►
OF TIME Ht |qJ 9 [V] ~ (by/past) to
seem to pass very
quickly HS M : Doesn’t
time fly? il |# M 'ft ! 0
Summer has just flown by. &A
►
FLAG M 4R 10 if a flag flies, or
if you fly it, it is
displayed, for example on a
long pole ( SI ) MW fj, M [VN] to fly the Stars and
Stripes M till
HI (U o [V] Flags were flying at
half mast on all public buddings,
►
MOVE FREELY g Eh Wifi 11 [V] to move around
freely g
hair flying in the wind
►
OF STORIES/RUMOURS SJt ”# ; HI 12 [V] to be talked
about by many people rift,ft; Izg&Mtti
►
ESCAPE 13 (formal) to escape from sb/sth
( jk--- )
[VN] Both suspects have flown the country. M [also V] — compare flee
►
OF PLAN if.$J 14 [V] (NAmE) to
be successful : It remains to be seen whether his project will fly. fte$Jit$]
►
IN BASEBALL 15 (flies, flying,
flied, flied) [V,
VN] to hit a ball high into the air it; (
IR71 fly the ‘coop (informal,
especially NAmE) to escape from a place
fly high to be successful ijj fly In the face
of 'sth to
oppose or be the opposite of sth that is usual or expected f? M AM; £ E iit • •
• f @ if : Such a proposal is flying
in the face of common sense. &ii&#iH0
fly into a 'rage, 'temper, etc. to become suddenly
very angry ffj A (go) fly a/your 'kite (NAmE, informal) used to tell sb to go
away and stop annoying you or interfering
#i]MA;
#ij
tJ it A .fly the 'nest 1 (of a young bird %jj 4) to
become able to fly and leave its nest 71 M
S A of ^ M. 2 (informal)
(of sb’s child 7 A) to leave home and live somewhere else %3% jf fly off the 'handle (informal)
to suddenly become very
angry AAlffI go 'flying (BrE, informal) to fall, especially as
a result of not seeing sth under your feet (
Ate ) Someone’s
going to go flying if you
don’t pick up these toys. #ifHi A&jfefcSSc#*, *A*£*Mil. let fly (at sb/sth)
(with sth) to
attack sb by hitting them or speaking angrily to them ( ffj ••• ). fl; ( [gJ£A ) AA'B'fS: He let fly at me with his fist. T?fco 0 She let
fly with
a stream of abuse. 4fe®PA^T—ilc
— more at bird, CROW n.,
FLAG n., PIG n., SEAT n.,
TANGENT, TIME n., window iJiiiifJ 'fly at sb (of a person or an
animal A to attack sb suddenly th [g; A
• noun (pi. flies)
►
INSECT gLA 1 [c] a small flying
insect with two wings. There are many different types of fly. 41; ^ ^: A fly was buzzing
against the window. —
ilti'ir jA o Flies rose in thick
black swarms. &4IMJEE
►
IN FISHING fh M. 2 [C] a fly or sth made to
look like a fly, that is put on a hook and used as bait to catch fish ()
£*t, M: fly-fishing mmmrm
►
ON TROUSERS/PANTS #7 3 [sing.] (BrE also flies [pi.]) an
opening down the front of a pair of trousers/pants
that fastens with a zip or
buttons and is usually covered over by a strip of material ( W 7 W ) fj ^ jf P : Your fly is undone! ! 0
Your flies are
undone! #^#7iM JF ft %! —
picture o page R22
►
ON TENT ijfcjl 4 [C] a piece of
material that covers the entrance to a tent HA
—
see also flies M die/fall/drop like ’flies
(informal) to die or fall down in
very large numbers A AfttfiJA: People were dropping like flies in the
intense heat. S§ H 7 A fil J5® fit fE A 0
a/the fly in the 'ointment a person or thing that spoils a situation
or an occasion that is fine in all other ways £3 A A; J^f i a fly on the 'wall a person who watches others without being
noticed ^f^lAf iWlf f : I’d love to be a fly on the wall when he tells her
the news. 0
fly-on-the-wall documentaries (= in which people are
filmed going about their normal lives as if the camera were not there) (there are) no flies on 'sb
(informal) the person mentioned
is clever and not easily tricked MAffteRHA^A^ not harm/hurt a
'fly to
be
kind and gentle and
unwilling to cause unhappiness & — #AW I'lil on the 'fly (informal) if
you do sth on the fly, you do it quickly while sth else is happening, and
without thinking about it very much ££
Mite;
MCA
• adj. (informal) 1 (BrE) clever
and showing good judgement about people, especially so that you can get an
advantage for yourself flR th ; tfl fp ^ ; A & ± ''1 #J 2 (NAmE) fashionable and attractive Bf MM A (ft; (Hi
,fly 'agaric (also ,fly a'garic) noun [U] a poisonous mushroom with a red top with white spots jf %
mis* ciiii)
fly-away /'flaiewei/
adj. (especially
of hair At%%%) soft and fine;
difficult to keep tidy ; M&>#}
fly ball noun (in
baseball #$c) a ball that is hit
high into the air
fly-blown /‘flaiblaun;
NAmE -bloun/
adj. (BrE) dirty
and in bad condition; not fit to eat A ’A A ifJ; il W
itt; AtB#f8tfJ
'fly boy noun (NAmE, informal) a pilot, especially one in the air force ( Atli?r?^
) fsffM fly-by noun (pi. fly-bys) 1 the
flight of a spacecraft near a
planet to record data ( M AfIDiJ ) }ffJA
If
2 (NAmE) = fly-past
'fly-by-night adj. [only before
noun] (of
a person or business A^tArik) dishonest and only interested in making money
quickly A ft ( M A W M ) US 1 A'J Jk
ffl W ► fly-by-night noun
fly-catch-er /'flaikaetja(r)/
noun a
small bird that catches insects while it is flying
JEHJh )
'fly-drive adj., noun (BrE)
m adj. [only before
noun] (of
a holiday/vacation fPI^) organized by a travel
company at a fixed price that includes your flight to a place, a car to drive
while you are there and somewhere to stay ¥ i fijjW
) : a fly-drive break # g
m noun a fly-drive holiday A i
flyer (also
flier) /'flai8(r)/
noun 1 (informal) a person who flies an
aircraft (usually a small one, not a passenger plane) ( ) “VffM 2 a person
who travels in a plane as
a passenger 1 III i ? : frequent flyers
# ^ A A 3 a person who operates sth such as a model aircraft or a kite from the ground
(immm&ifcfo&tox) 4 a thing,
especially a bird or an insect,
that flies in a particular way IsMl ( ) : Butterflies can be
strong flyers. W W “Is A ® o 5a small
sheet of paper that advertises a product or an event and is given to a large
number of people A ( A n" ) ft 6 (informal) a person, an animal or a vehicle that
moves very quickly IteAlMA ( BjcSJjtn ; M A Ford’s flashy new flyer A 7
= flying start —see
also high-flyer
'fly-fishirig noun [u] the sport of fishing
in a river or lake using an artificial fly to attract and catch the fish
mmm.
fly half noun = STAND-OFF HALF
fly-ing O-pr /'flanrj/ adj., noun
■
adj. [only before noun] able to fly tb A W :
flying insects H»irci with ,flying
'colours very
well; with a very high mark/grade She
passed the
exam with flying colours. 4te AUt# k ii M T # »
mdiciuh In the past, a ship
returned to port after a victory in battle decorated with flags (=• colours),
i® g
mnoun [U] 1 travelling
in an aircraft ^ Afll: I’m terrified of flying. lAA A A Ite A IR/L 2 operating the controls of an aircraft
Is If; Iff flying lessons
'flying boat noun a large plane that can take off from and
land on water ItSlf AlAAnsfll .flying 'buttress noun (architecture H) a half arch of brick or stone that supports
the outside wall of a large building such as a church