fly
fly Lexical Profile
fly Game Scores & Validity
• verb
To move through the air under control, especially by using wings.
"The flock of geese will fly south for the winter to seek warmer climates."
To travel in an aircraft, or to operate and control an aircraft in flight.
"She plans to fly to Paris next week for an international architecture conference."
To move, pass, or progress rapidly and swiftly.
"Time seems to fly when you are thoroughly engrossed in a good book."
• noun
A flying insect of the order Diptera, typically characterized by having a single pair of functional wings.
"A house fly buzzed annoyingly against the windowpane, trying to escape the kitchen."
A flap of material on a garment that conceals a zipper or a row of buttons, most commonly found on the front of trousers.
"He quickly realized he had forgotten to zip up his fly before walking into the important meeting."
A fishing hook dressed with feathers, fur, or synthetic materials to resemble an insect, used primarily in fly-fishing.
"The angler carefully tied a brightly colored fly to his line before casting it onto the surface of the stream."
• adjective
American Stylish, attractive, or exceptionally cool in appearance or demeanor.
"He showed up to the party wearing a really fly jacket that caught everyone's attention."
Word Nuance & Usage
While the standard past tense and past participle are 'flew' and 'flown', the verb is conjugated as 'flied' exclusively in baseball contexts (e.g., 'He flied out to center field').
• Rhymes for fly
Word Origin & Etymology
From Old English 'fleogan' (verb) and 'fleoge' (noun), descending from Proto-Germanic '*fleuganan', ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root '*pleu-' meaning to flow, float, or swim.
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.