Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Flying

Fly′ing

,
Adj.
[From
Fly
,
Verb.
I.
]
Moving in the air with, or as with, wings; moving lightly or rapidly; intended for rapid movement.
Flying army
(Mil.)
a body of cavalry and infantry, kept in motion, to cover its own garrisons and to keep the enemy in continual alarm.
Farrow.
Flying artillery
(Mil.)
,
artillery trained to rapid evolutions, – the men being either mounted or trained to spring upon the guns and caissons when they change position.
Flying bridge
,
Flying camp
.
See under
Bridge
, and
Camp
.
Flying buttress
(Arch.)
,
a contrivance for taking up the thrust of a roof or vault which can not be supported by ordinary buttresses. It consists of a straight bar of masonry, usually sloping, carried on an arch, and a solid pier or buttress sufficient to receive the thrust. The word is generally applied only to the straight bar with supporting arch.
Flying colors
,
flags unfurled and waving in the air
; hence:
To come off with flying colors
,
to be victorious; to succeed thoroughly in an undertaking.
Flying doe
(Zool.)
,
a young female kangaroo.
Flying dragon
.
(a)
(Zool.)
See
Dragon
, 6.
(b)
A meteor. See under
Dragon
.
Flying Dutchman
.
(a)
A fabled Dutch mariner condemned for his crimes to sail the seas till the day of judgment.
(b)
A spectral ship.
Flying fish
.
(Zool.)
See
Flying fish
, in the Vocabulary.
Flying fox
(Zool.)
,
see
Flying fox
in the vocabulary.
Flying frog
(Zool.)
,
either of two East Indian tree frogs of the genus
Rhacophorus
(
Rhacophorus nigrapalmatus
and
Rhacophorus pardalis
), having very large and broadly webbed feet, which serve as parachutes, and enable it to make very long leaps.
Flying gurnard
(Zool.)
,
a species of gurnard of the genus
Cephalacanthus
or
Dactylopterus
, with very large pectoral fins, said to be able to fly like the flying fish, but not for so great a distance.
Three species are known; that of the Atlantic is
Cephalacanthus volitans
.
Flying jib
(Naut.)
,
a sail extended outside of the standing jib, on the flying-jib boom.
Flying-jib boom
(Naut.)
,
an extension of the jib boom.
Flying kites
(Naut.)
,
light sails carried only in fine weather.
Flying lemur
.
(Zool.)
See
Colugo
.
Flying level
(Civil Engin.)
,
a reconnoissance level over the course of a projected road, canal, etc.
Flying lizard
.
(Zool.)
See
Dragon
,
Noun.
6.
Flying machine
,
any apparatus for navigating through the air, especially a heavier-than-air machine.
Flying mouse
(Zool.)
,
the opossum mouse (
Acrobates pygmæus
), a marsupial of Australia. Called also
feathertail glider
.
It has lateral folds of skin, like the flying squirrels, and a featherlike tail.
Flying party
(Mil.)
,
a body of soldiers detailed to hover about an enemy.
Flying phalanger
(Zool.)
,
one of several species of small marsuupials of the genera
Petaurus
and
Belideus
, of Australia and New Guinea, having lateral folds like those of the flying squirrels. The sugar squirrel (
Belideus sciureus
), and the ariel (
Belideus ariel
), are the best known; – called also
squirrel petaurus
and
flying squirrel
. See
Sugar squirrel
.
Flying pinion
,
the fly of a clock.
Flying sap
(Mil.)
,
the rapid construction of trenches (when the enemy’s fire of case shot precludes the method of simple trenching), by means of gabions placed in juxtaposition and filled with earth.
Flying shot
,
a shot fired at a moving object, as a bird on the wing.
Flying spider
.
(Zool.)
Flying squid
(Zool.)
,
an oceanic squid (
Ommastrephes Bartramii
syn.
Sthenoteuthis Bartramii
), abundant in the Gulf Stream, which is able to leap out of the water with such force that it often falls on the deck of a vessel.
Flying squirrel
(Zool.)
See
Flying squirrel
, in the Vocabulary.
Flying start
,
a start in a sailing race in which the signal is given while the vessels are under way.
Flying torch
(Mil.)
,
a torch attached to a long staff and used for signaling at night.

Webster 1828 Edition


Flying

FLYING

,
ppr.
1.
Moving in air by means of wings; passing rapidly; springing; bursting; avoiding.
2.
a. Floating; waving; as flying colors.
3.
a. Moving; light, and suited for prompt motion; as a flying camp.
Flying colors, a phrase expressing triumph.

Definition 2024


flying

flying

English

Adjective

flying (not comparable)

  1. That can fly.
    flying fox
  2. Brief or hurried.
    flying visit
  3. (nautical, of a sail) Not secured by yards.

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

flying (countable and uncountable, plural flyings)

  1. An act of flight.
    • 1993, John C. Greene, ‎Gladys L. H. Clark, The Dublin Stage, 1720-1745 (page 58)
      "Flyings" could vary considerably in complexity and lavishness and could involve an actor or property being either lifted from the stage into the flies above or vice versa. As Colin Visser has observed, flyings and sinkings are both "associated with supernatural manifestations of various kinds" []
MiG-17F flying

Translations

Verb

flying

  1. present participle of fly