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more about fly
fly |
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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