Fly

Fly, flī, v.i. to move through the air on wings: to move swiftly: to pass away: to flee: to burst quickly or suddenly: to flutter.—v.t. to avoid, flee from: to cause to fly, as a kite:—pr.p. fly′ing; pa.t. flew (flōō); pa.p. flown (flōn).—n. a popular name best restricted in its simplicity to the insects forming the order Diptera, but often so widely used with a prefix—e.g. butterfly, dragon-fly, May-fly—as to be virtually equivalent to insect: a fish-hook dressed with silk, &c., in imitation of a fly: a light double-seated carriage, a hackney-coach: (mech.) a flywheel: (pl.) the large space above the proscenium in a theatre, from which the scenes, &c., are controlled.—adj. wide-awake: (slang) knowing.—adjs. Fly′away, flighty; Fly′-bit′ten, marked by the bite of flies.—n. Fly′blow, the egg of a fly.—adj. Fly′blown, tainted with the eggs which produce maggots.—ns. Fly′boat, a long, narrow, swift boat used on canals; Fly′book, a case like a book for holding fishing-flies; Fly′-catch′er, a small bird, so called from its catching flies while on the wing; Fly′-fish′er, one who fishes with artificial flies as bait; Fly′-fish′ing, the art of so fishing; Fly′-flap′per, one who drives away flies with a fly-flap; Fly′ing-bridge, a kind of ferry-boat which is moved across a river by the action of the combined forces of the stream and the resistance of a long rope or chain made fast to a fixed buoy in the middle of the river; Fly′ing-butt′ress, an arch-formed prop which connects the walls of the upper and central portions of an aisled structure with the vertical buttresses of the outer walls; Fly′ing-camp, a body of troops for rapid motion from one place to another; Fly′ing-Dutch′man, a Dutch black spectral ship, whose captain is condemned for his impieties to sweep the seas around the Cape of Storms unceasingly, without ever being able to reach a haven; Fly′ing-fish, a fish which can leap from the water and sustain itself in the air for a short time, by its long pectoral fins, as if flying; Fly′ing-fox, a large frugivorous bat; Fly′ing-lē′mur, a galeopithecoid insectivore whose fore and hind limbs are connected by a fold of skin, enabling it to make flying leaps from tree to tree; Fly′ing-par′ty, a small body of soldiers, equipped for rapid movements, used to harass an enemy; Fly′ing-phalan′ger, a general popular name for the petaurists; Fly′ing-shot, a shot fired at something in motion; Fly′ing-squid, a squid having broad lateral fins by means of which it can spring high out of the water; Fly′ing-squirr′el, a name given to two genera of squirrels, which have a fold of skin between the fore and hind legs, by means of which they can take great leaps in the air; Fly′leaf, a blank leaf at the beginning and end of a book; Fly′-line, a line for angling with an artificial fly; Fly′-mak′er, one who ties artificial flies for angling; Fly′man, one who works the ropes in the flies of a theatre; Fly′pāper, a porous paper impregnated with poison for destroying flies; Fly′-pow′der, a poisonous powder used for killing flies; Fly′-rail, that part of a table which turns out to support the leaf.—adj. (Shak.) moving slow as a fly on its feet.—ns. Fly′-rod, a light flexible rod used in fly-fishing, usually in three pieces—butt, second-joint, and tip; Fly′-trap, a trap to catch flies: (bot.) the spreading dog-bane, also the Venus's fly-trap; Fly′wheel, a large wheel with a heavy rim applied to machinery to equalise the effect of the driving effort.—Fly at, to attack suddenly; Fly in the face of, to insult: to oppose; Fly open, to open suddenly or violently; Fly out, to break out in a rage; Fly the kite, to obtain money as by accommodation bills, the endorser himself having no money; Fly upon, to seize: to attack.—A fly in the ointment, some slight flaw which corrupts a thing of value (Eccles. x. i.); Break a fly on the wheel, to subject to a punishment out of all proportion to the gravity of the offence; Let fly, to attack: to throw or send off; Make the feathers fly (see Feathers). [A.S. fléogan, pa.t. fleáh; Ger. fliegen.]