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flies

[flahy]

Example Sentences Origin

verb (used without object)

to move through the air using wings.

to be carried through the air by the wind or any other force or agency: bits of paper flying about.

to float or flutter in the air: flags flying in the breeze.

to travel in an aircraft or spacecraft.

to move suddenly and quickly; start unexpectedly: He flew from the room.

EXPAND

to change rapidly and unexpectedly from one state or position to another: The door flew open.

to flee; escape.

to travel in space: The probe will fly past the planet.

to move or pass swiftly: How time flies!

10.

to move with an aggressive surge: A mother fox will fly at anyone approaching her kits.

11.

Baseball.

to bat a fly ball: He flied into right field.

to fly out.

12.

Informal. to be acceptable, believable, or feasible: It seemed like a good idea, but it just wouldn't fly.

COLLAPSE

verb (used with object)

13.

to make (something) float or move through the air: to fly a kite.

14.

to operate (an aircraft, spacecraft, or the like).

15.

to hoist aloft, as for display, signaling, etc.: to fly a flag.

16.

to operate an aircraft or spacecraft over: to fly the Pacific.

17.

to transport or convey by air: We fly merchandise to Boston.

EXPAND

18.

to escape from; flee: to fly someone's wrath.

19.

Theater.

to hang (scenery) above a stage by means of rigging supported by the gridiron.

to raise (scenery) from the stage or acting area into the flies.

COLLAPSE

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Flies is always a great word to know.

So is bezoar. Does it mean:

a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.

a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.

LEARN MORE UNUSUAL WORDS WITH WORD DYNAMO...

noun

20.

a strip of material sewn along one edge of a garment opening for concealing buttons, zippers, or other fasteners.

21.

a flap forming the door of a tent.

22.

Also called tent fly. a piece of canvas extending over the ridgepole of a tent and forming an outer roof.

23.

an act of flying; a flight.

24.

the course of a flying object, as a ball.

EXPAND

25.

Baseball. fly ball.

26.

British. a light, covered, public carriage drawn by one horse; hansom; hackney coach.

27.

Machinery. a horizontal arm, weighted at each end, that pivots about the screw of a press so that when the screw is lowered the momentum of the fly will increase the force of the press.

28.

Also called fan. Horology. a regulating device for chime and striking mechanisms, consisting of an arrangement of vanes on a revolving axis.

29.

Printing.

(in some presses) the apparatus for removing the printed sheets to the delivery table.

Also called flyboy. (formerly) a printer's devil employed to remove printed sheets from a press.

30.

(on a flag)

the horizontal dimension of a flag as flown from a vertical staff.

the end of the flag farther from the staff. Compare hoist (def. 7).

31.

flies. Also called fly loft. Theater. the space above the stage used chiefly for storing scenery and equipment.

32.

Nautical. a propellerlike device streamed to rotate and transfer information on speed to a mechanical log.

COLLAPSE

Verb phrase

33.

fly out, Baseball, Softball. to be put out by hitting a fly ball that is caught by a player of the opposing team.

Idioms

34.

fly blind. blind (def. 33).

35.

fly in the face of, to act in defiance of (authority, custom, etc.). Also, fly in the teeth of.

36.

fly off the handle. handle (def. 16).

37.

go fly a kite, Slang.

to put up with or get used to matters as they stand.

to confine oneself to one's own affairs.

to cease being a nuisance: If she gets mad enough she'll tell me to go fly a kite.

38.

let fly,

to hurl or propel (a weapon, missile, etc.).

to give free rein to an emotion: She let fly with a barrage of angry words.

EXPAND

39.

on the fly,

during flight; before falling to the ground: to catch a baseball on the fly.

hurriedly; without pausing: We had dinner on the fly.

COLLAPSE

Origin:
before 900; Middle English flīen, Old English flēogan; cognate with Old High German fliogan, German fliegen, Old Norse fljuga

Related forms

fly·a·ble, adjective

fly·a·bil·i·ty, noun

non·fly·a·ble, adjective

re·fly·a·ble, adjective

un·fly·a·ble, adjective

Synonyms
1. Fly, flit, flutter, hover, soar refer to moving through the air as on wings. Fly is the general term: Birds fly. Airplanes fly. To flit is to make short rapid flights from place to place: A bird flits from tree to tree. To flutter is to agitate the wings tremulously, either without flying or in flying only short distances: A young bird flutters out of a nest and in again. To hover is to linger in the air, or to move over or about something within a narrow area or space: hovering clouds; a hummingbird hovering over a blossom. To soar is to (start to) fly upward to a great height usually with little advance in any other direction, or else to (continue to) fly at a lofty height without visible movement of the wings: Above our heads an eagle was soaring.

Example Sentences

The flies arrived last week, being nearly six weeks behind their usual time.

It is a juicy topic, one that in so many ways flies in the face of academic tradition.

The airline has a premium reputation among business customers, and flies some extremely long intercontinental routes.

EXPAND

The flies arrived last week, being nearly six weeks behind their usual time.

It is a juicy topic, one that in so many ways flies in the face of academic tradition.

The airline has a premium reputation among business customers, and flies some extremely long intercontinental routes.

Flies that inject eggs into fire ants are being used to fight the invasive ants.

Flies sleep, despite what that buzzing in your ear might tell you.

He doesn't see the flier sitting on the fence, its feathers all puffed out against the cold, until it flies.

Let me know if it can kill the aphids and/or white flies.

Honey's sweet smell attracts more flies than does vinegar's sour odor, but the ultimate fruit-fly magnet is eau de nothing.

As the days get colder, flies seek the warmth of your home.

Wheels of cheese soften pungently in the sun, and flies cluster.

Neither flag now flies on the tower, which has also lost its clock face, destroyed in the protests.

Flies can spot movement in shadows and see moving objects against interference-filled backgrounds.

Density populated chicken houses filled with flies and bacteria may enable diseases to fly the coop.

Bloodstains on the flies buzzing around the severed heads in the painting noted above are an example.

The biggest disaster: our olives, which were horribly infested with fruit flies.

Scientists found that fruit flies possess a protein that mirrors the effect of cocaine in human beings.

The pesticide is being sprayed at night in a mixture with droplets of a sweet bait that the fruit flies will eat.

My thesis is not new, but it seems especially urgent right now, because it flies in the face of two powerful prevailing winds.

America's present immigration law flies in the face of economic reality.

German scientists have built a flight simulator for flies to better understand how the insects see and coordinate their movements.

Slow-motion video shows that fruit flies plan their escape well before you begin your attempt to swat them.

Water from buckets, pistols, hoses and elephant trunks flies through the air during the hottest time of year.

It sure does show how time flies with those before and after photos.

Flies are a long, long way from people, but that the protein worked at all is impressive.

The goal was to learn how learning works, from flies to people.

Academic units flourish best when the fur flies least.

The real ubuntu flies in the face of corruption and greed.

UK researchers have developed a series of robots that power up by digesting sugar, rotten apples, and dead flies.

But this trait isn't the only reason scientists look to fruit flies for clues about how memories form in humans.

There was a proliferation of flies that make caribou sick.

His team has created thousands of transgenic flies that allow them to test the individual circuits.

Dressing flies was a jealously guarded secret during that era.

It flies only over water and only two metres above that water.

At supersonic speed, shock waves form on the aircraft as it flies through the air.

As expected, flies without oenocytes lacked virtually all hydrocarbons.

The flies didn't die, but they no longer had the strength to reproduce.

The flies had not erased their first memory, and had made a second memory.

Not wanting to give its meal a chance to escape, a dragonfly can eat while it flies.

Filopodia have also been observed during wing formation in fruit flies.

The maggots hatch, enjoy several meals at the nearest dead-animal buffet, develop cocoons known as pupae and turn into flies.

Nothing happened as the flies buzzed happily around the fruit.

And when the sea breeze stops, the sand flies start nibbling.

Rose made scientific history with experiments manipulating the life spans of fruit flies.

He dropped flies on their leaves and watched them slowly fold their sticky tentacles over their prey.

For he was begging the flies for a sign: some tiny, covert, telltale indication.

The monarch butterfly overwinters in large colonies, but flies north in a solo flight.

The flies have three hours to learn that the nice odor of oranges is followed by a nasty taste.

Local gulls will dive voraciously for such handouts, while the tern flies on.

To forage, it flies off of a perch and grabs insects off of the ground, then flies back to its perch again.

Last month it multiplied with the same brainless abandon as fruit flies around a rotting banana.

And as an osprey flies overhead and a pair of elk works its way up a slope, the world of airport lines recedes.

Fruit flies turn in midair with a shrug of their shoulders.

With them have come nearly as many small green flies, which feed with the genuine house flies.

So it seems that the feet of flies do not have the same sticky mechanism as the gecko does.

During many summer days, all the fruit flies needed for experiments die from the heat.

Yet this logic flies in the face of the real world.

Once it has lured the predator far enough away, it flies off.

By exposing fruit flies to alcohol, researchers hope to gain genetic insight into human behavior.

To non-partisans, the idea of taming the deficit by spending cuts alone flies against both common sense and arithmetic.

Engineers often load a structure with weight until it collapses or shake it until it flies apart.

Perhaps, though that flies in the face of recent history.

Flies and maggots may seem disgusting, but they do us the favor of being nature's recycling plant.

It flies the face of common sense, knowledge and science.

Robot flies may be tomorrow's astronauts if researchers can only make the darn things work.

Male flies with a mutation in their fruitless gene cannot perform the courtship song correctly.

And the gay community in our town flies under the gaydar as far as possible.

We trust that this commercial aircraft eventually flies the friendly skies and the technology lives up to expectations.

He shagged flies-fruit flies that is-in the off-seasons and eventually got a doctorate.

Many sold new today, the head flies off which is a lot more dangerous.

Still others drift in the wind or ride on the backs of flies.

All of this flies in the face of nature and could only be emplaced by fiat.

Mehta explains that when a relatively smooth ball with irregular bumps flies through the air without.

Brine shrimp and brine flies are the daily special, and large flocks swoop in to refuel.

Videogame characters used to have the life cycle of fruit flies.

Until now, the wing colors of many flies and wasps were dismissed as random iridescence.

In the spring, parasitic flies lay their eggs inside woolly bears.

Friendster flies under the radar, sending out only occasional media updates.

The bird rears back, flaps its wings, and flies off.

The cape's rocky beaches collect ships the way a spider's web traps flies.

Reducing air resistance is one key in determining who flies farthest.

Plants pollinated by fast-moving bees or flies may have spiny pollen that lodges easily between the insects' hairs.

COLLAPSE

Dictionary.com Unabridged

noun, plural flies.

Also called true fly. any of numerous two-winged insects of the order Diptera, especially of the family Muscidae, as the common housefly.

any of various winged insects, as the mayfly or firefly.

Angling. a fishhook dressed with hair, feathers, silk, tinsel, etc., so as to resemble an insect or small fish, for use as a lure or bait.

(initial capital letter) Astronomy. the constellation Musca.

Idiom

fly in the ointment, a detrimental factor; detraction: If there's one fly in the ointment, it's that there may not be the money to finish the job.

Origin:
before 950; Middle English flīe, Old English flēoge, flȳge; cognate with Middle Dutch vliege (Dutch vlieg), Old High German flioga (German Fliege); akin to fly¹

Related forms

fly·less, adjective

Link To flies

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

fly

"run away," O.E. fleon (see flee). Fleogan and fleon were often confused in O.E., too. Mod.Eng. distinguishes in preterite: flew/fled.

American Heritage

Medical Dictionary

fly (flī)
n.
Any of numerous two-winged insects of the order Diptera.

American Heritage

Science Dictionary

fly (flī) Pronunciation Key
Any of numerous insects of the order Diptera, having one pair of wings and large compound eyes. Flies include the houseflies, horseflies, and mosquitoes. See more at dipteran.

Slang Dictionary

fly definition

mod.
knowledgeable; alert and in the know. : This dude is fly; there's no question about it.
mod.
nice-looking; stylish. : I like your fly shoes, Sam.

Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source

American Heritage

Idioms & Phrases

flies

see as the crow flies; drop like flies; no flies on someone; time flies. Also see under fly.

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Idioms & Phrases

as the crow flies

drop like flies

no flies on someone

time flies

fly

Matching Quote

"Dead flies make the perfumer's ointment give off a foul odor; so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor."

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