fly

Fetched 2026-10-30 (live).

Datamuse reports no synonyms or antonyms for this word.

Symbol

1. ISO 639-3 language code for Tsotsitaal.

Noun

1. Any insect of the order Diptera; characterized by having two wings (except for some wingless species), also called true flies.
2. Especially, any of the insects of the family Muscidae, such as the common housefly (other families of Diptera include mosquitoes and midges).
3. Those or any similar but not closely related insect, such as a dragonfly, butterfly, or gallfly.
4. A lightweight fishing lure resembling an insect.
5. A chest exercise performed by moving extended arms from the sides to in front of the chest. (also flye)
6. The butterfly stroke (plural is normally flys).
7. A witch's familiar.
8. A parasite.
9. A simple dance in which the hands are shaken in the air, popular in the 1960s.
10. A butterfly (combination of four options).

Verb

1. To travel through the air, another gas, or a vacuum, without being in contact with a grounded surface.
   • Birds of passage fly to warmer regions as it gets colder in winter.
   • The probe flew beyond the solar system.
   • The Concorde flew from Paris to New York faster than any other passenger airplane.
   • It takes about eleven hours to fly from Frankfurt to Hong Kong.
   • The little fairy flew home on the back of her friend, the giant eagle.
   • My airline needs me to get clearance before I can fly again.
   • If we want to fly today, we need to leave for the airport right now.
   • This species flies from late summer until frost.
   • Let's see if that idea flies.
   • You know, I just don't think that's going to fly. Why don't you spend your time on something better?
2. To take a flight on a plane; to pilot or crew a plane.
   • My airline needs me to get clearance before I can fly again.
   • If we want to fly today, we need to leave for the airport right now.
3. To be in the winged adult stage.
   • This species flies from late summer until frost.
4. To be accepted, come about or work out.
   • Let's see if that idea flies.
   • You know, I just don't think that's going to fly. Why don't you spend your time on something better?
5. To cause to fly (travel or float in the air): to transport via air or the like.
   • Charles Lindbergh flew his airplane The Spirit of St. Louis across the Atlantic ocean.
   • Birds fly their prey to their nest to feed it to their young.
   • Each day the postal service flies thousands of letters around the globe.
   • We flew the kids out to see their grandparents.
   • This is the first time I flew the Pacific.
   • I'm hoping to fly the London-New York route so I can see the Big Apple again.
6. To arrange for someone to take a flight.
   • We flew the kids out to see their grandparents.
7. To pilot a plane over a region or on a route.
   • This is the first time I flew the Pacific.
   • I'm hoping to fly the London-New York route so I can see the Big Apple again.
8. To complete (a goal, task, mission, etc.) while crewing an aircraft or spacecraft.
9. To hunt with a hawk.
10. To wave or flutter; to cause to wave or flutter.
    • When the wind picked up, her hair flew back behind her head.
    • In her dance, she holds her hands above her head to fly those colorful ribbons in the air.
    • Why don’t you go outside and fly kites, kids? The wind is just perfect.
    • We flew the state flag under the national flag.
    • The flag flew at half-mast.
    • The American flag flies in every state and territory.
    • She's really letting the freak flag fly.
    • Only one candidate is willing to fly the conservative flag boldly.
    • The French flag flew over Louisiana until 1803.
    • The king endeavored to fly his nation's flag over new territories.
11. To operate a kite (A lightweight toy or other device... carried on the wind and tethered and controlled from the ground by one or more lines).
    • Why don’t you go outside and fly kites, kids? The wind is just perfect.
12. To display (a flag) on a flagpole; to be displayed on a flagpole.
    • We flew the state flag under the national flag.
    • The flag flew at half-mast.
    • The American flag flies in every state and territory.
    • She's really letting the freak flag fly.
    • Only one candidate is willing to fly the conservative flag boldly.
    • The French flag flew over Louisiana until 1803.
    • The king endeavored to fly his nation's flag over new territories.
13. To proudly and openly make one's allegiances or viewpoint apparent.
    • She's really letting the freak flag fly.
    • Only one candidate is willing to fly the conservative flag boldly.
14. To symbolically rule over or control.
    • The French flag flew over Louisiana until 1803.
    • The king endeavored to fly his nation's flag over new territories.
15. To drain away or be expended quickly.
    • The family fortune flew in a few short years.
    • The mist flew by noon.
16. To vanish; to fade away.
    • The mist flew by noon.
17. To travel or proceed very fast; to hasten.
    • He flew down the hill on his bicycle.
    • It's five o'clock already. Doesn't time fly?
    • a door flies open
    • a bomb flies apart
    • His career is really flying at the moment.
    • One moment the company was flying high, the next it was on its knees.
    • I must fly the temptation of drink.
    • My bird flew the cage.
    • Fly, my lord! The enemy are upon us!
18. To move suddenly, or with violence; to carry out an act suddenly or swiftly.
    • a door flies open
    • a bomb flies apart
19. To proceed with great success.
    • His career is really flying at the moment.
    • One moment the company was flying high, the next it was on its knees.
20. To avoid or shun.
    • I must fly the temptation of drink.
21. To flee, to escape (from).
    • My bird flew the cage.
    • Fly, my lord! The enemy are upon us!

Noun

1. The action of flying; flight.
2. An act of flying.
   • There was a good wind, so I decided to give the kite a fly.
3. A fly ball.
4. Ellipsis of fly route.
5. A piece of canvas that covers the opening at the front of a tent.
6. The sloping or roof part of the canvas of a tent.
7. A strip of material (sometimes hiding zippers or buttons) at the front of a pair of trousers, pants, underpants, bootees, etc.
   • Ha-ha! Your fly's undone!
   • your fly's undone/down
   • your flies are undone/down (same meaning)
8. The moving portion of an extendable ladder.
9. The free edge of a flag. The horizontal length of a flag.
10. The free edge of a flag.
11. The horizontal length of a flag.
12. An exercise that involves wide opening and closing of the arms perpendicular to the shoulders.
13. The part of a weather vane pointing the direction from which the wind blows.
14. That part of a compass on which the points are marked; the compass card.
15. Two or more vanes set on a revolving axis, to act as a fanner, or to equalize or impede the motion of machinery by the resistance of the air, as in the striking part of a clock.
16. Ellipsis of flywheel.
17. A type of small, light, fast horse-drawn carriage that can be hired for transportation (sometimes pluralised flys).
    • Related terms: flyman
18. In a knitting machine, the piece hinged to the needle, which holds the engaged loop in position while the needle is penetrating another loop; a latch.
19. The pair of arms revolving around the bobbin, in a spinning wheel or spinning frame, to twist the yarn.
20. A shuttle driven through the shed by a blow or jerk.
21. The person who took the printed sheets from the press. A vibrating frame with fingers, attached to a power printing press for doing the same work.
22. The person who took the printed sheets from the press.
23. A vibrating frame with fingers, attached to a power printing press for doing the same work.
24. One of the upper screens of a stage in a theatre.
25. Waste cotton.

Verb

1. To hit a fly ball; to hit a fly ball that is caught for an out. Compare ground (verb) and line (verb).
   • Jones flied to right in his last at-bat.

Adjective

1. Quick-witted, alert, mentally sharp.
2. Clandestine, surreptitious
3. Well dressed, smart in appearance; in style, cool.
   • He's pretty fly.
4. Beautiful; displaying physical beauty.

Noun

1. A wing.
   • The bullet barely grazed the wild fowl's fly.

Noun

1. Alternative form of vly (“swamp (in New York)”).

Source: Wiktionary · CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wiktionary) · cached copy, not a rewrite.