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on the fly

 [flahy]   Origin

fly

1   [flahy] verb, flew or, for 11, 19, flied, flown, fly·ing, noun, plural flies.
verb (used without object)
1.
to move through the air using wings.
2.
to be carried through the air by the wind or any other force or agency: bits of paper flying about.
3.
to float or flutter in the air: flags flying in the breeze.
4.
to travel in an aircraft or spacecraft.
5.
to move suddenly and quickly; start unexpectedly: He flew from the room.
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6.
to change rapidly and unexpectedly from one state or position to another: The door flew open.
7.
to flee; escape.
8.
to travel in space: The probe will fly past the planet.
9.
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.
a.
to bat a fly ball: He flied into right field.
b.
to fly out.
12.
Informal. to be acceptable, believable, or feasible: It seemed like a good idea, but it just wouldn't fly.
COLLAPSE
On The Fly www.ask.com/On+The+Fly Look Up On The Fly. Get The Right Answer, Every Time.
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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.
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18.
to escape from; flee: to fly someone's wrath.
19.
Theater.
a.
to hang (scenery) above a stage by means of rigging supported by the gridiron.
b.
to raise (scenery) from the stage or acting area into the flies.
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On the fly is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.
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.
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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.
a.
(in some presses) the apparatus for removing the printed sheets to the delivery table.
b.
Also called flyboy. (formerly) a printer's devil employed to remove printed sheets from a press.
30.
(on a flag)
a.
the horizontal dimension of a flag as flown from a vertical staff.
b.
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.
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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.
a.
to put up with or get used to matters as they stand.
b.
to confine oneself to one's own affairs.
c.
to cease being a nuisance: If she gets mad enough she'll tell me to go fly a kite.
38.
let fly,
a.
to hurl or propel (a weapon, missile, etc.).
b.
to give free rein to an emotion: She let fly with a barrage of angry words.
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39.
on the fly,
a.
during flight; before falling to the ground: to catch a baseball on the fly.
b.
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.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To on the fly
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.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

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

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
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.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Slang Dictionary

fly definition


  1. mod.
    knowledgeable; alert and in the know. : This dude is fly; there's no question about it.
  2. 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

on the fly definition


  1. mod.
    while something or someone is operating or moving. : I'll try to capture the data on the fly.
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

on the fly

In a hurry, on the run, as in I picked up some groceries on the fly. The transfer of this expression, which literally means "in midair or in flight," dates from the mid-1800s.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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