flying meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

flying

adj

/ˈflaɪ.ɪŋ/

Etymology From Middle English fleynge, fleeʒinge, flihinde, vlyinde, vleoinde, flyand, ffleghand, flighand (also fleoninde, fleonninde, etc.), from Old English flēogende, from Proto-Germanic *fleugandz (“flying”), present participle of Proto-Germanic *fleuganą (“to fly”), equivalent to fly + -ing. Cognate with Saterland Frisian fljoogend (“flying”), West Frisian fleanend (“flying”), Dutch vliegend (“flying”), German Low German flegend (“flying”), German fliegend (“flying”), Danish flyvende (“flying”), Swedish flygande (“flying”), Icelandic fljúgandi (“flying”).

7 senses

1That flies or can fly.
2Brief or hurried.
3Capable of moving rapidly; highly mobile.
4Not secured by yards.
5Capable of foiling.
6Designating a cattle brand consisting of a letter…
7Being able to glide through the air.

That flies or can fly.

flying fox
a flying rumour

2 more examples

in a sudden hail of exploding flying glass
Matthew (26—6 to 13), Mark (14—3 to 9), and Luke (7—37 and 38) also heard of, and related, the circumstance of Mary, whom John says (11 — 2) was the sister of Lazarus, anointing the head of Jesus with ointment, yet they neither of them utter a syllable about his raising her brother from the dead. It is difficult to account for this fact, unless we suppose that John was actually dishonest, or that he took up, believed and recorded a flying story, which an occurrence of some kind had given rise to, but which was without any foundation in truth.1836, Lysander Spooner, The Deist's Reply to the Alleged Supernatural Evidences of Christianity, Boston, page 34:

Brief or hurried.

flying visit

Capable of moving rapidly; highly mobile.

flying column

Nautical, Transport Of a sail Not secured by yards.

Nautical, Transport Of a vessel Capable of foiling.

Flying ferries are the watercraft of the future!

Designating a cattle brand consisting of a letter extended on both sides with tilde-like curved lines.

He brands his cow W (flying W) or — (two-bar).1911, Boys' Life, volume 1, number 1, page 25:
[…] some seventy-five cows belonging to William and Bernie with a Flying W […]1972, Willie Newbury Lewis, Tapadero: The Making of a Cowboy, page 154:

1 more example

Wyles cut the fence, keeping the Flying D cowboys occupied rounding up their cattle.2013, Janette Kenny, One Real Cowboy:

Biology, Natural sciences, Zoology In compounds Being able to glide through the air.

flying squirrel
flying snake

Derived terms: 93 terms
actual flying time, elapsed flying time, flubber, flying arch, flying army, flying baker, Flying Banana, flying bishop, flying boat, flying bomb, flying brick, flying bridge, flying buttocks, flying buttress, flying camp, flying car, flying carp, flying carpet, flying cat, flying circus, flying coffin, flying colours, flying column, flying cone, flying cymbal, flying disc, flying disc golf, flying disk, flying doctor, Flying Dutchman, flying eaves, flying fig, flying fish, Flying Fortress, flying fox, flying freehold, flying frog, flying fuck, flying ginny, flying gurnard, flying hatchetfish, flying jenny, flying jib, flying jib boom, flying junction, flying kick, flying kiss, flying knee, flying lap, flying lemur, flying lizard, flyingly, flying mare, flying meet, flying monkeys, flying mouse, flying officer, flying ointment, flying party, flying phalanger, flying picket, flying purple people eater, flying rat, flying rib, flying rod, flying rowan, flying saucer, flying shit, flying shot, Flying Spaghetti Monster, flying spaghetti monster, flying squad, flying squid, flying squirrel, flying start, flying stationer, flying toilet, flying visit, flying voter, flying wedge, flying wing, free-flying, give a flying shit, hangar flying, high-flying, instrument flying, nonflying, non-flying, southern flying squirrel, take a flying fuck, the flying fuck out of, unflying, what the flying fuck

flying

noun

Etymology From Middle English flyinge, fleyng, fleyinge, fleynge, fleghyng, fleiʒeyng, flyeghynge, equivalent to fly + -ing. Cognate with Danish flyvning (“flying”), Swedish flygning (“flying”), Norwegian flyvning, flygning, flyging, flying (“flying”).

Aeronautics, Aerospace, Aviation, Business, Engineering, Natural sciences, Physical sciences An act of flight.

"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" […]1993, John C. Greene, Gladys L. H. Clark, The Dublin Stage, 1720-1745, page 58:

Aerodynamics, Aerospace, Business, Engineering, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Physics The action or process of sustained motion through the air.

His seconde hawke wexyd gery And was with flyenge wery. She had flowyn so oft, That on the rode loft She perkyd her to rest.c. 1503–1512, John Skelton, Ware the Hauke; republished in John Scattergood, editor, John Skelton: The Complete English Poems, 1983, →OCLC, page 63, lines 66–70:

Nautical, Transport The action of sustained hydrodynamic lift on hydrofoils lifting the vessel hull lifted out of the water, for sustained motion across water.

Derived terms: bush flying, dayflying, flying ace, flying machine, flying school, kiteflying, paraflying, sailflying