Adjacent Words

Flying definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

FLYING, ppr.
1. Moving in air by means of wings; passing rapidly; springing; bursting; avoiding.
2. a. Floating; waving; as flying colors.
3. a. Moving; light, and suited for prompt motion; as a flying camp.
Flying colors, a phrase expressing triumph.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: moving swiftly; "fast-flying planes"; "played the difficult passage with flying fingers" [syn: fast- flying, flying]
2: hurried and brief; "paid a flying visit"; "took a flying glance at the book"; "a quick inspection"; "a fast visit" [syn: flying, quick, fast] n
1: an instance of traveling by air; "flying was still an exciting adventure for him" [syn: flight, flying]

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective Date: before 12th century 1. a. moving or capable of moving in the air b. moving or made by moving rapidly <flying feet> <a flying leap> c. very brief 2. intended for ready movement or action <a flying squad car> 3. having stylized wings — used especially of livestock brand marks 4. of or relating to the operation of aircraft <a flying club> 5. traversed or to be traversed (as in speed-record trials) after a running start <a flying kilometer> II. noun Date: 1548 1. travel by air 2. the operation of an aircraft or spacecraft

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. & n. --adj. 1 fluttering or waving in the air; hanging loose. 2 hasty, brief (a flying visit). 3 designed for rapid movement. 4 (of an animal) able to make very long leaps by using winglike membranes etc. --n. flight, esp. in an aircraft. Phrases and idioms: flying boat a seaplane with a boatlike fuselage. flying bomb a pilotless aircraft with an explosive warhead. flying buttress a buttress slanting from a separate column, usu. forming an arch with the wall it supports. flying doctor a doctor (esp. in a large sparsely populated area) who visits distant patients by aircraft. flying fish any tropical fish of the family Exocoetidae, with winglike pectoral fins for gliding through the air. flying fox any of various fruit-eating bats esp. of the genus Pteropus, with a fox-like head. flying lemur either of two mammals of the genus Cyanocephalus of S. Asia, with a lemur-like appearance and having a membrane between the fore and hind limbs for gliding from tree to tree. flying lizard any lizard of the genus Draco, having membranes on elongated ribs for gliding. flying officer the RAF rank next below flight lieutenant. flying phalanger any of various phalangers having a membrane between the fore and hind limbs for gliding. flying picket an industrial picket that can be moved rapidly from one site to another, esp. to reinforce local pickets. flying saucer any unidentified, esp. circular, flying object, popularly supposed to have come from space. flying squad a police detachment or other body organized for rapid movement. flying squirrel any of various squirrels, esp. of the genus Pteromys, with skin joining the fore and hind limbs for gliding from tree to tree. flying start 1 a start (of a race etc.) in which the starting-point is passed at full speed. 2 a vigorous start giving an initial advantage. flying wing an aircraft with little or no fuselage and no tailplane. with flying colours with distinction.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Flying Fly"ing, a. [From Fly, v. i.] Moving in the air with, or as with, wings; moving lightly or rapidly; intended for rapid movement.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

1. A flying animal has wings and is able to fly. ...species of flying insects. ADJ: ADJ n 2. If someone or something gets off to a flying start, or makes a flying start, they start very well, for example in a race or a new job. Advertising revenue in the new financial year has got off to a flying start... PHRASE: V inflects

Moby Thesaurus

aeronautics, agile, air service, airborne, airline, ascending, astronautics, aviation, axial, back, back-flowing, backward, ballooning, blind flying, breakneck, brittle, capricious, changeable, cloud-seeding, commercial aviation, contact flying, corruptible, cruising, cursory, dashing, deciduous, descending, disappearing, dissolving, double-quick, down-trending, downward, drifting, dying, eagle-winged, ephemeral, evanescent, evaporating, expeditious, express, fading, fast, festinate, feverish, fickle, fleet, fleeting, flight, flitting, flowing, fluent, fluttering, fly-by-night, fragile, frail, fugacious, fugitive, furious, galloping, general aviation, gliding, going, gyrational, gyratory, hair-trigger, hasty, headlong, hovering, hurried, hustling, immediate, impermanent, impetuous, impulsive, inconstant, instant, insubstantial, jet-propelled, last-minute, light of heel, light-footed, lively, melting, mercurial, momentary, mortal, mounting, mutable, nimble, nimble-footed, nondurable, nonpermanent, on the spot, passing, perishable, pilotage, plunging, precipitate, progressive, prompt, quick, quick as lightning, quick as thought, rapid, reckless, reflowing, refluent, regressive, retrogressive, rising, rocket-propelled, rotary, rotational, rotatory, running, rushing, sailing, sailplaning, short-lived, sideward, sinking, slap-bang, slapdash, snap, snappy, soaring, spanking, speedy, streaming, superficial, swift, temporal, temporary, transient, transitive, transitory, undurable, unenduring, unstable, up-trending, upward, urgent, vanishing, volant, volatile, volitant, winged, winging