Meaning of fly In English

• 0 When a bird, insect, or aircraft flies, it moves through the air:

  • The poor bird couldn't fly because it had a broken wing.

  • As soon as it saw us, the bird flew away/off.

  • We flew to Paris.

  • We fly from/out from/out of La Guardia, but fly back (in)to JKF.

  • We are flying at a height of 36,000 feet.

  • She has to fly thousands of miles every year for her job.

  • Who was the first person to fly (across) the Atlantic?

  • I usually fly Lufthansa/Japan Airlines/El Al.

  • The restaurant flies its fish in daily from Scotland.

  • We will be flying 100 badly wounded civilians out of the battle zone tonight.

  • I learned to fly when I was in Australia.

• 1 to move or go quickly:

  • With the explosion, glass flew across the room.

  • Cathy flew by/past me in the corridor.

  • My holiday seems to have flown (by) (= passed very quickly) this year.

  • The door/window suddenly flew open.

  • UK informal Anyway, I must fly (= leave quickly) - I didn't realize how late it was!

• 2 to wave or move about in the air while being fixed at one end:

  • The ship was flying the Spanish flag.

  • The flag was flying at half-mast (= brought down to a point half way down the pole) to mark the death of the president.

  • There isn't really enough wind to fly a kite today.

• 3 If rumours, accusations, etc. fly, they are passed quickly from one person to another and cause excitement:

  • Rumors are flying that the school may close.

• 4 a small insect with two wings

• 5 the opening at the front of a pair of trousers:

  • Hey Chris, your fly's undone!

• 6 a hook (= curved piece of wire) with coloured threads fastened to it, attached to the end of a fishing line to attract fish

• 7 an extra sheet of canvas (= strong cloth) stretched over the outside of a tent to keep the rain out

• 8 (of creatures, objects, or aircraft) to move through the air, or (of people) to travel by aircraft:

  • [ I ] The building just exploded, and glass flew through the air.

  • [ I ] We enjoy watching the birds fly over the water.

  • [ I ] Are you planning to fly or drive to Toronto?

  • [ I ] Some of our pilots have been flying (= operating an aircraft) for 20 years.

  • [ I/T ] What airline are you flying (on) (= traveling on as a passenger)?

• 9 to move or go quickly or suddenly:

  • Theo was startled when the door flew open.

  • Saying she was late, Cathy flew by me and ran outside.

  • The summer seems to have flown by (= passed quickly).

• 10 to move around in the air while being held at one end, or to cause something attached at one end to be moved:

  • [ I ] Flags flew from the front of every house.

• 11 a small insect with two wings

• 12 the covered opening at the front of a pair of pants

• 13 in baseball, a ball that has been hit high into the air:

  • He caught the fly in deep center field.

• 14 to travel in an aircraft:

  • How long does it take to fly from Heathrow to Los Angeles?

  • fly out of/into somewhere More and more business executives are flying out of the state's commercial airports.

  • fly business class/economy/standby They flew business class to Johannesburg overnight.

• 15 to transport people or goods by aircraft:

  • Oil workers are flown by helicopter to the rigs.

• 16 to be successful or popular:

  • We're hoping the new brand name will fly.

• 17 to make a suggestion in order to get the reaction of others to it:

  • In my opinion he is flying a kite that would destroy the private enterprise system.