10 definitions found
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Fly \Fly\, v. t.
To manage (an aircraft) in flight; as, to fly an
a["e]roplane.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Fly \Fly\, n. (Cotton Manuf.)
Waste cotton.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Fly \Fly\, n.; pl. {Flies} (fl[imac]z). [OE. flie, flege, AS.
fl[=y]ge, fle['o]ge, fr. fle['o]gan to fly; akin to D. vlieg,
OHG. flioga, G. fliege, Icel. & Sw. fluga, Dan. flue. [root]
84. See {Fly}, v. i.]
1. (Zo["o]l.)
(a) Any winged insect; esp., one with transparent wings;
as, the Spanish fly; firefly; gall fly; dragon fly.
(b) Any dipterous insect; as, the house fly; flesh fly;
black fly. See {Diptera}, and Illust. in Append.
2. A hook dressed in imitation of a fly, -- used for fishing.
``The fur-wrought fly.'' --Gay.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Fly \Fly\, v. t.
1. To cause to fly or to float in the air, as a bird, a kite,
a flag, etc.
The brave black flag I fly. --W. S.
Gilbert.
2. To fly or flee from; to shun; to avoid.
Sleep flies the wretch. --Dryden.
To fly the favors of so good a king. --Shak.
3. To hunt with a hawk. [Obs.] --Bacon.
{To fly a kite} (Com.), to raise money on commercial notes.
[Cant or Slang]
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Fly \Fly\, a.
Knowing; wide awake; fully understanding another's meaning.
[Slang] --Dickens.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
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 thorugh 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.
3. To float, wave, or rise in the air, as sparks or a flag.
Man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.
--Job v. 7.
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.
Fly, envious Time, till thou run out thy race.
--Milton.
The dark waves murmured as the ships flew on.
--Bryant.
5. To run from danger; to attempt to escape; to flee; as, an
enemy or a coward flies. See Note under {Flee}.
Fly, ere evil intercept thy flight. --Milton.
Whither shall I fly to escape their hands ? --Shak.
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.
{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.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
fly
adj : (British informal) not to be deceived or hoodwinked
n 1: two-winged insects characterized by active flight
2: flap consisting of a piece of canvas that can be drawn back
to provide entrance to a tent [syn: {tent-fly}, {rainfly},
{fly sheet}, {tent flap}]
3: an opening in a garment that is closed by a zipper or
buttons concealed by a fold of cloth [syn: {fly front}]
4: (baseball) a hit that flies up in the air [syn: {fly ball}]
5: fisherman's lure consisting of a fishhook decorated to look
like an insect
v 1: travel through the air; be airborne; "Man cannot fly" [syn:
{wing}]
2: move quickly or suddenly; "He flew about the place"
3: fly a plane [syn: {aviate}, {pilot}]
4: transport by aeroplane; "We fly flowers from the Caribbean
to North America"
5: cause to fly or float; "fly a kite"
6: be dispersed or disseminated; "Rumors and accusations are
flying"
7: change quickly from one emotional state to another; "fly
into a rage"
8: pass away rapidly; "Time flies like an arrow"; "Time fleeing
beneath him" [syn: {fell}, {vanish}]
9: travel in an airplane; "she is flying to Cincinnati
tonight"; "Are we driving or flying?"
10: display in the air or cause to float; "fly a kite"; "All
nations fly their flags in front of the U.N."
11: run away quickly; "He threw down his gun and fled" [syn: {flee},
{take flight}]
12: travel over (an area of land or sea) in an aircraft;
"Lindbergh was the first to fly the Atlantic"
13: hit a fly
14: decrease rapidly and disappear; "the money vanished in las
Vegas"; "all my stock assets have vaporized" [syn: {vanish},
{vaporize}]
[also: {flown}, {flew}]
From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:
Fly
Heb. zebub, (Eccl. 10:1; Isa. 7:18). This fly was so grievous a
pest that the Phoenicians invoked against it the aid of their
god Baal-zebub (q.v.). The prophet Isaiah (7:18) alludes to some
poisonous fly which was believed to be found on the confines of
Egypt, and which would be called by the Lord. Poisonous flies
exist in many parts of Africa, for instance, the different kinds
of tsetse.
Heb. 'arob, the name given to the insects sent as a plague on
the land of Egypt (Ex. 8:21-31; Ps. 78:45; 105:31). The LXX.
render this by a word which means the "dog-fly," the cynomuia.
The Jewish commentators regarded the Hebrew word here as
connected with the word _'arab_, which means "mingled;" and they
accordingly supposed the plague to consist of a mixed multitude
of animals, beasts, reptiles, and insects. But there is no doubt
that "the _'arab_" denotes a single definite species. Some
interpreters regard it as the Blatta orientalis, the cockroach,
a species of beetle. These insects "inflict very painful bites
with their jaws; gnaw and destroy clothes, household furniture,
leather, and articles of every kind, and either consume or
render unavailable all eatables."
From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:
FLY-:SPECK:, n. The prototype of punctuation. It is observed by
Garvinus that the systems of punctuation in use by the various
literary nations depended originally upon the social habits and
general diet of the flies infesting the several countries. These
creatures, which have always been distinguished for a neighborly and
companionable familiarity with authors, liberally or niggardly
embellish the manuscripts in process of growth under the pen,
according to their bodily habit, bringing out the sense of the work by
a species of interpretation superior to, and independent of, the
writer's powers. The "old masters" of literature -- that is to say,
the early writers whose work is so esteemed by later scribes and
critics in the same language -- never punctuated at all, but worked
right along free-handed, without that abruption of the thought which
comes from the use of points. (We observe the same thing in children
to-day, whose usage in this particular is a striking and beautiful
instance of the law that the infancy of individuals reproduces the
methods and stages of development characterizing the infancy of
races.) In the work of these primitive scribes all the punctuation is
found, by the modern investigator with his optical instruments and
chemical tests, to have been inserted by the writers' ingenious and
serviceable collaborator, the common house-fly -- _Musca maledicta_.
In transcribing these ancient MSS, for the purpose of either making
the work their own or preserving what they naturally regard as divine
revelations, later writers reverently and accurately copy whatever
marks they find upon the papyrus or parchment, to the unspeakable
enhancement of the lucidity of the thought and value of the work.
Writers contemporary with the copyists naturally avail themselves of
the obvious advantages of these marks in their own work, and with such
assistance as the flies of their own household may be willing to
grant, frequently rival and sometimes surpass the older compositions,
in respect at least of punctuation, which is no small glory. Fully to
understand the important services that flies perform to literature it
is only necessary to lay a page of some popular novelist alongside a
saucer of cream-and-molasses in a sunny room and observe "how the wit
brightens and the style refines" in accurate proportion to the
duration of exposure.
From eng-fra [engfra]:
fly
[flai]
voler
mouche