9  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  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  fly 
  adj  :  (British  informal)  not  to  be  deceived  or  hoodwinked 
  n  1:  two-winged  insects  characterized  by  active  flight 
  2:  a  piece  of  canvas  that  can  be  drawn  back  to  provide  entrance 
  to  a  tent  [syn:  {tent-fly},  {fly  sheet},  {tent  flap}] 
  3:  a  garment  closure  (zipper  or  buttons)  concealed  by  a  fold  of 
  cloth  [syn:  {fly  front}] 
  4:  the  act  of  hitting  a  baseball  so  that  it  flies  high  in  the 
  air  [syn:  {fly  ball}] 
  5:  (angling)  fisherman's  lure;  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  Carribean 
  to  North  America" 
  5:  cause  to  fly  or  float:  "fly  a  kite" 
  6:  be  dissipated;  "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:  to  run  away:  "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,  in  baseball 
  14:  decrease  rapidly,  as  of  money  [syn:  {vanish}] 
 
  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. 
 
 

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