Word: fly Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English flye (“flying, flight”), from Old English flyġe (“flying, flight”), from Proto-Germanic *flugiz. Pronunciation: /ˈflaɪ̯/, [ˈflaɪ̯], /ˈflɑɪ̯/, [ˈflɑ̟ɪ̯], /ˈflɒɪ̯/ 1. The action of flying; flight. Labels: obsolete 2. An act of flying. Example: There was a good wind, so I decided to give the kite a fly. 3. A fly ball. 4. Ellipsis of fly route. Labels: abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis 5. A piece of canvas that covers the opening at the front of a tent. 6. The sloping or roof part of the canvas of a tent. Labels: India, obsolete Example: [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. Example: 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. 7. A strip of material (sometimes hiding zippers or buttons) at the front of a pair of trousers, pants, underpants, bootees, etc. Labels: often, plural Example: Ha-ha! Your fly's undone! Example: 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. 8. The moving portion of an extendable ladder. 9. The free edge of a flag. 10. The horizontal length of a flag. 11. An exercise that involves wide opening and closing of the arms perpendicular to the shoulders. 12. The part of a weather vane pointing the direction from which the wind blows. 13. That part of a compass on which the points are marked; the compass card. Example: 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 14. 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. 15. Ellipsis of flywheel. Labels: abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis 16. A type of small, light, fast horse-drawn carriage that can be hired for transportation (sometimes pluralised flys). Labels: historical Example: A fly carried him rapidly to Lady Clavering’s house from the station […] Example: 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. 17. 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. 18. The pair of arms revolving around the bobbin, in a spinning wheel or spinning frame, to twist the yarn. 19. A shuttle driven through the shed by a blow or jerk. 20. The person who took the printed sheets from the press. Labels: historical 21. A vibrating frame with fingers, attached to a power printing press for doing the same work. Labels: historical 22. One of the upper screens of a stage in a theatre. Example: 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. 23. Waste cotton.