Flying

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Fly \Fly\ (fl[imac]), v. i. [imp. {Flew} (fl[=u]); p. p. {Flown}
     (fl[=o]n); p. pr. & vb. n. {Flying}.] [OE. fleen, fleen,
     fleyen, flegen, AS. fle['o]gan; akin to D. vliegen, OHG.
     fliogan, G. fliegen, Icel. flj[=u]ga, Sw. flyga, Dan. flyve,
     Goth. us-flaugjan to cause to fly away, blow about, and perh.
     to L. pluma feather, E. plume. [root]84. Cf. {Fledge},


     {Flight}, {Flock} of animals.]
     1. To move in or pass through the air with wings, as a bird.
  
     2. To move through the air or before the wind; esp., to pass
        or be driven rapidly through the air by any impulse.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. To float, wave, or rise in the air, as sparks or a flag.
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              Man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.
                                                    --Job v. 7.
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     4. To move or pass swiftly; to hasten away; to circulate
        rapidly; as, a ship flies on the deep; a top flies around;
        rumor flies.
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              Fly, envious Time, till thou run out thy race.
                                                    --Milton.
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              The dark waves murmured as the ships flew on.
                                                    --Bryant.
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     5. To run from danger; to attempt to escape; to flee; as, an
        enemy or a coward flies. See Note under {Flee}.
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              Fly, ere evil intercept thy flight.   --Milton.
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              Whither shall I fly to escape their hands ? --Shak.
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     6. To move suddenly, or with violence; to do an act suddenly
        or swiftly; -- usually with a qualifying word; as, a door
        flies open; a bomb flies apart.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     {To fly about} (Naut.), to change frequently in a short time;
        -- said of the wind.
  
     {To fly around}, to move about in haste. [Colloq.]
  
     {To fly at}, to spring toward; to rush on; to attack
        suddenly.
  
     {To fly in the face of}, to insult; to assail; to set at
        defiance; to oppose with violence; to act in direct
        opposition to; to resist.
  
     {To fly off}, to separate, or become detached suddenly; to
        revolt.
  
     {To fly on}, to attack.
  
     {To fly open}, to open suddenly, or with violence.
  
     {To fly out}.
        (a) To rush out.
        (b) To burst into a passion; to break out into license.
  
     {To let fly}.
        (a) To throw or drive with violence; to discharge. "A man
            lets fly his arrow without taking any aim." --Addison.
        (b) (Naut.) To let go suddenly and entirely; as, to let
            fly the sheets.
            [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Flying \Fly"ing\, a. [From {Fly}, v. i.]
     Moving in the air with, or as with, wings; moving lightly or
     rapidly; intended for rapid movement.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     {Flying army} (Mil.) a body of cavalry and infantry, kept in
        motion, to cover its own garrisons and to keep the enemy
        in continual alarm. --Farrow. 
  
     {Flying artillery} (Mil.), artillery trained to rapid
        evolutions, -- the men being either mounted or trained to
        spring upon the guns and caissons when they change
        position.
  
     {Flying bridge}, {Flying camp}. See under {Bridge}, and
        {Camp}.
  
     {Flying buttress} (Arch.), a contrivance for taking up the
        thrust of a roof or vault which can not be supported by
        ordinary buttresses. It consists of a straight bar of
        masonry, usually sloping, carried on an arch, and a solid
        pier or buttress sufficient to receive the thrust. The
        word is generally applied only to the straight bar with
        supporting arch.
  
     {Flying colors}, flags unfurled and waving in the air; hence:
  
     {To come off with flying colors}, to be victorious; to
        succeed thoroughly in an undertaking.
  
     {Flying doe} (Zool.), a young female kangaroo.
  
     {Flying dragon}.
     (a) (Zool.) See {Dragon}, 6.
     (b) A meteor. See under {Dragon}.
  
     {Flying Dutchman}.
     (a) A fabled Dutch mariner condemned for his crimes to sail
         the seas till the day of judgment.
     (b) A spectral ship.
  
     {Flying fish}. (Zool.) See {Flying fish}, in the Vocabulary.
        
  
     {Flying fox} (Zool.), see {Flying fox} in the vocabulary.
  
     {Flying frog} (Zool.), either of two East Indian tree frogs
        of the genus {Rhacophorus} ({Rhacophorus nigrapalmatus}
        and {Rhacophorus pardalis}), having very large and broadly
        webbed feet, which serve as parachutes, and enable it to
        make very long leaps.
  
     {Flying gurnard} (Zool.), a species of gurnard of the genus
        {Cephalacanthus} or {Dactylopterus}, with very large
        pectoral fins, said to be able to fly like the flying
        fish, but not for so great a distance.
  
     Note: Three species are known; that of the Atlantic is
           {Cephalacanthus volitans}.
  
     {Flying jib} (Naut.), a sail extended outside of the standing
        jib, on the flying-jib boom.
  
     {Flying-jib boom} (Naut.), an extension of the jib boom.
  
     {Flying kites} (Naut.), light sails carried only in fine
        weather.
  
     {Flying lemur}. (Zool.) See {Colugo}.
  
     {Flying level} (Civil Engin.), a reconnoissance level over
        the course of a projected road, canal, etc.
  
     {Flying lizard}. (Zool.) See {Dragon}, n. 6.
  
     {Flying machine}, any apparatus for navigating through the
        air, especially a heavier-than-air machine. -- {Flying
     mouse} (Zool.), the opossum mouse ({Acrobates pygm[ae]us}), a
        marsupial of Australia. Called also {feathertail glider}.
  
     Note: It has lateral folds of skin, like the flying
           squirrels, and a featherlike tail. -- {Flying party}
        (Mil.), a body of soldiers detailed to hover about an
        enemy. -- {Flying phalanger} (Zool.), one of several
        species of small marsuupials of the genera {Petaurus} and
        {Belideus}, of Australia and New Guinea, having lateral
        folds like those of the flying squirrels. The sugar
        squirrel ({Belideus sciureus}), and the ariel ({Belideus
        ariel}), are the best known; -- called also {squirrel
        petaurus} and {flying squirrel}. See {Sugar squirrel}. --
     {Flying pinion}, the fly of a clock. -- {Flying sap} (Mil.),
        the rapid construction of trenches (when the enemy's fire
        of case shot precludes the method of simple trenching), by
        means of gabions placed in juxtaposition and filled with
        earth. -- {Flying shot}, a shot fired at a moving object,
        as a bird on the wing. -- {Flying spider}. (Zool.) See
        {Ballooning spider}. -- {Flying squid} (Zool.), an oceanic
        squid ({Ommastrephes Bartramii} syn. {Sthenoteuthis
        Bartramii}), abundant in the Gulf Stream, which is able to
        leap out of the water with such force that it often falls
        on the deck of a vessel. -- {Flying squirrel} (Zool.) See
        {Flying squirrel}, in the Vocabulary. -- {Flying start}, a
        start in a sailing race in which the signal is given while
        the vessels are under way. -- {Flying torch} (Mil.), a
        torch attached to a long staff and used for signaling at
        night.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  flying
       adj 1: capable of or engaged in flight; "the bat is a flying
              animal"
       2: moving swiftly; "fast-flying planes"; "played the difficult
          passage with flying fingers" [syn: {fast-flying}]
       3: streaming or flapping or spreading wide as if in a current
          of air; "ran quickly, her flaring coat behind her";
          "flying banners"; "flags waving in the breeze" [syn: {aflare},
           {flaring}, {waving}]
       4: designed for swift movement or action; "a flying police
          squad is trained for quick action anywhere in the city"
       5: of or relating to passage through the air especially
          aviation; "a flying time of three hours between cities";
          "unidentified flying objects"
       6: hurried and brief; "paid a flying visit"; "took a flying
          glance at the book"; "a quick inspection"; "a fast visit"
          [syn: {quick}, {fast}]
       7: done swiftly in or as if in the air; used e.g. of a racing
          start in which runners are already in motion as they cross
          the starting line; "a flying start"; "crossed the goal
          line with a flying leap"
       n : an instance of traveling by air; "flying was still an
           exciting adventure for him" [syn: {flight}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  148 Moby Thesaurus words for "flying":
     aeronautics, agile, air service, airborne, airline, ascending,
     astronautics, aviation, axial, back, back-flowing, backward,
     ballooning, blind flying, breakneck, brittle, capricious,
     changeable, cloud-seeding, commercial aviation, contact flying,
     corruptible, cruising, cursory, dashing, deciduous, descending,
     disappearing, dissolving, double-quick, down-trending, downward,
     drifting, dying, eagle-winged, ephemeral, evanescent, evaporating,
     expeditious, express, fading, fast, festinate, feverish, fickle,
     fleet, fleeting, flight, flitting, flowing, fluent, fluttering,
     fly-by-night, fragile, frail, fugacious, fugitive, furious,
     galloping, general aviation, gliding, going, gyrational, gyratory,
     hair-trigger, hasty, headlong, hovering, hurried, hustling,
     immediate, impermanent, impetuous, impulsive, inconstant, instant,
     insubstantial, jet-propelled, last-minute, light of heel,
     light-footed, lively, melting, mercurial, momentary, mortal,
     mounting, mutable, nimble, nimble-footed, nondurable, nonpermanent,
     on the spot, passing, perishable, pilotage, plunging, precipitate,
     progressive, prompt, quick, quick as lightning, quick as thought,
     rapid, reckless, reflowing, refluent, regressive, retrogressive,
     rising, rocket-propelled, rotary, rotational, rotatory, running,
     rushing, sailing, sailplaning, short-lived, sideward, sinking,
     slap-bang, slapdash, snap, snappy, soaring, spanking, speedy,
     streaming, superficial, swift, temporal, temporary, transient,
     transitive, transitory, undurable, unenduring, unstable,
     up-trending, upward, urgent, vanishing, volant, volatile, volitant,
     winged, winging