Word Study
flying (root: fly)
CIDE DICTIONARY
Moving in the air with, or as with, wings; moving lightly or rapidly; intended for rapid movement. [1913 Webster]
"Three species are known; that of the Atlantic is Cephalacanthus volitans ."
"It has lateral folds of skin, like the flying squirrels, and a featherlike tail." [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
flying, adj. & n.
--adj.
1 fluttering or waving in the air; hanging loose.
2 hasty, brief (a flying visit).
3 designed for rapid movement.
4 (of an animal) able to make very long leaps by using winglike membranes etc.
--n. flight, esp. in an aircraft.
--adj.
1 fluttering or waving in the air; hanging loose.
2 hasty, brief (a flying visit).
3 designed for rapid movement.
4 (of an animal) able to make very long leaps by using winglike membranes etc.
--n. flight, esp. in an aircraft.
Idiom
flying boat a seaplane with a boatlike fuselage. flying bomb a pilotless aircraft with an explosive warhead. flying buttress a buttress slanting from a separate column, usu. forming an arch with the wall it supports. flying doctor a doctor (esp. in a large sparsely populated area) who visits distant patients by aircraft. flying fish any tropical fish of the family Exocoetidae, with winglike pectoral fins for gliding through the air. flying fox any of various fruit-eating bats esp. of the genus Pteropus, with a fox-like head. flying lemur either of two mammals of the genus Cyanocephalus of S. Asia, with a lemur-like appearance and having a membrane between the fore and hind limbs for gliding from tree to tree. flying lizard any lizard of the genus Draco, having membranes on elongated ribs for gliding. flying officer the RAF rank next below flight lieutenant. flying phalanger any of various phalangers having a membrane between the fore and hind limbs for gliding. flying picket an industrial picket that can be moved rapidly from one site to another, esp. to reinforce local pickets. flying saucer any unidentified, esp. circular, flying object, popularly supposed to have come from space. flying squad a police detachment or other body organized for rapid movement. flying squirrel any of various squirrels, esp. of the genus Pteromys, with skin joining the fore and hind limbs for gliding from tree to tree. flying start
1 a start (of a race etc.) in which the starting-point is passed at full speed.
2 a vigorous start giving an initial advantage. flying wing an aircraft with little or no fuselage and no tailplane. with flying colours with distinction.
1 a start (of a race etc.) in which the starting-point is passed at full speed.
2 a vigorous start giving an initial advantage. flying wing an aircraft with little or no fuselage and no tailplane. with flying colours with distinction.
THESAURUS
flying
aeronautics, agile, air service, airborne, airline, ascending, astronautics, aviation, axial, back, back-flowing, backward, ballooning, blind flying, breakneck, brittle, capricious, changeable, cloud-seeding, commercial aviation, contact flying, corruptible, cruising, cursory, dashing, deciduous, descending, disappearing, dissolving, double-quick, down-trending, downward, drifting, dying, eagle-winged, ephemeral, evanescent, evaporating, expeditious, express, fading, fast, festinate, feverish, fickle, fleet, fleeting, flight, flitting, flowing, fluent, fluttering, fly-by-night, fragile, frail, fugacious, fugitive, furious, galloping, general aviation, gliding, going, gyrational, gyratory, hair-trigger, hasty, headlong, hovering, hurried, hustling, immediate, impermanent, impetuous, impulsive, inconstant, instant, insubstantial, jet-propelled, last-minute, light of heel, light-footed, lively, melting, mercurial, momentary, mortal, mounting, mutable, nimble, nimble-footed, nondurable, nonpermanent, on the spot, passing, perishable, pilotage, plunging, precipitate, progressive, prompt, quick, quick as lightning, quick as thought, rapid, reckless, reflowing, refluent, regressive, retrogressive, rising, rocket-propelled, rotary, rotational, rotatory, running, rushing, sailing, sailplaning, short-lived, sideward, sinking, slap-bang, slapdash, snap, snappy, soaring, spanking, speedy, streaming, superficial, swift, temporal, temporary, transient, transitive, transitory, undurable, unenduring, unstable, up-trending, upward, urgent, vanishing, volant, volatile, volitant, winged, wingingROGET THESAURUS
flying
Transientness
N transience, transientness, evanescence, impermanence, fugacity, caducity, mortality, span, nine days' wonder, bubble, Mayfly, spurt, flash in the pan, temporary arrangement, interregnum, velocity, suddenness, changeableness, transient, transient boarder, transient guest, transient, transitory, transitive, passing, evanescent, fleeting, cursory, short-lived, ephemeral, flying, fugacious, fugitive, shifting, slippery, spasmodic, instantaneous, momentaneous, temporal, temporary, provisional, provisory, deciduous, perishable, mortal, precarious, unstable, insecure, impermanent, brief, quick, brisk, extemporaneous, summary, pressed for time, sudden, momentary, temporarily, pro tempore, for the moment, for a time, awhile, en passant, in transitu, in a short time, soon, briefly, at short notice, on the point of, on the eve of, in articulo, between cup and lip, one's days are numbered, the time is up, here today and gone tomorrow, non semper erit aestas, eheu! fugaces labuntur anni, sic transit gloria mundi, a schoolboy's tale, the wonder of the hour!, dum loquimur fugerit invidia aetas, fugit hora, all that is transitory is but an illusion.Navigation
N navigation, aquatics, boating, yachting, ship, oar, paddle, screw, sail, canvas, aileron, natation, swimming, fin, flipper, fish's tail, aerostation, aerostatics, aeronautics, balloonery, balloon, ballooning, aviation, airmanship, flying, flight, volitation, wing, pinion, rocketry, space travel, astronautics, orbital mechanics, orbiting, voyage, sail, cruise, passage, circumnavigation, periplus, headway, sternway, leeway, fairway, mariner, flight, trip, shuttle, run, airlift, sailing, volant, aerostatic, seafaring, nautical, maritime, naval, seagoing, coasting, afloat, navigable, aerial, aeronautic, grallatory, under way, under sail, under canvas, under steam, on the wing, in flight, in orbit, bon voyage, spread the thin oar and catch the driving gale.Velocity
N velocity, speed, celerity, swiftness, rapidity, eagle speed, expedition, pernicity, acceleration, haste, spurt, rush, dash, race, steeple chase, smart rate, lively rate, swift rate, rattling rate, spanking rate, strapping rate, smart pace, lively pace, swift pace, rattling pace, spanking pace, strapping pace, round pace, flying, flight, lightning, greased lightning, light, electricity, wind, cannon ball, rocket, arrow, dart, hydrargyrum, quicksilver, telegraph, express train, torrent, eagle, antelope, courser, race horse, gazelle, greyhound, hare, doe, squirrel, camel bird, chickaree, chipmunk, hackee, ostrich, scorcher, Mercury, Ariel, Camilla, Harlequin, log, log line, speedometer, odometer, tachometer, strobe, radar speed detector, radar trap, air speed gauge, wind sock, wind speed meter, pedometer, fast, speedy, swift, rapid, quick, fleet, aliped, nimble, agile, expeditious, express, active, flying, galloping, light footed, nimble footed, winged, eagle winged, mercurial, electric, telegraphic, light-legged, light of heel, swift as an arrow, quick as lightning, quick as a thought, swiftly, with speed, apace, at a great rate, at full speed, at railway speed, full drive, full gallop, posthaste, in full sail, tantivy, trippingly, instantaneously, under press of sail, under press of canvas, under press of sail and steam, velis et remis, on eagle's wing, in double quick time, with rapid strides, with giant strides, a pas de geant, in seven league boots, whip and spur, ventre a terre, as fast as one's legs will carry one, as fast as one's heels will carry one, as fast as one can lay legs to the ground, at the top of one's speed, by leaps and bounds, with haste, vires acquirit eundo, I'll put a girdle about the earth in forty minutes, swifter than arrow from the Tartar's bow, go like a bat out of hell, tempus fugit, velocity, speed, celerity, swiftness, rapidity, eagle speed, expedition, pernicity, acceleration, haste, spurt, rush, dash, race, steeple chase, smart rate, lively rate, swift rate, rattling rate, spanking rate, strapping rate, smart pace, lively pace, swift pace, rattling pace, spanking pace, strapping pace, round pace, flying, flight, lightning, greased lightning, light, electricity, wind, cannon ball, rocket, arrow, dart, hydrargyrum, quicksilver, telegraph, express train, torrent, eagle, antelope, courser, race horse, gazelle, greyhound, hare, doe, squirrel, camel bird, chickaree, chipmunk, hackee, ostrich, scorcher, Mercury, Ariel, Camilla, Harlequin, log, log line, speedometer, odometer, tachometer, strobe, radar speed detector, radar trap, air speed gauge, wind sock, wind speed meter, pedometer, fast, speedy, swift, rapid, quick, fleet, aliped, nimble, agile, expeditious, express, active, flying, galloping, light footed, nimble footed, winged, eagle winged, mercurial, electric, telegraphic, light-legged, light of heel, swift as an arrow, quick as lightning, quick as a thought, swiftly, with speed, apace, at a great rate, at full speed, at railway speed, full drive, full gallop, posthaste, in full sail, tantivy, trippingly, instantaneously, under press of sail, under press of canvas, under press of sail and steam, velis et remis, on eagle's wing, in double quick time, with rapid strides, with giant strides, a pas de geant, in seven league boots, whip and spur, ventre a terre, as fast as one's legs will carry one, as fast as one's heels will carry one, as fast as one can lay legs to the ground, at the top of one's speed, by leaps and bounds, with haste, vires acquirit eundo, I'll put a girdle about the earth in forty minutes, swifter than arrow from the Tartar's bow, go like a bat out of hell, tempus fugit.For further exploring for "flying" in Webster Dictionary Online