# fly
## English
### Pronunciation

* enPR: flī, IPA: /flaɪ/
** (US, Received Pronunciation) IPA: [flaɪ]
** (Standard Southern British) IPA: [flɑj]
** (Canada) IPA: [flaɪ]
*** (dialectal) IPA: [fləj]
** (General Australian) IPA: [flɑɪ]
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -aɪ

### Etymology 1

From Middle English flye, flie, from Old English flȳġe, flēoge (“a fly”), from Proto-Germanic *fleugǭ (“a fly”), from Proto-Indo-European *plewk- (“to fly”). Cognate with Scots flee, Saterland Frisian Fljooge, Dutch vlieg, German Low German Fleeg, German Fliege, Danish flue, Norwegian Bokmål flue, Norwegian Nynorsk fluge, Swedish fluga, Icelandic fluga.

#### Noun

fly (plural flies)
* (zoology) Any insect of the order Diptera; characterized by having two wings (except for some wingless species), also called true flies.
** 2012 January, Douglas Larson, “Runaway Devils Lake”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 1, page 46:Devils Lake is where I began my career as a limnologist in 1964, studying the lake’s neotenic salamanders and chironomids, or midge flies. […] The Devils Lake Basin is an endorheic, or closed, basin covering about 9,800 square kilometers in northeastern North Dakota.
* (non-technical) Especially, any of the insects of the family Muscidae, such as the common housefly (other families of Diptera include mosquitoes and midges).
** 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter V, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:When you're well enough off so's you don't have to fret about anything but your heft or your diseases you begin to get queer, I suppose. And the queerer the cure for those ailings the bigger the attraction. A place like the Right Livers' Rest was bound to draw freaks, same as molasses draws flies.
* Any similar but not closely related insect, such as a dragonfly, butterfly, or gallfly.
* (fishing) A lightweight fishing lure resembling an insect.
** 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 152:I went on trying for fish along the western bank down the river, but only small trout rose at my flies, and a score was the total catch.
* (weightlifting) A chest exercise performed by moving extended arms from the sides to in front of the chest. (also flye)
* (swimming) The butterfly stroke (plural is normally flys).
* (obsolete) A witch's familiar.
** 1610 (first performance), Ben[jamin] Jonson, The Alchemist, London: […] Thomas Snodham, for Walter Burre, and are to be sold by Iohn Stepneth, […], published 1612, →OCLC, (please specify the Internet Archive page), (please specify the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):a trifling fly, none of your great familiars
* (obsolete) A parasite.
** 1636, Philip Massinger, “The Bashful Lover”, in William Gifford, editor, The Plays of Philip Massinger‎, published 1845, act 1, scene 1, page 470:The fly that plays too near the flame burns in it.
* (preceded by definite article) A simple dance in which the hands are shaken in the air, popular in the 1960s.
* (finance) A butterfly (combination of four options).

##### Hyponyms

* barfly
* blackfly
* blowfly
* blue-banded eggfly
* botfly
* butterfly
* cabbage root fly
* caddis fly
* cranefly
* damselfly
* dragonfly
* drain fly
* firefly
* fruit fly
* gadfly
* grape fly
* greenfly
* horn fly
* horsefly
* housefly
* hoverfly
* march fly
* mayfly
* moth fly
* phorid fly
* pomace fly
* sandfly, sand fly
* sawfly
* tachina fly
* vinegar fly
* warble fly
* whitefly
* wine fly

##### Derived terms

* a closed mouth catches no flies
* adder fly
* alderfly
* alkali fly
* and no flies
* antifly
* apple fly
* assassin fly
* awl-fly
* banana fly
* bar fly
* bat fly
* bee fly
* beetfly
* Bill Gates' flower fly
* black fly
* blind-fly
* blister fly
* blow fly
* blue fly
* bobfly
* bot fly
* bottlefly
* break a fly on a wheel
* break a fly on the wheel
* break a fly upon a wheel
* break a fly upon the wheel
* breezefly
* brine fly
* Brues' soldier fly
* bull-fly
* burrel fly
* bush fly
* cabbage fly
* canker fly
* carrot fly
* catchfly
* cheese fly
* cluster fly
* coffin fly
* crane fly
* dance fly
* dayfly
* dead fly biscuit
* deer fly
* deerfly
* deer fly fever
* die like flies
* dobsonfly
* dogfly
* dolphin fly
* drink with the flies
* dry fly
* dungfly
* eggfly
* eye fly
* face fly
* fairyfly
* fire-fly
* fishfly
* flesh-fly
* flesh fly
* fleshfly
* flower-fly
* flower fly
* fly agaric
* fly amanita
* fly ash
* fly-ass
* flybane
* fly belt
* fly biscuit
* fly-bitten
* flyblow
* fly-blown
* flyblown
* flyboat
* fly-boat
* fly-bombed
* flybook
* fly box
* fly-box
* fly-boy
* fly-catcher
* flycatcher
* fly-fish
* flyfish
* flyfisher
* flyfisherman
* fly fishing
* fly-fishing
* flyflap
* flyflapper
* fly fungus
* fly-grazing
* fly grazing
* fly in the buttermilk
* fly in the ointment
* fly killer
* flyleaf
* flyless
* fly line
* flyloft
* flymaker
* flymph
* flynet
* fly on the wall
* fly orchid
* flypaper
* fly paper
* fly-paper
* fly-papered
* fly powder
* flyproof
* fly rail
* flyrobin
* fly rod
* flyrod
* fly-rod
* flyscreen
* fly screen
* fly-sheet
* fly sheet
* flysheet
* fly slip
* flyspeck
* fly spray
* flystrike
* flystruck
* flyswat
* fly swat
* fly swatter
* flyswatter
* flytime
* flytrap
* flyweight
* flywhisk
* flywire
* forest fly
* freeloader fly
* frit fly
* froth-fly
* fruitfly
* garbage fly
* glow fly
* gout fly
* green bottle fly
* griffinfly
* harm a fly
* harvest fly
* hawk-fly
* hawthorn fly
* Hessian fly
* hippo fly
* honey catches more flies than vinegar
* honeymoon fly
* hop fly
* hornet fly
* horse bot fly
* horse-fly
* horse fly
* hover-fly
* hurt a fly
* ichneumon fly
* lady-fly
* lake fly
* lanternfly
* lanthorn-fly
* leaf-miner fly
* like a blue-arsed fly
* like flies on pie
* long-legged fly
* lord of the flies
* louse fly
* mango fly
* mantidfly
* mantisfly
* March fly
* meat fly
* Mediterranean fruit fly
* mistfly
* muck fly
* Mydas fly
* Nairobi fly
* night fly
* no flies on
* noon fly
* olive fly
* olive fruit fly
* onion fly
* orl fly
* owlfly
* oxfly
* palmfly
* Paul Allen's flower fly
* penis fly trap
* petroleum fly
* phantom crane fly
* picture-winged fly
* potato fly
* rail fly
* robber fly
* robberfly
* root fly
* sac fly
* sacrifice fly
* scorpionfly
* scuttle fly
* sedge fly
* sewer fly
* shadfly
* shoo-fly pie
* shoofly pie
* shoo-fly plant
* shore fly
* smother-fly
* snakefly
* snipe fly
* snow fly
* soldier fly
* Spanish fly
* spider fly
* squashed fly biscuit
* stable fly
* stalk-eyed fly
* stiletto fly
* St. Mark's fly
* stonefly
* sugarcane soldier fly
* superfly
* syrphus fly
* timber fly
* tsetse fly
* tumbu fly
* turnip fly
* urfly
* Venus fly trap
* wet fly
* whame fly
* wheat fly
* willow fly
* window fly
* wouldn't harm a fly
* wouldn't hurt a fly
* you attract more flies with honey than vinegar
* you can catch more flies with honey than vinegar
* you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar
* you catch more flies with honey than vinegar
* you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar

##### Translations

Abkhaz: амҵ (amcʼ)
Adnyamathanha: yapu
Afrikaans: vlieg (af)
Aklanon: eangaw
Alawa: wuɳɖil
Albanian: mizë (sq) f
Amharic: ዝንብ (zənb)
Arabic: ذُبَابَة f (ḏubāba)
Egyptian Arabic: دبان m (dibbān) (collective), دبانة f (dibbāna) (singulative)
Hijazi Arabic: ذُبَّانة f (dubbāna)
Aramaic :
Classical Syriac : ܕܒܒܐ m (debbāvā)
Armenian: ճանճ (hy) (čanč)
Aromanian: muscã f
Assamese: মাখি (makhi)
Asturian: mosca (ast) f
Avar: тӏутӏ (tʼutʼ)
Awadhi: माछी (māchī)
Aymara: chichillanka
Azerbaijani: milçək (az)
Barngarla: yoombara
Bashkir: себен (seben)
Basque: euli
Bau Bidayuh: tura
Belarusian: му́ха f (múxa)
Bengali: মাছি (bn) (machi)
Berber:
Tashelhit: izi m
Bhojpuri: माछी (māchī)
Bikol Central: langaw (bcl)
Brunei Malay: langau, lalat
Budukh: тӏутӏ (tʼutʼ)
Bulgarian: муха́ (bg) f (muhá)
Burmese: ယင်ကောင် (my) (yangkaung)
Cahuilla: 'a'awet
Catalan: mosca (ca) f
Cebuano: langaw
Central Melanau: lelangau
Chamicuro: kasamelo
Chechen: моза (moza)
Cherokee: ᏛᎦ (dvga)
Chichewa: ntchentche
Chinese:
Cantonese: 蒼蠅 / 苍蝇 (cong$^1$ jing$^4$), 烏蠅 / 乌蝇 (wu$^1$ jing$^{4-1}$)
Dungan: цонйин (conyin)
Eastern Min: 蒲蠅 / 蒲蝇 (bù-sìng)
Gan: 蒼蠅 / 苍蝇 (cong$^1$ in)
Hakka: 烏蠅 / 乌蝇 (vû-yìn)
Hokkien: 胡蠅 / 胡蝇 (zh-min-nan) (hô͘-sîn)
Jin: 蠅子 / 蝇子 (ing$^1$ zeh)
Mandarin: 蒼蠅 / 苍蝇 (zh) (cāngying), 蠅 / 蝇 (zh) (yíng), 蠅子 / 蝇子 (zh) (yíngzi)
Northern Min: 蠅 / 蝇 (sâing)
Wu: 蒼蠅 / 苍蝇 ($^1$tshaon-in)
Xiang: 蒼蠅 / 苍蝇 (can$^1$ in$^1$), 蚊子 (men$^1$ zr)
Chukchi: гыръоӈавыт (gyrʺoṇavyt)
Chuvash: шӑна (šăna)
Coptic: ⲁⲁϥ m or f (ɑf) (Sahidic), ⲁϥ m or f (ɑf) (Bohairic)
Crimean Tatar: çibin
Czech: moucha (cs) f
Dalmatian: muasca f
Danish: flue (da) c
Dharug: miyanung
Dutch: vlieg (nl) m
Eastern Arrernte: amenge
Egyptian: (ꜥff m)
Erzya: карво (karvo)
Esperanto: muŝo
Estonian: kärbes (et)
Evenki: дылкэн (dilkən)
Faroese: fluga f
Fataluku: upuru
Finnish: kärpänen (fi)
Franco-Provençal: mouche f
French: mouche (fr) f
Friulian: moscje f, mosčhe f
Galician: mosca (gl) f
Ge'ez: ዝንብ (zǝnb)
Georgian: ბუზი (buzi)
Old Georgian: მწერი (mc̣eri)
German: Fliege (de) f
Gorontalo: lango (gor)
Greek: μύγα (el) f (mýga)
Ancient: μυῖα f (muîa)
Guaraní: mberu
Guerrero Amuzgo: kíchôⁿ
Haitian Creole: mouch
Hebrew: זְבוּב (he) m (zvuv)
Hindi: मक्खी (hi) f (makkhī), मगस (hi) f (magas)
Hungarian: légy (hu)
Iban: lalat
Icelandic: fluga (is) f
Igbo: ijiji
Ilocano: ngilaw
Indonesian: lalat (id), laler (id), langau (id)
Ingush: моза (moza)
Interlingua: musca
Irish: cuileog (ga) f
Isthmus Zapotec: bialazi
Italian: mosca (it) f
Japanese: 蠅 (ja) (はえ, hae), 蝿 (ja) (はえ, hae), ハエ (ja) (hae)
Javanese: laler (jv)
Jeju: ᄑᆞ리 (pawri)
Karelian: kärbäine
Kashmiri: مٔچھ (mạch)
Kashubian: mucha
Kaurna: tapu, tupurra (blowfly)
Kazakh: шыбын (şybyn)
Khinalug: мичаьг (mičäg)
Khmer: រុយ (km) (ruy)
Kimaragang: namuk
Komi-Permyak: гут (gut)
Korean: 파리 (ko) (pari)
Kriol: please add this translation if you can
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: مێش (ckb) (mêş)
Northern Kurdish: mêş (ku) f
Kyrgyz: чымын (ky) (cımın)
Lao: ມັກຂິກາ (mak khi kā), ແມງວັນ (lo) (mǣng wan)
Latgalian: myusa f
Latin: musca
Latvian: muša (lv) f
Laz: მჭაჯი (mç̌aci)
Lezgi: тӏветӏ (ṭveṭ)
Lithuanian: musė (lt) f
Livonian: kärmi
Lombard: mòsca f
Low German:
German Low German: Fleeg f
Luxembourgish: Méck f
Macedonian: му́ва (mk) f (múva)
Makasae: ufulai
Malagasy: fihitra (mg), lalitra (mg)
Malay: lalat (ms), langau (ms), langau (ms)
Malayalam: ഈച്ച (ml) (īcca)
Maltese: dubbiena f
Manchu: ᡩᡝᡵᡥᡠᠸᡝ (derhuwe)
Mansaka: langaw
Maori: rango (mi), rangorango
Marathi: माशी f (māśī)
Mauritian Creole: mous
Mazanderani: مهاز (məhâz)
Megleno-Romanian: muscă f
Mingrelian: ჭანჯი (č̣anǯi), ჭანდი (č̣andi)
Moksha: кару (karu)
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: ялаа (mn) (jalaa)
Nahuatl:
Classical: zāyōlin
Northern Puebla: sayoli
Tetelcingo: söyuli̱
Nanai: дилуэктэ (ʒiluekte)
Nanticoke: pootzah!
Narungga: dhababbu
Navajo: tséʼedǫ́ʼii
Ngarrindjeri: tjilhi, tampali (March fly)
Norman: moûque
Norwegian:
Bokmål: flue (no) f or m
Nynorsk: fluge f
Nukunu: thapu
Nupe: dìnní
Occitan: mosca (oc) f
Odia: ମାଛି (or) (māchi)
Ojibwe: oojiins
Old Church Slavonic:
Cyrillic: моуха f (muxa)
Glagolitic: ⰿⱆⱈⰰ f (muxa)
Old Javanese: lalĕr
Oromo: titiiisa
Ossetian: бындз (bynʒ)
Ottoman Turkish: سیڭك (siñek)
Pannonian Rusyn: муха f (muxa)
Pashto: مچ (ps) m (məč)
Persian:
Dari: مَگَس (magas)
Iranian Persian: مَگَس (magas)
Pitjantjatjara: punpunpa
Polish: mucha (pl) f
Pontic Greek: μυία f (myía)
Portuguese: mosca (pt) f
Quechua: chuspi
Rohingya: masí
Romagnol: mósca f
Romani: mach
Romanian: muscă (ro) f
Romansch: mustga f, tschitta f
Russian: му́ха (ru) f (múxa)
Saaroa: 'alaliamʉ
Saho: qaca
Sanskrit: मक्षिका (sa) (makṣikā)
Santali: ᱨᱳ (ro)
Sardinian: musca f
Scottish Gaelic: cuileag f
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: му̀ва f (regional Bosnia, Montenegro, Serbia), му̀ха f (Croatia, Bosnia), (diminutive) му̀шица f
Roman: mùva (sh) f (regional Bosnia, Montenegro, Serbia), mùha (sh) f (Croatia, Bosnia), (diminutive) mùšica (sh) f
Sherpa: རེང་མ (reng ma)
Sicilian: musca (scn) f
Slovak: mucha (sk) f
Slovene: muha (sl) f
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: mucha f
Upper Sorbian: mucha f
Southern Altai: чымын (čïmïn), сеек (seek)
Spanish: mosca (es) f
Swahili: nzi (sw)
Swedish: fluga (sv) c
Sylheti: ꠝꠣꠈꠤ (makí)
Tabasaran: чӏамчч (č̣amč̄)
Tagal Murut: bulongor, togonok
Tagalog: langaw
Tajik: магас (tg) (magas)
Takia: gbdai
Talysh: muz
Tamil: ஈ (ta) (ī)
Taos: phų̀yuʼúna
Tat: məgəz
Tatar: чебен (tt) (çeben)
Tausug: pikut
Telugu: ఈగ (te) (īga)
Tetum: lalar
Thai: แมลงวัน (th) (má-lɛɛng-wan)
Tibetan: སྦྲང་བུ (sbrang bu)
Tigrinya: ሃመማ (hamäma)
Tocharian B: tanaulyko
Tok Pisin: lang
Tongan: lango
Tonkawa: ˀapansu·s
Torres Strait Creole: please add this translation if you can
Tupinambá: mberu
Turkish: sinek (tr)
Turkmen: siňek
Tuvan: сээк (seek), кара-сээк (kara-seek)
Tz'utujil: us
Udmurt: кут (kut)
Ukrainian: му́ха (uk) f (múxa)
Urdu: مَکھّی f (makhhī), مَگَس f (magas)
Uyghur: چىۋىن (chiwin)
Uzbek: pashsha (uz)
Venetan: mósca f
Veps: kärbhaine
Vietnamese: ruồi (vi)
Wakhi: maks
Walloon: moxhe (wa)
Warlpiri: yumangi
Welsh: cleren (cy) f
West Coast Bajau: langou
West Frisian: mich
Wiradjuri: burrimal
Wolof: weñ wi (wo)
Yiddish: פֿליג (flig)
Yoruba: eṣinṣin
Zazaki: mês, mêsı (diq)
Zhuang: nengznyaen
ǃXóõ: gʘkxʻóõ :
    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

#### See also

* jumping bristletails, archaeognathans (Archaeognatha)
* cockroaches and termites, blattodeans (Blattodea)
* beetles, coleopterans (Coleoptera)
* earwigs, dermapterans (Dermaptera)
* flies, dipterans (Diptera)
* webspinners, embiopterans (Embioptera)
* mayflies, ephemeropterans (Ephemeroptera)
* ice crawlers, grylloblattodeans (Grylloblattodea)
* true bugs, hemipterans (Hemiptera)
* hymenopterans (ants, bees, wasps, etc.) (Hymenoptera)
* butterflies and moths, lepidopterans (Lepidoptera)
* mantises, mantodeans (Mantodea)
* mantophasmids (Mantophasmatodea)
* scorpionflies, mecopterans (Mecoptera)
* megalopterans (alderflies, dobsonflies, fishflies, etc.) (Megaloptera)
* neuropterans (antlions, lacewings, mantisflies, etc.) (Neuroptera)
* damselflies and dragonflies, odonatans (Odonata)
* orthopterans (crickets, grasshoppers, katydids, etc.) (Orthoptera)
* stick insects, phasmatodeans (Phasmatodea)
* stoneflies, plecopterans (Plecoptera)
* booklice, psocodeans (Psocodea)
* snakeflies, raphidiopterans (Raphidioptera)
* fleas, siphonapterans (Siphonaptera)
* strepsipterans (Strepsiptera)
* thrips, thysanopterans (Thysanoptera)
* caddis flies, trichopterans (Trichoptera)
* zorapterans (Zoraptera)
* silverfish, zygentomans (Zygentoma)

#### Further reading

* fly on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
* Category:Muscidae on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

### Etymology 2

From Middle English flien, from Old English flēogan, from Proto-Germanic *fleuganą (compare Saterland Frisian fljooge, Dutch vliegen, Low German flegen, German fliegen, Danish flyve, Norwegian Nynorsk flyga), from Proto-Indo-European *plewk- (*plew-k-, “to fly”) (compare Lithuanian plaũkti ‘to swim’), enlargement of *plew- (“flow”). More at flee and flow.

#### Verb

fly (third-person singular simple present flies, present participle flying, simple past flew, past participle flown)
* (intransitive) To travel through the air, another gas, or a vacuum, without being in contact with a grounded surface.
    Birds of passage fly to warmer regions as it gets colder in winter.
    The Concorde flew from Paris to New York faster than any other passenger airplane.
    It takes about eleven hours to fly from Frankfurt to Hong Kong.
    The little fairy flew home on the back of her friend, the giant eagle.
** 1909, Gilbert Keith Chesterton, Orthodoxy:Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly.
** 1972, “Supernaut”, performed by Black Sabbath:I want to reach out and touch the sky / I want to touch the sun, but I don't need to fly
** 2013 September 7, “On a bright new wing”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8852:Flying using only the power of the sun is an enticing prospect. But manned solar-powered aircraft are fragile and slow, […].
* (ambitransitive, archaic, poetic) To flee, to escape (from).
    Fly, my lord! The enemy are upon us!
** c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iv], page 56, column 1:[V]pon a ſodaine, / As Falſtaffe, ſhe, and I, are newly met, / Let them [children dressed like "urchins, ouphes and fairies"] from forth a ſaw-pit ruſh at once / With ſome diffuſed ſong: Vpon their ſight / We two, in great amazedneſſe will flye: […]
** c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:to fly the favours of so good a king
** 1667, John Milton, “Book V”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:Fly, ere evil intercept thy flight.
** 1693, Decimus Junius Juvenalis, John Dryden, transl., “[The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis.] The Fourteenth Satyr”, in The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis. Translated into English Verse. […] Together with the Satires of Aulus Persius Flaccus. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC:Sleep flies the wretch.
** 1829, Edgar Allan Poe, “Tamerlane”, in Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems:And boyhood is a summer sun Whose waning is the dreariest one — For all we live to know is known And all we seek to keep hath flown — […]
** 1954, J. R. R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring:He staggered and fell, grasped vainly at the stone, and slid into the abyss. “Fly, you fools!” he cried, and was gone.
* (transitive, ergative) To cause to fly (travel or float in the air): to transport via air or the like.
    Charles Lindbergh flew his airplane The Spirit of St. Louis across the Atlantic ocean.
    Why don’t you go outside and fly kites, kids? The wind is just perfect.
    Birds fly their prey to their nest to feed it to their young.
    Each day the postal service flies thousands of letters around the globe.
** 1879, W[illiam] S[chwenck] Gilbert, Arthur Sullivan, composer, The Pirates of Penzance […], Philadelphia: J.M. Stoddart & Co., published 1880, →OCLC:The brave black flag I fly.
** 2013 September 7, “On a bright new wing”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8852:A solar-powered unmanned aerial system (a UAS, more commonly called a drone) could fly long, lonely missions that conventional aircraft would not be capable of.
** 2015, Jeromy Hopgood, Dance Production: Design and Technology, page 44:This area, referred to as the fly loft, should typically be two and a half times taller than the proscenium opening in order to fly the scenery above the vertical sightlines of the first row of the audience.
* (intransitive) To travel or proceed very fast; to hasten.
    He flew down the hill on his bicycle.
    It's five o'clock already. Doesn't time fly?
** 1645, John Milton, On Time:Fly, envious Time, till thou run out thy race.
** 1870, William Cullen Bryant (translator), The Iliad (originally by Homer)
    The dark waves murmured as the ship flew on.
** 2011 September 18, Ben Dirs, “Rugby World Cup 2011: England 41-10 Georgia”, in BBC Sport:After yet another missed penalty by Kvirikashvili from bang in front of the posts, England scored again, centre Tuilagi flying into the line and touching down under the bar.
* (intransitive) To move suddenly, or with violence; to do an act suddenly or swiftly.
    a door flies open
    a bomb flies apart
** 1859 December 13, Charles Dickens, “The Mortals in the House”, in Charles Dickens, editor, The Haunted House. The Extra Christmas Number of All the Year Round […], volume II, London: […] C[harles] Whiting, […], →OCLC, page 7, column 1:And in respect of the great necessity there is, my darling, for more employments being within the reach of Woman than our civilisation has as yet assigned to her, don’t fly at the unfortunate men, even those men who are at first sight in your way, as if they were the natural oppressors of your sex […]
* (intransitive) To proceed with great success.
    His career is really flying at the moment.
    One moment the company was flying high, the next it was on its knees.
* (intransitive, colloquial, of a proposal, project or idea) To be accepted, come about or work out.
    Let's see if that idea flies.
    You know, I just don't think that's going to fly. Why don't you spend your time on something better?
* (transitive, ergative) To display (a flag) on a flagpole.
* (transitive) To hunt with a hawk.
** c. 1590, Robert Greene, Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay:We'll fly the partridge, or go rouse the deer.
* (intransitive, entomology, of a type of moth or butterfly) To be in the winged adult stage.
    This species flies from late summer until frost.

##### Conjugation

$^†$ Archaic or obsolete.

##### Synonyms

* (travel through air): soar, hover, wing, skim, glide, ascend, rise, float, aviate
* (flee): escape, flee, abscond; see also Thesaurus:flee
* (travel very fast): dart, flit; see also Thesaurus:move quickly
* (do an act suddenly): hurry, zoom; see also Thesaurus:rush

##### Antonyms

* (antonym(s) of “travel through air”): walk
* (antonym(s) of “flee”): remain, stay
* (antonym(s) of “travel very fast”): see also Thesaurus:move slowly

##### Hyponyms

* fly a kite
* flying cone
* fly into a rage
* fly like a bird
* fly like a rock
* fly like the wind
* fly off the handle
* fly out the window
* fly solo
* overfly

##### Derived terms

* afly
* as the crow flies
* as the gull flies
* as the raven flies
* backspot flying fish
* befly
* build the plane while flying it
* could eat the arse out of a low flying duck
* could eat the crotch out of a low flying duck
* could eat the crutch from a low flying duck
* don't drive faster than your guardian angel can fly
* fill and fly
* flag-flying
* flyable
* fly a desk
* fly and flop
* fly apart
* fly at
* flyaway
* flyback
* fly baker
* flybar
* fly blind
* fly bomb
* flyboy
* flybridge
* flyby
* fly by
* fly-by-light
* fly-by-night
* fly-by-nighter
* fly by the seat of one's pants
* fly-by-wire
* flycatch
* flycatching
* flycraft
* flycrank
* flyer
* fly high
* fly-in
* fly in
* fly-in fly-out
* flying ace
* flying army
* flying bishop
* flying bomb
* flying brick
* flying bridge
* flying camp
* flying car
* flying carp
* flying carpet
* flying cat
* flying circus
* flying coffin
* flying colors
* flying colours
* flying disc
* flying disc golf
* flying doctor
* flying dragon
* flying fig
* flying freehold
* flying frog
* flying fuck
* flying ginny
* flying gurnard
* flying handkerchief
* flying helmet
* flying jenny
* flying jib
* flying jib boom
* flying kiss
* flying knee
* flying lap
* flying lemur
* flying machine
* flying mare
* flying meet
* flying monkeys
* flying mouse
* flying ointment
* flying party
* flying phalanger
* flying picket
* flying purple people-eater
* flying purple people eater
* flying rat
* flying rod
* flying rowan
* flying saucer group
* flying school
* flying shot
* flying sport
* flying stationer
* flying toilet
* flying wedge
* flying white
* flying wing
* fly in the face of
* fly into
* fly low
* fly off
* flyoff
* fly off the shelves
* fly out
* flyout
* fly out of the traps
* fly-over
* flyover
* flypast
* fly-past
* fly-pitch
* fly-pitcher
* flypost
* fly-poster
* fly-posting
* fly the blue pigeon
* fly the coop
* fly the flag
* fly the freak flag
* fly the kite
* fly the nest
* fly-through
* flythrough
* fly-tip
* fly-tipper
* fly-tipping
* fly too close to the sun
* flyunder
* fly-under
* fly under the radar
* fly upon
* flyway
* flywheel
* fly with leaden wings
* fly without a licence
* flyworthy
* free-fly
* fur-flying
* give a flying fuck
* go fly a kite
* high-flying
* if pigs had wings they would fly
* in flying colors
* in flying colours
* Japanese flying squid
* keep the flag flying
* kite flying
* let fly
* make the dust fly
* make the feathers fly
* make the fur fly
* Malabar flying frog
* Malaysian flying lemur
* monkeys might fly out of my butt
* non-flying
* outfly
* overfly
* Philippine flying lemur
* pigs can fly
* pigs may fly
* pigs might fly
* refly
* Siberian flying squirrel
* sparks fly
* speed flying
* straighten up and fly right
* Sunda flying lemur
* take a flying fuck at a rolling donut
* take a flying fuck at a rolling doughnut
* take a flying leap
* test-fly
* the feathers fly
* the fur flies
* time flies
* time flies when you're having fun
* unidentified flying object
* upfly
* watch the feathers fly
* watch the fur fly
* when pigs can fly
* when pigs fly
* with flying colors
* with flying colours
* yogic flying

##### Related terms

* fly agaric
* flight

##### Translations

Afrikaans: vlieg (af)
Aklanon: lupad
Albanian: fluturoj (sq)
Arabic: طَارَ (ar) (ṭāra)
Egyptian Arabic: طار (ṭār)
Aramaic:
Syriac: ܦܪܚ (praħ)
Armenian: թռնել (hy) (tʻṙnel), թռչել (hy) (tʻṙčʻel)
Aromanian: azboair, azbor
Assamese: উৰ (ur)
Asturian: volar (ast)
Atong: pyw
Avar: боржизе (boržize)
Azerbaijani: uçmaq (az)
Balinese: miber, makeber, keber
Bashkir: осоу (osow)
Basque: hegan egin (eu)
Belarusian: (abstract) лята́ць impf (ljatácʹ), лётаць impf (ljótacʹ), палята́ць pf (paljatácʹ), палётаць pf (paljótacʹ), (concrete) ляце́ць impf (ljacjécʹ), паляце́ць pf (paljacjécʹ)
Bengali: ওড়া (bn) (ōṛa)
Bhojpuri: उड़ल (uṛal)
Bikol Central: layog (bcl)
Bulgarian: летя́ (bg) impf (letjá), ле́тна pf (létna)
Burmese: ပျံ (my) (pyam)
Catalan: volar (ca)
Cebuano: lupad
Chinese:
Cantonese: 飛 / 飞 (yue) (fei$^1$), 坐飛機 / 坐飞机 (co$^5$ fei$^1$ gei$^1$) (fly on a plane)
Eastern Min: 飛 / 飞 (buŏi)
Mandarin: 飛 / 飞 (zh) (fēi), 飛行 / 飞行 (zh) (fēixíng), 坐飛機 / 坐飞机 (zuò fēijī) (fly on a plane)
Czech: létat (cs) impf (abstract), letět (cs) impf (concrete)
Danish: flyve (da)
Dolgan: көт (köt)
Dutch: vliegen (nl)
Egyptian: (pꜣj), (ꜥẖj), (ꜥpj)
Esperanto: flugi
Estonian: lendama (et)
Even: дэгдэй (dəgdəj)
Evenki: дэгми (dəgmi)
Faroese: flúgva (fo), (archaic) fljúgva
Finnish: lentää (fi)
French: voler (fr)
Friulian: svolâ
Galician: voar (gl)
Georgian: ფრენა (prena)
German: fliegen (de)
Greek: πετώ (el) (petó)
Ancient: πέτομαι (pétomai)
Greenlandic: timmivoq (birds), timmisartorpoq (aircraft)
Haitian Creole: vole
Hawaiian: lele
Hebrew: טָס (he) (tas), עָף (he) ('af)
Higaonon: layang
Hindi: उड़ना (hi) (uṛnā)
Hungarian: repül (hu), száll (hu)
Icelandic: fljúga (is)
Ido: flugar (io)
Ilocano: tumayab
Indonesian: terbang (id)
Interlingua: volar
Inuktitut:
Inuttut: tingik, pikik (birds), tingijok (in an airplane)
Irish: eitil
Italian: volare (it)
Japanese: 飛ぶ (ja) (とぶ, tobu)
Javanese: miber (jv), mabur (jv), kabur (jv)
Jeju: ᄂᆞᆯ다 (nawlda)
Kapampangan: sulapo
Kashubian: latac impf
Kazakh: ұшу (kk) (ūşu)
Khakas: учуғарға (uçuğarğa)
Khmer: ហោះ (km) (hɑh) (aircraft), ហើរ (km) (haə) (birds, insects)
Komi-Permyak: лэбны (lebny)
Korean: 날다 (ko) (nalda)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: فْڕین (ckb) (firrîn)
Northern Kurdish: firîn (ku), firrîn (ku)
Kyrgyz: учуу (ky) (ucuu)
Lao: ເຫາະ (hǫ)
Latgalian: skrīt, skraideit
Latin: volō (la)
Latvian: lidot (lv)
Lithuanian: skristi (lt), skraidyti
Lombard: volà (lmo)
Low German:
German Low German: flegen (nds)
Macedonian: лета impf (leta), летне pf (letne), одлета pf (odleta)
Madurese: ngabber
Malay: terbang (ms)
Jawi: تربڠ (ms)
Maltese: tar
Manchu: ᡩᡝᠶᡝᠮᠪᡳ (deyembi)
Mansaka: layog
Maori: rere
Maranao: layog
Marathi: उडणे (mr) (uḍṇe)
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: нисэх (mn) (nisex)
Mongolian: ᠨᠢᠰᠬᠦ (niskü)
Muong: păl
Nahuatl:
Classical: patlāni
Mecayapan: pata̱ni
Nanai: дэгдэ- (degde-)
Navajo: bił yitʼah
Ngazidja Comorian: huyeuha
Ngunawal: yerra
Norman: voler
North Frisian: (Mooring) fliinj, (Föhr-Amrum) flä
Norwegian:
Bokmål: fly (no), flyge (no)
Nynorsk: fly, flyge
Occitan: volar (oc)
Old Church Slavonic:
Cyrillic: (abstract) лѣтати impf (lětati), (concrete) летѣти impf (letěti)
Old English: flēogan
Old Frisian: fliāga
Old Javanese: wur, wőr, hibĕr
Ottoman Turkish: اوچمق (uçmak)
Pannonian Rusyn: лєциц impf (ljecic), полєциц pf (poljecic)
Papiamentu: bula
Pashto: الوتل (ps) (alwatəl)
Persian:
Iranian Persian: پَرْواز کَرْدَن (fa) (parvâz kardan), پَریدَن (fa) (paridan)
Piedmontese: volé
Pipil: patani
Pitjantjatjara: parpakaṉi
Polish: latać (pl) impf (abstract), lecieć (pl) impf (concrete)
Portuguese: voar (pt)
Quechua: phaway, pawai, paarii
Rapa Nui: rere
Rohingya: uro
Romani: ural
Romanian: zbura (ro)
Romansch: sgular, svular, svuler
Russian: лета́ть (ru) impf (letátʹ) (abstract), лете́ть (ru) impf (letétʹ) (concrete), перелета́ть (ru) impf (pereletátʹ) (birds)
Saho: fire
Sardinian: bobai, bolare, bolai, volare, borai
Scottish Gaelic: itealaich, dèan iteag, falbh air iteig
Serbo-Croatian: letiti (sh)
Cyrillic: лѐтети impf, лѐтјети impf (concrete)
Roman: lèteti (sh) impf, lètjeti (sh) impf (concrete)
Sherpa: འཕུར ('phur)
Sicilian: vulari (scn)
Sinhalese: ඉගිල්ලෙනවා (igillenawā)
Slovak: lietať impf (abstract), letieť impf (concrete)
Slovene: leteti (sl) impf (concrete)
Somali: duulid
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: (abstract) lětaś impf, (concrete) leśeś impf
Upper Sorbian: (abstract) lětać impf, (concrete) lećeć impf
Southern Altai: учар (učar)
Spanish: volar (es)
Sundanese: hiber (su), ngapung
Swahili: kuruka
Swedish: flyga (sv)
Tagalog: lipad (tl), lumipad
Tajik: паридан (tg) (paridan), парвоз кардан (parvoz kardan)
Tamil: பற (ta) (paṟa)
Tarantino: vulà
Tausug: lupad
Ternate: soro
Tetum: semo
Thai: บิน (th) (bin)
Tibetan: འཕུར ('phur)
Tocharian B: plu-
Turkish: (aircraft) gitmek (tr), uçmak (tr), kanatlanmak (tr)
Turkmen: uçmak
Tày: bên
Udmurt: лобыны (lobyny)
Ukrainian: літа́ти (uk) impf (litáty) (abstract), леті́ти impf (letíty) (concrete)
Urdu: اُڑْنا (uṛnā)
Uyghur: ئۇچماق (uchmaq)
Uzbek: uchmoq (uz)
Venetan: zolàre, svołar, sgołar, sguołar, xolar
Vietnamese: bay (vi)
Volapük: flitön (vo)
Walloon: voler (wa)
Waray-Waray: lupad, lagbaw (Eastern Samar)
Welsh: hedfan (cy)
West Frisian: fleane (fy)
Yagnobi: фурак (furak)
Yakut: көт (köt)
Yiddish: פֿליִען (flien)
Yoruba: fò
Yurok: letkolek', lolek'
Zazaki: tılo bıyen, perayen
Zealandic: vliege :
    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

### Etymology 3

From Middle English flye (“flying, flight”), from Old English flyge (“flying, flight”), from Proto-Germanic *flugiz.

#### Noun

fly (plural flys or flies)
* (obsolete) The action of flying; flight.
* An act of flying.
    There was a good wind, so I decided to give the kite a fly.
* (baseball) A fly ball.
* (American football) Short for fly route.
* A piece of canvas that covers the opening at the front of a tent.
* (India, obsolete) The sloping or roof part of the canvas of a tent.
** 1810, Thomas H. Williamson, The East India Vade-Mecum, page 452:[T]he main part of the operation of pitching the tent, consisting of raising the flies, may be performed, and shelter afforded, without the walls, &c., being present.
** 1816, The Grand Master, or Adventures of Qui Hi, page 152:The cavalcade drew up in line, / Pitch'd the marquee, and went to dine. / The bearers and the servants lie / Under the shelter of the fly.
** 1885, Elizabeth Bacon Custer, Boots and Saddles:After I had changed my riding-habit for my one other gown, I came out to join the general under the tent-fly.
* (often plural) A strip of material (sometimes hiding zippers or buttons) at the front of a pair of trousers, pants, underpants, bootees, etc.
    Ha-ha! Your fly's undone!
** February 2014 Y-Front Fly
    Y-Front is a registered trademark for a special front fly turned upside down to form a Y owned by Jockey® International. The first Y-Front® brief was created by Jockey® more than 70 years ago.
** June 2014 The Hole In Men’s Underwear: Name And Purpose
    Briefs were given an opening in the front. The point of this opening (the ‘fly’) was to make it easier to pee with clothes on
* (vexillology)
** The free edge of a flag.
** The horizontal length of a flag.
* (weightlifting) An exercise that involves wide opening and closing of the arms perpendicular to the shoulders.
* The part of a weather vane pointing the direction from which the wind blows.
* (nautical) That part of a compass on which the points are marked; the compass card.
** a. 1850, Robert Norman, (Please provide the book title or journal name):to the fly of the compass, which before was made equal, I was still constrained to put some small piece of wire on the south part there
* Two or more vanes set on a revolving axis, to act as a fanner, or to equalize or impede the motion of machinery by the resistance of the air, as in the striking part of a clock.
* Short for flywheel.
* (historical) A type of small, light, fast horse-drawn carriage that can be hired for transportation (sometimes pluralised flys).
** 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 74, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:A fly carried him rapidly to Lady Clavering’s house from the station […]
** 1859, Wilkie Collins, The Woman in White‎:Can I get a fly, or a carriage of any kind? Is it too late? I dismissed the fly a mile distant from the park, and getting my directions from the driver, proceeded by myself to the house.
** 1861, Henry Mayhew, William Tuckniss, London Labour and the London Poor: A Cyclopœdia of the Condition and Earnings of Those that Will Work, Those that Cannot Work, and Those that Will Not Work, volume 3, page 359:A glass coach, it may be as well to observe, is a carriage and pair hired by the day, and a fly a one-horse carriage hired in a similar manner.
** 1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula, New York, N.Y.: Modern Library, →OCLC:As we left the house in my fly, which had been waiting, Van Helsing said:— ‘Tonight I can sleep in peace [...].’
** 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XVI, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:“ […] She takes the whole thing with desperate seriousness. But the others are all easy and jovial—thinking about the good fare that is soon to be eaten, about the hired fly, about anything.”
** 1924, Ford Madox Ford, Some Do Not… (Parade's End), Penguin, published 2012, page 54:And, driving back in the fly, Macmaster said to himself that you couldn't call Mrs. Duchemin ordinary, at least.
** 1941 December, “Notes and News: Timetable features of the Past”, in Railway Magazine, page 570:Then we read at New Southgate and Colney Hatch, that "Cabs are on stand at station from 9 a.m. to departure of last down train. Private omnibuses, flys and other conveniences can be had at short notice on application to Messrs. Walker & Son." At country stations we are often told, "a fly may be obtained on application to Mrs. Brown of the Black Dog," or some other cheery information.
** 2023 February 22, Stephen Roberts, “Reading... between the lines... to Wales”, in RAIL, number 977, page 59:Chepstow is good for excursions, and Bradshaw tells me I can get a fly to Tintern Abbey, although the fare structure seems particularly complicated. Alternatively, I could go for a simpler choice and just opt for "single horse, 1s", although I doubt I'd survive to tell the tale.
    Related terms: flyman
* In a knitting machine, the piece hinged to the needle, which holds the engaged loop in position while the needle is penetrating another loop; a latch.
* The pair of arms revolving around the bobbin, in a spinning wheel or spinning frame, to twist the yarn.
* (weaving) A shuttle driven through the shed by a blow or jerk.
* (printing, historical)
** The person who took the printed sheets from the press.
** A vibrating frame with fingers, attached to a power printing press for doing the same work.
* One of the upper screens of a stage in a theatre.
** 2006, Alistair Cooke, The American Home Front, 1941-1942, page 128:It was as if I been idling on a brightly lit stage-set of a country garden, ripe with every sort of pastoral fancy, and then had turned a flat and come on the stagehands and the wings, the propped sets, the men working in the flies—all the dark mechanics that produced the pretty picture the audience saw.
* (cotton manufacture) Waste cotton.

##### Derived terms

* big fly
* fly ash
* fly ball
* fly-coach
* fly half
* flyhawk
* flyman
* flyperson
* fly system
* fly window
* infield fly
* infield fly rule
* no-fly
* no-fly list, no fly list
* no-fly zone
* on the fly, on-the-fly
* pop fly

##### Translations
### Etymology 4
#### Verb

fly (third-person singular simple present flies, present participle flying, simple past and past participle flied)
* (intransitive, baseball) To hit a fly ball; to hit a fly ball that is caught for an out. Compare ground (verb) and line (verb).
    Jones flied to right in his last at-bat.

##### Translations
### Etymology 5

Uncertain; probably from the verb or noun.

#### Adjective

fly (comparative flier or flyer, superlative fliest or flyest)
* (slang, dated) Quick-witted, alert, mentally sharp.
** 1854, Charles Dickens, “Household Words”, in Arcadia‎, volume 7, page 381:be assured, O man of sin—pilferer of small wares and petty larcener—that there is an eye within keenly glancing from some loophole contrived between accordions and tin breastplates that watches your every movement, and is "fly,"— to use a term peculiarly comprehensible to dishonest minds—to the slightest gesture of illegal conveyancing.
* (slang) Well dressed, smart in appearance; in style, cool.
    He's pretty fly.
** 1888, Frederick Thickstun Clark, A Mexican Girl‎, page 270:when Ortega got fixed up in his fly duds like that, an ord'nary man's overcoat wouldn't make 'im a pair o' socks.
** 1998, “Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)”‎performed by The Offspring:Give it to me, baby! Uh huh, uh huh! And all the girlies say, I’m pretty fly for a white guy.
** 2001 September, “Super Fly”, in Vibe‎, volume 9, number 9, page 252:Starring the light-skinned Ron O'Neal with his shoulder-length perm and fly threads, Super Fly exudes a sense of black pride as O'Neal bucks the dope game, dismisses his white girlfriend, and beats The Man at his own hustle.
** 2006, Noire [pseudonym], Thug-A-Licious: An Urban Erotic Tale, New York, N.Y.: One World, Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 169:A fly sister rolled in with a suitcase full of hip-hop novels called The Glamorous Life, and an African brother with long dreads wanted to sell them some incense and some fake Jacob watches.
** 2012, Lindy West, Dan Savage, Christopher Frizzelle, How to Be a Person: The Stranger's Guide to College, Sex, Intoxicants, Tacos, and Life Itself‎:How NOT to Facebook / […] no naked pictures, no deep emotions (awkward), no tagging a bunch of people in a picture of some fly Nikes, no making dinner plans (just use a PHONE).
** 2013, Louisa Jepson, “‘At the moment it appears I have, like 7000 girlfriends’”, in Harry Styles: Every Piece of Me, London: Simon & Schuster UK Ltd, published 2014, →ISBN, page 209:Harry [Styles] and Grimmy had struck up quite a friendship with Rita [Ora] and a few weeks earlier had been seen at G-A-Y for her album launch. She tweeted a picture of the trio saying: ‘Thanks for coming my little fashionistas. Looking flyer than a mofo.’
** 2019, “Balenciaga”, performed by Princess Nokia:I'm so fly, I don't even try / I get so high, I can touch the sky / Dress for myself, I don't dress for hype / I dress for myself, you dress for the likes
* (slang) Beautiful; displaying physical beauty.
** 1979, “We Rap More Mellow”, performed by The Younger Generation:[Rahiem] My name brings peace and tranquility / So all the fly ladies' hearts can run free
** 1991, “Busy Doin Nuthin”, in I Need a Haircut, performed by Biz Markie:Word is bond she looked divine, she looked as fly as can be I thought she was different cause she was by herself She looked real wholesome, and in good physical health
** 1994, “Memory Lane (Sittin’ in da Park)”, in Illmatic, performed by Nas:I rap for listeners, blunt heads, fly ladies and prisoners

##### Derived terms

* flycop
* flyness

##### Translations
### Etymology 6

Related to German Flügel (“a wing”), Dutch vleugel (“a wing”), Swedish flygel (“a wing”).

#### Noun

fly (plural flies)
* (rustic, Scotland, Northern England) A wing.
    The bullet barely grazed the wild fowl's fly.

### Etymology 7
#### Noun

fly (plural flies)
* Alternative form of vly (“swamp (in New York)”).
** 1880, Nathaniel Bartlett Sylvester, History of Ulster County, New York: With Illustrations and..., page 185:June 8, 1708, John Cock and William Nottingham desire 100 acres each [...] Isaac Davis desied a conveyance for the "greenbush" fly or swamp that he hath drained near his land, in the Jaagh Creupel-bosh.
** 1924, Frederick Van Wyck, Keskachauge: Or the First White Settlement on Long Island, page 321:[…] one certain Lot of the Long fly, or swamp situate lying and being [in] the Township of Flatlands […] recorded June 15, 1876, Liber 1244 of Conveyances, at page 494, Kings County. The "East Division" was the Long Vly, […]
** 1961, William Gideon Closson, The Josiah Closson Family of New England, page 110:[…] to a white maple stake standing in a fly or swamp , thence N [...] to a Hemlock Stake, […]

### References

* ↑ Edward H[enry] Knight (1877) “Fly”, in Knight’s American Mechanical Dictionary. […], volumes I (A–GAS), New York, N.Y.: Hurd and Houghton […], →OCLC.
* ↑ Edward H[enry] Knight (1877) “Fly”, in Knight’s American Mechanical Dictionary. […], volumes I (A–GAS), New York, N.Y.: Hurd and Houghton […], →OCLC.
* “fly”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
* The Dictionary of the Scots Language

## Danish
### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈflyˀ]

### Etymology 1

An abbreviation of flyvemaskine, after Norwegian fly and Swedish flyg.

#### Noun

fly n (singular definite flyet, plural indefinite fly)
* airplane, aeroplane
    Synonyms: flyvemaskine, flyver
    Hypernym: luftfartøj

##### Derived terms

* flybrændstof
* flykatastrofe
* flyulykke
* fragtfly
* krigsfly
* papirfly
* spionfly

### Etymology 2

From Old Norse flýja (“to flee”), from Proto-Germanic *fleuhaną, cognate with English flee, German fliehen, Dutch vlieden.

#### Verb

fly (present flyr or flyer, past tense flyede, past participle flyet)
* (archaic) to flee
* (archaic) to shun

##### Conjugation

activepassive
present
flyr or flyer
flys or flyes
past
ede
infinitive
fly
flys or flyes
imperative
[Term?]
participle
present
ende
past
et (auxiliary verb have)
gerund
en :

### Etymology 3

From Middle Low German vlī(g)en (“to stack, sort out”), cognate with Dutch vlijen (“to place”), from Proto-Germanic *flīhan, of unknown ultimate origin; possibly related to the root of *flaihijan (“to be sly, to flatter”), though the semantic gap is wide.

#### Verb

fly (present flyr or flyer, past tense flyede, past participle flyet)
* (archaic) to hand, give

##### Conjugation

activepassive
present
flyr or flyer
flys or flyes
past
ede
infinitive
fly
flys or flyes
imperative
[Term?]
participle
present
ende
past
et (auxiliary verb have)
gerund
en :

### References

* ↑ van der Sijs, Nicoline, editor (2010), “vlijen”, in Etymologiebank, Meertens Institute

## Norwegian Bokmål
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /flyː/

### Etymology 1

Short form of flygemaskin

#### Noun

fly n (definite singular flyet, indefinite plural fly, definite plural flya or flyene)
* plane, aeroplane (UK), airplane (US), aircraft

##### Derived terms

* bombefly
* dronefly
* flybevegelse
* flybillett
* flydrivstoff
* flyforbudssone
* flyfoto
* flyfotograf
* flyfotografi
* flyfrakt
* flyklubb
* flykrasj
* flykropp
* flyplass
* flyreise
* flyselskap
* flystasjon
* flystripe
* flyterminal
* flytrafikk
* flytur
* flyvåpen
* glidefly
* jagerfly
* jetfly
* kampfly
* mikrofly
* militærfly
* modellfly
* papirfly
* passasjerfly
* privatfly
* rutefly
* seilfly
* sjøfly
* transportfly

### Etymology 2

From Old Norse fljúga.

#### Alternative forms

* flyge

#### Verb

fly (imperative fly, present tense flyr, simple past fløy, past participle flydd or fløyet)
* to fly

##### Derived terms

* glidefly

### References

* “fly” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

## Norwegian Nynorsk
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /flyː/

### Etymology 1

Clipping of flygemaskin (“flying machine”).

#### Noun

fly n (definite singular flyet, indefinite plural fly, definite plural flya)
* plane, aeroplane (UK), airplane (US), aircraft
    Skunda deg, elles misser du flyet ditt!Hurry up, or you'll miss your plane!

##### Derived terms

* bombefly
* dronefly
* flybillett
* flydrivstoff
* flyfoto
* flyfotograf
* flyfotografi
* flyfrakt
* flyklubb
* flykrasj
* flykropp
* flyplass
* flyreise
* flyselskap
* flystasjon
* flystripe
* flyterminal
* flytrafikk
* flytur
* flyvåpen
* jagarfly
* jetfly
* kampfly
* mikrofly
* militærfly
* modellfly
* papirfly
* passasjerfly
* privatfly
* rutefly
* sjøfly
* transportfly

### Etymology 2

From Old Norse fljúga, from Proto-Germanic *fleuganą.

#### Alternative forms

* fljuga, fljuge, flyga, flyge

#### Verb

fly (present tense flyr or flyg, past tense flaug, supine floge, past participle flogen, present participle flygande, imperative fly or flyg)
* (intransitive) to fly (to travel through air, another gas or a vacuum, without being in contact with a grounded surface)
* (transitive, ergative) to cause to fly: to transport via air or the like
* (intransitive) to run, move fast
* (intransitive, chiefly about farm animals) to be in heat, rutting

##### Derived terms

* flygande festning
* flygande hund
* flygande mare
* flygande tallerk
* flygande tallerken
* flygar
* flygebane
* flygeblad
* flygedyktig
* flygeferdig
* flygefisk
* flygefør
* flygehud
* flygeidé
* flygeleiar
* flygelem
* flygemaskin
* flygemaur
* flygeregistrator
* flygesand
* flygeskrift
* flygetid
* flygetur
* flygeøgle

##### Related terms

* fløygje

#### Adjective

fly (masculine and feminine fly, neuter flytt, definite singular and plural flye, comparative flyare, indefinite superlative flyast, definite superlative flyaste)
* very steep

#### Noun

fly n (definite singular flyet, indefinite plural fly, definite plural flya)
* a very steep cliff

### Etymology 3

From Old Norse flýja, from Proto-Germanic *fleuhaną.

#### Verb

fly (present tense flyr, past tense flydde, past participle flytt/flydd, passive infinitive flyast, present participle flyande, imperative fly)
* (intransitive) to escape; flee; run away
    Synonym: flykte
* (transitive) to escape from

### Etymology 4

Clipping of flygande (“flying”), present participle of fly.

#### Adverb

fly
* (colloquial) Used as an intensifier for the word forbanna
    Han vart fly forbanna.(please add an English translation of this usage example)

### Etymology 5

Compare with flye n (“flying insect”) and English fly.

#### Noun

fly f (definite singular flya, indefinite plural flyer, definite plural flyene)
* small (flying) insect
* (fishing) bait

### Etymology 6
#### Noun

fly f (definite singular flya, indefinite plural flyer, definite plural flyene)
* specks
    Synonyms: rusk, grann

### Etymology 7
#### Noun

fly f (definite singular flya, indefinite plural flyer, definite plural flyene)
* mountain plateau
    Synonyms: vidde, fjellvidde

### Etymology 8

Uncertain, though may be related to flyta (“to float”).

#### Noun

fly n (definite singular flyet, indefinite plural fly, definite plural flya)
* sump

### Etymology 9

Related to, or possibly a doublet of flø, from Old Norse flór.

#### Adjective

fly (masculine and feminine fly, neuter flytt, definite singular and plural flye, comparative flyare, indefinite superlative flyast, definite superlative flyaste)
* tepid

### References

* “fly” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
* Ivar Aasen (1850) “fly”, in Ordbog over det norske Folkesprog‎ (in Danish), Oslo: Samlaget, published 2000

### Anagrams

* fyl

## Scots
### Adjective

fly
* (slang, chiefly Doric) sneaky
** 2013 November 12, Charley Buchan, Karen Barrett-Ayres, “A Fly Cup”, in Doric Voices‎, Robert Gordon University, archived from the original on 6 May 2018:Noo then, fa's for a fly cup?Now then, who's for a sneaky cup?

## Swedish
### Etymology

From Old Swedish flȳia, flȳa, from Old Norse flýja, from Proto-Germanic *fleuhaną.

### Pronunciation

* Audio:(file)

### Verb

fly (present flyr, preterite flydde, supine flytt, imperative fly)
* to flee, to run away, to escape
    Fångarna försökte fly från fängelset.The prisoners tried to escape from jail.
    Med tårarna strömmande ned för sina kinder flydde hon undan de andra tjejernas glåpord.With tears streaming down her cheeks, she fled the taunting words of the other girls.
* to pass, to go by (of time)
** 1964, Gunnel Vallquist, title of the new Swedish translation of Proust's À la recherche du temps perdu:På spaning efter den tid som flyttIn Search of Lost Time
** 1965, Sven-Ingvars, Börja om från början:Varför ska man sörja tider som har flytt?Why should one feel sorry for times that have passed?

#### Conjugation

$^1$ Archaic. $^2$ Dated. See the appendix on Swedish verbs.

#### Derived terms

* fly fältet
* nattfly

#### Related terms

* flykt
* flykting

#### See also

* fly förbannad

### References

* fly in Svensk ordbok (SO)
* fly in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
* fly in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)