Definitions for flies

• Definition
• Anagrams (61)

flies fly

Spelling: [flahy]

IPA: /flaɪ/

Flies is a 5 letter English word. It's valid Scrabble word worth 8 points. It's valid Words with friends word worth 9 points.

You can make 61 anagrams from letters in flies (efils).

Definitions for flies

noun

1. a strip of material sewn along one edge of a garment opening for concealing buttons, zippers, or other fasteners.
2. a flap forming the door of a tent.
3. Also called tent fly. a piece of canvas extending over the ridgepole of a tent and forming an outer roof.
4. an act of flying; a flight.
5. the course of a flying object, as a ball.
6. Baseball. fly ball.
7. British. a light, covered, public carriage drawn by one horse; hansom; hackney coach.
8. Machinery. a horizontal arm, weighted at each end, that pivots about the screw of a press so that when the screw is lowered the momentum of the fly will increase the force of the press.
9. Also called fan. Horology. a regulating device for chime and striking mechanisms, consisting of an arrangement of vanes on a revolving axis.
10. Printing. (in some presses) the apparatus for removing the printed sheets to the delivery table. Also called flyboy. (formerly) a printer's devil employed to remove printed sheets from a press.
11. the horizontal dimension of a flag as flown from a vertical staff. the end of the flag farther from the staff. Compare hoist (def 7).
12. flies, Also called fly loft. Theater. the space above the stage used chiefly for storing scenery and equipment.
13. Nautical. a propellerlike device streamed to rotate and transfer information on speed to a mechanical log.
14. Also called true fly. any of numerous two-winged insects of the order Diptera, especially of the family Muscidae, as the common housefly.
15. any of various winged insects, as the mayfly or firefly.
16. Angling. a fishhook dressed with hair, feathers, silk, tinsel, etc., so as to resemble an insect or small fish, for use as a lure or bait.
17. (initial capital letter) Astronomy. the constellation Musca.

Idioms

1. fly blind, to operate an airplane, especially during conditions of poor visibility, relying solely on instruments for guidance. to proceed with a complex task in the absence of directions by using one's own ability to determine what procedures to follow.
2. fly in the face of, to act in defiance of (authority, custom, etc.). Also, fly in the teeth of.
3. fly off the handle. handle (def 16).
4. go fly a kite, Slang. to put up with or get used to matters as they stand. to confine oneself to one's own affairs. to cease being a nuisance:
5. let fly, to hurl or propel (a weapon, missile, etc.). to give free rein to an emotion:
6. on the fly, during flight; before falling to the ground: hurriedly; without pausing:
7. fly in the ointment, a detrimental factor; detraction:

Verb phrases

1. fly out, Baseball, Softball. to be put out by hitting a fly ball that is caught by a player of the opposing team.

verb (used with object)

1. to make (something) float or move through the air:
2. to operate (an aircraft, spacecraft, or the like).
3. to hoist aloft, as for display, signaling, etc.:
4. to operate an aircraft or spacecraft over:
5. to transport or convey by air:
6. to escape from; flee:
7. Theater. to hang (scenery) above a stage by means of rigging supported by the gridiron. to raise (scenery) from the stage or acting area into the flies.

verb (used without object)

1. to move through the air using wings.
2. to be carried through the air by the wind or any other force or agency:
3. to float or flutter in the air:
4. to travel in an aircraft or spacecraft.
5. to move suddenly and quickly; start unexpectedly:
6. to change rapidly and unexpectedly from one state or position to another:
7. to flee; escape.
8. to travel in space:
9. to move or pass swiftly:
10. to move with an aggressive surge:
11. Baseball. to bat a fly ball: to fly out.
12. Informal. to be acceptable, believable, or feasible:

Origin of flies

before 900; Middle English flīen, Old English flēogan; cognate with Old High German fliogan, German fliegen, Old Norse fljuga

Examples for flies

Then there was Bernard, who excommunicates the flies, and they drop dead.

Toward the end, on the ballad “Someone Else,” she flies over the crowd while straddling a giant hot dog like Slim Pickens.

I can't keep the horse stan'in' here till he's all eat up with flies.

He's bewitched me so's I have to kill whole families of flies for him to eat.

The aircraft stops once to clear South African customs, then flies on to Botswana.

The suitcases were soon after spotted by passersby who approached to see swarms of flies.

Buzzards are all flying around pecking at them, and there are insects and flies, and you can see blood on the ground.

The flies were all over his ears and eyes, and I brushed them away and picked him up.

When Brown Alice is given her head she flies faster than the news.

The flies repeated the autumn-leaf effect, and returned to the rear peak.