 Porter Big Bear etc. 132 Thar, they've got him agin, and now the fur flies. 1852 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xx, ‘Oughter see how old Mas'r made the flesh fly.’ 1879 F. T. Pollok Sport Brit. Burmah II. 149 Up would go the elephant's hind leg, sending the pig flying. 1885 Spectator 30 May 698/2 The engine minder who goes to the parish doctor because a spark has flown in his eye. |
b. fig. Of money: To be rapidly spent.
| 1632 Rowley Woman never vext 11, Marry her, and let her estate fly. 1635 N. R. Camden's Hist. Eliz. an. 5. 1. 48 Edward Earle of Oxford (who set his Patrimony flying). 1665 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (1677) 97 In this resolve she lets her Treasure fly. 1840 Lady C. Bury Hist. Flirt iv, I shall certainly make his money fly. |
c. With various advbs.,
about,
back,
off,
out,
up, etc.
† to fly off: (of cannon) to be fired.
| c 1340 Cursor M. 1769 (Fairf.) Þe fire flaghe out with þonder and raine. c 1430 Syr. Gener. (Roxb.) 5934 Of his sheld floy of a grete cantel. c 1460 Launfal 473 The erl of Chestere..smot hym the helm on hegh That the crest adoun flegh. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. v. 7 From their shields forth flyeth firie light. 1613 Shakes. Hen. VIII, v. i. 111 My Chaffe and Corne shall flye asunder. 1650 Howell Giraffi's Rev. Naples i. (1664) 117 The Vice-roy..caus'd all the ordnance to flie off. 1653 H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. xvi. 55 The dog struck her over the head with his hatchet till her brains flew out. 1665 Hooke Microgr. 15 They..cannot agree together, but fly back from each other. 1684 R. H. School Recreat. 41 Which..by spouting out, will make the Water fly about. 1703 Moxon Mech. Exerc. 169 The Tool will..fly off where a Knot..comes to the Tool. 1712 W. Rogers Voy. 107 Lowering her Main-Yard: the Tack flew up. 1713 Berkeley Guardian No. 126 ¶2 The earth..without flying off in a tangent line, constantly rolls about the sun. 1820 Scoresby Acc. Arctic Reg. II. 349 The ice shivering with the violence of the strain..the anchor flew out. |
d. causative and
quasi-trans.| 1676 Worlidge Cyder (1691) 146 The Liquor were better fly the Cork than break the Bottle. 1876 G. Meredith Beauch. Career II. vi. 108 The ship in the Arabian tale coming within the zone of the magnetic mountain, flies all its bolts and bars and becomes sheer timbers. |
e. intr. Of a door or window: To be thrown suddenly
open,
to,
up, etc. Rarely
trans. (slang), to throw up (a window).
| 1625 Massinger New Way ii. iii, I..To whom great countesses' doors have oft flew open. 1782 Cowper Gilpin 110 Up flew the windows all. 1847 Emerson Poems (1857) 116 At unawares, Self-moved, fly-to the doors. 1857 R. L. Snowden Magistr. Assist. (ed. 3) 447 To lift a window, to fly a window. 1870 Thornbury Tour Eng. I. ii. 36 The dark prison doors flew open at the first chink of the gold. 1885 Stevenson Dynamiter ii. 10 The door flew back emitting clouds of smoke. |
f. to fly in pieces, or simply
to fly: to break up suddenly, shiver, split up.
† to fly on fire: to burst into flames.
| c 1470 Henry Wallace ii. 50 Bayn and brayn he gert in peces fle. 1624 Massinger Renegado ii. iii, This pure metal..rather Than hold one drop that's venomous, of itself It flies in pieces. 1692 Ray Dissol. World iii. iv. (1732) 327 All the moisture will at length be drawn out and the world fly on fire. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. i. 262 Lest crack'd with Summer Heats the flooring flies. 1726 G. Shelvocke Voy. round World (1757) 245 It rent and split, and flew like glass. 1766 Goldsm. Hermit xiv, The crackling faggot flies. 1881 Young Ev. Man his own Mechanic §1461 If..the first time of using the heat is raised rapidly, they are certain to crack or ‘fly’. |
g. Naut. Of the wind: To shift or veer suddenly. Also with
about,
off. Of a ship, her head:
to fly to, up in, into the wind (see
quots.).
| 1699 W. Dampier Voy. II. iii. 25 The Winds fly in a moment quite round the Compass. Ibid. 27 About Mid-day they fly off 2, 3 or 4 Points further from the Land. 1855 Ogilvie Suppl., Fly, To fly about. Among seamen, the wind is said to fly about, when it changes frequently during a short space of time. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. s.v. Fly-up, To fly up in the wind, is when a ship's head comes suddenly to windward, by carelessness of the helmsman. Ibid., Flying-to is when a vessel..is coming to the wind rapidly, the warning is given to the helmsman, ‘Look out, she is flying-to’. 1882 Nares Seamanship (ed. 6) 232 The ship is sure to fly up into the wind. |
h. Baseball. To hit a fly-ball (
fly n.2 8). Chiefly with
out. (
Pa. tense
usu. flied.)
| 1893 Chicago Tribune 3 July 7/3 Kittridge flied out to Brodie. 1904 St. Louis Globe-Democrat 4 July 12/3 Wallace flew to Lush for the third out. 1912 C. Mathewson Pitching in a Pinch ix. 202 Sheckard flied out to Seymour, Kling being held on second base. 1948 Durant (Okla.) Daily Democrat 2 July 4/4 Baker then flied to center and neither runner was able to advance. |
10. to let fly.
a. To discharge (missiles).
| a 1000 Judith 220 (Gr.) Hie þa fromlice leton forð fleoᵹan flana scuras. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 479 An lamech droȝe is arwe ner, And letet fleȝen of ðe streng. 1664 Butler Hud. ii. ii. 815 At that an egg let fly, Hit him directly o'er the eye. 1832 H. Martineau Life in Wilds v. 58 He let fly one of his precious arrows. |
b. absol. To fire, shoot; also said
occas. of a gun. Also, to make an attack (with any weapon).
| 1611 Cotgr. s.v. Pied, Jouër a quattre pieds contre, to kicke, winse, or let fly at with all foure. 1624 Capt. Smith Virginia iii. vi. 62 We let fly amongst them so that they fled. 1686 J. Sergeant Monast. Conventions 185 Then..the Cannon of the Castle let fly. a 1735 Granville Ess. Unnat. Flights in Poetry 55 The noisy culverin, o'ercharg'd, lets fly. 1879 F. T. Pollok Sport Brit. Burmah II. 41, I let fly again, and this time killed it. |
c. fig. (
trans. and absol.).
| 1590 Spenser F.Q. iii. ix. 52 Many fair belgardes let fly. 1654 H. L'Estrange Chas. I (1655) 24 A Member of the House of Commons let fly this reply. 1678 Trans. Crt. Spain 180 And to take all pretext from those who by ignorance or malice let flye against me. 1859 Punch 6 Aug. 54/1 Lord Lyndhurst, at whom it pleased Mr. Bright to scoff..let fly at that respected Quaker. 1887 Besant The World went xvi. 135 He let fly a round dozen or so of sailors' oaths. |
d. Naut. To allow (a sail or sheet) to fly loose; rarely to set (a sail), to carry, hoist (colours).
| 1627 Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. ix. 39 When we say, let fly the sheats, then they let go amaine, which commonly is in some gust. 1659 D. Pell Impr. Sea 297 If they finde them unwilling to bee spoke with all, Frigots let flye all the sails that ever they can make. 1699 W. Dampier Voy. II. i. 48 It is the custom of our Countrymen abroad, to let fly their Colours on Sundays. 1805 E. Berry in Nicolas Nelson's Disp. VII. 118, I then let fly the top-gallant sheets. |
II. In senses of
flee. (Now in
pres.-stem only: see the remarks under
flee v.)
11. a. = flee 1, 1 b, and 1 d. Also
quasi-trans.| a 1000 Byrhtnoth 275 (Gr.) Þæt he nolde fleoᵹan fotmæl landes. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. ccxxxvi. 334 For to dye in the place they wyll nat flye one fote. 1548 Hall Chron., Edw. IV, (an. 8) 204 b, Syr Robert was exhortyng..hys men..which were..redy to flye. 1594 H. Willobie in Shaks. C. Praise 10 Nor flye the field though she deny. a 1625 B. Jonson, etc. Widow i. i, I'll make him fly the land. 1662 Wood Life (Oxf. Hist. Soc.) I. 462 Flying the realme at the king's returne. 1678 Butler Hud. iii. iii. 243 Those that fly may fight again. a 1703 Burkitt On N.T. Mark ii. 2 Honour flies from them that pursue it. 1715–20 Pope Iliad i. 35 Hence on thy Life, and fly these hostile Plains. 1839 Thirlwall Greece VI. l. 224 Sisygambis refused to fly. 1855 Thackeray Rose & Ring xi, You must fly the country for a while. |
b. = flee 2 and 2 c. Const.
into,
to,
† unto.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 6675 (Gött.) If he to min auter fly. 1584 D. Powel Lloyd's Cambria 5 Being in the Battle..and Flieng to the wood. 1653 H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. xxi. 76 Unless upon..the new Moons, one fly into the Ports for shelter. a 1711 Ken Anodynes Poet. Wks. 1721 III. 409 When Pangs..disturb my Sleep, To various Anodynes I fly. 1818 Jas. Mill Brit. India III. v. viii. 641 It was to the English he must have flown for protection. |
c. = flee 3 and 4.
| 1581 G. Pettie tr. Guazzo's Civ. Conv. i. (1586) 4 Delightes, from which a great manie men flie. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 48 All [sc. the inhabitants]..flie away in Summer to avoid the intolerable heat. 1725 Pope Odyss. v. 60 He [Hermes] grasps the wand that causes sleep to fly. 1817 Shelley Rev. Islam. xi. vii. 6, I cannot reach thee! whither dost thou fly? 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 73 He grows like evil men, and is compelled to fly from the company of the good. |
d. = flee 5. (Said of a shadow, colour, etc.)
| 1535 Coverdale Job xiv. 2 He [man] flyeth as it were a shadowe. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. ii. ii. 215 Loue like a shadow flies, when substance Loue pursues. 1821 Shelley Adonais lii, Heaven's light for ever shines, Earth's shadows fly. a 1861 Mrs. Browning My Heart & I ii, As if such colors could not fly. |
e. trans. = flee 7 and 8.
† to fly the heels (see
quot. 1727).
| 1552 Latimer Serm. Third Sond. Epiph. Fruitful Serm. (1584) 312 b, Haue an earnest desire to leaue sinne, and to flye the same. 1583 Babington Commandm. ix. (1637) 87 Flye to heare as thou wouldest flye to speake what tendeth vnto slaunder. 1635 A. Stafford Fem. Glory (1869) 54 Though he be ambitious of Dignities..he seems to flie them. 1727 Bailey vol. II. s.v., To Fly the Heels..a Term used of a Horse, when he obeys the Spur. 1754 Chatham Lett. Nephew iv. 27 Fly with abhorrence and contempt superstition and enthusiasm. a 1839 Praed Poems (1864) II. 241 True pity..flies the rich, it flies the vain. |
† f. To escape the notice of.
Cf. flee 9.
Obs.—1| c 1611 Chapman Iliad xvi. Comm., It flies all his translators and interpreters. |
▪ V. fly, v.2 (
flaɪ)
Pa. tense and
pa. pple. flied,
flyed.
[f. fly n.1 and n.2.] 1. a. intr. To travel by a fly.
b. trans. To convey in a fly.
| 1836 Southey Let. to Miss. K. Southey 25 Nov. (1856) IV. 476 We flied..over Quantock to Stowey. Ibid. 478 Poole flied us all the way to Sir T. Acland's Somersetshire seat. |
2. Printing. To do the office of a fly (see
fly n.1 6) or fly-boy to.
to fly the frisket (see
quot.).
to fly the sheet: to lift it, by holding it at one end, into the printing machine; as opposed to stroking it in. Also, in
U.S. (see
quot.).
| 1871 Amer. Encycl. Print, Fly the Frisket, to turn down the frisket and tympan by the same motion. Ibid. s.v. Fly-boy, When..it is requisite that boys should assist in taking the printed sheets, one by one, from the form or the press, this operation is called flying the sheets. |
3. In the Hardware trades: To stamp or cut out by means of a fly (
fly n.2 5 i). Also with
out.
▪ VI. fly obs. form of
flay,
fley.